Before Tembo landed at the Topeka Zoo, she was a free-roaming toddler on the African savanna. Her days of freedom came to an abrupt end when she was captured and shipped across the world to live her life trapped in a barren, tiny zoo enclosure, where she died on May 16, 2026.
For 50 of her 56 years, she lived at the Topeka Zoo, deprived of everything that makes an elephant’s life worth living: freedom to roam for miles and forage on plants, roots, and trees, and the joy of meeting new and old friends, while always staying closely bonded to her matriarchal family. Most importantly, Tembo was denied the ability to choose how she spent her days, a freedom treasured by every living being.
Confined to a cramped, barren enclosure with little to do for years on end, Tembo’s only respite from the drudgery of her life was her four-decade friendship with Sunda, who died in 2018, and then Cora, who died last October. Though they were Asian elephants and Tembo was an African elephant, the bond they shared transcended species. The zoo has suggested that her human caretakers were her “family,” but no substitute can replace what was taken from her. Tembo did what she could to survive in an unnatural world. While her keepers may have cared for her, that care never extended to giving her what she truly needed: a chance to live out her remaining years in a sanctuary, with space, autonomy, and dignity.
The zoo, like all zoos, claimed that Tembo was an “ambassador” for her species, educating the public about the need for conservation of elephants in the wild. However, there is no evidence that observing elephants in zoos does anything to improve their survival in the wild. Elephants are still threatened in Asia and Africa, despite decades of zoos confining them. True conservation only happens in elephants’ home countries, and that is where it is happening today.
We are grateful that the Topeka Zoo, which was featured nine times on our list of 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants, is now transitioning away from housing elephants, so that no more elephants like Tembo will have to endure a lifetime of deprivation to give visitors a few minutes of entertainment. This makes Topeka Zoo the 41st North American zoo to close its elephant exhibit, a trend that is happily growing around the world.
Though it is too late for Tembo, her story can still inspire a call for more zoos to follow Topeka Zoo’s lead and end the cruel confinement of majestic elephants.
To learn more about what’s wrong with keeping elephants in captivity and how you can help, visit our Elephants campaign.
