HOLLYWOOD, California, March 27, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — For greater than 30 years, Billy the elephant was certainly one of Los Angeles’ most well-known residents. When the Los Angeles Zoo secretly shipped him and his zoo mate, Tina, to Oklahoma at nighttime final May, it broke the hearts of Angelenos. Now, as Tina battles a severe, life-threatening uterine infection, Hollywood titan Samuel L. Jackson is stepping in to assist convey them to the sanctuary they deserve, “before it’s too late.”
Jackson, often known as the highest-grossing male actor of all time, has joined In Defense of Animals pressuring the Tulsa Zoo to instantly launch Billy and Tina. The Tulsa Zoo was not too long ago named the No. 10 Worst Zoo for Elephants in North America for its high-mortality breeding program.
“Billy and Tina have sanctuaries willing to take them in,” mentioned Jackson, who not too long ago posted photos of himself with a herd of elephants within the background at Kenya’s Reteti Elephant Sanctuary. “Continued exploitation and denial of their freedom is making them worse, and time is running out! Join me in supporting In Defense of Animals and urge the Tulsa Zoo to retire these elephants before it’s too late.”
With Tina’s life in instant peril, advocates say it is very important for the zoo to have her urgently assessed for transport and, if she is ready to be moved, despatched as quickly as possible to a sanctuary. Two totally different sanctuaries have supplied houses to Billy and Tina.
The motion to free Billy and Tina has quickly gained world traction. Jackson is the newest of greater than 10,000 individuals who have signed a letter to Tulsa Zoo President and CEO Lindsay Hutchison, urging her to launch all of the elephants, together with Billy and Tina.
“It’s not surprising to any of us that Tina’s health is failing at the Tulsa Zoo,” mentioned Courtney Scott, veteran elephant marketing consultant with In Defense of Animals, the world’s main worldwide animal safety group advocating for all elephants globally. “True compassion would be sending Tina and her longtime buddy, Billy, to an elephant sanctuary. This really is a no-brainer. Tina will receive top-notch medical care at a sanctuary, and peace which will have a direct impact on her health. Living in a large, stress-free environment is the best medicine for Tina. In fact, it’s the best medicine for all captive elephants.”
Billy and Tina are on the heart of a bi-state controversy. Their clandestine move in May 2025 betrayed scores of Los Angeles activists, celebrities, metropolis and state officers, and attorneys who fought for years to have the long-suffering elephants retired to a sanctuary. Instead, they had been transferred to Tulsa to be used as commodities in a high-pressure breeding program that forces elephants into unnaturally early, fast copy and invasive procedures.
Ignacia Fernández, Miss World Chile, has additionally joined the decision, stating: “Zoos breed elephants into lives of impoverishment. Born as prisoners, treated as playthings and profit-drivers, they fade away without ever truly living… I stand with In Defense of Animals to stop zoo breeding and free elephants to sanctuaries.”
The Tulsa Zoo at present holds seven elephants, all of whom exhibit profound zoochotic stress behaviors. Video captured by Elephant Guardians of Los Angeles reveals one other resident elephant, Sneezy, trying a breakout, whereas Billy and Tina show ongoing indicators of brain damage attributable to extreme psychological misery — swaying and bobbing endlessly.
At the Tulsa Zoo, Billy and Tina be part of Hank, a bull who was shuttled between 4 amenities and is now slated as a sperm donor for artificial insemination (AI). Billy himself has already been subjected to greater than 50 sperm extractions in Los Angeles, and will face extra at Tulsa. Bulls are restrained and subjected to extremely invasive rectal procedures to extract the semen wanted for an opportunity to make a ticket-boosting child elephant.
Breeding loans are simply as dangerous for elephants, spreading elephant TB, a number one explanation for dying in captive elephants. A brand new scientific review exhibits frequent relocations, similar to for breeding, trigger transfer trauma and drastically increase the danger of untimely dying.
“We are deeply grateful to Hollywood icon Samuel L. Jackson for supporting our efforts to free Billy, as well as Tina and all elephants begging for freedom from the Tulsa Zoo,” added Scott. “We cannot let Billy, Tina or the other elephants die in this place of suffering, loss, and broken lives.”
Tulsa Zoo has earned a spot on the ten Worst Zoos for Elephants record for the second time. Its extremely promoted 10-acre “preserve” was already insufficient earlier than Billy and Tina arrived. Their seen zoochotic behaviors recommend circumstances are much more dangerous now — not just for them, however for the opposite 5 elephants already confined there.
“For Billy and Tina, the pattern is clear — and so is the solution,” mentioned Fleur Dawes, Director of Communications and International Partnerships for In Defense of Animals. “Sanctuaries are waiting. The harm is ongoing. And the chance to do the right thing is slipping away. Billy and Tina should be immediately released from the Tulsa Zoo, where elephants are treated as commodities instead of living beings. True conservation happens in the wild, not behind bars. The only ethical path forward for Tulsa Zoo is to end captive breeding and move its elephants, starting with Billy and Tina, to a spacious, true sanctuary.”
2025 List of the ten Worst Zoos for Elephants:
- Houston Zoo, Houston, Texas
- Sedgwick County Zoo, Wichita, Kan.
- Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium, Omaha, Neb.
- African Lion Safari, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Denver Zoo, Denver, Colo.
- Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Powell, Ohio
- ABQ BioPark, Albuquerque, N.M.
- Oklahoma City Zoo, Oklahoma City, Okla.
- Fresno Chaffee Zoo, Fresno, Calif.
- Tulsa Zoo, Tulsa, Okla.
Hall of Shame: Oregon Zoo, Portland, Ore.
Path to Progress Award: Louisville Zoo, Louisville, Ky.
### NOTES ###
IMAGES & VIDEO:
Samuel L. Jackson:
- An Instagram photo exhibits a close-up picture of Samuel L. Jackson standing in entrance of a herd of elephants whereas on a current journey to Kenya’s Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, the world’s first Indigenous community-owned elephant sanctuary. The Jan. 29 caption reads, “Me & da herd!”
- Samuel L. Jackson shared multiple photos of his African journey together with this certainly one of a mom and her child in tow on the expansive Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in Kenya.
- Agent-provided headshot of Jackson, free to use with credit score to: Art Streiber.
Tulsa Zoo:
https://bit.ly/TulsaWorst25
10 Worst Zoos video:
https://youtu.be/KuLEeoWs3Vg
MORE INFORMATION:
In Defense of Animals’ record of the ten Worst Zoos for Elephants in North America has been featured in The New York Times, Esquire and the Daily Mail, and supported by celebrities together with Bill Maher and Ricky Gervais. It attracts world consideration to how zoos condemn elephants to lifetimes of deprivation, illness, and untimely dying. Rankings are decided based mostly on in-person visits and knowledge evaluation of elephant mortality, well being data, switch historical past and enclosure circumstances. This 12 months’s record closely weighted the depth of breeding packages and toddler mortality charges.
See In Defense of Animals’ 2025 record of the 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants in North America:
www.idausa.org/2025worstzoolist
In Defense of Animals is a world animal safety group with over 250,000 supporters and a historical past of defending animals, folks and the setting since 1983. idausa.org
- Samuel L. Jackson at Reteti Elephant Sanctuary before demanding the release of former Los Angeles Zoo elephants Billy and Tina from Tulsa Zoo. Photo: samuelljackson/Instagram
- Former Los Angeles Zoo elephants Billy and Tina confined at the Tulsa Zoo. Photo: Elephant Guardians of Los Angeles
