We visit Detroit 2 or three times a year and feel that the zoo and the surrounding community have always been ok with the Elephants leaving.The Detroit Zoo embraces its history which includes Elephant rides and chimp shows.They show a video in the visitor center taking visitors through a zoo timeline and explaining how the zoo has changed over the years.
I always like to point out that Detroit Zoo broke its all-time attendance record in something like 5 out of 6 years after the elephants had departed, as occasionally folks will declare that a lack of elephants will cause attendance to plummet.
The director felt that his zoo's climate was too harsh for the elephants and that they could not afford to build a new exhibit that would adequately house them from the winter climate.
Winky and Wanda were the two Asian elephants at the Detroit Zoo that were both around 50 years of age and suffering in the harsh Michigan winters. They were transferred to the PAWS elephant sanctuary in California in 2005 and white rhinos took their place in the paddock at the zoo. Winky was euthanized in 2008 after suffering ill health, and as far as I know Wanda is still living at PAWS. Interestingly enough the Detroit Zoo has a history of impressive welfare decisions concerning elephants as the facility phased out its elephant show in 1968 after the pachyderms were beginning to show signs of exhaustion and rheumatism. Many other zoos continued to have elephants perform tricks for many decades afterwards.
