Elephant deaths cited in bad Fresno zoo report. Here’s what happened to Amy, Betts and Kara

The Fresno Chaffee Zoo wouldn’t likely exist if not for the community’s love of elephants.

After all, it was the popularity of Nosey the elephant — purchased in 1949 with donations from thousands of school children sending in pennies, nickels and dimes — that led to the formation of the Fresno Zoological Society and the expansion of the-then Roeding Park Zoo into the 1950s and 1960s.

Nosey remained a beloved part of zoo until she died in 1993 at the age of 47. Over the years, a number of both African and Asian elephants have been part of the zoo’s exhibits, including the current herd that resides inside the zoo’s 13-acre African Adventure.

“Throughout the years, guests have built a bond with our elephants that connects them to their wild counterparts,” the Chaffee Zoo wrote in a statement Tuesday about its inclusion on an annual list of Worst Zoos for elephants.

In a statement about the list, In Defense of Animals cited the death of three elephants — Kara, Amy and Betts.

The elephants died between 2017 and 2019. Here is what’s known about each of their deaths.

Kara

Kara was an Asian elephant that had been part of the Cristiani Bros. Circus. before coming to the Chaffee Zoo.

She had been at the zoo for more than 30 years when she died in June 2017. She was 40 years old.

Zoo officials at the time said the elephant had a history of joint issues and developed osteoarthritis, for which she was being treated. “After much discussion about Kara’s compromised quality of life, the veterinary and animal care teams unanimously agreed that humane euthanasia was the right thing to do,” Dr. Shannon Nodolf, the zoo’s chief veterinary officer said at the time.

The zoo’s other Asian elephant was relocated following Kara’s death. According to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, elephants should be kept in groups of at least three or more.

Amy and Betts

Amy, along with her daughter Betts, had been at Fresno Chaffee Zoo for two years when she died in December 2017.

Both elephants came from Riddle’s Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary in Quitman, Arkansas in 2015.

Amy had torn ligament in her right elbow and was receiving care, but had developed severe arthritis that was painful and greatly impacted her mobility. The exact cause of the tear was unknown, but “we reached a point where we were unable to stop the progression of her decline and were no longer able to manage her pain,” the zoo said at the time.

Betts died in 2019, after a short illness. Officials said the veterinary team noticed Bets was not behaving normally on a Friday and the zoo at the time said it hadn’t determined what led to the death and were working to determine a possible cause. In Defense of Animals, in its statement said Betts had “an excruciatingly painful viral infection, elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus.”

EEHV is a fast-moving virus that affects elephants in captivity and in the wild. EEHV has been responsible for about half of the deaths of young elephants in zoos since it was first discovered in 1995, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.

The zoo added two African elephants to its herd in 2018. Nolwazi and her daughter Amahle came from the Dallas Zoo after being moved from a rescue in Swaziland in 2016.