After Years of Advocacy, Hope Grows for 3 Johannesburg Zoo Elephants

Nearly seven years after global elephant experts first appealed for Lammie’s release, the legal fight to free Johannesburg Zoo’s elephants is finally heading to the Gauteng High Court. Johannesburg,... The post After Years of Advocacy, Hope Grows for 3 Johannesburg Zoo Elephants appeared first on Good Things Guy.

May 8, 2026 - 06:28

After Years of Advocacy, Hope Grows for 3 Johannesburg Zoo Elephants

Nearly seven years after global elephant experts first appealed for Lammie’s release, the legal fight to free Johannesburg Zoo’s elephants is finally heading to the Gauteng High Court.

Johannesburg, South Africa (08 May 2026) – For years, animal welfare organisations, elephant specialists, conservationists and legal experts have been working towards one goal: securing a better life for Lammie, Ramadiba and Mopane, the three African elephants currently living at the Johannesburg Zoo. And now, after seven years of advocacy, expert reports, legal intervention and public concern, their case will finally be heard in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on the 19th, 20th and 21st of May 2026.

The application seeks to have the three elephants released from the zoo and moved to a suitable sanctuary where they can live in a natural, protected environment that better meets their physical, emotional and social needs.

It is a complex and sensitive matter, but at the centre of it all are three living beings who experts say deserve more space, more choice and more of the life elephants are meant to know.

The campaign to free Lammie began in 2019, when thirteen globally recognised elephant specialists wrote to the Johannesburg Zoo in support of her release. Among them were Dr Joyce Poole, Professor Phyllis Lee, Dr Cynthia Moss, Dr Keith Lindsay, Dr Marion Garai, Dr Michelle Henley and several others who have dedicated their lives to understanding elephant behaviour and welfare.

That same year, the NSPCA resigned from the Johannesburg Zoo’s Animal Ethics Committee, raising concerns after the zoo acquired two additional elephants, Ramadiba and Mopane, from a wildlife reserve in the Eastern Cape where they had been used in the captive elephant industry.

By 2022, after attempts at negotiation had failed, Animal Law Reform South Africa, the EMS Foundation and Chief Stephen Fritz, represented by Cullinan and Associates, launched a High Court application to have Lammie, Ramadiba and Mopane released from the zoo. The legal application is supported by extensive expert evidence, including affidavits and welfare reports from elephant specialists who have observed the animals over several years. Their concerns include limited shade, insufficient space, inadequate natural enrichment, safety risks in the enclosure and very little observed socialisation between the three elephants.

One report compiled after observations in October 2025 raised serious concerns about their condition.

“Depression, especially for Lammie and, to some extent, Ramadiba, was evidenced by stereotypy, lack of activity, and listlessness. Lammie appears to be especially immobile as she stays close to the water trough near the boma for much of the day. This spot is the only shade available to them, and Lammie takes advantage of this.”

The report also questioned aspects of their feeding and nutrition, stating that fresh browse, a key part of an African elephant’s diet, was not consistently observed during monitoring. Safety concerns were also raised around fencing, with experts noting that Mopane was able to extend her trunk through parts of the enclosure, creating potential risk for both the elephants and visitors.

The Johannesburg Zoo has maintained that the elephants are properly cared for and that relocation would not be in their best interests, especially in Lammie’s case, given her long history in captivity. The zoo has also argued that the legal action is driven by ideology rather than welfare concerns.

But the applicants and supporting experts believe South Africa already has proof that rehabilitation is possible.

That proof is Duma.

Duma the Elephant Finds Freedom After 40 Years — Duma’s transformation Photo Credit: EMS Foundation | Supplied

Previously known as Charlie or Charley, Duma spent more than forty years in captivity, first in a circus and then at the National Zoological Gardens in Pretoria. After years of negotiations, expert reports and collaboration between welfare organisations, government officials, veterinarians and conservationists, Duma was relocated in August 2024 to a bespoke elephant rehabilitation centre at Shambala Private Game Reserve in Limpopo.

And his progress has been extraordinary. Since arriving at Shambala, Duma has been browsing for himself, swimming, mud wallowing and walking long distances every day. He is being monitored carefully in a protected, non-public environment, and has already come within 110 metres of the resident elephants on the reserve. For an elephant who spent decades without choice, his new life has become a powerful example of what is possible when science, care and compassion work together.

That is why Duma’s story matters so much in the fight for Lammie, Ramadiba and Mopane. He is living proof that even after years in captivity, a different future can begin.

There is sadness in this story, yes. There is frustration too. But there is also hope… built by people who refuse to look away.

From the EMS Foundation and Pro Elephant Network to the legal teams, veterinarians, scientists, caregivers and advocates who have stayed with this fight year after year, this case is about more than one zoo enclosure. It is about asking what dignity looks like for sentient animals. It is about whether South Africa can choose a kinder path. And it is about three elephants who may soon be given the chance to feel grass beneath their feet, mud on their skin and freedom in their days.

Duma got that chance.

Now, animal advocacy heroes are fighting for Lammie, Ramadiba and Mopane to get theirs too.