It's done. Two Asian elephants — Schottzie, who is 50, and Jati, almost 40 — have been moved from the Cincinnati Zoo to Busch Gardens Tampa, arriving in September 2026 after a long cross-country haul in the heat of late summer.

Every elephant transfer between accredited zoos runs through the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) and its Species Survival Plan (SSP) committee. They decide which elephants move, and where. This move carries their approval — so the SSP is the right body to answer two hard questions.

First: why sign off on transporting elderly elephants across the country in the middle of summer? A move like that is physically punishing for any elephant, and far more so for one Schottzie's age.

Second: why send any elephant into Busch Gardens right now? The concerns there are documented, not rumored. Keepers filed welfare reports with both the AZA and the USDA in October 2024. The elephant care team has been chronically understaffed. Former keepers reported that required standards weren't met, including PEM training not completed on schedule. This past July, a 54-year-old elephant named Carina was euthanized after what the company called a sudden decline, with no independent review. The facility is under active public scrutiny and is due for its AZA accreditation renewal inspection at the beginning of 2027. None of it was resolved before Schottzie and Jati were moved in.

We can't ask the SSP to stop a transfer that has already happened. We can insist it own the decision and fix the process that produced it. Add your name and tell the SSP committee and AZA leadership: explain how this transfer was approved, overhaul how the SSP vets receiving facilities so that active welfare complaints and on-the-ground conditions are weighed before any move, order an independent welfare assessment of Schottzie and Jati now, and approve no further transfers to Busch Gardens until these concerns are resolved.