Elephants Who Changed Zoo Ethics Immortalized in 'Wanda and Winky' Book

Children who never had the opportunity to meet the Detroit Zoo’s last two elephants, Wanda and Winky, can still learn from the iconic pair whose retirement to a California sanctuary more than a decade ago sparked an international conversation about the ethics of keeping their species in captivity.

They are immortalized in “Wanda and Winky,” a 38-page book written by retired Walled Lake Schools teacher and library media specialist Linda McLean, of Commerce Township. The book, which is aimed at children ages 5-12, was illustrated by Susan VanDeventer Warner, of Walled Lake.

The book was, appropriately, launched Friday on World Elephant Day, a day set aside to raise awareness of the urgent plight of Asian and African elephants, much revered because of human-like traits of empathy, self-awareness and social intelligence but on the verge of extinction due to ivory hunting.

Through poetry and prose, McLean takes readers on a journey from their capture as babies, Wanda’s life as a circus performer before she and Winky became attractions at a variety of zoos, and their retirement in 2005 to the Performing Animal Welfare Society Ark 2000 Sanctuary in California.

Along the way, young readers learn about both elephant conservation and how elephants are often mistreated solely for humans’ entertainment.

In 2005, the Detroit Zoo was the first zoo in the country to decide solely on ethical grounds to no longer keep elephants. In the years since, more zoos have made the same decision.

At the sanctuary, the highly social elephants roamed dozens of acres of natural terrain with other elephants, played in lakes and enjoyed spacious living quarters equipped with heated stalls and therapeutic Jacuzzis. Despite the improved conditions that added years and a great quality of life to the elephants, both continued to experience complications from chronic foot problems and severe arthritis.

In 2008, Winky was the first of the pair to be euthanized due to the effects of arthritis and chronic foot problems, conditions common among captive elephants forced to stand for hours on hard floors with little space to roam. She was 56. Wanda was euthanized in 2015 at the age of 57.

➤ Wanda, Former Detroit Zoo Elephant Who Changed Zoo Ethics, Dies

“Wanda’s death, while very sad, will hopefully continue the conversation about how zoos can play a significant role in re-shaping public attitudes and values toward the humane treatment of animals,” Detroit Zoo CEO and Executive Director Ron Kagan said last year. “This is the end of a chapter, but not the end of the story.”

Wanda and Winky had been at the Detroit Zoo for about a decade when Kagan made the decision to retire them to California. They not only needed the freedom to roam more freely, Michigan’s harsh winters also took a toll on the pair. He was both cheered and criticized at the time the elephants were shipped across the country for a better life.

“We had been working for years constantly increasing the elephants’ area,” Kagan told The Dodo, an animal news site. “Every time we made those improvements that we thought were important, we then thought, from an elephant’s point of view, it was not.”

Wanda and Winky have been ambassadors for both their species and others in captivity. Speaking with The Dodo after the death of a gorilla named Harambe who was killed at the Cincinnati Zoo, Kagan said zoos are changing as awareness increases about what captivity means to their quality of life.

➤ Death of Gorilla Harambe Refuels Debate About Captive Apes

“I think that in the future, zoos will hold fewer different kinds of species,” Kagan said. “A zoo that might now have orangutans, chimps and gorillas might just end up having one of those, and giving them more space and more tailored environments to their needs.”

In a video on the Detroit Zoo’s Facebook page, Kagan said the public is becoming “more and more understanding that we have an obligation and a responsibility to be thoughtful, and that keeping them in captivity or having animals in a circus is a very big challenge.”

Images of Wanda and Winky courtesy of Detroit Zoo