Cher, Lawsuit and a Jumbo Jam: LA Elephants Caught in Quarrel Over Transfer

The fight over the Los Angeles Zoo’s elephants Billy and Tina is heating up, as a local resident sues to block their transfer to Tulsa Zoo, demanding a sanctuary instead, according to the Los Angeles Times. With the iconic Cher and animal rights advocates now rallying, the decades-long saga over the elephants’ cramped quarters is sparking a showdown over their future.

Last Friday, a lawsuit was filed in L.A. County Superior Court seeking to block the planned transfer of two Asian elephants, Billy and Tina, to the Tulsa Zoo in Oklahoma. Filed by longtime Angeleno John Kelly, the suit argues the elephants shouldn’t be moved to another zoo, but rather, retired to a sanctuary where they can live out their final years in more natural surroundings.

Enter Cher, who allegedly told the elephants: I got you, babe.

The music icon and longtime animal advocate added her voice to the legal fight, filing a declaration supporting the injunction. “Billy and Tina have served their time in confinement,” she wrote. “They deserve the chance to live out their lives in peace and dignity.” She also posted about the elephants on her official X account and encouraging her follows to contact Mayor Karen Bass's office.

The L.A. Zoo announced in late April that the elephants would be relocated to the Tulsa Zoo’s recently expanded elephant complex, a 10-acre preserve with a 36,650-square-foot barn and five other Asian elephants. The move, zoo officials said, would give Billy and Tina more space and social stimulation.

But activists argue it’s more of the same — with a different backdrop. The lawsuit cites “abysmal” conditions at the L.A. Zoo, claiming the elephants have suffered mentally and physically from years of confinement, including hard surfaces that have damaged their feet and a lack of proper shade. The term “zoochosis,” a form of psychological distress seen in captive animals, is also mentioned.

Billy, now 40, arrived at the L.A. Zoo as a 4-year-old in 1989. Tina, 59, came in 2010 at the age of 44. In the wild, Asian elephants can live into their 60s, though lifespans often shorten significantly in captivity, according to nonprofit Last Chance for Animals, who even offered to foot the bill to send Billy and Tina to a sanctuary. Currently, the two elephants live in separate areas within the zoo’s 6.5-acre elephant habitat.

Celebrities including the late Bob Barker and Lily Tomlin have also advocated for the elephants over the years.

No date has been set for the transfer, and zoo director Denise Verret said a contract between the L.A. and Tulsa zoos has yet to be finalized. Kelly’s lawsuit also alleges that the public and city officials were excluded from the decision-making process.

For now, Billy and Tina remain in limbo, caught between a legal fight, a celebrity outcry, and a future that remains uncertain.