Asha, the elephant that was previously owned by the Natural Bridge Zoo, is now being boarded at Two Tails Ranch in Williston, Florida.
During a raid of the Rockbridge County zoo in December, spurred by allegations of animal abuse and neglect, 95 animals were seized.
By that point, Asha had already been moved to Florida. But according to the search warrant that Virginia authorities obtained for the raid on the Natural Bridge Zoo, a confidential informant saw that Asha was often standing in a puddle of her own urine and feces, shackled and unable to move.
The informant told investigators that the zoo had allowed nearly 200 guests to ride on her back in a single day and regularly permitted double riders, exceeding the allowable rider weight of 250 pounds, according to the search warrant. The document also said that the zoo’s elephant keeper had told the confidential informant to jab the animal with a sharp implement known as a bullhook to induce fear. Virginia has since outlawed the use of bullhooks.
A May Facebook post announcing the reopening of the zoo said that Asha had been “retired” to a sanctuary. According to veterinary documents, the elephant was transferred from Natural Bridge to Two Tails Ranch, in Williston, Florida, near Gainesville, just before the Natural Bridge raid occurred.
Natural Bridge Zoo and Two Tails Ranch did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
Two Tails, owned by Patricia Zerbini, markets itself as “the only privately owned elephant facility of its kind.” During the tour, she said that over 300 elephants have been boarded at the facility, with a peak of 62 elephants at one time.
The ticket booth features a large sign highlighting the ranch’s opinion about animal activist groups, including PETA, the Humane Society of the United States, the Animal Liberation Front and Animal Defenders International. The sign reads, “Support true animal welfare! Your constitutional rights! … Not animal rights/activists!”
PETA and other animal rights organizations have lobbied against Two Tails for years, at one point naming Two Tails the seventh worst zoo for elephants in 2017, just two spots above the ninth-worst Natural Bridge Zoo.
According to Two Tails’ website, the ranch’s elephants are available for off-site rental for events such as Republican conventions and traditional Indian ceremonies. While on-site, visitors can purchase add-ons to their $20 ticket, such as elephant riding, photo ops or a $200 “extreme encounter” to “participate in enriching activities such as hand feed, ride, a bath/rubdown, personal time for photos, elephant viewing.”
It was unclear during a recent visit whether Asha is being used for rides and similar displays, such as the photo-op add-on.
According to the Ocala Gazette, the Zerbini family has worked with exotic captive animals for nine generations, while operating the Tarzan Zerbini Circus. Zerbini has previously confirmed that some of the elephants used at Two Tails are also used for the circus.
A recent tour of Two Tails began in an observation area, where Zerbini introduced the elephants currently held in the facility. Asha, now being called Asia, was described as being temporarily boarded there. Her living area was not immediately visible to visitors. Zerbini took questions from the tour group, which numbered around 20 on a recent Wednesday morning, and she claimed that elephants would almost certainly be extinct within the next 10 years, a fact she’s cited for years.
Robert McCleery, a wildlife and ecology professor at the University of Florida whose research includes optimal elephant environments, disputed that claim. “There is almost no chance of African elephants going extinct in the near future,” he wrote in an email.
During a recent visit, several elephants were shifting side to side in their enclosures, giving the appearance of swaying. During the tour, Zerbini attributed the swaying to a natural phenomenon, saying that elephants need to shift their weight back and forth through swaying. However, the swaying, known as a “stereotypic behavior,” is often attributed to bouts of lack of stimulation and distress in captive elephants.
Two Tails also uses the bullhook, a rod with a hook attachment meant to goad elephants. It is often used for “negative reinforcement” and sometimes for punishment or handler protection. It can cause psychological distress in elephants and remains highly controversial among animal rights activists.
While still legal in Florida, the bullhook was outlawed by Virginia in April, partially inspired by Asha’s treatment. In 2019, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, an accrediting institution, voted to phase out bullhooks in routine use starting in 2021 and end their use except in emergencies by 2023.
The tour of Two Tails also included visits to the ranch’s other animals, including a camel and a zebra, and several tortoises and lemurs. After similar descriptions of the animals, Zerbini dismissed the tour, leaving only those who purchased the elephant ride add-on.
The Natural Bridge Zoo’s legal fight continues. In early March, a jury returned 29 of the seized animals to the zoo, and the commonwealth kept the remaining 71. But questions remain about who should pay for the care of the seized animals, and the zoo’s attorneys have sought to set aside the jury verdict, arguing that one of their key witnesses had been improperly barred from testifying.
Those issues are set to be taken up in August.
Here’s what the Virginia search warrant said about Asha
This comes from the affadavit the attorney general’s office filed in December to obtain a search warrant of the Natural Bridge Zoo. C1-1 refers to a confidential informant. Cardinal News has redacted the name of the elephant keeper because he has not been charged:
“During the employment period, CI-1 recorded and documented daily tasks, observations, and conversations with other employees, management, and owners in writing and video. CI-1 also documented the animals and their habitats at Natural Bridge Zoo. Several conversations and observations in reference to ‘Asha,’ the elephant that resides at NBZ were documented.
“The elephant keeper … has worked at NBZ for over 15 years, he is responsible for Asha’s daily care and is present when elephant rides are offered to patrons. [The elephant keeper] carries a bullhook (a pole with a metal hook and metal tip, used in training and controlling elephant’s, by applying pressure to sensitive points on an elephants body) while patrons ride Asha in a circle around a fenced area. On April 12, 2023, [the elephant keeper] explained to CI-1 that it is important to get ‘keeper respect’ from any of the animals in the park. He advised CI-1 to ‘always’ jab them where ‘bone is close to flesh. Make it count.’
“On May 8, 2023, [the elephant keeper] further discusses the use of a bullhook stating, the ‘only reason you hit an elephant is for intimidation.’ [The elephant keeper] further states, that he is ‘not your [the elephant’s] friend,’ and ‘… it is about authority. I’m not her friend, I’m her boss, and you gain respect through fear.’
“Throughout CI-1’s employment it was well documented that Asha is living in substandard conditions. On May 8, 2023, [the elephant keeper] stated that Asha is ‘standing and sleeping in her own urine.’ After showing CI-1 two large cracks in the wall of the elephant barn, [the elephant keeper] explains that the cracks are why Asha is chained in the barn when unattended, and that he gives Asha cold baths because he does not want to ‘baby them too much.’
“On May 8, 2023, and again on May 16, and 17, 2023, CI-1 had been given access to Asha’s barn. During these 3 dates, he documented smeared excrement and urine puddled on the mat covering the concrete floor. Due to the buckling of the mat, urine and water rest on the mat as it prevents the liquids from properly running into the floor drain. In one of the videos where they are in the elephant barn, [the elephant keeper] says ‘see how the water’s just standing? That’s urine.’ Due to Asha being housed in shackles, she is not able to freely move out of her own waste.
“It has been well documented by CI-1 that Asha, who has lived as a solitary elephant for decades, has very little enrichment. Asha sways and rocks from side to side in order to soothe herself and relieve boredom and stress. On several dates, she was seen swaying and rocking for up to an hour at a time. Asha often tries to create mud holes by digging in the dirt and adding water from her trough, but each time she attempted this natural behavior, the zoo filled in the holes as it was important to them that she be clean so the public could ride her.
“On June 3, 2023, at the conclusion of elephant rides for the day, which are typically 3-4 days a week during the spring and summer season, from noon-3 pm, [the elephant keeper] stated that Asha ‘carried 166 guests on her back today.’ The following day, June 4, 2023, [redacted] an employee who worked in the gift shop where the tickets for elephant rides are sold, stated that Asha ‘carried 191 guests on her back today.’ In a 2-day period, Asha was forced to allow 357 people to ride her. Throughout CI-1’s employment, and during my visits to NBZ on October 25 and November 4, 2023, a sign was near the elephant ride area that read, ‘Weight limit of 250 lbs.’ CI-1 regularly saw 2 adults plus a child riding Asha at one time, which is clearly over the 250 lb. weight limit.
“On July 18, 2023, CI-1 saw [the elephant keeper] jab Asha in her right forefoot two times with the pointed end of a bullhook with enough force to get a reaction from Asha. When he did this, she immediately lifted her right foot, and shifted where she was standing. This jabbing happened during the time elephant rides were available, but no guests were nearby, and at the time [the elephant keeper] was sitting in a chair and Asha was standing at the loading platform. I asked [the elephant keeper] why he ‘poked’ Asha in her foot ‘the other day,’ and he told me that she was ‘spitting in [his] direction.’ During our conversation [the elephant keeper] told Asha ‘Move up,’ and then swung the hooked end of a bullhook against her left hind limb, after which she moved forwards.”