The animal rights pressure group Peta is demanding that Scotland’s only elephant is moved into a sanctuary.
The US-based organisation wants Mondula to be removed from its home at Blair Drummond Safari Park.
It follows the announcement by park bosses that a search was under way for a new elephant companion, after Mondula’s neighbour Toto died in March, aged 46.
Peta, which has about 5 million supporters across the globe, has now written to the Stirling-based attraction and urged general manager Gary Gilmour to stop the search and move Mondula into an elephant reserve.
In the letter, Peta notes that elephants in nature travel up to 30 miles a day in their close-knit family herds, which the group say is essential for their physical and psychological well-being.
Peta – People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals – argue that animals kept in zoos and safari parks suffer from arthritis, foot and joint diseases, depression and other ailments.
According to its slogan, Peta believes that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”.
UK-based Peta senior campaign coordinator Kirsty Henderson said: “At a reputable sanctuary, Mondula would be able to enjoy ample space in a more natural environment among dozens of potential companions.
“Peta stands ready to help Blair Drummond Safari Park find a new home at a sanctuary with other elephants, where she’d be able to choose the company she keeps.”
In her letter to Mr Gilmour, she wrote: “By all accounts, Mondula and her now deceased companion, Toto, had a frigid relationship – and the same issue may occur should another elephant be brought to the park.
“An accredited sanctuary that is home to many other elephants, on the other hand, would allow her to choose the company she keeps – something which is of grave importance to these highly social animals.”
No one at the park has commented on Peta’s letter.
The park has been in touch with zoos across Europe to find company for the “cheeky and clever” 46-year-old Mondula, known as Mondy.
The two elephants had been together for almost 20 years.
The park’s education officer Katie Macfarlane said earlier this month that Mondula had been affected by Toto’s death.
“For a few days she was quite sad and upset and you could tell she was wondering what had happened,” she said.
“In the family groups in the wild it has been seen that they mourn each other, but Toto and Mondy weren’t related.
“So there was a bond in the sense that they are very intelligent animals, but it wasn’t a family bond.”
An elephant’s tale
Mondula became Scotland’s last elephant when her closest companion Toto had to be put down by park keepers in early 2016.
Staff had found her collapsed in her enclosure. The area was shut down while vets assessed her condition.
But after failed attempts to get her back on her feet, bosses made the difficult decision to euthanise Toto to prevent her any further suffering.
The gentle giant’s death prompted a flood of tributes on social media.
A Blair Drummond spokesman said at the time: “There will always be people criticising that animals are in the parks but you just have to look at all the lovely responses on the post about Toto.
“The negative response is not much compared to all the good ones.”
Toto came to the park in 1997 from Basel Zoo in Switzerland, the same year that her companion Modula arrived from Erfurt Zoo in Germany.
Blair Drummond’s third elephant, a female named Estrella, died aged 49 in 2013. She had also arrived at the park in the 1990s.
Shortly before her death, the park opened its new elephant building, which was designed as a retirement home.
The new-look home, which was officially opened by Princess Anne, includes a computer-controlled feeding system which allowed the elephants to eat food over a 24-hour period.
