Tragic incident at London Zoo

Statement from The Zoological Society of London

Michael Dixon, Director General of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), issued the following statement at 12.30pm, 26th October 2001:

"Since the tragic incident at London Zoo on Saturday, we have moved from managing the elephants using the hands-on approach, which is accepted by the zoological industry world-wide as good practice for handling these animals. As an interim measure we are now using protected contact, which avoids staff handling the elephants directly. All three elephants are currently being given access to both the outside and inside enclosures. We will be in a position to make a fuller statement later."

Press contact: ZSL Public Relations Office on 020-7449 6363