An Entertainment Abuses Article used with permission from All-Creatures.org

In Defense of Animals reports that actor Samuel L. Jackson has joined the fight for elephants Billy and Tina to be sent to sanctuary, where they can enjoy the remainder of their lives in comfort and peace after a lifetime of captivity.

Samuel L. Jackson Urges Tulsa Zoo to Release LA Elephants Billy & Tina
From Staff, IDA In Defense of Animals, idausa.org
March 2026

Images from Canva and The Met

LOS ANGELES/TULSA, Okla. (March 14, 2026) — For more than 30 years, Billy the elephant was one of Los Angeles’ most famous residents. When the Los Angeles Zoo secretly shipped him and his zoo mate, Tina, to Oklahoma in the dead of night last May, it broke the hearts of Angelenos. Now, as Tina battles a serious, life-threatening uterine infection, Hollywood titan Samuel L. Jackson is stepping in to help bring them to the sanctuary they deserve before it’s too late.

Jackson, known for his narration of wildlife documentaries like African Cats and his recent visit to Kenya’s Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, has joined an international coalition led by In Defense of Animals pressuring the Tulsa Zoo to immediately release Billy and Tina. The Tulsa Zoo was recently named the No. 10 Worst Zoo for Elephants in North America for its high-mortality breeding program.

“Billy and Tina have sanctuaries willing to take them in,” said the producer and one of the world’s highest-grossing actors, Samuel L. Jackson. “Continued exploitation and denial of their freedom is making them worse, and time is running out! Join me in supporting In Defense of Animals and urge the Tulsa Zoo to retire these elephants before it’s too late.”

With Tina’s life in immediate peril, advocates say it is vital for the zoo to have her urgently assessed for transport and, if she is able to be moved, sent as soon as feasible to sanctuary. Two different sanctuaries have offered homes to Billy and Tina.

The movement to free Billy and Tina has rapidly gained global traction. Jackson is the latest of more than 10,000 people who have signed a letter to Tulsa Zoo President and CEO Lindsay Hutchison, urging her to release all the elephants, including Billy and Tina.

“It’s not surprising to any of us that Tina’s health is failing at the Tulsa Zoo,” said Courtney Scott, veteran elephant consultant with In Defense of Animals, the world’s leading international animal protection organization advocating for all elephants globally. “True compassion would be sending Tina and her longtime buddy, Billy, to an elephant sanctuary. This really is a no-brainer. Tina will receive top-notch medical care at a sanctuary, and peace which will have a direct impact on her health. Living in a large, stress-free environment is the best medicine for Tina. In fact, it’s the best medicine for all captive elephants.”

Billy and Tina are at the center of a bi-state controversy. Their clandestine move in May 2025 betrayed scores of Los Angeles activists, celebrities, city and state officials, and attorneys who fought for years to have the long-suffering elephants retired to a sanctuary. Instead, they were transferred to Tulsa to be used as commodities in a high-pressure breeding program that forces elephants into unnaturally early, rapid reproduction and invasive procedures.

Ignacia Fernández, Miss World Chile, has also joined the call, stating: “Zoos breed elephants into lives of impoverishment. Born as prisoners, treated as playthings and profit-drivers, they fade away without ever truly living... I stand with In Defense of Animals to stop zoo breeding and free elephants to sanctuaries.”

The Tulsa Zoo currently holds seven elephants, all of whom exhibit profound zoochotic stress behaviors. Video captured by Elephant Guardians of Los Angeles reveals another resident elephant, Sneezy, attempting a breakout, while Billy and Tina display ongoing signs of brain damage caused by severe mental distress — swaying and bobbing endlessly.

At the Tulsa Zoo, Billy and Tina join Hank, a bull who was shuttled between four facilities and is now slated as a sperm donor for artificial insemination (AI). Billy himself has already been subjected to more than 50 sperm extractions in Los Angeles, and could face more at Tulsa. Bulls are restrained and subjected to highly invasive rectal procedures to extract the semen needed for a chance to make a ticket-boosting baby elephant.

Breeding loans are just as bad for elephants, spreading elephant TB, a leading cause of death in captive elephants. A new scientific review shows frequent relocations, such as for breeding, cause transfer trauma and drastically raise the risk of premature death.

“We are deeply grateful to Hollywood icon Samuel L. Jackson for supporting our efforts to free Billy, as well as Tina and all elephants begging for freedom from the Tulsa Zoo,” added Scott. “We cannot let Billy, Tina or the other elephants die in this place of suffering, loss, and broken lives.”

Tulsa Zoo has earned a place on the 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants list for the second time. Its highly promoted 10-acre “preserve” was already inadequate before Billy and Tina arrived. Their visible zoochotic behaviors suggest conditions are even more harmful now — not only for them, but for the other five elephants already confined there.

“For Billy and Tina, the pattern is clear — and so is the solution,” said Fleur Dawes, Director of Communications and International Partnerships for In Defense of Animals. “Sanctuaries are waiting. The harm is ongoing. And the chance to do the right thing is slipping away. Billy and Tina should be immediately released from the Tulsa Zoo, where elephants are treated as commodities instead of living beings. True conservation happens in the wild, not behind bars. The only ethical path forward for Tulsa Zoo is to end captive breeding and move its elephants, starting with Billy and Tina, to a spacious, true sanctuary.”

2025 List of the 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants:

Houston Zoo, Houston, Texas
Sedgwick County Zoo, Wichita, Kan.
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium, Omaha, Neb.
African Lion Safari, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Denver Zoo, Denver, Colo.
Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Powell, Ohio
ABQ BioPark, Albuquerque, N.M.
Oklahoma City Zoo, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Fresno Chaffee Zoo, Fresno, Calif.
Tulsa Zoo, Tulsa, Okla.

Hall of Shame: Oregon Zoo, Portland, Ore.

Path to Progress Award: Louisville Zoo, Louisville, Ky.

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Posted on All-Creatures.org: March 26, 2026
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