June 28, 2005 -- By: Elizabeth O'Hara/KFOX News at Nine

Mona died at the El Paso Zoo in October 2001. Zoo officials say it was old age, but those trying to send Juno and Savannah to a sanctuary say it's not that simple. Tuesday they made public the results of Mona's after-death report. "If a person were to have the same kind of arthritis that Mona had, that she suffered from, they would not be able to bear the pain that he or she was in and it would require a joint replacement," said Catherine Doyle, spokeswoman for In Defense of Animals, a national animal rights organization.

KFOX News obtained the Zoo's own health records on Mona. Among her health problems, a necropsy shows she suffered from "bone on bone" contact in her right hip where the cartilage had worn. Her right knee joint was out of alignment. And in her last hours, she succumbed to limb paralysis.

But even as far back as 1996, five years before she died, Mona was having problems. Zoo records show a cracked left foot pad, a broken nail, a toe wound that was oozing, and Mona had started mutilating herself. A zoo spokesman says in spite of the zoo's own records, Mona did not have long-term health problems that ultimately killed her.

"Mona was one of the oldest elephants at the time of her death and she simply died of complications of old age," said El Paso Zoo spokesman, Rick Lobello.

Elephant activists say Juno and Savannah are already showing health problems like Mona, attributed they say to living in an enclosure that's too small for such large animals. But the American Zoological and Aquarium Association says the El Paso Zoo is a healthy place for the elephants.

"If you can't trust the American Zoo and Aquarium Association who accredits our zoo, and gives us a very high rating, then who can you trust?" said Lobello. However according to "In Defense of Animals" which is now helping local elephant activists, thirty-eight elephants, including our own Mona died in AZA accredited facilities in the last five years. Of those, more than than half never made it to their 40th birthday.

But zoo supporters say more space won't necessarily mean a longer life for Juno and Savannah and sanctuary isn't synonymous with serenity.

Lobello says, "Just because our animals might have arthritis doesn't mean if they go to a sanctuary, they're won't."

The move to have the elephants relocated goes before City Council in one week but it's expected to be postponed for a special meeting at the end of the month. Five votes from City Council will be needed to relocate the elephants.

Both sides are requesting that you contact your local city representative and let them know how you feel.