LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Billy and Tina, a pair of Asian elephants long housed at the Los Angeles Zoo, were settling into their new home Wednesday at the Tulsa Zoo, following a day of mystery that began when the animals were quietly removed from their enclosure at the Griffith Park facility.

"Although they will be missed, we are grateful for the outpouring of support from our members, volunteers, staff, and the more than 1.5 million guests who visit the Los Angeles Zoo annually," according to a Wednesday morning statement from the Los Angeles Zoo. "As they begin their new chapter, we know that Billy and Tina will receive the same love and expert individualized care that they have had at the Los Angeles Zoo."

Animal advocacy groups such as Social Compassion in Legislation, among others, had been pushing zoo officials to delay the announced move of the elephants to Tulsa, insisting the animals would be better served with a transfer to a sanctuary where they would have more room to roam.

"They are now in prison, and there's even talk that Billy is going to be used in a breeding program," Judie Mancuso, president of Social Compassion in Legislation, a political animal advocacy group, told City News Service Wednesday. "That's like torture on top of torture."

According to Mancuso, advocates brought one sanctuary proposal to Bass. Philanthropist and EcoFlix CEO David Casselman offered to pay and relocate the elephants to a sanctuary he owns in Cambodia, but Mancuso said the proposal was ignored. Advocates were prepared to bring the city two more proposals from local sanctuaries, but the next thing they knew, the elephants had shackles on them, Mancuso said.

"So then we knew. It's coming soon," Mancuso said of the elephants' relocation.

The Tulsa Zoo's Elephant Experience and Preserve was already home to five Asian elephants, and its preserve covers 17 acres, including a 36,650- square-foot elephant barn and a 10-plus-acre wooded elephant preserve. Advocates insisted that size of an enclosure is far to small to accommodate to more elephants.

City Councilman Bob Blumenfield previously introduced a motion calling for the zoo to delay its decision until additional options are explored, and calling on zoo officials to appear before the council before moving the elephants.

But Billy and Tina disappeared from their L.A. Zoo enclosure on Tuesday, prompting an outcry from activists demanding answers about their whereabouts. Neither zoo officials or representatives of Mayor Karen Bass' office responded to inquiries Tuesday.

TMZ reported that the elephants were put into crates and loaded onto a semi-truck for the transfer around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, citing sources connected to the Los Angeles Zoo.

The zoo ultimately confirmed the move Wednesday morning, doubling-down on its insistence that the move to the Tulsa Zoo was the best choice for the elephants.

"The Zoo evaluated all available options including (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) accredited sanctuaries," according to a zoo statement. "Mayor Bass inquired about moving the elephants to a sanctuary -- the Zoo worked to ensure that all viable options had been considered during the course of the Zoo's comprehensive evaluation.

"The decision to move the elephants to the Tulsa Zoo was made with the health and well-being of the individual elephants as the top priority and at the recommendation of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and its Elephant Species Survival Plan which advises on the management of the entire population of elephants in AZA-accredited institutions as a single herd. The Tulsa Zoo was the top recommendation of the SSP based on space, herd dynamics, and expertise of the staff. This option also ensured that Billy and Tina would be able to remain together."

Zoo officials announced April 22 that the elephants would be relocated to the Elephant Experience and Preserve in Tulsa, which prompted protests and a lawsuit.

Animal advocates also sent a letter to Bass, co-signed by such celebrities as Cher, Alicia Silverstone, Diane Warren and Justin Theroux.

"We are writing you in support of moving the last two Los Angeles Asian elephants to a sanctuary, not another zoo," the letter read. "We urge you to allow these majestic beings to retire."

Last week, a judge declined to issue a temporary restraining order to block the relocation of the elephants.

Los Angeles Zoo CEO Denise Verret previously said she would make decisions that are for the best interest of the animals.

Billy is 40 years old and Tina is 59. Zoo officials said they have been evaluating the elephant exhibit since the deaths of two other elephants -- Jewel, age 61, in 2023, and Shaunzi, age 53, in 2024 -- although they said those animals were in "declining health due to issues unrelated to the zoo's enclosure or care."

Blumenfield and animal advocates had called for the elephants to be released to the 3,060-acre Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee, home to 12 elephants, or the Performing Animal Welfare Society's sanctuary in Northern California.

Animal advocates have long called for the release of the elephants, whom they say suffer from "grave distress" and medical conditions due to the limited confines at the zoo -- a claim the L.A. Zoo has denied.

"The Los Angeles Zoo works tirelessly to assure that all its animals, including the elephants receive the best care possible and any assertion to the contrary is imply false," zoo officials said in a statement last week. "The care and wellbeing of the animals is always a top priority and decisions impacting the animals are made at discretion of the zoo director -- an authority granted in the Los Angeles City Charter."

"Activist agendas and protests are rightfully not a consideration in decisions that impact animal care," the statement continued.

Bill Handel