By Melya Kaplan, Founder & Executive Director, Voice For The Animals Foundation
NBC4 Los Angeles has featured our vision for a new kind of elephant experience at the LA Zoo—not once, but twice!
Imagine an exhibit where visitors can experience the extraordinary lives of elephants in the wild, without confining a single elephant.
That is the idea behind Walk With the Herd, a proposed immersive, glasses-free 3D experience that could transform how we educate and inspire the next generation.
Watch the NBC4 Report
NBC4 — October 14, 2026 | Extended Report
Why We Need a Different Approach
A visitor to the Los Angeles Zoo once contacted us, deeply upset by something she said she had witnessed.
Children were throwing rocks at Tina the elephant and yelling, “Do something you stupid elephant. Do something!”
It was a heartbreaking account of cruelty. But it also highlighted a fundamental problem with traditional zoos.
The children were bored. Tina appeared to have little to do. Instead of witnessing the extraordinary natural behaviors of elephants, the visitors were waiting for an animal in captivity to entertain them.
No matter how hard a zoo tries, it cannot recreate the wild. But modern immersive technology can help us experience it.
Imagine Walking With Wild Elephants
Picture an exhibit where visitors can see elephants from their earliest days through old age.
Watch families grazing and foraging together. See elephants covering themselves in dirt, bathing in dust, and gently caressing one another with their trunks.
Imagine watching calves playing in water, elephants swimming, trumpeting with excitement, communicating through deep rumbles, and caring for one another.
These are the behaviors that make elephants so remarkable.
In the wild, elephants spend much of their lives moving, exploring, feeding, communicating, and interacting with their families.
An immersive exhibit could introduce visitors to these experiences in ways that a traditional enclosure never can.
Educational. Entertaining. Compassionate. And fun!
The Right Moment for the Los Angeles Zoo
With Billy and Tina transferred to the Tulsa Zoo in 2025, Los Angeles has an opportunity to reimagine what an elephant exhibit could become.
A recent grand jury report also raised serious concerns about the LA Zoo’s aging facilities and encouraged consideration of a new public-private partnership model.
Rather than investing in another traditional elephant enclosure, why not embrace a new approach?
The preliminary Walk With the Herd concept combines large-scale immersive projections, glasses-free 3D technology, and interactive educational experiences. Visitors could encounter the natural behaviors of elephants while learning about their families, habitats, and conservation.
The concept also envisions a possible preview in 2028, when Los Angeles welcomes visitors from around the world for the Olympic Games. That timeline depends on feasibility, approvals, funding, and implementation.
What an extraordinary opportunity to show the world that Los Angeles can lead the way in compassionate wildlife education.
The Future of Zoos Can Be Different
We do not need to confine elephants to teach children to love them.
We need to inspire curiosity, understanding, respect, and compassion.
Technology gives us new opportunities to do exactly that.
Imagine children leaving the LA Zoo talking not about an elephant standing motionless behind a barrier, but about elephant families swimming together, protecting their babies, and traveling through the forest.
That is the kind of education that can change hearts and minds.
The time to begin building that future is now.
Help Us Advocate for a More Compassionate Future
Voice For The Animals Foundation is committed to protecting animals and advancing humane alternatives to captivity.
Please share this story and help us spread the word about a better future for elephants.