A proposed new law to prohibit the keeping of elephants and great apes in captivity could cost up to $8 million to administer over the first five years. An elephant gets a pumpkin attached to a tree at the Prague Zoo, in the Czech Republic, Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023.

Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Petr David Josek

OTTAWA - A proposed law to prohibit keeping elephants and great apes in captivity in Canada could cost up to $8 million to administer over the first five years, the parliamentary budget officer said in a new analysis Thursday.

The estimated costs are largely associated with building and administering a new data system to keep track of the animals. Right now, there are 23 elephants and about 30 gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans.

The federal government called the conclusion speculative, noting it is based on legislation that hasn't even passed yet.

The government introduced Bill S-15 in the Senate last November, building off a similar private member's bill proposed earlier by Saskatchewan Sen. Marty Klyne. It is expected to face a final vote in the Senate this fall before being debated for the first time in the House of Commons.

The legislation seeks to bar the new acquisition or breeding of elephants and great apes, which include gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans.

Those already in captivity could remain, but new licences would only be issued for conservation or animal welfare purposes. Breeding without permission would be prohibited.

Fifteen of the elephants currently in captivity were born in Canadian zoos, four were born in the wild and others were born in facilities in Europe, the United States and Asia.

Conservative Sen. Don Plett, who opposes the bill, said he asked the parliamentary budget officer to cost it out.

The analysis published Thursday concluded it could cost up to $2 million a year to implement over the first three years and $1 million annually for the next two years after that.

The PBO said the number is based in part on data from Environment and Climate Change Canada on the number of additional staff it would need. It said there is some uncertainty about the cost of creating and maintaining a new database to track the animals.

Plett called the figure outrageous.

"It is, first of all, trying to fix a problem that isn't broken. So number 1, to spend the minimum of $8 million on trying to fix something that isn't broken is in itself a horrible waste of taxpayers' dollars," he said.

A spokesman for Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault dismissed the analysis as premature.

"The estimates in the PBO report are very speculative, as this legislation is currently subject to debate in the Senate and the House Commons, and no conclusions can yet be made about future cost implications," said Oliver Anderson.

He noted the bill does not require new bureaucratic entities and if it passes, the government will decide how to most efficiently implement it, which could include using existing staff and systems.

Anderson said the government could also choose to recover some of the costs with fees charged to the zoos involved. No decisions on any of that have been made, and they won't be unless the bill passes.

The Elephant Encyclopedia, an online database of elephants in captivity created by Swedish elephant trainer Dan Koehl, has identified 153 elephants held in captivity since the 1970s in 26 Canadian zoos and circuses or by private individuals.

Today, there are 18 elephants at the African Lion Safari near Hamilton, three at Zoo de Granby in Granby, Que., two at Parc Safari in Hemmingford, Que., and one at the Edmonton Valley Zoo.

Granby Zoo said in 2022 that it intended to relocate its three elephants — 34-year-old Thandi, 40-year-old Sarah and 25-year-old Tutume — but that hasn't happened yet.

The Edmonton Valley Zoo has been pressured to move Lucy, a 48-year-old elephant who has lived there since she was two, but said last December that she can't travel for health reasons.

The great apes in Canada include five rescued chimpanzees at the Fauna Sanctuary in Carignan, Que., seven gorillas and seven orangutans at the Toronto Zoo, four gorillas at Zoo de Granby and seven gorillas at the Calgary Zoo.

Animal welfare advocates say the proposed ban is needed to protect animals from harm, including from Canada's cold winters.

Klyne, who didn't immediately respond to a request for comment, said last fall that there are some wonderful conservation programs in Canada working to restore populations of great apes, which are endangered or critically endangered in the wild.

But he said there is no defence for keeping elephants, which are also endangered in the wild, in Canadian zoos. He pointed to studies that suggest elephants have lower fertility rates and higher death rates in captivity.

Plett is of a different view.

"I think these animals, if they could speak — and of course the animal rights activists believe that they can — if they could speak, I have a feeling these elephants would say, 'I'd rather be in Hamilton being well taken care of in this facility than out somewhere fighting to survive against poachers in the country of my origin,'" he said.

Canada's Accredited Zoos and Aquariums disputes the bill's claims that it is cruel to keep elephants and great apes in captivity.

The organization said it doesn't believe the possession or breeding of such animals in captivity should become a criminal offence, and existing regulations already protect the animals.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 8, 2024.

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