Bob Barker offers $100K for elephant checkup
Former talk-show host wants Lucy, Edmonton Valley Zoo's lone elephant, to get examined
Former television game show host Bob Barker is offering $100,000 to the City of Edmonton if it will allow experts to examine Lucy, the lone elephant at the Edmonton Valley Zoo.
"It seems like a win-win-win scenario to me," said Barker, in a news release. "The zoo wins, concerned citizens win, but most importantly of all, Lucy wins," said Barker, who gave up hosting duties with The Price is Right in 2007 after some 35 years.
A growing list of celebrities have joined animal rights groups in a high-profile campaign over the past couple of years urging the zoo to move the 35-year-old Asian elephant to a sanctuary in the United States.
The groups including Zoocheck and PETA believe Lucy is overweight, lonely and plagued with health problems typical of captive elephants.
Once Lucy is examined by experts selected by the animal protection groups, the city can spend the money however it wants, said Barker.
In December, former Edmonton Oiler Georges Laraque offered to donate $100,000 to a city project such as a downtown arena or a new Indy racetrack, if the city moves Lucy to a warmer climate.
The city has refused to entertain such requests, maintaining Lucy receives excellent care and moving her would endanger her health.