SEATTLE - An animal rights organization is objecting to a Seattle zoo's elephant breeding program.
The group, In Defense of Animals, has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It says the Woodland Park Zoo's elephant breeding program violates the federal Animal Welfare Act.
The group says the zoo shouldn't continue breeding elephants knowing that any infant born there faces a high risk of disease and death.
Zoo officials say the elephant whose 6-year-old calf died in 2007 from an elephant herpes virus was inseminated last week after she showed signs of ovulating.
The group has also filed complaints against elephant breeding at three other zoos, the Houston Zoo, the St. Louis Zoo and the Oklahoma City Zoo.
