Oakland Zoo elephant manager Jeff Kinzley was scrubbing her feet.

"The leading cause of death among elephants in captivity is foot problems," Kinzley said. "You have to look carefully."

It may seem odd that a small twig in the foot of a 9,000-pound animal can put it down for the count. But, in fact, it has become big news that these mammoth pachyderms are far from indestructible.

Last year, two elephants died at the San Francisco Zoo, eventually prompting the zoo to send its remaining two to an elephant sanctuary in Calaveras County. At the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, one elephant died of tuberculosis in October while another was euthanized in January. The Alaska Zoo in Anchorage is facing mounting criticism for electing to build a treadmill for its solitary elephant Maggie -- who is both overweight and depressed -- instead of sending her to a sanctuary, asthe San Francisco Zoo did with its animals and as the Detroit Zoo will soon do.

To survive the maelstrom created by politicians, animal-rights activists and others, it seems elephant managers at zoos need as thick a skin as their charges possess.

However, while other zoos are letting their elephants go, the Oakland Zoo is doing just the opposite. A year ago, the zoo welcomed 10-year-old Osh from a wildlife park in England. He joins female elephants M'Dunda, Lisa, 28, and Donna, 25, on the zoo's five-acre-plus elephant habitat. Last year, the Oakland Zoo completed a $100,000 expansion of that habitat.

By comparison, the San Francisco Zoo had about 26,000 square feet of room -- less than an acre -- for its two elephant exhibits.

"They're kind of spoiled here," said Oakland's Kinzley, whose sister Colleen runs the zoo's elephant program.

"They do such a great job there with their elephants," Pat Derby, founder of the Performing Animal Welfare Society, said late last year. "They always have with (Zoo Director Joel) Parrott there."

Derby's group runs some of those elephant sanctuaries in California to which other zoos -- including the San Francisco Zoo -- have sent their elephants recently. In 1995, the society gave an award to the Oakland Zoo for its treatment of elephants.

That award had a lot to do with the Oakland Zoo again bucking national trends and becoming the first zoo in the nation to exclusively use "protected contact" in its handling of elephants. The approach is simple; instead of a "free contact" approach in which trainers try to show dominance over an elephant -- sometimes with a bull hook -- handlers tend to elephants only when they are in protective chutes. The elephants are lured in by treats, and there is never punishment for not cooperating.

All of this is not to say the Oakland Zoo has not had some of the same problems other facilities have faced with their elephant exhibits. The change to protected contact was spurred on after an elephant killed his trainer in 1991. Ten years later, Smokey, the zoo's bull elephant, died unexpectedly.

"We're still not quite sure why he died," Kinzley said. "It was like a stroke."

That is a common theme among captive-elephant deaths. Many have died unexpectedly, and it is quite common for them to die two or three decades younger than would the average elephant in the wild.

Alan Roocroft, an elephant specialist and consultant to zoos worldwide who also helped invent protected contact training, said many components probably go into an elephant failing to reach the normal age of 60 or 65 that elephants in the wild can.

"There are so many ailments they can get in captivity," Roocroft said. "And their surroundings are different. They walk less. They are overweight. They get foot problems. But it's not unusual for an elephant to die in captivity, and, even after an autopsy, they don't know why."

Roocroft blames a slow change philosophy in the industry and people's infatuation with elephants as the reasons the big animals continue to die early in captivity.

"Zoos think it's their God-given right to have an elephant," Roocroft said. "You can put a shine on it all you want, but elephants are not doing well in captivity."

Nevertheless, the Oakland Zoo is excited about the future. The hope there is Osh will soon be introduced to Donna -- the dominant female elephant of the zoo -- in an open yard and he will eventually mate with one of the females.

"We'll see if he gets beat up on," Kinzley smiles.

If he does, Kinzley says they'll try the introductions again later. Maybe they'll even try something new and different -- something the zoo has not shied away from in the past.