Zoo officials say their elephants are well cared for and well loved. "They probably spend more time with these elephants than they do their families,” says Melinda Arnold, spokesperson for the zoo.

However, zoo officials are getting no love from an animal rights group based in California, called In Defense of Animals. This week, the animal group called the Dickerson Park Zoo the hot spot for herpes transmission—the same virus believed to have killed 16-month old Nisha just a few days ago.

"We think that Dickerson Park Zoo is example number one of the reason zoos in general must place a moratorium on all breeding of Asian elephants and severe restrictions on the transfer of Asian elephants between zoos," says Suzanne Roy, with IDA.

"They are an anti-zoo organization," says Arnold. Arnold also says that the keepers follow guidelines by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums when it comes to elephant breeding.

Both the zoo and the animal rights group say they want the best for the elephants, but they're looking at one set of numbers very differently. Since the early 90s, six elephants were born to the elephants housed at the zoo, five of them came down with the herpes virus, and four of them died.

"Given the rate of infection and death of the young elephants born there, it's hard to deny that they're contaminated and have a problem with the virus,” says Roy.

But zoo officials say the group is misinterpreting the numbers. "The animal extremists would have you believe that we are somehow more vulnerable to the virus, some of that is because we've had more births here,” says Arnold. “We've had more who are in that very vulnerable age category."

Zoo officials say the most vulnerable elephants to contract herpes are younger than three years old. They say the numbers are being misinterpreted because they have had several calves. Zoo officials are also quick to point out that herpes has been found in the wild.

Meanwhile, the group is calling for the zoo to stop breeding.

Read the Animal Rights Group Report (pdf)

Read the Dickerson Park Zoo's Response (Word document)