From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2007:
SAN ANDREAS, Calif.–The long-awaited relocation of the lone
Alaska Zoo elephant from Anchorage to the Performing Animal Welfare
Society sanctuary near San Andreas, California was completed on
November 1, 2007 without complications.
Maggie, 25, had been alone at the Alaska Zoo since the
December 1997 death of her companion, Annabelle–with whom Maggie
reputedly did not get along.
Annabelle, 33, died from complications of a chronic foot
ailment common to elephants who spend most of their lives standing on
hard surfaces. A similar fate was widely predicted for Maggie, who
arrived at the Alaska Zoo from Kruger National Park in South Africa
in 1983. Her family had been shot in a cull.
The Alaskan climate obliged Maggie to spend most of her time
indoors. In California, “By mid-morning, Maggie was swinging her
trunk around her new barn, checking out the unfamiliar sights and
sounds,” wrote Megan Holland of the Anchorage Daily News. “By
mid-afternoon, she was sunbathing, eating green grass, and chasing
birds. On the sanctuary’s webcam, viewers watched other African
elephants meander up to a fence that separated them from Maggie. By
late afternoon, Maggie was walking up close to them, even raising
her trunk over the fence, seemingly to touch them.”
Retired television game show host Bob Barker donated $750,000
to fund the relocation–$400,000 for immediate expenses, the rest
for longterm care.

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