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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
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Alaska Elephant Retires to SoCal

US Air Force enlisted to fly pachyderm Maggie south

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(Newser) – Maggie, Alaska's only elephant, is leaving Anchorage for California, where the 25-year-old is expected to enjoy warmer climes and the company of fellow pachyderms. With no commercial plane large enough, the US Air Force will handle transportation. Zoo officials were initially loathe to give her up, but acquiesced after two incidents when she couldn't get back on her feet.

Retired game-show host Bob Barker helped seal the deal by agreeing to donate $750,000 for Maggie's care at San Andreas' Performing Animal Welfare Society. Maggie is set to arrive tonight at the facility, where she will live with nine other elephants in a 30-acre enclosure. "It is probably a good thing," one Alaskan zoo-goer said. "She's probably a lonely animal."

Rob Smith plays with Maggie, an African elephant, at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage, Alaska, in this Aug. 12, 2004 file photo. Following an impassioned public outcry, the Alaska Zoo board has decided to relocate Maggie, state's only elephant, to another state under certain conditions, the board president said Wednesday,...
Rob Smith plays with Maggie, an African elephant, at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage, Alaska, in this Aug. 12, 2004 file photo. Following an impassioned public outcry, the Alaska Zoo board has decided...   (Associated Press)
Maggie the elephant looks through her cage at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage, Alaska in a Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007 photo, as her fans say their final farewell to Alaska's only elephant. After a months-long dispute between those wanting Maggie to stay at The Alaska Zoo and those advocating for...
Maggie the elephant looks through her cage at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage, Alaska in a Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007 photo, as her fans say their final farewell to Alaska's only elephant. After a months-long...   (Associated Press)
Tessa Kara, right, sprays water into Maggie's trunk to giver her a drink after a training session at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage, Alaska on Saturday Oct. 27, 2007. Hundreds of Maggie fans came to the zoo to say their final farewell to Alaska's only elephant who is scheduled to...
Tessa Kara, right, sprays water into Maggie's trunk to giver her a drink after a training session at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage, Alaska on Saturday Oct. 27, 2007. Hundreds of Maggie fans came to the...   (Associated Press)
Maggie, Alaska's only elephant, pushes a ball her enclosure at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage, Alaska, Monday, May 14, 2007. About 17 firefighters helped lift the 7,500-pound animal to her feet Sunday after she had lain down and couldn't get up. (AP Photo/Al Grillo)
Maggie, Alaska's only elephant, pushes a ball her enclosure at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage, Alaska, Monday, May 14, 2007. About 17 firefighters helped lift the 7,500-pound animal to her feet Sunday after...   (Associated Press)
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