A History of National Elephant Appreciation Day The first Elephant Appreciation Day was celebrated on 22 September 1996 by its founder Wayne Hepburn. After receiving a paperweight, “encircled by a parade of elephants,” a gift from his daughter, he became enamored by them (elephants, not paperweights. 🙂 ) His new passion led him to read … Continue reading »
It was an eventful day when Shirley the elephant arrived in the transport truck on 6 July 1999 at her new home at The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee. Even with all of the emotion surrounding her arrival, elephant emotions included, Shirley could never have imagined that a special encounter would be only hours away! … Continue reading »
Elephas maximus sumatranus For more Photos of Shirley you will love see them at: The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee In her over 66 years of living, as of this writing, Shirley has been through more distress than most elephants including: In 1975, she was made to join the Lewis Brothers Circus. During one … Continue reading »
Name: Shirley Date of Birth: 1948 Place of Birth: Sumatra (an island in Indonesia); “a rare Asian elephant” Gender: Female Where Now: The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee Status: Oldest and most infirm elephant at the sanctuary Elephas maximus sumatranus For more Photos of Shirley you will love see them at: The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee … Continue reading »
Buried on the grounds of the 25 wooded acres of the Alaska Zoo, which was her home for just over 28 years, a monument was placed to celebrate the life of a popular elephant. “Annabelle Beloved Asian Elephant 7-17-1965 12-15-1997” is etched on the tall, grey hewn stone. Her photograph is placed prominently and there … Continue reading »
Name: Maggie Date of Birth: 1980 Place of Birth: Zimbabwe, Africa Gender: Female Where Now: PAWS Sanctuary African Elephant Loxodonta Africana For more Photos and also Videos of Maggie you will love see them at: PAWS Sanctuary It was 1981 when Maggie was taken in a culling; her mother left dead on the savanna. … Continue reading »
Part 2: Entertaining Elephants: The Review “In 1796, an elephant came to the United States.” From his first “scheme” to capitalize on these animals (the purveyor of pachyderms, Captain Jacob Crowninshield, readily admitted to these shenanigans) Americans were introduced to something they knew little of, namely, the elephant. It is from this humble existence that … Continue reading »
Part 1: A News Item: What Happened to Carol the Elephant? As if serving as a press release for the 2013 publication of the book Entertaining Elephants by Susan Nance a news item, in that year, appeared in papers across the country. It concerned an almost unheard of event involving an Asian elephant … Continue reading »
Name at Birth: Chang Dee Name Now: Prince Date of Birth: 24 May 1987 Place of Birth: Portland, Oregon at the Oregon Zoo Mother: Me-Tu also born at the Oregon Zoo Father: Hugo who was donated to the Oregon Zoo, several years before Chang Dee’s birth, by Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus Gender: Male … Continue reading »
Exotic wildlife, including elephants, can thank their lucky stars that Marlina Moreno, a 24-year-old beauty who has modeled for Sports Illustrated and danced for an NFL team, “found her calling” after visiting a South African jungle in 2012. After that fateful trip, she felt compelled to leave her spot on the cheerleading squad for the San … Continue reading »