Maggie Goes to California

By The Associated Press

posted: 02 November 2007 01:42 pm ET

: Maggie, Alaska's only elephant, has been relocated from the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage to the Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary in California. A C-17 Globemaster III from Elmendorf Air Force Base transported Maggie on Nov. 1, 2007 in a container specifically designed to transport elephants. In this picture, the entrance to the container can be seen in front of Maggie. Credit: U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Keith Brown
: John Bamburg operates a 60K Loader to put Maggie, an African elephant, aboard a C-17 Globemaster III at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, on Nov. 1. Maggie was transported from Elmendorf to Travis AFB, Calif. The entire operation from Alaska to her new home at the Performing Animals Welfare Society in California took approximately 12 hours. Credit: U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Keith Brown

FAIRFIELD, Calif. (AP) -- After living nearly her whole life in Alaska, Maggie the elephant on Friday made her way to a new home in California.

The 25-year-old African elephant arrived at Travis Air Force Base bound for the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) in the northern California town of San Andreas 85 miles away.

The Air Force agreed to transport Maggie -- for years Alaska's only elephant -- as part of a training mission after officials with PAWS and the zoo discovered she was too big for a commercial airline.

Maggie was locked and loaded into a special metal crate Thursday and arrived about midnight at Travis in Fairfield. She was trucked to her new home at the sanctuary, where she will have 30 acres to share with nine other elephants.

Maggie started her Air Force journey at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska and flew onboard an Alaska-based C-17 Globemaster III. Veterinarians from the zoo and PAWS flew with her, and zoo keepers will stay at the sanctuary for a few days to help Maggie adjust to her new surroundings.

The PAWS organization is reimbursing the Air Force for all costs to move Maggie. The costs are estimated to total between $215,000 and $300,000.

Maggie arrived in Alaska as a baby in 1983 after her herd was culled in South Africa. She lived as the sole occupant in the zoo's elephant house with concrete floors and a small outside enclosure.

The move comes after a months-long battle between those wanting Maggie to stay at The Alaska Zoo and those advocating for a warmer climate.

The zoo board initially balked at sending Maggie to another facility. With pressure mounting to do better by the elephant, the zoo embarked on an expensive campaign to improve her quality of life, including building a $100,000 treadmill Maggie couldn't be coaxed into using.

Pleas to have her moved grew louder this year when Maggie twice couldn't get back on her feet. Firefighters were called to hoist the 8,000-pound animal into a standing position.

The move became reality after retired game show host Bob Barker promised to donate $750,000 for her care.

The zoo's board of directors voted to re-locate Maggie to PAWS last month, deeming it was in the best interest to her health and well-being to be with other elephants in a milder climate. Elephants can live up to 70 years.

Additional reporting for this article was provided by Air Force Print News