Tennessean.Com
May 3, 2007
By Jennifer Brooks, Staff Writer

Original Article

Dulary, left, and Tarra get acquainted at the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn. Dulary, 43, arrived Tuesday from the Philadelphia Zoo. (COURTESY OF ELEPHANT SANCTUARY)

Dulary the elephant slept under the stars and spent her first day of retirement splashing through rain puddles.

The newest arrival at The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald spent most of her life at the Philadelphia Zoo, where her life was defined by timetables and visiting hours. But from the minute she arrived Tuesday afternoon, Dulary's life changed.

Initially leery of leaving the comfort of the trailer that carried her from Philadelphia, Dulary stayed in the truck for four and a half hours, snacking and playing with bits of hose from her bath. Finally, she strolled out to explore the rest of the sanctuary's 2,700-acre preserve for retired zoo and circus elephants.

Three members of her new herd — Delhi, Tarra and Misty — were waiting impatiently to welcome her, trunks poking through the barn stalls. They drifted over as soon as they spotted her trailer pulling up the drive and remained nearby, calling out to her until she finally left the trailer, said sanctuary spokeswoman Kate Elliott.

Dulary meets the elephants  

"She's been in a sandwich ever since, pressed up against Delhi and Misty," Elliott said. "They're constantly trading off who gets to be in the middle."

The elephants at the sanctuary have complete freedom to move about their designated areas in the preserve. Dulary opted to spend her first night outside and remained outdoors during Wednesday's rainstorms.

Dulary is a 43-year-old Asian elephant who has lived at the Philadelphia Zoo since she was a few months old. The zoo recently concluded that it did not have the space to house Dulary and its three African elephants properly and made arrangements to send them to more spacious quarters. It has been years since Dulary has seen another Asian elephant.

"It's so glorious," said Elliott, who watched Dulary mix and mingle with the new herd and adjust to the idea that she's free to come and go as she pleases for the first time.

The elephants have free range of large tracts of the sanctuary. Separate areas also house a small herd of African elephants and a separate herd of former circus elephants known as "the Divas."

Dulary's arrival brings the sanctuary's population to 19 elephants.