Activists weep as 2 aging elephants begin 2,000-mile journey to Oklahoma City Zoo from their Seattle home

Activists weep as 2 aging elephants begin 2,000-mile journey to Oklahoma City Zoo from their Seattle home

A judge declined activists' motion to block the transfer, meaning that the elephants were cleared to board a flatbed truck and make the 40-hour journey last night.

Two aging female elephants, Bamboo and Chai, are headed for Oklahoma City after a judge decided not to block them from being moved from their home in Seattle at the Woodland Park Zoo.

The elephants began their 2,000-mile trip on Wednesday evening on a trip that will take them 40 hours after activists failed to block the move when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied their motion to stop the move, according to an Associated Press.

Activists argue that the trip puts the elephants’ health in jeopardy, and that their lives wouldn’t be as good in Oklahoma than they would be in Seattle. Activists believe that they should be kept in a sanctuary where they have more space rather than confining them in zoos.

Woodland Park Zoo President Deborah Jensen said in a statement that the the aging elephants — Bamboo is 48 and Chai is 36 — will get all the care they need during the trip from expert staff, and they will have breaks every few hours to check on them and provide them with food and water.

The staff had conducted two months of crate training with the elephants so they would be calm during the trip. They brought with them 660 pounds of hay and melons.

Zoo officials believe the elephants will be better off joining a larger herd in Oklahoma City.

However, activists were upset at the decision, with some of them weeping, according to the report.

“This is about the elephants — our humanity and how we treat these other beings,” said one activists as quoted in the report.

The zoo believes the transfer will provide the two elephants with more space, and had considered other zoos that had Asian elephants before settling on Oklahoma City.

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