Video Update: African elephants adjusting to new home

Yum! Alfalfa!

Omaha, Neb. (WOWT) - The elephants that left Africa Thursday made it to their final destination Friday evening. After their plane arrived at Eppley Airfield around 4:10 p.m., the five females and one male, each in their own cargo crate, were lifted onto two trucks for the ride home to the Henry Doorly Zoo.

Some of the elephants have already begun eating the food provided, which the zoo sees as a sign the animals are already getting somewhat comfortable. "We're here for the animals, not the other way around," said zoo director Dennis Pate. "And so we really see it that way and increasingly you're going to see our zoo's been doing it for a long time, the work in conservation helping animals in the wild, you're only going to see that grow."

The elephants will first be quarantined and once they seem comfortable around people, visitors can expect to see them within about 30 days. The last time the zoo had elephants was in 2011.

After a 10-hour flight from Dakar, the plane landed at Fort Worth Alliance Airport around midnight. Five elephants were dropped off there for the Dallas zoo. The remaining elephants remained on the 747 and after a layover in Wichita, Kansas Friday afternoon continued on to Omaha.

A total of 17 African elephants made this trip from a national park in Swaziland. The number initially slated to make the trip to the U.S. was 18, but one died in December from a condition that could not be treated.

Swaziland is experiencing an extreme drought and because of that and the overpopulation of elephants in the area, these animals were facing certain death, according to zoo authorities.

Laurie Holloway, with the Dallas Zoo, said, "It's a tough situation over there. And we are proud to be able to step up and rescue these elephants and give them a new home. There was no home for them there."

The transport has been a task. One fully-grown African elephant can weigh up to six tons. Zoo officials in Omaha, Dallas and Wichita worked with U.S. Fish and Wildlife to get the animals here as quickly as possible.

WOWT 6 News got a close-up view of the elephants' new home at the Henry Doorly Zoo in January, the newly-built 28-acre African Grasslands Exhibit. Nebraska winters will take some getting used to, but we're told the elephants will likely spend the cold days inside their family quarters. That's a giant building designed to house six elephants.

When we toured the facility, Pate assured us a lot of research went into creating the perfect home for these animals. "We've taken new steps. We've looked at a lot of the literature to make sure we build environments that are enriching for the elephants, that allow them to maintain nice social groups and for them to be able to exercise and travel both inside and especially outside."

Part of the funding raised from this exhibit will continue to support their donations to parks worldwide that protect these animals from the wild and mostly from poaching.

Not everyone is happy about the move. The Animal Protection Coalition fought to keep this from happening and on Friday a coalition of animal protection organizations issued a statement demanding the United States Department of Agriculture immediately inspect the elephants.

Source: Video Update: African elephants adjusting to new home