Anjalee the elephant is young, playful and on her way to Auckland Zoo - but not before a quick stop in Niue, where she has become a hit with the locals.
Following a 12-hour flight from Sri Lanka to Auckland, Anjalee flew on to Niue where she will be quarantined for 90 days before heading for Auckland Zoo to keep its other elephant, Burma, company.
The 6-year-old Asian elephant was transported to Niue using a New Zealand Defence Force C-130 Hercules due to her size, and is now under the watchful eye of Auckland Zoo’s Andrew Coers.
Since arriving, Anjalee has enchanted Niue locals, who are given shows and encounter chances using a public viewing platform near her quarantine enclosure.
She is the first of two elephants due to be brought to Auckland Zoo in coming years from Sri Lanka’s Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, which approached Auckland Zoo following the loss of the zoo’s elephant Kashin in 2009.
Asian elephants are an endangered species, with their wild habitat diminishing and population increasingly coming into conflict with human populations, with disastrous results.
Auckland Zoo only accepts elephants which have no prospects for release into the wild. (tvnz.co)
