I just got this email from Debbie Leahy, the director of PETA’s Captive Exotic Animals Department:

Sad news. A dear friend, Delhi, passed away on Tuesday, March 11. Delhi was the first elephant confiscation in U.S. history. After an extensive campaign by PETA, the USDA seized Delhi from Hawthorn Corporation and transferred her to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee after determining that she was in imminent danger from lack of veterinary care. Delhi had been suffering from abscesses, lesions, osteomyelitis, and severe chemical burns to her feet. She was originally captured in India and acquired by Hawthorn in 1974. At the sanctuary since November 2003, Delhi enjoyed leisurely grazing in the sun, playing with toys, and napping on a shady hillside with the companionship of many other elephants. She was lucky to have kind, nurturing care in her final years.

Sad news indeed. But it’s comforting to reflect that she escaped the horrible fate of most elephants held in captivity for her last years.

We were recently informed by a whistleblower that Ringling trainer Joe Frisco Jr. was attacked by one of the elephants used by the circus, sustaining injuries severe enough to send him to the hospital. The source claimed that Frisco "has been pounding" on the elephant, which, given the Frisco family’s penchant for violently abusing animals, sounds about right to me. Joe’s brother Tim Frisco was caught on tape viciously beating elephants with steel-tipped bullhooks for the Carson & Barnes Circus, and you can watch video footage showing some of Tim Frisco’s “work” for the circus below. We’ve asked the USDA to look into this incident, so I’ll let you know how that investigation turns out.

nytimes/Creative Commons

After years of urging from PETA, the Alaska Zoo just announced that they will be sending Maggie, a 27-year-old African elephant, to the Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary in California! Maggie was captured in Zimbabwe in 1981 during a cull, and likely watched as her entire family was slaughtered. She has lived at the Alaska Zoo since 1983, and the last 10 years of captivity for this highly social animal have been solitary, after her only companion, an Asian elephant named Annabelle, died.

It's pretty much a no-brainer that elephants, who roam up to 30 miles a day, don't belong in zoos, and Anchorage, like most northern zoos, is far too cold for an elephant, meaning that she spends many months out of the year locked indoors.

You may remember that Maggie was in the news recently after a failed attempt by the zoo to provide her with a treadmill to give her exercise. Following this incident, and two subsequent collapses by Maggie due to failing health, attitudes from locals and the media changed, and more and more people began calling for her release to a sanctuary.

As PETA Director Debbie Leahy says,

“We applaud the Alaska Zoo for its compassionate decision to move Maggie to a warmer climate where she will be able to socialize with other elephants for the first time in 10 years. By taking action now, the zoo has ensured Maggie's future happiness and probably saved her life.”

The zoo plans to finalize the agreement with PAWS within two weeks, and hopefully she'll be headed to the sanctuary before winter. Congratulations to everyone who worked so hard to make this happen!

PETA has donated $10,000 dollars toward Maggie’s long-term care—we hope she gets well soon.