A day this elephant will never forget: Anne's retirement begins as campaign to build haven for circus animals is launched

By JANE FRYER

Jumping for joy: Anne enjoys playing with a tyre as she explores her new home


Anne’s first steps are faltering as, slowly, she shuffles forwards, back legs dragging painfully on the concrete floor, her head bobbing nervously up and down, and breath coming in loud, whooshing blasts. Everything about her looks tired and creaky and sore, from her arthritic joints to her dry, wrinkled skin.

Her dark brown eyes are weepy, her huge yellow toenails chipped and gnarled. Her tail finishes in a sad, knobbly stump — the feathery end chewed off decades ago.

But as she edges further across the lush green grass of her new enclosure, towards a flock of pink flamingos and a herd of eland basking in the spring sunshine, she seems to savour every second.


In the shower: Warden Andy Hayton turns on the hose - something that Anne clearly relishes


Every few paces she stops to feel the sun on her back, curl a tuft of grass in her trunk, or have a satisfying scratch against a fallen log.

And, presumably, to revel in her sudden good fortune.

Because, thanks to the Daily Mail — and, more importantly, to the unfailing support of our readers — Britain’s last (and oldest) working circus elephant has finally hung up her undignified feather headdress.


Play time: Anne is learning how to enjoy herself for the first time. A daily sand shower is one of her main pleasures


After 54 years of performing and relentless touring, Anne has begun her long overdue retirement in a tranquil, 13-acre enclosure in the beautifully landscaped grounds of Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire.

It couldn’t be more of a contrast to the home where she has lived for the past half century — a corrugated metal compound, littered with animal droppings, owned by the Bobby Roberts Super Circus.


One trunk against another: Anne tests her strength against a giant tree trunk


April shower: It's clear that Anne is perfectly content in her new home


Elephants are very intelligent emotional animals, with very long memories,’ says Andy.

‘They’re not like goldfish; they’re like us. That’s what makes them so special.
‘So Anne won’t just remember what’s happened over the past year, she’ll remember 50-odd years back. She’s got a lifetime of memories in there.’

And sadly, of course, not all of them good.

Anne was just a calf when she was trapped by hunters in Sri Lanka in 1954. From there she was shipped to the UK, and in 1957 sold to Bobby Roberts Super Circus for £3,000.

Since then, she has spent every single circus season performing demeaning tricks, acting as a moving platform for clowns and dancers, rearing up on her hind legs like a four-ton stallion, and standing patiently as thousands of children queued for £6-a-pop photographs with her.


Flashback: How the Mail broke the story of Anne's tragic plight


Over the past year, she was shackled by one foot, stabbed with a pitchfork and kicked in her painfully arthritic leg by a monstrous Romanian groom called Nicolae, who has now fled the country.

Anne’s plight was revealed by the Mail last week in secret video footage filmed by animal welfare group Animal Defenders International. Since then, animal welfare experts, safari park bosses, vets and animal charity representatives have been locked in debate over her fate.

How could Anne best be saved? Where should she go to recover from her ordeal? Was she well enough to travel? Or — awful though it sounds — would it actually be kinder to end her suffering once and for all?


Help build a haven for more victims like Anne

Anne’s plight has highlighted the appalling misery faced by captive elephants in circuses and crowded zoos around the world.

Now the Daily Mail has joined forces with Longleat Safari Park to raise funds for Europe’s first purpose-built safe haven for distressed elephants.

If you would like to contribute to the creation of this sanctuary, please print out and complete the coupon below, or make your donation via the telephone number or online at www.longleat.co.uk.


source: dailymail