Detroit Zoo offers a how-to for shipping elephants

With the Toronto Zoo preparing for the unprecedented step of moving its three aging elephants to the PAWS sanctuary in California this spring, the Star decided to explore steps the Detroit Zoo took in 2005 to transport its two remaining elephants, Winky and Wanda, to that destination.

Winky and Wanda, then 52, and 48, were old, suffering from arthritis and foot problems, and the Detroit Zoo didn’t have the resources to build them a better enclosure.

So, after consulting with the community, zoo director Ron Kagan decided in May 2004 to send the two Asian elephants to the PAWS sanctuary, a 3,700-kilometre journey.

But getting them there was no easy feat, Kagan recalls.

“It was stressful, both for the elephants and the staff here,” he said in a telephone interview from his zoo.

“It’s a significant logistical endeavour, and there’s a risk. Elephants aren’t built to be jiggled around in a truck for a long period of time.”

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For one thing, they can suffocate under their own weight if they lie down for a long period of time after falling.

The first step was getting Winky and Wanda trained to get into a truck, the mode of transportation chosen because Detroit Zoo officials concluded aircraft noise would rattle the elephants.

Zookeepers used food and soft, gentle “positive reinforcement training’’ as they practised getting the pachyderms to walk toward, enter and stay in the truck, an unfamiliar setting given the animals had been at the Detroit Zoo since the early 1990s.

The moving van-type semi truck was retrofitted with bars that provided extra support for Winky and Wanda to lean against and sit on to take weight off their legs. To ensure the pair didn’t experience too much swelling due to standing upright on their long journey, they were given slow release anti-inflammatory medication and skin cream, to help ease their arthritis symptoms.

The truck was also equipped with remote cameras and thermometers that enabled zoo staff to monitor the animals and keep tabs on temperatures inside.

The large container also carried gallons of water, Gatorade, and treats like bales of hay, fruits and vegetables.

The elephants were boarded on the truck in single file, tail to trunk.

Handlers from the Detroit Zoo, including keepers, the chief veterinarian and associate curator of mammals, travelled with the elephants in vehicles behind the truck.

(Several keepers worked at the sanctuary for many weeks after Winky and Wanda got to PAWS, to help the elephants get accustomed to their new surroundings.)

During the road trip, the truck made stops every few hours to enable the keepers to give the elephants food and water and evaluate their condition. Zoos along the route were also notified in advance, in case emergency assistance was required for the animals.

Once they arrived at PAWS, it took handlers there about 15 minutes to back Wanda out of the truck. Winky, on the other hand, was another story. That took more than three hours, according to a news report from the Detroit Free Press.

“Soon Wanda began rhythmic rocking and swaying, classic signs of stress that zookeepers expected during her introduction,’’ the newspaper report said at the time.

The pair later joined three other Asian elephants already living at the sanctuary.

Winky was euthanized by veterinarians at PAWS in 2008 after suffering ill health and being unable to get back on her feet after sliding on her hind quarters.

But Wanda is still there, living out her senior years.