Maggie, the 25-year-old African elephant who captured the hearts of Anchorage for much of her life, arrived at her new Northern California home safely Friday after the successful journey dubbed "Operation Maggie Migration."
By mid-morning, Maggie was swinging her trunk around her new barn, checking out the unfamiliar sights and sounds. By mid-afternoon, she was sunbathing and eating California green grass and chasing birds.
She was even trumpeting and mock-charging the other elephants, separated from her by a protective fence, said Pat Derby, president of the sanctuary that is Maggie's new digs, run by the Performing Animal Welfare Society.
The mock charging was a good sign, according to Derby: "I wouldn't want her to be afraid of (the other elephants)."
"She's doing great," Derby said. "She's very calm."
On the sanctuary's webcam Friday, viewers watched the other African elephants meander up to a fence that separated them from Maggie. By late afternoon, Maggie was walking up close to them, even raising her trunk over the fence, seemingly to touch them.
Before Friday, Maggie had not seen another elephant in 10 years, not since her companion, Annabelle, died in 1997.
In a morning telephone interview, Derby said, "I'm standing just a few feet from her, and she just rumbled." Rumbling for elephants is like purring, she said. "She may have just heard the other elephants."
When she first saw other elephants in the distance, "she kind of trumpeted at them, put her ears out, took a few running steps towards them. ... They put their ears out and she turned around and went back in the barn," said Alaska Zoo director Pat Lampi, who was at the sanctuary overseeing the handover of Maggie.
Maggie was expected to be placed Friday night in a 20,000-square-foot barn, where each elephant has its own stall.
Derby said she would stay in the barn with Maggie but did not expect to sleep. The elephants -- Lulu, Ruby, Mara and 71 -- would likely raise a ruckus with Maggie newly among them.
Maggie spent much of her first day in her new San Andreas home outside in the 70-degree weather. About 75 acres of green and brown grassy pastures at the foothills of the mountains stretched off in the distance.
Derby said the only thing Maggie hasn't taken to are the artichokes in her feed. "Apparently, she's not a California girl."
Maggie left Anchorage on Thursday night on a C-17 Air Force jet after months of planning to move her. The trip was a $400,000 operation, funded by a $750,000 donation from former game show host Bob Barker. The leftover money will be used by the Performing Animal Welfare Society to support Maggie.
Alaska's only elephant was a source of much controversy for the Alaska Zoo, which had looked after her since she was a baby. Animal welfare activists wanted Maggie moved to a warmer climate and housed with other elephants, a trend that zoos across the country have been following.
The zoo board of directors initially resisted, but decided to make the move after Maggie became ill, sat down and could not get up. Lampi has said she had suffered from a bout of colic and is in good health now.
Asked if he was feeling good about her new home, Lampi said, "Absolutely ... It's great."
Dick Thwaites, president of the zoo board, though, was more cautious, when reached in Anchorage. He said he was sad about the move and "not fully convinced, but very hopeful it works out for her."
Thwaites said Maggie's ornery personality still worries him. "As more time goes on, everyone will become more comfortable," he said.
Find Megan Holland online at adn.com/contact/mholland or call 257-4343.
