It sounds like the plot of the movie “Operation Dumbo Drop”: Seventeen elephants flying on a massive airplane from Swaziland in southern Africa to zoos across the U.S. But it is real, and it's here.
The elephants landed at Wichita’s Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport this afternoon. A crowd of onlookers gathered at the Sedgwick County Zoo as its six new residents arrived in giant crates on two flatbed trucks.
Zoo spokeswoman Melissa Graham says it was special to have such good community support for the new elephants. She cried as the elephants made their long-anticipated arrival.
“It’s just a very exciting day, and just very emotional. We’ve been waiting for this for so long and we’re very excited," she said. "I’m going to start crying again, just thinking about it.”
The rest of the 17 elephants went to the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Omaha, Nebraska, and the Dallas Zoo. An animal rights group filed a lawsuit to block the relocation from a national park in Swaziland, but a judge struck down the restraining order.
--
Follow Nadya Faulx on Twitter @NadyaFaulx.
To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.
