Elephant lived alone and chained for 35 years. Now she’s headed to Georgia sanctuary

A 41-year-old elephant living alone in a Puerto Rico zoo has a happy ending, thanks to a five-year effort from a rescue organization in Georgia.

Mundi, an African elephant from Zimbabwe, has been living by herself in the Dr. Juan A. Rivero Zoo in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, for 35 years, according to Elephant Aid International.

Mundi was first taken from Zimbabwe by American millionaire Arthur Jones in 1984 after the local government culled a large herd and left her orphaned, according to EAI. Jones took Mundi back to his property in Ocala, Florida, and sold the elephants he owned, including Mundi, to various zoos and circuses after keeping them for two years.

Mundi was injured during a “brutal” fight with another elephant, according to the rescue organization, which left her blind in one eye and with a permanently damaged tusk. She was then sold to the Dr. Juan A. Rivero Zoo, EAI said.

The zoo kept her for the next three and a half decades, during which she spent her time isolated in an enclosure and chained during the night, according to EAI.

Dr. Juan A. Rivero Zoo closed to the public in the fall of 2017 and lost its USDA license “for failing to employ a veterinarian and providing substandard care for its animals, many of whom have died,” the EAI said in its news release.

The EAI made a deal with the zoo that Mundi would be transported to the Elephant Refuge North America, run by the EAI, in 2018, but the contract fell through after the local government collapsed, the release said.

Early this year, though, the EAI got good news about Mundi — the U.S. Department of Justice ordered the Puerto Rico zoo to close, and the Georgia sanctuary was asked to accept Mundi, an effort that had taken five years.

The organization ensured that with the support of the rescue, “(Mundi’s) life, from this day forward, is all about Mundi.” It added it was excited to “witness Mundi’s transition into a world of freedom and friendship.”

The EAI is based in Attapulgus, which is close to Georgia’s southern border with Florida. Attapulgus is about 30 miles northwest of Tallahassee.

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