Thai elephants arrive in Australia despite welfare concerns

0 Comments | AFP, November, 2006

SYDNEY (AFP) — Four female Asian elephants touched down at Sydney airport, completing a controversial journey from Thailand marked by angry opposition from animal welfare activists. The elephants arrived safely from the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean, the Austalian territory where they were held in quarantine since August, a spokeswoman for Sydney's Taronga Zoo, their new home, told AFP.

"The vet has checked them and they are okay," she said, following the elephants' delivery to Australia by a Russian Ilyushin freight plane. The Sydney zoo would soon arrange delivery of another elephant, a male, along with three more to be sent to Melbourne Zoo, the spokeswoman said. Months of opposition, including protests and legal battles, have dogged the elephants' relocation to...