When The Alaska Zoo decided it would be best to send its only elephant, a 25-year-old African elephant named Maggie, to live in California with the Performing Animals Welfare Society sanctuary, it turned to the Air Force after it couldn’t find suitable commercial transportation. The 10,000-pound Maggie traveled in a specially designed crate aboard a 517th Airlift Squadron C-17 from Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, to Travis AFB, Calif. From Travis, she was taken by truck to the sanctuary where she will share 30 acres with nine other elephants, reports Associated Press. The Air Force is getting reimbursed for the expense of the endeavor.
Air Force Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich assumed command of U.S. European Command on July 1, taking over the key assignment as the U.S. and its allies contend with a resurgent Russia and a grinding war in Ukraine.
