HOPE — Two retired circus elephants have arrived in Maine to live out the rest of their years at a new facility built especially for them.
Rosie and Opal arrived a few days ago in the town of Hope, near Camden, where they are living at a newly built facility with a 3,000-square-foot elephant barn and an acre of land developed by veterinarian Jim Laurita.
Laurita told the Bangor Daily News that he worked as a circus elephant trainer in the 1970s and co-founded the Hope Elephants nonprofit organization so he could treat 43-year-old Rosie and 41-year-old Opal’s arthritis. The animals came to Maine from an elephant retirement facility in Oklahoma.
Hope Elephants also plans to have school groups visit to learn firsthand about the animals.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.