Ruby, the Los Angeles Zoo's oldest elephant, left for an animal sanctuary Tuesday to live out her retirement following years of lobbying by animal-rights activists.The 46-year-old African elephant, who spent 20 years at the zoo, was loaded before dawn into the back of an air-conditioned truck bound for the Performing Animal Welfare Society Elephant Sanctuary in San Andreas, southeast of Sacramento.
She had been off-exhibit at the zoo and living alone since the death of a companion, Gita, a 48-year-old female Asian elephant, last June.
"Ruby put smiles on the faces of millions of people who visited the L.A. Zoo each and every year, and it is those memories that will allow us to continue to smile despite her absence at the L.A. Zoo," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in a statement.
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