The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee announced today that its eldest resident, a 72-year-old Asian elephant named Shirley, died on Monday morning. She was the second oldest elephant in North America.
According to the Hohenwald, Tenn., sanctuary, the care and veterinary teams had been closely monitoring the septuagenarian for the past several weeks and “began to observe gradual changes in her mobility and mentation. Many mornings when staff arrived at the barn, Shirley appeared bright, alert and responsive, but into the afternoon would show increased signs of weakness, fatigue and discomfort.”
"Jelly beans, a favorite treat, were offered with regularity recently," according to the sanctuary's memorial page for Shirley. "Knowing that Shirley loved all but the licorice-flavored beans, staff would carefully pick them out from the bunch."
Shirley died early Monday, surrounded by her caregivers. Her elephant friends Sissy and Tarra visited her after she died — with Tarra, the sanctuary’s first resident, sitting beside her for nearly four hours.
Over the past 25 years, the sanctuary — which sprawls across 2,600 acres in Lewis County — has provided a safe, peaceful place for a total of 28 elephants who have lived for decades in captivity to finally rest and roam. It is one of only two such places in the U.S. While it is not open to the public — it is a true sanctuary, not an attraction — the nonprofit’s education center in downtown Hohenwald hosts visitors from all over the world. The Scene visited in August, ahead of World Elephant Day.
Shirley’s harrowing story is also quite miraculous. She was captured at 5 years old and forced into servitude with an American circus. Fidel Castro came to power when the circus was traveling in Cuba, and Shirley — along with the other animals and performers — was held captive for several weeks. She survived a ship fire in 1963 when the circus was docked in Nova Scotia, suffering burns on her legs and one ear — she lost a portion of that ear, but that didn’t stop this plucky survivor. She later broke her leg during an altercation with another elephant, and her bones fused as they healed, causing lasting damage.
Eventually, Shirley was sold to the Louisiana Purchase Gardens and Zoo in Monroe, La., where she was the only elephant in residence for 22 years. A short documentary shows her close relationship with her caretaker, Solomon James, who accompanied her to The Elephant Sanctuary in 1999. Almost unbelievably, another resident elephant, Jenny, recognized Shirley from a circus where they both were held captive more than 20 years ago. In their reunion, the two bent the steel bars separating them to become closer. (Jenny died in 2006.) Grab some tissues and watch the documentary here. Then raise a glass to Shirley, a miraculous survivor who spent her final decades frolicking with her friends in the hills of Tennessee. Rest in peace, queen.
