Tulsa Zoo has released the first look of Billy and Tina — the L.A. Zoo elephants who were secretly transferred to Oklahoma in the dead of night this week.
Despite many protests and celebrity outrage, Billy and Tina have successfully made it to their new home in Tulsa — where they will spend the next several weeks building bonds with their new care team and their fellow pachyderms.
Tulsa Zoo explains in their Insta post that the couple will be starting off their welcome in quarantine — which is best for their social needs and well being.
Adding that the quarantine period is a good first step for meeting their new friends and “it allows Billy and Tina to see, smell and hear the other elephants from a distance as they acclimate.” They won’t be available for a while for human visitors to see, beyond the occasional glimpse in their new digs.
The caption says the two could be heard trumpeting in excitement when they were introduced to their Elephant Preserve Barn.
The elephant’s new casa reveals details of the 26-hour road trip the pair endured — including breaks every couple of hours for hay, cantaloupe, romaine lettuce and water — describing the elephants as “calm,” saying they “ate and drank well at each stop.”
Cher and several other celebs signed a letter urging L.A. Mayor Karen Bass to help Billy and Tina, but their efforts were ignored when the animals were transferred in secret at 1:30 AM Tuesday. Last week, a judge refused to issue a temporary restraining order to block the transfer.
These new stomping grounds got the West Coast elephants saying Oklahoma, O.K.!
