Mundi, a 41-year-old African Savannah, was taken to the Noah’s Ark Animal Shelter in Georgia after being released from the Puerto Rico Zoo where she had been in isolation for 35 years.

Elephant entered the reserve after 35 years of isolation at the zoo – Photo: Elephant Aid International/Reproduction/ND

With the help of World Animal Protection and EAI (Elephant Aid International), an organization that helps rescue animals in dangerous situations, Mundi went to a shelter to live in freedom with other elephants.

“Mundi has suffered in captivity all her life and we look forward to taking care of her and giving her the life she deserves,” Carol Buckley, founder and president of EAI, told the Tallahassee Democrat.

According to Buckley, Mundi was born in Zimbabwe in 1982 and orphaned before being transported to Florida in 1984 for a rescue mission. In 1986, she was sold to a zoo where she spent 35 years in isolation.

“Elephants never lose their wildness”

Buckley told a Tallahassee Democrat that an elephant forced to live in isolation is as lonely as “a person forced to live alone in a closet.”

“Elephants never lose their wildness, they just lack it,” Buckley said.

Mundi was taken to the ERNA (Elephant Refuge North America) in Georgia on May 12.

A chartered aircraft was used to transport the 3,600 kg elephant to the United States.

Watch the elephant video: