Have You Ever Seen an Elephant Fly?

Pigs may not fly but, as of, August 2, elephants did.

That's the day when three 10,000 pound elephants took to the skies en route from the Toronto Zoo to the Performing Animal Welfare Society elephant sanctuary in San Andreas, California. There is a lot more involved with getting those elephants on the plane than just loading their trunks.

Keepers had to teach the animals to acclimate to their crates around which they simulated noise, bumps and motion. "We rattle the crates and make all kinds of sounds so they are used to noise," Pat Derby, co-founder of the performing Animal Welfare Society, said, because "there are no test flights."

Animal activist, Bob Barker, is footing the bill for the pachyderms, which is expected to be between $750,000 and $1 million. And while a truck trip would have accomplished the same task, Barker felt that he did not want to confine the elephants to their crates for the over 40 hours it would have taken to transport the animals by vehicle.

"They appear to be sweet, lovely, tractable elephants and I'm just excited to get them integrated into our group so they can have a wonderful social life. Our three girls have missed being in a larger group," Derby said.

Elephants can live to be 60 or 70 in the wild but in captivity their life span is about 50 years. Iringa, is 42, Toka, 41 and Thika, 31. They should be very content in their retirement on the 2300 acres of the sanctuary.