Her Trunk All Packed, Ruby Is Coming Home

Ruby, the African elephant who was sent from Los Angeles to Knoxville in 2003 but never adjusted to her new surroundings, was expected to arrive back at the Los Angeles Zoo overnight, officials said Saturday.

Los Angeles Zoo Director John Lewis said the 43-year-old pachyderm appeared to have coped well with the 40-hour journey by truck from Tennessee. She was accompanied on the trip by several Los Angeles Zoo staff members, including a veterinarian.

Ruby, whose departure from Los Angeles and unhappy tenure in Tennessee made her something of a cause celebre for animal rights activists, would begin a 30-day period of quarantine after her arrival, Lewis said.

“That will give her a chance to settle down and rest after the ride,” the zoo director said. “She’ll be given a physical, and the keepers will be working with her too.”

Then, Lewis said, Ruby will be reintroduced gradually to the zoo’s other elephants. Among them is Gita, an Asian elephant with whom she shared a barn -- and a bond -- for 16 years.

Lewis said elephant keepers expect the two animals to remember each other, at least somewhat, though he said reports about elephants’ prodigious memories might be overstated. “She has been gone for a year, but we expect they’ll be fine,” he said.

Ruby spent 19 years in Los Angeles after the zoo acquired her from a circus. In May 2003, she was lent to the Knoxville Zoo in hopes that she would serve as a role model for younger female elephants.

But she failed to adapt, often appearing listless and a little angry, officials said. And her behavior toward other elephants also changed, Lewis said.

After having been subordinate to Gita in the Los Angeles Zoo’s female elephant pecking order, Ruby got to Knoxville and “decided she wanted to be dominant,” he said. “And the other cows let her. But then she wouldn’t stop. Rather than just establish her position, she kept on pushing and pushing.”

In July, after officials at the two zoos tried several options without success, the decision was made to bring her home.

Despite Ruby’s new taste for being a dominant member of the herd, Lewis doesn’t expect her to try to pull rank on Gita, her old friend. If so, he said, Gita “will set her straight.” Lewis said he was not sure how soon Ruby would be put on public display.

In a nod to the elephant’s local celebrity, the news of Ruby’s imminent return was announced Saturday by Mayor James K. Hahn. “Under my direction, the L.A. Zoo will continue to explore all viable options that are in the best interest of Ruby’s health and well-being,” he said.

The news was cheered by Gretchen Wyler, vice president of the Hollywood office of the Humane Society of the United States, whose group had continued to monitor Ruby after she was shipped to Knoxville.

“The moral of the story is we cared about a beautiful elephant named Ruby, and we weren’t afraid to fight for her,” Wyler said.