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In World’s First, Elephants from U.K. to be Released in Africa

  • Thirteen animals to be relocated from zoo to Kenyan reserve
  • Project is first of its kind ever attempted, charity says
     

     

Photographer: Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images

Thirteen elephants born in captivity in the Europe will board a Boeing 777 cargo plane in June and be flown to Kenya, where they will be released into the wild.

The relocation of the eight females and five males to a sanctuary off the East African nation’s Indian Ocean coast will cost 950,000 pounds ($1.2 million), according to the Aspinall Foundation, the conservation group behind the initiative. The animals, aged between one and 34 years, are currently housed in an 8-acre (3.2-hectare) enclosure at Howletts Wild Animal Park in Kent.