ABU

At 64 years old, Abu is the oldest of the three elephants. Originally from Singapore, she has been in Australia for 47 years.

GIGI

Gigi originally came to the circus from Taronga Zoo, her birthplace is unknown. At around 45 years old, she has been with the circus for nearly 30 years.

TANYA

At about 45 years old, Tanya is the third elephant. She came via Perth Zoo and has been with the circus for 25 years.

Melbourne woman, Angelique Eccleston has worked on establishing an elephant retirement sanctuary for the last twelve months. Modelled on an US concept, it will provide a home for elderly elephants to live out their las years in comfort.

Located in the highlands of Victoria it will provide such ammenities as heated stalls, wide open plains, mud pools and dust baths, all on over 100 acres.

These pictures were taken when Ashtons circus visited Brisbane in March 2002. Some things to look out for are

• only one of the elephants is actually chained. The two at the front are free.
• The only thing keeping these two animals in a certain area is a wire that runs around the area at about elephant waist height. You can see the wire in some of the pictures. I do not know if it was electrically charged or not. There was a further boundary between us and the elephants, made of the plastic stripping you see at work sites. This was designed to keep HUMANS out of the area, not to keep elephants in.
• Though it can't be seen in any of the pictures, there was a hose that was continually running. The elephants could get fresh water any time they chose. Also part of the area was muddy.