Shirley has a heartwarming tale to share with Solomon James, her caretaker. Being isolated in an artificial

environment without the companionship of other elephants made Shirley’s existence at the Louisiana

Purchase Zoo lonely. Solomon looked after her and made sure she understood that she only had one pal.

Shirley was a calf when she came to the United States and went on tour with other circuses around the nation.

She was retired and taken in by the Louisiana Purchase Zoo, nevertheless, after suffering a leg injury. Though it was a noble gesture, there could only be one elephant in the zoo.

It had been 22 years since she’d seen another elephant. For an elephant, a sociable animal, it was a lonely existence. She was attended to by Solomon at the zoo.

He tried to be with her as much as possible, offering her consolation and amusement.

When Shirley showed up at the sanctuary, the employees were in for a very big surprise. She spent her first night in a pen with Jenny,

another elephant. The two elephants tried to get close to each other all night long by bending the bars between them and trumpeting.

The team had never seen anything like it before. About twenty-five years prior, Shirley and Jenny had

both worked at the same circus. When Jenny had initially come as an infant, Shirley had treated her like a mother.