you've not done so already please subscribe to our channel and click that notification bell to get inspired by these animal stories every day now back to the story and he would continue to do so for the next NUMBER_TOKEN years however there was one problem the zoo was only a small facility and housing the nearly nine foot tall shirley meant that there was no room for another elephant to keep her company although there were now some NUMBER_TOKEN asian elephants living in north america shirley was one of the last to live alone still to make up for it solomon did his best to cheer the animal spirits i'll give her a little hay he said in argo films documentary the urban elephant maybe i'll give her some branches or something to play with and i just stay in the yard with her a little bit and that gives her some company sort of flight to make her think she's not alone that at least i'm here to be with her but solomon's love could only go so far as more than two decades passed without surely seeing another elephant something had to change in NUMBER_TOKEN when shirley was NUMBER_TOKEN years old staff at the zoo decided they could no longer offer her the best quality of life arrangements were made to move her to the elephant sanctuary two states away in hohenwald tennessee when the day came for shirley to make her big move she was reluctant to step into the truck zoo staff had to use a winch while solomon tried to gently coax her into the vehicle yet eventually they persuaded shirley on board and began the long journey through the night to tennessee fourteen hours later shirley finally arrived at her new home as shirley began to settle into the barn at the sanctuary she laid eyes on tara the first elephant she had seen in more than NUMBER_TOKEN years in a tender moment the two touched trunks and solomon knew that his old friend was going to be just fine even so the scene was emotional as he gave shirley one last bath it was after all a ritual they had shared many times over the years and this final moment brought tears to the zookeeper's eyes i don't know who was the first to put a chain on her he confessed but i'm glad to know that i was the last to take it off she's free at last there was however one last surprise in store as jenny the last elephant in the herd to return to the barn a commotion arose the trumpeting echoed all night and when staff entered the barn in the morning they found that shirley and jenny had been so desperate to reach each other that they had bent the steel bars keeping them apart almost NUMBER_TOKEN years earlier shirley and jenny had been a part of the same circus now finally reunited the two were inseparable they remained side by side as shirley explored her new home their trunks entwined they do say after all an elephant never forgets if you like the video please give it a thumbs up and consider sharing it with your friends and family thanks again and we'll see you in the next one
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