(December 7, 2006)—A 28-year-old elephant named Ruth will be shipped from Brownsville's Gladys Porter Zoo to Milwaukee, marking the end of the Texas zoo’s elephant exhibit.
Ruth had been a fixture at the Brownsville zoo since 1998.
Milwaukee County Zoo officials plan to begin displaying Ruth later this month.
Ruth's relocation stems from new rules by the Association of Zoo and Aquarium Standards for Elephant Management and Care, which requires the zoo to expand its exhibit area for a herd of elephants.
But the Gladys Porter Zoo has no room to expand hemmed in as it is by residential neighborhoods, parks and a middle school.
Zoo officials began discussing what to do with Ruth last year, after the death of her companion Macho.
Ruth has been the only elephant on display at the zoo since then.
