00:00The last elephant in South Africa's National Zoo has been released back into the wild after 40
00:05years of captivity. The elephant, named Charlie, was captured in 1984 from Zimbabwe's Hwane National
00:13Park when he was two years old. He was taken to Boswell Wilkie Circus in South Africa and
00:19trained to perform tricks. In the early 2000s he was transferred to the country's National Zoo.
00:26In recent years, animal welfare groups have pushed for the elephant to be freed due to
00:30concern for his health. On Tuesday, M's Foundation, which advocates for the rights of wildlife,
00:37announced that after a nail-biting four-hour trip to freedom, the elephant had arrived at his new
00:42home at the Shambhala Private Reserve in Limpopo province. It said the historic event followed
00:49years of negotiation with the South African government after M's Foundation and its partners
00:54provided scientific evidence to show that elephants suffer in zoos. At the zoo, Charlie
01:00the elephant is said to have witnessed the death of four other elephants, including his own calf
01:05which was less than a month old. In 2019, concerns were raised that the elephant was showing signs
01:12of distress common with animals in captivity. The South African National Biodiversity Institute,
01:18which runs the zoo, denied it, saying it was behaviour learned from years of circus life
01:23that would never be completely unlearned. M's Foundation said this was, inaccurate.
01:29On Tuesday, animal welfare organisation Four Paws, which collaborated with M's Foundation,
01:35said the elephant's, retirement was an important milestone for elephant Charlie
01:40but also for better animal welfare in South Africa.
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