by Stephen Lindsley

When filmmaker Cristina Colissimo first heard about Flora the elephant, she thought the story of an orphaned elephant’s rise to circus stardom and the unique relationship between the elephant and her owner would be a great subject for a movie. Colissimo’s friend Miriam Cutler, who, among many other projects, composes music for Circus Flora performances, introduced Colissimo to Flora’s story.

David Balding, Sam and Sheila Jewell and Sacha Pavlata formed the St. Louis-based one-ring circus in 1985, naming it after the orphan elephant Balding had adopted and named Flora in 1983. Over the years, Flora has developed a special bond with Balding, who has taken great pains to ensure that she has the best possible care and prospects for the future. Flora’s last performance with the circus was in 2001. Since then she has been a paying guest of the Miami Metro Zoo, while more permanent arrangements are made. An earlier plan to send Flora to Africa was eventually dropped, as the political and social situation in many parts of Africa continues to be unstable, and carried no guarantees of Flora’s well-being once she arrived. Instead, Colissimo formed Ahali Elephants as a means of raising the necessary funds for Flora to spend the rest of her days at an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee.

Founded in 1995, the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn., is the nation’s first natural habitat refuge developed specifically for endangered Asian elephants. Flora will be among the first African elephants to make use of the 2,700-acre facility. A new barn is being constructed with space for Flora and two other African elephants, but it is not a stable in the conventional sense, because the doors will always be open, allowing the animals to come and go as they please. In addition, the new facility will have passive solar energy collectors, natural lighting and radiant heat in the floor for the elephants’ comfort.

The new barn for Flora and her prospective roommates is currently under construction, with completion expected sometime this month.At last count,Ahali Elephants had only raised about $60,000 of the $265,000 needed to pay Flora’s debt to the Miami Metro Zoo and provide for her lifetime residency, feed and care at the Elephant Sanctuary. Because Flora was a local celebrity in St. Louis for the more than 15 years that she performed here, it seems only fitting that she should find patrons in St. Louis who are willing to help ensure her future well-being.

For more information about Ahali Elephants, please visit the Web site www.africanelephants.org. A new “Free Flora” tee-shirt campaign, advocated by celebrity sponsor Cameron Diaz, is donating $10 from the sale of each tee-shirt to the Flora fund. In addition, donations can be made directly to Ahali Elephants at 9903 Santa Monica Blvd., #370, Los Angeles, CA 90212.

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