Carol Buckley gets Tarra her elephant back

Tarra, the beloved elephant who gained national attention at The Elephant Sanctuary in Lewis County, was reunited Thursday with her rightful owner Carol Buckley. With the decade long custody battle for the 7,000-pound animal finally over, the two now head to Georgia and Buckley's new Elephant sanctuary.

"We're ready. We're absolutely ready for her," said Buckley.

But the story of these two friends took a detour when Buckley was ousted from The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, which she co-founded in 1995. "I really stayed in denial for quite some time thinking that I would wake up in the morning and everything would be fine."

She sued for wrongful dismissal and visitation rights with her. There were numerous other complaints and the legal back-and-forth battle continued for 11 years until the final ruling in October 2021 affirmed Tarra is Buckley's animal and the sanctuary in Tennessee must release her.

She's waited more than a decade to be reunited with Tarra, the elephant she's owned, and loved, since 1974. "That was the beginning of the rest, which has been 47 years," Buckley explained.

The Elephant Sanctuary issued a statement saying, "It has been a difficult day parting with Tarra. She was our founding elephant and such a shame to see her leave the environment she has called home for 25 years."

Tarra was on the road to her new home in South Georgia, and another Elephant Sanctuary started by Carol Buckley as we write this. "I am so excited," said Buckley. "It has been such a long time, and she truly is my inspiration to go on after all the disappointments."