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Elephant Found Wandering Around Upstate NY Town Gets Police Escort
"I don't know what we would have done if we hadn't gotten a hold of the owners," police said. "It's not like you can call the local dog warden and have him pick up an elephant."
A loose elephant ended up getting an assist from local police in upstate New York on Monday.
"Never a dull moment in Troop F," the New York State Police said in a Facebook post.
“Troopers patrolled to Westtown to escort a lost elephant back home,” police stated. “She is 44 years old and from Vietnam. She was burned by Napalm during the war. She wandered away from an animal sanctuary and was escorted back home by troopers and workers from the sanctuary.”
Westtown is located about 70 miles northwest of New York City.
The elephant’s name is Fritha, according to News12 in Westchester.
Photos released by police showed the elephant wandering around the dark, and seemingly rural, roads.
Sanctuary owner Amanda Brook says that Fritha escaped not long after she was fed.
"She has an electric fence that keeps her contained, and just human error, they forgot to flip her switch on and it makes a clicking noise and elephants are very, very smart and she knows that clicking noise wasn't on," Brook told WABC in New York.
If it weren’t for the troopers, the 44-year-old elephant could have wandered for a lot longer.
"These hungry animals do not sleep much, and they roam over great distances while foraging for the large quantities of food that they require to sustain their massive bodies," the National Geographic says about elephants.
It appeared that Fritha was trying to steal a bale of hay while on the run, according to News12. Police are not pressing charges.
New York State Police trooper Sgt. Dave Scott told WABC that he is glad to have worked together with the sanctuary.
"I don't know what we would have done if we hadn't gotten a hold of the owners," Scott said. "It's not like you can call the local dog warden and have him pick up an elephant."
[Photo: New York State Police]
