After spending four decades behind fences, Charley - once the lone elephant at the National Zoological Gardens in Pretoria - has been given the gift of freedom.
Captured as a calf in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park back in 1984, Charley's life took a heartbreaking turn. Torn from his herd, he was forced to perform in a travelling circus before being moved to a zoo, where he lived out years of isolation under human care, as reported by RealVoices Tech on Facebook.
As the years passed, animal welfare advocates sounded the alarm over his worsening health and signs of emotional distress. Photos and eyewitness accounts revealed an elephant showing clear symptoms of loneliness, swaying repetitively, listless, and longing for the open spaces he once knew.