Billy The Elephant Greets 2 New Females At LA Zoo

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Zookeepers say the only elephant at the Los Angeles Zoo was grunting, squeaking and chirping in the hours after two female elephants from the San Diego Zoo moved in.

Tina and Jewel arrived at the $42 million Elephants of Asia exhibit Wednesday night.

Keepers told City News Service that 25-year-old Billy, alone since 2006, answered noises coming from the females, who have lived together for 25 years.

Animal rights activists have criticized the zoo's care of elephants, saying a dozen have died there since 1968. They also say the zoo's new enclosure is too depressing and confining, but the courts have rejected their challenges.

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