Asha, the elephant that the Natural Bridge Zoo moved to a Florida facility shortly before a police raid in 2023, has now been relocated to an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee.
It’s unclear what prompted the move — the parties involved in the legal actions stemming from that raid are under a court-imposed gag order and none of those involved in the Florida-to-Tennessee transfer responded to requests for comment.
However, in social media posts, various animal rights groups hailed Asha’s move to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, a 3,065-acre facility that, unlike Asha’s previous homes, is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries.
“Asha is FREE!!! The news we have been waiting for is finally here!!” said Free All Captive Elephants in a statement on its website.
Compassion Works International posted: “It is encouraging to know that Asha’s days of exhibition are behind her and that she can finally begin experiencing a life centered on her own needs rather than human entertainment.”
The Elephant Sanctuary has posted a video of Asha taking a mud bath. The sanctuary did not respond to an inquiry from Cardinal but in a statement shared by Free All Captive Elephants, the sanctuary said that “Asha is acclimating to her new home and currently resides at Redbud Barn and Habitat, where African elephant females, Tange and Flora, also live. On her first morning, Asha spent time grazing and exploring the vast habitat, and shared a brief interaction across the habitat barrier with Tange, who approached to investigate her new neighbor. As with every elephant who arrives at The Sanctuary, Asha will be introduced to new spaces and social opportunities gradually, with each step guided by her behavior and comfort.”
In that statement, the sanctuary said “because there are circumstances surrounding her transfer that we cannot discuss, we’re unable to share additional details at this time.”
Asha is believed to be 43 years old, middle-aged for a species where female elephants in the wild often live into their 70s. The Washington Post once reported, based on a database that is now defunct, that she was separated from her mother at age 2. In the wild, female elephants generally stay with their mother’s herd for life. She arrived soon after at the Natural Bridge Zoo, in 1995, where she was put to work giving rides to visitors.
Asha’s treatment at the Natural Bridge Zoo had long been a target for criticism from animal rights groups, who objected to the animal being isolated from other elephants — in the wild, elephants live in social groups.
There are still billboards along Interstate 81 calling attention to Asha’s plight.
At some point — court testimony suggests March 2023 — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals succeeded in getting an informant hired at the Natural Bridge Zoo. That informant produced evidence which led in December 2023 to a raid initiated by the state attorney general’s animal rights unit that seized animals at the zoo. One of the animals the unit was looking for was Asha, but she had already been moved to the Two Tails Ranch in Florida, prompting suspicion that Natural Bridge Zoo managers suspected a raid was coming. (The attorney general at the time was Jason Miyares.)
Even with Asha out of state, she inspired a change in Virginia law. In 2024, the General Assembly passed a bill by Del. Kathy Tran, D-Fairfax County, to ban the use of “bullhooks,” a particular type of prod often used with elephants. Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed the bill into law.
She also continued to attract the attention of animal rights groups. Free All Captive Elephants told Cardinal News in an emailed statement that it had conducted “undercover” investigations in both Virginia and Florida: “After Asha’s move to Two Tails Ranch in Florida on December 1st, 2023, in September of 2024, FACE reported to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, that Asha’s left tusk was missing. Then on June 12, 2026, just one month before Asha was moved to Tennessee, FACE reported that Asha’s right tusk was broken off. We are uncertain as to what, if any, role this played in her transfer.”
Meanwhile, court proceedings in Virginia related to that 2023 raid continued to play out.
Earlier this year, a Rockbridge County grand jury indicted five people connected with the zoo on a variety of charges. Three members of the Mogensen family, which owned and operated the now-closed zoo, and former elephant keeper Mark Easley were charged with animal abuse. Veterinarian Ashley Spencer was charged with forging documents related to Asha’s transfer to Florida.
The Mogensens are scheduled for trial Feb. 8-22, 2027, with Spencer’s trial set for March 8-9 and Easley’s trial listed as March 22-24.
Asha’s move to an accredited facility resolves the status of the animals previously at the zoo. Most were distributed to other zoos after a 2024 trial in Rockbridge County. The location of two giraffe babies — which a judge awarded to the state — had been unknown until June when Attorney General Jay Jones announced they had been recovered safely. They are now at the Georgia Safari Conservation Park.
No information has been released about where the giraffe babies were found; inquiries to multiple state and federal agencies produced responses that no information can be released because the matter is under a criminal investigation.
