This is a birthday to remember.
News outlets report Shirley the Asian elephant is turning 70 at The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee on Friday.
The elephant’s milestone is significant: The average lifespan is 42 years for captive Asian pachyderms and 47 for captive African elephants.
Caregiver Kaitlin Stocks told The Tennessean the 4-ton (3.6-metric-ton) elephant exudes love despite the tough life she has led.
Shirley was born in Sumatra, captured at age 5 and sold to a traveling circus where she performed for more than 20 years. She lived at a Louisiana zoo for 22 years before coming to Tennessee.
[protected-iframe id=”a0b8f0d6daafb151950bde0272d7d603-29519520-83897481″ info=”https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FElephantSanctuaryTN%2Fvideos%2F10156631593364515%2F&show_text=0&width=560″ width=”560″ height=”315″ frameborder=”0″ style=”border:none;overflow:hidden” scrolling=”no”]
The sanctuary is celebrating Shirley’s birthday with #ShirleyTurns70 on social media and an elephant-sized snack: a number 70 made of bamboo strung with flowers and produce.