Elephants can be found roaming the land in Somerset County, at the International Conservation Center as part of the Pittsburgh Zoo's efforts to help the species.
Today the conservation center opened to a group of people to see the elephants, one event of ‘Remake Learning Days,’ which runs from May 4-23.
Curriculum Specialist at Appalachia Intermediate Unit 8 Brenda Calhoun said, “
International Conservation Center representatives said they have five elephants, including a 1-year-old calf on the nearly 1,000 acres of land.
International Conservation Center Director Ayeshah Al-Humaidhi said, “One of the wonderful things that we have here obviously is the opportunity to educate about conservation and that is the essence of what we're doing here is conserving a very, very valuable species.”
They said the work done at the ICC is not well known.
“A lot of people have driven past this place over and over again but had no idea what happened here, so it was really exciting to open the doors a little bit,” Calhoun said.
They said that is because usually the center is not open to the public, and when it is there are limited spots.
“The five elephants that live here, live here full time, and we don't plan on them going anywhere anytime in the near future,” Al-Humaidhi said. “We are trying to expand upon the programming that we do to allow for our community to come and learn about the elephants and be able to experience their majesty.”
They said the next event is ‘Lunch with the Elephants’ on July 15 and limited tickets can be found on the Somerset County Chamber of Commerce's website.
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