Three elephants will fly by private plane. Jumbo jet?

Los Angeles: Three elephants will travel from the Toronto Zoo to a sanctuary in California aboard a private plane, thanks to long-time animal activist Bob Barker.

A spokesman for the 88-year-old TV icon says Mr Barker offered to fund the $880,000 flight after learning that one of the elephants wasn't well enough to withstand the long trip by truck.

Henri Bollinger said on Friday that the Toronto Zoo agreed to move Thika, Iringa and Toka to the Performing Animals Welfare Society elephant sanctuary in San Andreas, California, but that one of the animals suffers from "a serious foot problem."

Mr Barker described the elephants' new home as a "paradise" and said "to think that one of them might not survive the trip in a truck touched my heart and purse strings."