Michael Jackson’s Elephant escaped through an Opened Gate in Jacksonville Zoo

The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, in Jacksonville, Florida, posted on Facebook that bull elephant Ali wandered through a gate that was accidentally left open and wound up in a courtyard between the giraffe and elephant barn.

Zoo officials said the incident occurred Sunday at 12.20pm, but that visitors were never in danger from Ali, thanks to the activation of safety protocols. The zoo said that it practices for events like this, so that they are prepared to quickly respond.   

 

Ali, a bull elephant, wandered out of its enclosure through an accidentally open gate at Florida’s Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens on Sunday afternoon

Zoo staffers were able to entice Ali to return to his cage by bribing him with food. 

All told, Ali was on the loose for about 20 minutes.

Ali is said to have arrived at the Jackson Zoo in 1997 after having lived at Jackson’s Neverland Ranch. 

He appeared to be one of several elephants that Jackson had populated his ranch with. 

 

Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor (undated photo) pose with another of the Neverland elephants, Gypsy, which Taylor gifted to Jackson as a thank you present for hosting her 1991 wedding

According to the 2016 book Elizabeth & Michael: by The Queen of Hollywood and the King of Pop, A Love Story, Elizabeth Taylor gave Jackson a 5,000 pound Asian elephant, named Gypsy, as a thank you for hosting her 1991 wedding to construction worker Larry Fortensky at the ranch and footing the $1.5million bill. 

Jackson’s 3,000 acre Neverland Ranch, in Los Olivos, California, was opened in 1988. The pop star lived on the property, which included a zoo, a roller coaster, super slide, bumper cars and more. 

Neverland was closed in 2006 when Jackson moved away, according to his spokesperson.