When you think of "snowbirds" and "retirees" in Florida, you may have to expand your definition to include elephants, chimpanzees and other wild creatures.The four-footed residents soon may help make parts of western St. Lucie County resemble the jungle and plains of the African nation of Kenya.These creatures are coming to Florida and its Treasure Coast for the same reason humans do, said Patricia Behnke of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission."All of Florida is attractive to these animals. The weather is ideal for them," she said.The National Elephant Center expects to be in business next year on land owned by the Waste Management trash removal companyfirm on the St. Lucie-Okeechobee county line.Jack Wlezien, a spokesman for the Elephant Center, said more than 65 zoos throughout the country are participating in the project, which calls for an expansive center including separate areas for African and Indian elephants, which do not like to mix.The facility also will provide space for zoo employees to train and conduct research as they try to advance elephant conservation and education efforts, according to organizers.Wlezien said he does not know why other animal projects have selected the Treasure Coast, but his program was brought here by the donation of about 300 acres of land by Waste Management, a trash removal company."They have a large environmental area which resembles the natural habitat for elephants," he said.The elephant facility will allow some public access, Wlezien said.Save the Chimps, the other major wild animal project located in western St. Lucie County, does not allow public visits because it is more of a retirement home for chimpanzees, formerly used by NASA and the Air Force in space flight experiments.(Joe Crankshaw is a reporter for Scripps Treasure Coast (Fla.) Newspapers, The Stuart News, Fort Pierce Tribune and Vero Beach Press Journal. Reach Crankshaw at www.tcpalm.com)
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