Celebrating protected pachyderms

WILLISTON -- Lions and tigers and bears -- and elephants, camels, snakes, zebras, lemurs and ostriches.

Oh my!

All will be at the Two Tails Ranch this weekend for the Fifth Annual Elephant Appreciation Day.

Two Tails is just off U.S. 27 in this small community north of Williston. Activities begin each day at 11 a.m. and run through 5 p.m.

"We'll have music and food, a little vendor village, pony rides, a lot of animal interaction and a lot of craziness going on," said Patricia Zerbini, owner of Two Tales.

Bearadise Ranch, the Eastern Diamondback Conservation Society and the Big Cat Habitat and Gulf Coast Sanctuary are bringing in additional animals to supplement the Two Tails' population for the weekend.

The whole point of the appreciation days is to raise money to help with feeding of the elephants and other animals large and small that call the ranch home.

"It takes maybe $90,000 to $100,000 for each elephant each year to feed them," Zebrini said. "In years where there's drought in both Florida and Texas, you can't find a decent bale of hay."

Two Tails houses Zerbini's six elephants. Founded in 1984, Two Tails is the only privately owned elephant facility of its kind in the world.

"The ranch was built to board and care for both Asian and African elephants needing temporary or permanent housing," she said.

Since then, more than 200 elephants have sheltered here, mostly temporarily. Many were from Ringling Circuses during down months. Others were from zoos and other attractions being repaired or built.

One of her proudest achievements here was the successful births of Romeo and Juliette in the early 1990s, a rarity in captivity.

"This is what I have chosen to devote my life to," Zerbini said. "Nine generations. I grew up around elephants; they are my passion."

She opened the ranch to small groups of visitors in 2009; guests have come from all over.

"We came down from Delaware just for this," said Jena Melvin, visiting Two Tails recently with her father, Ben Melvin. She got to feed, ride AND bathe Patty, one of six elephants in residence. The trip was a high school graduation gift.

"I've always loved them," Jena said, "their peace, their grace."

And maybe the pachyderms will purr for you, as Patty did for the Melvins.

"It is a rumble that they make when they are happy," Zerbini said. "It varies in tone and loudness depending on how happy and excited they get."

Alex Cantle from Clearwater decided to celebrate her birthday at the ranch. "What better way than with my three best friends," she added.

After the tour and a ride on Patty, Cantle's friend Kaymie Van Benthuysen noted: "I love seeing how well cared for they are here."

An advocate of "captive conservation," Zebini said compounds such as hers may be the only places to come where humans can encounter rapidly dwindling animal species.

She told the Melvins, Cantle and her friends and a half-dozen others on a tour that "three species of rhinoceros have been lost in the last year. Elephants are within seven years of extinction in the wild; 192 elephants have been killed in India by cars and trains just since January.

"If we want animals for our kids and grandchildren, we need more conservation," Zerbini added. "Without facilities like this, they won't be here any more."

Elephant Appreciation Day

When: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Where: Two Tails Ranch, 18655 NE 81st St., Williston

Cost: $10; free for ages 2 and younger (359-6676 and www.allaboutelephants.com)