Anne the elephant is settling in to her new purpose-built home at Longleat Safari & Adventure Park.

The new facility provides a permanent home for Anne, Britain’s last circus elephant, who is being looked after at the Wiltshire park after secretly filmed footage showed her being abused by her former groom.

The decision was taken to go ahead with the move on Thursday due to a combination of factors including relatively fine weather, Anne’s health being good and the fact the park was closed to visitors to avoid any unnecessary stress to the Asian elephant.

Following lengthy discussions and with veterinary advice, keepers gave Anne the opportunity to walk to her new home in the park rather than being transported by vehicle.

Accompanied by her team of experts, vet and a specialist osteopath, Anne made the journey, which keepers anticipated could take several hours, in under an hour.

Zoological osteopath Tony Nevin, who has been treating Anne, used a high definition thermal camera to scan her muscle activity during the walk and to continually access her loco motor function.

“The move went without a hitch, and Anne actually felt better than ever when I examined her body framework once she had settled into the new house, following a very contented dust bath,” he said.

“She is a phenomenal individual, as are the dedicated staff that look after her 24/7,” he added.

Anne’s new home includes a 994-square-metre heated accommodation area with deep sand floors, natural sky light panels, automated feeding systems and a specialist treatment area.

All of her favourite toys and equipment were also moved up to the new home with her too including boomer ball, a scratching rack and ‘Ketrunk’ - a game devised by her keepers for her to work for her food and improve her trunk muscles, similar to the popular family game Kerplunk.

Whilst Anne gets to know her new spacious indoor surroundings, the final touches are being put into place on her outdoor space which features a large grassy paddock, rocks, log piles, a giant browse frame, sandpit and plunge pool. It is hoped the outdoor space will be fully completed to coincide with some warmer weather for Anne to come outside and enjoy.

Longleat’s director of animal operations Jon Cracknell said: “I am delighted with how smoothly the whole operation has gone and how well Anne is settling in to her new surroundings.

“The new facility provides a light, spacious, warm and comfortable new place for Anne to live in.

“The House itself and all internal areas incorporate sophisticated heating, natural lighting and husbandry areas.

“She has plenty of room to move around and to get comfy, no matter what the weather. The wonderfully soft floor has lots of of additional sand for Anne to indulge herself in – whether for messing around or sleeping – it’s hers to do what she wants with” he added.

The new home will utilise the protected contact system, which is a completely different husbandry system for Anne and allows her to do things when she wants to and at her own pace.

“We have worked with many groups over the last two years and we feel this is the right decision in the long term and that the new facility is designed specifically to utilise this management technique to best effect,” said Mr Cracknel;.

Anne will share her new home with three Nubian goats. Keepers believe the goats are confident and inquisitive enough to offer interaction and companionship for Anne but small enough not to risk bullying or harming her.

“The need of companionship is a real one and one that we regularly review and discuss.

“Elephants are a social species and we recognise the importance of a suitable companion in Anne’s case. We acknowledge that any species, including goats, cannot replace the behavioural opportunities that another elephant can provide but we have to balance Anne’s severe orthopaedic problems and her ability to thrive with another elephant.

“The main challenge being that, following veterinary advice, we are concerned she physically does not have the ability to be able to stand up to any normal social interactions with new elephants and this could prove dangerous for Anne when mixed with another elephant, even in a controlled situation.

“The new house does have the capacity for additional elephants and this is something we have been very open about and we would consider the need of other elephants that need a home like Anne did on a case-by-case basis. In such a case this would be reviewed and risk assessed taking in to consideration Anne’s needs as well as those of any other additional elephants.

“Anne did amazingly well last week – she took it slowly and steadily at her own pace. Today she is recovering from the walk which was only 800m but for her was a marathon. Despite this she is determined to enjoy her new home and explore it in between her well-earned rests,” he added.

The new home for Anne constitutes a major ongoing investment for Longleat but one they are happy to make to improve Anne’s care from her previous life at the circus.

Following the launch of a public campaign Longleat has received significant levels of support from around the world. These donations have directly contributed to the development and build of Anne’s new Haven. Longleat are extremely grateful for all the help in making this happen.