Tito's hungry elephants spared
2006-03-28 21:45
Zagreb - A pair of elephants that were once part of the private zoo of Yugoslav's former dictator Tito have been saved by a food donation from Croatia's top tennis player.
"Ivan Ljubicic and his wife Aida have put a certain amount of money on the account of the national park to help us feed the elephants," Morena Milevoj, spokesperson of the zoo on Brijuni island, told AFP.
Ljubicic made his offer after press reports that the park's management warned it might not have the means to feed the voracious elephants to the end of the year.
The pachiderms, Sonia and Lanka, are the zoo's biggest financial burden because every day they consume about 100kg of hay, 20 kilos of apples and pears, and 10kg of bread.
The elephants were a present to Tito from former Indian leader Indira Gandhi.
They have spent about 30 years along with other exotic animals on the island, which was once reserved for the communist dictator and his friends, but is now frequented by the likes of the Ljubicics.