Wed, 10/30/2024 - 2:28pm

Lynda Clancy

Henry Laurita and Rosie and Opal, in December 2014 (Photo by Lynda Clancy)

Henry Laurita greets Rosie in December 2014 (Photo by Lynda Clancy)

Henry Laurita and Rosie and Opal, in December 2014 (Photo by Lynda Clancy)

Henry Laurita greets Rosie in December 2014 (Photo by Lynda Clancy)

MIDCOAST — It was through Facebook that the news arrived Oct. 28 from Hugo, Oklahoma: Rosie the Elephant had died. From Hugo to Hope, Maine, the community that knew her and her unique story is grieving.

Rosie — rather, Rosie and Opal — two female retired circus elephants who lived in Hope with their (and our) beloved veterinarian Jim Laurita, represented a time when the Midcoast was alive and joyful with Hope Elephants. Rosie and Opal were on the tip of everybody's tongue, and people came from all over to visit Hope Elephants and the special refuge that Jim had created for them in 2012.

Tragedy struck, however, and it was in 2014 that Rosie and Opal, "the Girls", as Jim called them, returned to Hugo; but not before securing a place forever in the hearts of the Midcoast.

Here is the statement from Endangered Ark Foundation, the retirement refuge for circus elephants in Hugo:

Forever in our hearts

"It is with broken hearts and great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Rosie. Rosie was the first official resident of the Endangered Ark Foundation. She was sweet, loving and had her own quirky personality. She was a staff favorite and was loved by all. Over the past few weeks our staff had been monitoring her general well being and she was showing signs of declining and increased pain levels. All efforts were made to ensure her comfort level but there were no signs of her regaining her strength. Our veterinarian staff, along with our staff members, came to the difficult decision to humanely euthanize her. It was not an easy decision to make but none the less a necessary one. Rosie was 55 years old. We are so blessed that she spent her last 31 years here at the Endangered Ark in Hugo, Ok. She will be forever missed. She was laid to rest on October 28, 2024."

For those unfamiliar with the story of Hope Elephants, it is one emblematic of just how caring and loving a soul Jim Laurita was. It was about how his town and the broader Midcoast community supported him in his dreams of rehabilating circus elephants, and for educating about Asian elephants.

It is also about how we lost this fine human, but how his legacy helped further ongoing work to rescue and care for elephants.

In 2014, a small group of residents, including Jim's son, Henry Laurita, traveled to Hugo to visit Rosie and Opal. Here is the story of a reunion tinged with sadness and then, hope. Visiting Hope Elephants Rosie and Opal in Oklahoma

It had been a trip loaded with intent and emotion, the cementing of a friendship between Hope Elephants and the Endangered Ark Foundation, the acknowledgement that Jim’s legacy was to continue, and the strengthening of a relationship between two distance communities: Midcoast Maine with the community of Hugo, Ok.

Opal had died in 2017, but Rosie lived on, enjoying the life in the fields of the Endangered Ark Foundation retirement ranch in Oklahoma.

She has moved on, now. But the work for us does not stop in helping the elephants.