Elephant to get peak-hour police escort through Adelaide suburbs as Burma gets set for new home at Monarto Zoo

Elephants sometimes cause stampedes — but a jumbo-sized new arrival in Australia might well have the opposite effect on peak-hour traffic along several Adelaide roads and a major highway. Burma is one of five pachyderms that are expected to form a herd at South Australia's Monarto Safari Park by the end of next year — and, according to Zoos SA, her "trunk" has well and truly been "packed" for the trip ahead. While the journey might be one that Burma and her adoring public will never forget, police have advised drivers to plan their travel in advance to ensure the elephant's journey is "smooth and safe". Police have said the route will include the following roads: Sir Donald Bradman Drive Marion Road Richmond Road Greenhill Road Glen Osmond Road South Eastern Freeway Once Burma arrives at her new "forever home" at Monarto — where construction is underway on an elephant habitat that includes a range of vegetation, several waterholes and a barn — she will begin a 30-day quarantine period. "As is a standard requirement for all international zoo-to-zoo animal transfers, Burma will be in quarantine at Monarto Safari Park for her first month where she'll have the support, familiar company and expert care of her elephant keepers who are making the trip with her from Auckland," a Monarto spokesperson said.