Last Chain on Billie: How One Extraordinary Elephant Escaped the Big Top

Last Chain on Billie: How One Extraordinary Elephant Escaped the Big Top

<div></div><div><span>Against the backdrop of a glittering but brutal circus world, <i>Last Chain on Billie</i><br /> charts the history of elephants in America, the inspiring story of the<br />Elephant Sanctuary and the spellbinding tale of a resilient elephant who<br /> defied the system even as she struggled to conquer her past, who never<br />lost sight of the life she was meant to have.</span><br /><br />Left in the wild, Billie the elephant would have spent her days<br />surrounded by family, free to wander the jungles of Asia. Instead,<br />traders captured her as a baby and shipped her to America, where she<br />learned to carry humans, stand on a tub and balance on one leg - the<br />full repertoire of elephant tricks. For decades, Billie crisscrossed the<br /> country, dazzling audiences as she performed breathtaking stunts. But<br />behind the scenes she lived a life of misery: traveling in trucks,<br />chained for hours on end, barely able to move, giving eight-minute<br />performances under harsh lights and to the sounds of blaring music. And<br />worse.<br /><br />Finally, she got a lucky break. As part of the largest elephant<br />rescue in American history,  Billie wound up at a sanctuary for<br />performing elephants in Tennessee, able once more to roam through open<br />meadows and share her days with a herd. She would never be beaten again.<br /><br />But, overcome with anxiety, she withdrew from the rest of the<br />elephants and refused to let anyone remove a chain still clamped around<br />her leg. Her caregivers began to wonder if Billie could ever escape her<br />emotional wounds.<br /><br />The compelling story of Billie's battle to reclaim her old self is a<br />testament to the intelligence, emotional complexity and remarkable<br />strength of all elephants, captive or free.