BEIJING, Nov. 2 -- Like a lot of retirees in America, Maggie, Alaska's only elephant, is heading south to California and she's flying first class aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo plane.

       After a dispute that lasted months between those wanting Maggie to stay at The Alaska Zoo in Anchorage, and those pushing to get her in a warmer climate, the 25-year-old African elephant is heading to the Performing Animal Welfare Society in San Andreas.

       The Air Force agreed to transport Maggie as part of a training mission after officials with the animal advocacy group and the zoo found out the elephant was too big for a commercial airline.

       Maggie is flying out of Elmendorf Air Force Base Thursday evening, bound for Travis Air Force Base. She then will be trucked 85 miles (136 kilometers) to her new home. She will be accompanied by two veterinarians, two transport specialist, an animal behavior specialist and several zoo staff, as well as Ed Stewart, the co-founder of the Performing Animal Welfare Society.

       At the sanctuary, Maggie will have 30 acres (12 hectares) where she will live with nine other elephants.

       Maggie arrived at the Anchorage zoo as a baby in 1983 after her herd was culled in South Africa. She lives as the sole occupant in the zoo’s elephant house with concrete floors and a small outside enclosure.

       The zoo board initially balked at sending Maggie to another facility. With pressure mounting to do better by the elephant, the zoo embarked on an expensive campaign to improve her quality of life, including building a 100,000 U.S dollar treadmill Maggie couldn't be coaxed into using.

       Pleas to have her moved grew louder this year when Maggie twice couldn't get back on her feet. Firefighters were called to hoist the 4-ton animal into a standing position. The move became reality after retired game show host Bob Barker promised to donate 750,000 dollars for her care.