Pachyderms in ParadiseBy Trish Beatty They're a big-eared, rather aristocratic crowd, long of nose, with impressive girth. They are African elephants - born free, as the song goes, and soon to be living (almost) free again in the gentle hills of southwestern Pennsylvania. Thanks to high fuel costs and high everything else, would-be world travelers may be planning "stay-cations" on the back porch this summer. This may be a good year to do some local exploring in and around the Laurel Ridge, on sun-dappled hiking paths and tranquil rural roads, checking out Pennsylvania's colorful wildlife. If you're driving down Route 31 late this summer and you're lucky, you may catch a glimpse of the newest residents of Fairhope, in Somerset County, recently relocated from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia: African elephants. The International Conservation Center (ICC) of the Pittsburgh Zoo represents several giant steps in the Zoo's endangered species breeding program. Two years in the making, the former Glen Savage Ranch has come a long way from its days as a place for wealthy trophy hunters (including, according to a zoo employee, Vice President Cheney) to shoot ducks in a barrel. With blissful irony those 724 acres are now dedicated to the passionate conservation and breeding of not only African elephants, but also, in time, cheetahs, black rhinos, African wild dogs and Grevy's zebras. To continue this article, 
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