2 elephants leave Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo for Oklahoma City Zoo

SEATTLE (AP) — A Seattle zoo has sent its two elephants, Bamboo and Chai, on their long journey to a new home in Oklahoma City after a federal appeals court declined to block the transfer.

A flatbed truck carrying the elephants' climate-controlled crates left the Woodland Park Zoo early Wednesday evening on the 2,000-mile trip, expected to take about 40 hours.

Earlier Wednesday, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a motion by activists to stop the move of the aging female elephants from Seattle to the Oklahoma City Zoo.

Activists have said the long trip could endanger the elephants' health and that their quality of life in Oklahoma would be worse than in Seattle. The legal action was part of the broader debate about whether housing elephants in zoos is humane, with critics arguing the large animals need more space than zoos can provide. Activists wanted them sent to a sanctuary.

Woodland Park Zoo President Deborah Jensen said in a statement that officials were grateful for the court's decision and were focused on the elephants' welfare.