With their trunks packed and bickering behind them, three Toronto Zoo elephants have finally hit the road.

Iringa, Toka and Thika were coaxed into silver crates, loaded onto two flatbed trucks and driven off zoo property around 10:30 p.m.Thursday, hours after their original planned departure.

But the elephants’ final day in Canada wasn’t without the usual hemming and hawing over their safety during the 50-hour drive to California.

Zoocheck Canada campaign director Julie Woodyer accused zoo officials of pulling “pranks” to thwart the trip after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency inspected the three pachyderms Thursday morning.

“There is no question in my mind it was a last-ditch attempt to stop them from going to the sanctuary,” Woodyer said.

Toronto Zoo spokesperson Jennifer Tracey said the CFIA checkup was simply procedural.

“We take offence to this accusation. Zoo staff were professional and co-operative and loaded the elephants into their individual crates this morning as required. At no time were any ‘pranks’ played,” Tracey said.

In a deal reached mere hours before the trip, two Toronto Zoo employees were granted permission to accompany the three elephants during the cross-country journey.

The deal was struck Thursday morning between CUPE Local 1600 and the administration of Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), the American animal sanctuary that will be the elephants’ new home.

PAWS staff had demanded that any Toronto zookeeper making the days-long trip sign a non-disclosure agreement. The union refused.

“We are trying to be amicable and co-operative with PAWS,” said union president Christine McKenzie, who declined to elaborate on the details of the deal. The union had initially been critical of the request for secrecy.

The Toronto elephant keepers will not be allowed to document the trip with photos or video, but will be permitted to discuss it freely when they return home, McKenzie said.

As for why the handlers would be prevented from documenting the trip, McKenzie said, “I don’t know. That’s the question we’re all asking.”

The elephants, which range in age from 33 to 44, were loaded into crates before those were moved onto two trucks.

The 50-hour drive to the sanctuary near Sacramento is expected to take between four and five days depending on weather and other variables, McKenzie said.

Police cruisers and media trucks lined Old Finch Rd. near the Toronto Zoo’s service gates as observers awaited the departure.

Onlookers tried to peer into zoo vehicles – some painted with zebra stripes, others delivering supplies – as they entered and left the gates.

Arlene Brazeau, a self-described animal lover and naturalist, lives 10 minutes away from the zoo and tries to visit as often as possible. She lingered by the gate Thursday with her camera, hoping to catch a glimpse of the elephants’ travelling crates.

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“I’m just here to see the trucks leave,” Brazeau said.

“I was here the day the zoo opened. I was taken behind the elephant house and we were allowed to put our hands through the fence and touch their trunks. If they’re leaving, I’m going to be here.”

Brazeau said she didn’t have an opinion on whether the animals should be moved to a warmer climate, but was opposed to them travelling for days overland instead of by air.