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First erected when Kyrgyzstan was part of the Soviet Union, the 23m-tall monument towered over the city of Osh for 50 years before it was quietly removed this week.

A statement from City Hall in Osh - the landlocked nation's second-largest city after the capital, Bishkek - said the figure would be relocated as part of "common practice" aimed at improving the "architectural and aesthetic appearance" of the city.

In 2024, the Oakland Zoo decided to send Osh, its last remaining African elephant, to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.

There is hope that once Osh, a male, arrives at the sanctuary, the 30-year-old pachyderm will reunite with Donna, the zoo’s last remaining female African elephant that was relocated there last year.

After 20 years living in the Oakland Zoo, the park’s last remaining African elephant, Osh, will be relocated to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee later this year, the zoo announced in a press release.