stella, stella's trunk
- Stella the elephant is a mountain, and next to her, Ivan is a rock.
- They are like soul mates, both huge and alone; thankfully, they have each other.
- In the show, Stella is made to stand on her hind legs while a dog dances on her head.
- Humans invented claw sticks to train elephants to do tricks. After having being struck many times with the claw stick, the elephant learns to comply or be struck again.
- Stella is old—and amazingly tough and resilient—but like most domesticated elephants, her experience includes the kind of abuse often seen in circus life.
- She has scars on her legs from the chains she has had to wear for training.
- Balancing on a stool, she fell and injured her leg, and once lame, the circus couldn't really use her so they sold her to Mack.
- Her foot never healed and the infection continues, causing her pain.
- Stella is stoic, and doesn't let on to that she's in so much pain.