Anjalee the elephant awaits boarding pass to Auckland

Anjalee will be a companion for 32-year-old Burma in Auckland Zoo. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Anjalee the elephant is munching into mountains of coconuts in Niue as she waits for her boarding pass to Auckland.

The 8-year-old jumbo, who will eventually live at Auckland Zoo, is spending 90 days in quarantine on the island. She arrived there last month on a C-130 Hercules after a 30-hour journey from Sri Lanka.

Anjalee has taken a liking to coconuts, apples and elephant grass. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Anjalee will be a companion for 32-year-old Burma who has been lonely at Auckland Zoo since Kashin died in 2009. Anjalee is the first of two elephants due from Sri Lanka.

"She has settled in well after a tiring trip," zoo spokeswoman Jane Healy said last night from Niue.

"This is the first elephant on Niue and the locals have really taken to her. Lots of people have been coming to see her and Anjalee has been very playful, energetic and cheeky."

Anjalee gets a hosedown from Auckland Zoo elephant team leader Andrew Coers. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Healy said Anjalee has taken a liking to coconuts, apples and elephant grass.

Andrew Coers, team leader of elephants for Auckland Zoo, right, will be with her for the duration of her stay before travelling on to New Zealand in June.

Image 1 of 9: Eight-year-old Anjalee left the Pinnawala elephant orphanage in Sri Lanka in March. After her 90-day quarantine, she will live in Auckland Zoo to join 32-year-old Burma.