Once thought to be merely wild beasts of burden, the spectrum of emotions available to many animals has become harder to ignore over the years.

Two elephants have given us yet another recent example of just how remarkably deep animal emotions, as well as their memories, can run.

Of course, there is an old phrase “an elephant never forgets”. That certainly rings true for Shirley and Jenny, two former circus elephants who had been separated for 22 years.

The two pachyderms had spent almost their entire lives performing tricks in front of large crowds. Before that, they briefly trained and worked together, until being sold off to separate shows.

Miraculously, they both ended up at the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.

The two elephants recognized one another as soon as their eyes met, which even surprised workers at the sanctuary who have spent a lot of time around elephants. And from that moment they seemingly cheered and celebrated, and have been inseparable ever since.

“The interaction was dramatic, to say the least, with both elephants trying to climb in with each other and frantically touching each other through the bars.” Carol Buckley, the Executive Director of the Sanctuary said. “I have never experienced anything even close to this depth of emotion.”

You can watch their amazing reunion right here: