Cottonwood apparently won’t be rumbling with Elephants anytime soon. The Tembo Preserve was to be an African Elephant sanctuary located on the Old Diamond Ranch near the cross of Bowman Road and Highway 36. It would initially house 3 to 5 retired Elephants from the Oakland Zoo, and it eventually could have been home to as many as 40 to 50 Elephants. The site was chosen because of its similarity to the natural African habitat of the Elephants. The Tehama County Planning Department was still working on the permitting process and rewriting the environmental impact report when Tembo Preserve staff withdrew the application and asked for a refund of what was left of its $200,000 deposit. Their website says they could not secure the required permitting.