BOISE, Idaho - It's not easy being an overweight elephant.

Everyone - from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to the U.S. Department of Agriculture - seems to want to weigh in with opinions on trimming Maggie the elephant's waistline.

Soon Maggie may not need the advice. Keepers at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage, where Maggie lives, are preparing to install the world's first elephant exercise treadmill.

"All I know is it seems like a good idea to get a sedentary animal moving," said Sid Cannon, the vice president of Boise, Idaho-based Conveyor Engineering, a company that has offered to build Maggie's treadmill.

"I figured that we put rocks on our conveyors that are as big as an elephant, so building one would be no big deal."

It has turned out not to be that easy.

In the wild, African elephants stay on the move about 16 hours a day foraging for food and water. But Maggie, like all zoo elephants, is confined and alone. The cold Alaska winters keep her indoors part of the year.

That's got some animal advocates pushing to have Maggie retired to a sanctuary or moved to a zoo in a warmer climate.

"There's no comparison to a treadmill versus life in the wild or in a sanctuary," said Nicole Meyer, an elephant specialist with PETA. "Female elephants are highly social and to keep them in solitary confinement is completely cruel."

John Seawall, who heads up the elephant habitat at the Alaska Zoo, hopes the treadmill will stem some criticism.

"She could stand to lose a couple of hundred pounds, but out of a weight of 9,200 pounds it's somewhat insignificant," he said.

Cannon first heard about the search to make the elephant treadmill while watching the evening news. He called up Seawall and offered the services of Conveyor Engineering - for free.

"We do a little community service, but rarely have the opportunity to help people with our work," he said.

Animal treadmills are nothing new - the exercise wheel is standard equipment for pet mice and some veterinarians use partially submerged, aquatic therapy treadmills to help injured dogs regain mobility.

Expected to be installed sometime this summer, the treadmill will be just over 20 feet long and five feet wide.

Of course, training an elephant to walk on it is another matter. Seawall plans to install the machine in the pathway between Maggie's indoor barn and the outdoor habitat area. They will give her some time to get used to the presence of the machine before turning it on.