Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Elephantidae is the only surviving family of the order Proboscidea; other, now extinct, members of the order include deinotheres, gomphotheres, mammoths, and mastodons.
This in part because Delta goes directly to Sitka, while the Alaska Airlines flight usually bobs, making a stop in Juneau or Ketchikan that eats up an extra hour.
Yes, you may check-in for your Alaska Airlines (AS) flight at the airport ticket counter from 40 minutes to 4 hours before the scheduled departure time and receive a printed boarding pass.