Phoenix Zoo Phoenix Zoo News

I'm probably gonna return to the zoo pretty soon. If there's anything you want me to photograph, feel free to make suggestions.
 
Is it the area directly beside the current habitat, on the opposite side of where the walk curves around the space?

Are Sheena and Indu really sharing exhibit space successfully? I spent a day with their care team a few years ago, and none of the three were safe for staff or for each other. They were trying to do harm to staff even through the bars while getting baths or foot soaks. If this staff has found a way for these two to get along, it's an extraordinary acco plishment. Phoenix is known for caring for difficult, dangerous elephants, but this is beyond what I ever would have thought possible. Bravo!
 
AmbikaFan said:
Is it the area directly beside the current habitat, on the opposite side of where the walk curves around the space?

Are Sheena and Indu really sharing exhibit space successfully? I spent a day with their care team a few years ago, and none of the three were safe for staff or for each other. They were trying to do harm to staff even through the bars while getting baths or foot soaks. If this staff has found a way for these two to get along, it's an extraordinary acco plishment. Phoenix is known for caring for difficult, dangerous elephants, but this is beyond what I ever would have thought possible. Bravo!
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Yeah, the area is next to the current habitat, as it's basically an expansion of it. Not sure about how well the elephants are getting along, though.
 
On the weekend of October 18-20 (2019) the zoo is hosting a grand opening celebration for the expanded Asian elephant habitat and the new amphitheater (across from the elephant habitat).

Source: zoo member email blast
 
This zoo has really shown great dedication to elephants, serving as a refugee for violent and aggressive elephants no one else wanted. They're not in it for the publicity of breeding baby elephants; they can't offer the chance to see herd dynamics. This place has put its money and heart into Indu, Sheena, and Reba for THEM. Kudos to them for doing an expensive thing for the best reason of all.
 
I don't know what aggressive behaviour Indu, Sheena, and Reba each did. Could you or someone else tell me what they did for clarity, please?
 
Reba killed Ringling trainer Axel Gautier in 1993 by knocking him down and stepping on him.

Indu attacked a trainer at the Houston Zoo in 1991, breaking his collarbone and four ribs.

At one time, I knew what Sheena had done, but I've since forgotten. Her violence was toward another elephant and not a human, if I remember correctly.
 
AmbikaFan said:
Reba killed Ringling trainer Axel Gautier in 1993 by knocking him down and stepping on him.

Indu attacked a trainer at the Houston Zoo in 1991, breaking his collarbone and four ribs.

At one time, I knew what Sheena had done, but I've since forgotten. Her violence was toward another elephant and not a human, if I remember correctly.
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You're right.
 
PSO said:
Sheena came with Reba and was very aggressive towards people as well. When the two initially went to Phoenix they also were aggressive towards Indu.
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Yes, if I remember, Indu lost much of her tail to Reba biting it off. Make no mistake, though, Reba and Sheena are not friends, and indeed I believe they came to Phoenix successively, in 1999 and 2000. The new habitat adds two separate yards, because no two can share space. These are not merely elephants who dislike one another like then-Buffalo's Jhoti and Surapa who might kick and shove a lot. Even the Bronx's Patty and the late Maxine were more like bullies exerting paired dominance--and killing--an elephant 20 years ago. These three are psychologically damaged souls who are angry, presumably for mistreatment during their circus days, and sometimes every interaction--protected contact--is met with attempts to do harm. Years ago there was an article online about Phoenix specializing in the care of three dangerous girls, which seems to have disappeared, that originally led us there for a visit in 2015. As noted above, even something as pleasurable as a bath (It's HOT there!!) evolved into attempts to whip keepers with a trunk through the bars. Head keeper Steve Koyle was the only one who did more dangerous things like climbing up the bars to hose off an elephant's back. I saw Sheena shake the bars by ramming her body against them in an attempt to knock Steve off. It's so lovely to see the positive relationships between most keepers and their charges, and it's clear that keepers get a lot of intrinsic reward from the emotional relationships they share. These keepers don't get that. That's what makes all their efforts all the more admirable. The ultimate gift is one given when you get nothing in return.

With the studbooks no longer available, it's much harder to find an elephant's history. Elephant.se, once an invaluable resource showing an institution's entire history of elephants--as opposed to the studbook's listing by animal--is trying to rebuild itself after being offline for more than a year. There, I just discovered that Reba was originally Daffodil and had her name changed when she went to Ringling. Rebranding for an elephant to erase an aggressive past conceivably remembered by circus-goers around the country who had seen Daffodil? I think Sheena was also renamed, because it's hard to find anything on her past before she moved to Phoenix.

I can't stress enough how much I respect this institution's and personnel's devotion to these three so that Arizonans might get to experience an elephant and that these three are alive and have a place to call home. They've given hearts, souls, and money to three unfortunate creatures who are unable to reciprocate positively.
 
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