African Elephants in Europe 2025

Elephant Enthusiast

Elephant Enthusiast

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5+ year member
The purpose of this thread is to post about the 2025 occurrences (transfers, births, deaths, etc.) in the European African elephant population.

The following post will summarize the 2024 occurrences.

1.0 Uli was transferred from Magdeburg Zoo and arrived at Noah's Ark Zoo Farm on March 20, 2024.

Zoo/Freizeit: Deshalb ist Magdeburgs Elefant „Uli“ jetzt ein Engländer

0.1 Sweni was transferred from Wuppertal Zoo and arrived at Magdeburg Zoo on May 3, 2024.

Magdeburg bekommt Elefantenkuh | Zoologischer Garten Magdeburg

1.0 Jambo was transferred from Bioparc Valencia and arrived at Sóstó Zoo on May ~14, 2024.

African Elephants in Europe 2024 - Page 2 - ZooChat
Nyíregyházi Állatpark - Jambo: 4 tonnás vőlegény érkezett a Nyíregyházi Állatpark afrikai elefánt teheneihez | Facebook

1.0 Boten was transferred from Zoo de la Flèche and arrived at Safari Thoiry on May 28, 2024.

Thoiry ZooSafari - Boten, le 4ème éléphant de Thoiry est arrivé! | Facebook

0.1 Suzy and 0.1 Gitana were transferred from Pairi Daiza and arrived at West Midlands Safari Park on May 29, 2024.

Two Elephants Join the Herd | West Midlands Safari Park

1.0 Tooth was transferred from Ouwehands Dierenpark and arrived at Bioparc Valencia on June 7, 2024.

BIOPARC Valencia welcomes male elephant Tooth
Ouwehands Dierenpark Rhenen - Gisteren namen we afscheid van olifantenstier Tooth | Facebook
1.0 Simon was born at Halle Zoo on February 4, 2024. 0.1 Tana (Halle Zoo) is the dam and 1.0 Abu (Schönbrunn Zoo) is the sire.

Elefantenbaby im Bergzoo Halle geboren: Elefantenhaus vorübergehend zu | TAG24
Bergzoo Halle: Elefantenbaby heißt Simon | MDR.DE

0.1 Tendai was born at Beekse Bergen Safari Park on February 19, 2024. 0.1 Punda (Beekse Bergen Safari Park) is the dam and 1.0 Yambo (Beekse Bergen Safari Park) is the sire.

Derde Afrikaanse olifantenkalfje geboren: "Alles valt op zijn plaats"

1.0 Chambo was born at Borås Djurpark on March 4, 2024. 0.1 Dudu (Borås Djurpark) is the dam and 1.0 Yoga (Borås Djurpark) is the sire.

Borås Djurpark | I måndags födde Dudu sin 7e elefantkalv! En liten tjurkalv | Instagram
Borås Djurpark | Elefantkalven Chambo gör så klart succé på savannen tillsammans med sin flock | Instagram

0.1 Panzi gave birth to a calf on March 10, 2024, at Borås Djurpark, but the calf died soon after birth. 1.0 Yoga (Borås Djurpark) is the sire.

Borås Djurpark | Det är med tungt hjärta som vi kan berätta att vår elefanthona Panzi kalvade tidigt på söndagsmorgonen men hennes kalv förolyckades tyvärr snart inpå födseln | Instagram

1.0 Malik was born at Bioparc Valencia on March 14, 2024. 0.1 Maja (Bioparc Valencia) is the dam and the sire is unknown.

"Live" birth of a second elephant in BIOPARC Valencia
The baby elephant born in BIOPARC Valencia is a male
The second elephant born in BIOPARC Valencia will be called Malik

1.0 Banjoko was born at Erfurt Zoo on May 27, 2024. 0.1 Chupa (Erfurt Zoo) is the dam and 1.0 Kibo (Erfurt Zoo) is the sire.

Thüringer Zoopark Erfurt - Schwergewichtige Neuigkeiten aus dem Zoopark Erfurt: Heute um 11:13 Uhr wurde nach 638 Tagen Tragzeit ein kleiner Elefantenbulle geboren | Facebook
Antenne Thüringen - Wir durften für den süßen Nachwuchs im Thüringer Zoopark Erfurt einen Namen suchen | Facebook
34-year-old 0.1 Yosepha (Josepha) passed away on February 24, 2024, at Safari Peaugres.

Josepha -> Petra Prager – elefanten-fotolexikon.eu

42-year-old 0.1 Mai and 42-year-old 0.1 Tanja passed away on October 29, 2024, at Aalborg Zoo.

Aalborg Zoo - Vi har desværre måttet sige farvel til vores to elefanter. Mai og Tanja blev aflivet tidligere i dag. | Facebook

3-year-old 1.0 Bumi passed away on November 4, 2024, at Ouwehands Dierenpark Rhenen.

Ouwehands Dierenpark Rhenen - Met veel verdriet delen we het plotselinge verlies van onze driejarige Afrikaanse olifant Bumi. | Facebook

50-year-old 0.1 Drumbo passed away on December 8-14, 2024, at Dvůr Králové Safari Park.

Safari Park Dvůr Králové - Přišli jsme o Drumbo | Facebook

56-year-old 0.1 Yoyo passed away on December 28, 2024, at Barcelona Zoo.

Mor la Yoyo, l’elefant africà més... - Zoo de Barcelona | Facebook
Mor la Yoyo, l’elefanta més longeva del món | Zoo Barcelona
1-year-old 1.0 Kibo passed away in summer 2023 at Sóstó Zoo.

African Elephants in Europe 2024 - Page 3 - ZooChat
Kibo (Nyíregyháza) | EleWiki | Fandom
 
Frankie_number_1_fan said:
Which elephants are currently pregnant in the European population?
Click to expand...
Confirmed Pregnancies
Numbi (WILD × WILD) at Vienna Zoo due sometime in the summer of 2025 (Sire Abu)
Kariba (Tembo × Sabah) at Kronberg Opel Zoo due sometime in the summer of 2025 (Sire Tamo)

And hopefully, there will be pregnancies at Valencia, Cabarceno, Kronberg, Vienna, and Magdeburg
 
Zoo Duisburg has plans for a new savannah area, part of which will be on the current elephant enclosure. The zoo will therefore say goodbye to the elephants for the time being and the three cows will eventually move to another zoo. The current enclosure also no longer meets the requirements of keeping elephants. A new elephant enclosure is planned to be built elsewhere on the zoo grounds in the next few years.

Source: Facebook Zoo Duisburg
 
MennoPebesma said:
Zoo Duisburg has plans for a new savannah area, part of which will be on the current elephant enclosure. The zoo will therefore say goodbye to the elephants for the time being and the three cows will eventually move to another zoo. The current enclosure also no longer meets the requirements of keeping elephants. A new elephant enclosure is planned to be built elsewhere on the zoo grounds in the next few years.

Source: Facebook Zoo Duisburg
Click to expand...
Whoah, did not see that one coming! Where will the individual cow elephants be transferred to? What is the timeframe for transfer (2025 or 2026)?
 
Pongo said:
The plans are not new, it*s just that they are starting now. A while ago it seemed that the elephants would be moving to Magdeburg, but I guess it*s not a topic anymore after they received Sweni.
Click to expand...
I am not sure if Magdeburg would not have space for another breeding cow. However, I think the Duisburg cows will leave as a group to pastures anew. No need for further speculation at this point!

It will be interesting to see the design details for the Duisburg Zoo new development for giraffe and African Savannah hoofstock and. the Zooterassen.
 
Extremely good news, cow Sweni at Magdeburg has been confirmed as pregnant through natural breeding with their bull Kando, and is due in the summer of 2026.

Regardless of gender, this calf will be an absolutely spectacular addition to the European population. Sweni is a wild caught animal with only two surviving offspring (and a grand offspring due this year), and while Kando is a bit more represented, he still of relatively decent genetic value. Moreover, this calf will enable Sweni to finally start building a true matriline again, which is all this poor girl deserves after years and years of having only male or non-viable calves. Regardless of gender it will be an excellent addition, as I have no doubt the zoo will be eager to breed from her on a regular basis to expand their herd natural.
 
MennoPebesma said:
This week's episode of 'Het echte leven in de Dierentuin' (Dutch version of 'The Secret Life Of The Zoo') featured the arrival of elephant bull Tooth at Ouwehands Dierenpark, who arrived in May last year. The episode also featured the first introduction with him and the elephant cows and young Bumi. Everything went fine with the two older females and Tooth, but there were tensions between Tooth and Duna. Tooth focused on Duna at one point and started running after her and Bumi. Bumi was able to get away but Duna was cornered by Tooth and did not let her get away. At that point it was decided to separate them again.

After the episode, Ouwehands Dierenpark gave an update on the elephants on their social media. Tooth and Duna are still not getting along. Whenever Tooth is around, Duna is very wary, while Tooth is eager to go to her. They have not been back together in one enclosure since the first introduction, now about nine months ago. The EEP has been asked for a solution. Which probably means Tooth will move and another bull will come to Ouwehands Dierenpark.
Click to expand...
A new season of 'Het echte leven in de Dierentuin' started last week. The second episode (which will be appearing later this week but can already be seen on the TV channel's streaming site) also partly focuses on Tooth and Duna.

Tests showed that Duna had no cycle the entire time Tooth was at the zoo due to stress. Additionally, footage showed that not only did Tooth bully Duna, but at times when Tooth was separate from the other elephants it was also the other way around. Duna would then stand at the fence between the enclosures seeking attention from Tooth, only to launch at him when he got close.

After Tooth was moved, Duna resumed her cycle. It was also announced that a new breeding bull has already been found via the EEP, namely Yoga from Boras in Sweden. It was not said when he will arrive, only that they still have to wait a while for him.
 
Hm, rather disappointing to hear that Yoga has been selected as the new bull for Rhenen. While it *is* absolutely time for a new bull to head to Boras considering Yoga's daughters are now at an ideal age to start conceiving for their first calves, and both Panzi and Dudu are likely pregnant again (or will be before his departure), it would be nice to see Yoga (who is a founder who only has 4 surviving calves, all under 8 years of age) go to a facility with more cows and ideally more genetically valuable cows as well. Oh well. Hopefully he gets along well with Duna and gets her pregnant in short order, and can then move along to another facility to breed.
 
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That reminds me of an asian elephant (I believe Mekong while he was at Amersfort? I can be wrong but I do remember the video on youtube of a bull with tusks similar to him chasing the cows and there was a daughter and mother in the cow group) he was a proven breeding bull but the cows did not like him.

Sometimes it just does not click.
 
ZCChip said:
That reminds me of an asian elephant (I believe Mekong while he was at Amersfort? I can be wrong but I do remember the video on youtube of a bull with tusks similar to him chasing the cows and there was a daughter and mother in the cow group) he was a proven breeding bull but the cows did not like him.

Sometimes it just does not click.
Click to expand...

I remember now. It was Mekong at Amsterdam. The cows did not like him.
 
I am pretty sure you mean Chamundi in Amersfoort (who was not a proven breeder). The females were not the problem, it was Chamundi who was too aggressive and after being too pushy and chasing the females around, they were afraid of him. Chamundi‘s behavoir was probably because he spent his teenage years in a female herd surpressed by older, doninant females and not in a bachelor group.
 
But the probelms between Duna and Tooth have their cause in the past- when Tooth came to Rhenen for the first time (around 2008?), he was not fully grown and not old enough to dominate the females. And Duna took advantage of this. So when Tooth came back to Rhenen as a fully grown bull, he took revenge…

This just proves that young bulls need to go to bull groups, female herds are not an appropriate social setting for teenage bull elephants!
 
MennoPebesma said:
A new season of 'Het echte leven in de Dierentuin' started last week. The second episode (which will be appearing later this week but can already be seen on the TV channel's streaming site) also partly focuses on Tooth and Duna.

Tests showed that Duna had no cycle the entire time Tooth was at the zoo due to stress. Additionally, footage showed that not only did Tooth bully Duna, but at times when Tooth was separate from the other elephants it was also the other way around. Duna would then stand at the fence between the enclosures seeking attention from Tooth, only to launch at him when he got close.

After Tooth was moved, Duna resumed her cycle. It was also announced that a new breeding bull has already been found via the EEP, namely Yoga from Boras in Sweden. It was not said when he will arrive, only that they still have to wait a while for him.
Click to expand...
Yoga has arrived at Ouwehands Dierenpark.

Source: Facebook Ouwehands Dierenpark
 
So, I have a question: There are some rumors about the elephants Mongu and Iqhwa at Vienna, that they both might be pregnant. Mongus hormone levels did not bring an clear result and Iqwha was covered by Abu in January 2025 and now (May 2025) shows slightly more perky teats, I have spoken to several people about this, many see a clear difference, others none at all.
So, what do you think? Is there a good chance they are both pregnant? Would be wonderful for the group in Vienna!
 
Fabio07 said:
So, I have a question: There are some rumors about the elephants Mongu and Iqhwa at Vienna, that they both might be pregnant. Mongus hormone levels did not bring an clear result and Iqwha was covered by Abu in January 2025 and now (May 2025) shows slightly more perky teats, I have spoken to several people about this, many see a clear difference, others none at all.
So, what do you think? Is there a good chance they are both pregnant? Would be wonderful for the group in Vienna!
Click to expand...
From photos I have seen of Iqhwa, there is defintely some change to her teats and shes still young enough to fall pregnant so there is a strong chance. Unfortunately for Mongu I can’t see her being pregnant (at this moment of time) but I’d loved to be proved wrong!
 
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