African Elephant - Jan 2008

How big was the entire exhibit? It looks as if there was a keeper presentation going on while this photo was taken...

Yes, there was a presentation going on at the time ... I actually missed it - came in at the end so didn't get to hear what they were saying.

Exhibit was fairly large (for a city zoo), but was basically dirt and concrete with a large empty moat around it.

Elephant Management

Does the zoo practice Protected Contact or Free Contact with the elephants?

Protected Contact. The Asian Elephant used to live in a circus where she was abused and mistreated, so she does not trust people and she's not very reliable.

ocean_boy said:

Protected Contact. The Asian Elephant used to live in a circus where she was abused and mistreated, so she does not trust people and she's not very reliable.

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Thank you very much for the help. I have it listed that the forty two year old Asian elephant 'Mara' arrived in 1996. I only know that the two African females are named 'Kuki' and 'Pupy.' Do you have more information regarding these animals, such as there past history, ages, etc?

I appreciate anything you have to offer.

I wrote more information in the other photo you commented. Unfortunately, I don't know their arrival date because the zoo never mentions it. The only thing I know, is that they came directly from a reserve in Africa when they were very young. They used to have an excellent relationship with Mara until one of them (I do not remember who it was) started to fight her for dominance.

African Elephant

One day one of them will fall in the moat, & it'll all end in tears.

FBBird said:

One day one of them will fall in the moat, & it'll all end in tears.

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... and a hell of a lot of trumpeting!

I was thinking a similar thing - that lip is really small.