Thats sort of contradictory as on the WPZ elephant page it says Watoto (The African) is especially close with Chai (One of the Asians). If they keep any elephant alone it should be Bamboo, as she is anti-social and a very problematic.
Maybe they have reunited Chai with Bamboo so that Watatoo is now alone? Watato and Bamboo don`t come along (which is why Bamboo was sent to another collection some time ago but was returned when she didn`t integrate there). Bamboo and Chai do well with each other, though.
I've been to the zoo 3 times within a month, and all 3 times Watoto has been alone in an awfully small paddock. I suppose that she could still touch the other elephants if she chose to. The two Asians (Bamboo and Chai) are in a different area but they have not interacted at all while I've watched. Also, twice Bamboo has been head bobbing and showing brutally stereotypical behaviour for minutes on end. It is probably the most dysfunctional herd in North America. As much as I love the zoo, there are serious problems with the elephants there.
Hmmm, If Bamboo were gone, Watoto and Chai could have the paddock to themselves, and plus they get along really well with each other. I think Bamboo fits the profile of a sanctuary elephant really well, as she is extremely anti-social and has a whole line-up of stereotypical behaviors most zoo elephants don't do at all or spend very little time doing. She is the kind of elephant who should be living in a sanctuary, not Billy in LA.
It is basically to separate the African and Asiatic elephants from living with their own conspecifics (also there has been a disease risk issue in the past).
As a fact, F Watoto passed away in 2014 at the WPZ zoo. Chai was transferred out to Oklahoma City Zoo (and passed on the next year in 2016) with Bamboo in May 2015 (and passed away in 2022 here).
