Are African forest elephants completely gone from zoos?

Hello.

It has come to my knowledge a South American collection was home to African forest elephants (or at least hybrids between L. africana and L. cyclotis).

The Buenos Aires zoo housed strange-looking African elephants from 1938 to 1951. The male, Congo, passed away in 1941, while Canga, the female, died ten years later, after drowning in the exhibit's pool.

A few news reports claim they were hybrids, but I am not sure.

Sources:

UN ELEFANTE ASIÁTICO LLAMADO DAHLIA Y UNA ELEFANTA AFRICANA LLAMADA CANGA.

Elefantes y Mastodontes de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires.

https://fundacionazara.org.ar/img/libros/Historia-de-Zoo-de-Buenos-Aires.pdf

 
A few news reports claim they were hybrids
I am absolutely not an expert, but she reminds me of Malayka from Zoo Basle who as far as I am aware is pure Bush elephant and not a hybrid. Anything is possible though.
full
 
With the birth of Mei's calf its quite possible that Japan will be the last stronghold for African Forest elephants, with Mei hopefully having more calves in the future + with one other bull in Vantara to breed with any daughters she has either through AI or naturely its possible that it can take root, but with such a small founder group, just 2.1 adults it just isn't feasible long-term
Mei's calf is a healthy bull calf, and has made his public debut
 
It's an elderly individual that has lived there for quite some time now, it's not new by any means; she shares the enclosure with an Asian elephant and an African bush elephant.
It would be interesting to see if there is a photo of all three together. I can't imagine there's been many times when all three species have been together!
 
Back
Top