As I mentioned earlier, Bowie came to OKC. Here’s the story from the zoo’s Facebook:
Guests visiting the OKC Zoo will have an opportunity to welcome its newest animal family member, Bowie (pronounced Boo-ee), a 9-year-old male Asian elephant! Bowie is joining our elephant herd from the Fort Worth Zoo in Fort Worth, Texas. The recommendation for Bowie to be relocated to the OKC Zoo came from the AZA Species Survival Plan® (SSP) for Asian elephants.
Born at the Fort Worth Zoo in 2013, Bowie stands over 8 feet tall and weighs more than 6,400 pounds. The name Bowie was chosen by the Fort Worth team in honor of legendary Texan, Jim Bowie who fought in the Texas Revolution and follows a Fort Worth Zoo tradition of giving each elephant a Texas-themed name beginning with the letter “B.” Bowie loves to play in the water and can be seen swimming almost any time of the year. Like most young elephants, he is full of energy and eager to learn new things.
After a year of planning, Bowie’s arrival is a high point in an otherwise difficult week for the Zoo’s elephant caretaking team which just three days prior made the difficult decision to humanely euthanize their geriatric elephant, Bamboo. Bamboo, approximately 56 years old, had been exhibiting age-related issues that hindered her ability to participate in her own health care, physical therapy and training for foot care. With her quality of life diminishing beyond medical treatment, the Zoo’s veterinary and elephant care teams made the difficult but necessary decision to euthanize Bamboo.
“Although the elephant caretaker team is still mourning the recent loss of Bamboo, we are very excited about Bowie’s arrival,” said Rachel Emory, the OKC Zoo’s curator of elephants and rhinos. “We have been working closely with the Species Survival Plan® (SSP) for Asian elephants for the last year on Bowie’s relocation and are excited to welcome him. We have watched our young female elephants grow up here at the OKC Zoo and are thrilled at the prospect of them having calves of their own and grow our herd.”
“Of course, we're sad to see Bowie leave the herd, but we knew this day would eventually come,” said Fort Worth Zoo Executive Director Michael Fouraker. “We very carefully considered herds around the country and because of Oklahoma City Zoo’s tenured program and Asian elephant breeding success, we feel confident he's in the best place. It's exciting to know that as a bull elephant, he'll be introduced to a new group of genetically diverse females and hopefully contribute to this declining population of critically endangered animals. All of us at the Fort Worth Zoo are excited for Bowie's new adventure!”
: Fort Worth Zoo
This leaves the zoo with 2.5 Asian elephants.
