The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden has a new 10,000-pound resident. Raja, a 33-year-old Asian elephant bull, arrived at the zoo’s Elephant Trek habitat on Thursday, Oct. 29, moving from the Saint Louis Zoo on a breeding recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Cincinnati Zoo announced.
Raja is not just any elephant. He was the first elephant ever born at the Saint Louis Zoo, where he arrived on Dec. 27, 1992, and grew into what the Cincinnati Zoo called a St. Louis legend. In Cincinnati, the zoo hopes he will pair with its young females, Anak and Yasmin, also known as She-Ra, and help grow the herd.
“Raja is beloved in St. Louis and leaves a legacy that lives on in our multigenerational elephant family,” Katie Pilgram-Kloppe, curator of mammals/ungulates and River’s Edge at the Saint Louis Zoo, told the Cincinnati Zoo in its announcement. “While we’re sad to see him leave, we’re thrilled that he will have the chance to start new families and contribute to his endangered species.”
The move works both ways. Raja fathered three daughters in St. Louis — Maliha, Jade and Priya — and became a grandfather, but he is related to all the breeding-age females there, so he could no longer contribute to the species’ survival in Missouri, the zoo said. His transfer follows the Asian Elephant Species Survival Plan, which coordinates breeding and transfers among accredited zoos.
Asian elephants are classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with fewer than 50,000 left in the wild and populations facing extinction from habitat loss and poaching, according to the Cincinnati Zoo. Breeding recommendations like Raja’s are how zoos keep the North American population genetically healthy.
Raja’s arrival is only half of the herd’s shuffle. Cincinnati’s young bulls Sanjay and Kabir are expected to leave for another accredited zoo sometime in December, also under the Species Survival Plan, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported. The zoo has not announced their destination — only that the move is meant to give them the chance to become fathers elsewhere.
Visitors can see Raja and the rest of the herd in Elephant Trek, which recently won top honors in the AZA’s Exhibit Award, though the zoo cautions there may be times when Raja and other herd members are not visible while introductions are underway. The zoo is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, with extended hours coming when the PNC Festival of Lights opens to the public on Nov. 19, according to the zoo.
What happens next: Raja continues his introductions to the Cincinnati herd over the coming days, and the zoo says visitors hoping to see Sanjay and Kabir should come soon, before the playful duo leaves in December.
Photo: Ltshears, CC BY-SA