October 4, 2011

COLUMBUS ZOO ELEPHANT COMING TO DENVER ZOO'S ASIAN TROPICS
Move Supports Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plan

A 7-year-old male elephant from Columbus Zoo will come to Denver Zoo before the end of the year. Bodhi (Boh-dee) will be the first male elephant to live in the zoo's new Asian Tropics exhibit. The move was sanctioned by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plan in support of Asian elephant conservation.

"Right now zoos are working quickly to ensure that Asian elephants do not become extinct. With less than 35,000 Asian elephants in the world, Denver Zoo is supporting conservation efforts in the wild and building assurance populations in zoos to fight extinction," says Curator of Asian Tropics Dale Leeds.

Asian Tropics is an exceptional 10-acre exhibit designed to house up to eight bull (male) elephants. No other zoo habitat has the capability to accommodate that many males. The effort was designed to support zoo breeding programs by providing much needed space for bull elephants. Many zoo breeding programs have stalled due to lack of space for bulls. Asian Tropics also will support the Asian elephant Species Survival Plan by enabling artificial insemination techniques through semen collection.

"Bodhi is very special to us and we hate to see him go, but it's the right thing to happen," said Harry Peachey, Assistant Curator at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. "He may have an important role to play in the future of the Asian elephant population in North America, and if that's the case, he'll be better positioned to do that at another facility than he will here at Columbus. Asian elephant social groups in the wild are predominantly matriarchal, kinship-based groups, meaning the members are mostly related females. Males don't play a permanent role in social groups like that. What that means for Asian elephants is that young males like Bodhi have to leave the group early on in life. From watching their behavior, it is pretty clear that, in a wild group, Phoebe and Connie would have asked Bodhi to leave long before now. Because of that behavior, Bodhi has not been a part of their social group for some time. Fortunately we were able to wait for an opportunity like this to come along before we moved him to another facility."

Denver Zoo's resident elephants, females Mimi and Dolly, also will move to the exhibit before the end of the year. Throughout the summer, zookeepers used positive reinforcement to help the pair become accustomed to the crates in which they will move to Asian Tropics.

"We have been planning Asian Tropics for years and now it's very exciting to see it come to fruition as animals begin coming to Denver. Asian Tropics features five separate yards and will give us the flexibility to provide an enriching environment for bull elephants, cow elephants and family groupings if the opportunity comes our way," says Leeds.

Construction crews are nearing completion on the $50 million dollar project as the zoo nears completion of fundraising for the exhibit. Recently, community children raised $33,000 to help build Mimi and Dolly a new home.

Occupying 10-acres on the southern edge of the zoo, Asian Tropics' expansive complex will allow visitors to explore and discover the rich history of animals in Asian culture, their complicated relationship with humans and the efforts Denver Zoo and its colleagues undertake to protect their future. Guests will be immersed in Asian wildlife and culture through multi-sensory experiences providing greater awareness and understanding of the role we all must play in protecting wildlife for future generations. In addition to elephants, the exhibit will be home to other Asian species, including rhinos, tapirs, small clawed otters, fishing cats and flying foxes.

Although construction will be complete before the end of 2011, ample time for staff training and animal acclimation is planned before the exhibit opens to the public in late spring of 2012. With six large animal habitats contained in the 10 acre facility, the complex exhibit features more than 100 animal transfer gates managed from a central control center. After staff is fully trained on the exhibit, positive reinforcement based training will help zookeepers teach the animals how to navigate the great variety of habitats.