Raja, the first elephant born at the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Zoo, will be moving out in about a year.
Shortly after he leaves, he will be replaced by a new elephant. And Jade — Raja’s daughter — is pregnant, so the zoo should welcome a baby elephant at around the same time.
The moves are being made for reasons of breeding and the conservation of the species, said zoo director Michael Macek. Raja is an Asian elephant, which is an endangered species with a declining worldwide population.
“Raja has been a very prolific male. He’s sired quite a few offspring,†Macek said.
“At this point, he’s related to all reproductively viable females at the zoo.â€
Raja is the father of Maliha, 17, Jade, 16, and Priya, 10. The other three elephants at the zoo — Pearl, Ellie and Sri — are also female, but are too old to reproduce. In addition, Pearl is Raja’s mother.
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“We’re looking at where Raja should go to contribute to the proliferation of the species,†Macek said.
Raja will be sent to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in late 2024 or early 2025. Four female elephants there are the right age to reproduce, and Raja will be able to mentor a young male there as well, Macek said.
Once he is settled there, the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Zoo will receive another male who is expected to be Samudra, 15, an Asian elephant from the Oregon Zoo in Portland.
“It’s kind of like a dating service. We come to understand who is the most compatible animal to mate with whom,†Macek said.
Raja has been immensely popular with visitors since he was born in 1992. His birthday, Dec. 27, is celebrated every year and crowds come to watch him tear into a meal of hay, popcorn, pasta and other special treats.
“We know that he is a very popular, iconic animal here at the zoo,†Macek said.
“We have our fan base, and we will have to be very careful and mindful for how we communicate to them that this is the very best for our animals,†Macek said.
The zoo belongs to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which makes a prime goal of species conservation. The association looks at all the Asian elephants in its member zoos as belonging to one population, so it makes recommendations about what it considers to be best for all the elephants in the country as a whole.
In the wild, elephant herds consist of females and children. Adult males typically roam wild by themselves and meet up briefly with the herds to mate.
At 15, Samudra is about the age he would be leaving his home herd in the wild, so it is appropriate he come to the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Zoo to meet a new group of females.
Meanwhile, the zoo is also celebrating Jade’s pregnancy, which was achieved through artificial insemination. The process rarely works with elephants, and has been tried several times at the zoo without success.
Every time they try it, though, they learn more about it and get better at it, Macek said.
“More than anything, it’s just technique,†he said.
The baby elephant’s father is Jake, who is at the Denver Zoo. After a 22-month gestation, it will be Jade’s first child. She is 10 months pregnant and is due to give birth in late 2024 or early 2025.
In addition, an orangutan, Rubih, is also pregnant with her first child. She is due at any time over the next few weeks. The last orangutan birth was 10 years ago, Macek said.