DENVER, Colorado — According to Denver Zoo, they are now home to the largest herd of male Asian elephants in North America.
There five elephants in the zoo's herd, after two new members joined earlier this week.
The zoo says they can now conduct “groundbreaking” research on sociality in male Asian elephants. From this research, they can observe the wellness of elephants in human care and the wild.
The newest Asian elephant residents, Jake and Chuck, went through the final stages of introductions to get more acquainted with the long-time male elephants of the zoo.
Jake and Chuck have been in the process of getting to know Groucho, Bodhi, and Billy through small group interactions, the zoo said. The interactions were done this way so that the animal care team could observe and assess the animal’s behaviors and demeanor.
The end of this process concluded by joining all the male elephants together in a shared habitat for the first time last week, according to the zoo. Guests had a chance to view the elephants interacting with one another, recreating the same social experiences they would have in the forests of Asia, the zoo said, as well as experiencing new grouping variations.
“This is the part that gets really exciting,” said Maura Davis, Assistant Curator of Elephants. “Now we’re watching each elephant’s behavior to gauge their relationships with one another to help determine how we can put them together going forward. That means there will be days when we’ll have all five in the same habitat together, and days when you might see smaller groups or just one elephant alone. It is important for bull elephants to get their solo time, especially if they’re older. Groucho is an older guy and definitely still needs his alone time!”
The zoo also shared that recent data has confirmed that Asian bull elephants often associate in small bachelor groups in the wild, however, only 33 facilities accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums currently housing Asian elephants routinely house any bulls together.
Denver Zoo’s goal is to fill in knowledge gaps surrounding social aspects and reproduction of the elephants
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