Utah’s Hogle Zoo is pausing its longtime elephant program and plans to transfer its two African elephants to a different zoo out of state by fall, officials announced Tuesday.
The move will give Hogle Zoo’s mother-daughter elephant duo — Christie, 36, and, Zuri, 13 — a better chance to “grow their herd,” said Liz Larsen, the zoo’s vice president of programs.
It’s not yet clear where the pair will end up, but they will be placed in another zoo accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums “where opportunities for reproduction can be maximized,” a news release states. In Utah, three facilities are AZA-accredited: Hogle Zoo, the Tracy Aviary and the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium.
“Zuri is in her prime reproductive years, she’s really in a critical window for her to have her first calf,” Larsen said.
Hogle Zoo’s elephant care team have tried to artificially inseminate Zuri, but pregnancy hasn’t been successful. Meanwhile, bringing a male elephant to Utah would require an expansion at the zoo, during which Zuri’s reproductive window could possibly close.
(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) African elephant Zuri celebrates her 8th birthday at Utah's Hogle Zoo on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Although her birthday falls on Aug. 10, the Aug. 12 celebration coincided with World Elephant Day 2017. During the celebration, Zuri and her mother Christie devoured frozen halves of watermelons, pineapples, apples and sugar-free Kool-Aid ice blocks that the two crushed into edible sizes with their feet.
“We have talked to many professionals, consultants, community members and our staff as we carefully assessed what is best for all our animals, including elephants Christie and Zuri,” Hogle Zoo CEO Doug Lund said in a statement. “The ultimate choice to move Christie and Zuri is to provide them both the best chance to have a calf in the important social dynamic of a multigenerational herd.”
Elephants could eventually come back to Utah’s Hogle Zoo, the news release states, as zoo officials review a master plan that evaluates what the facility must do to maintain the well-being of its animals.
In the meantime, the zoo may move another one of its species into the space currently occupied by the elephants, Larsen said.
(Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Elephants Christie and Zuri at the Hogle Zoo in 2015.
Though Christie and Zuri’s exact departure date hasn’t yet been determined, the zoo announced Tuesday that they will be gone by fall.
Hogle Zoo has continuously cared for elephants for more than 100 years. The first elephant to live under the zoo’s care in Utah was “Princess Alice” in 1916.
Elephant care practices have evolved since Princess Alice’s arrival, the news release noted, but officials said the zoo has continually adapted to ensure its elephants have the “choice and opportunities” to be “physically and emotionally engaged” and experience the social benefit of living in a herd.
In 2005, the zoo tripled the size of its elephant enclosure with the debut of its Elephant Encounter exhibit. The expansion included a swimming channel that allowed the animals to fully submerge themselves in water. Currently, Christie and Zuri as well as two white rhinoceroses are housed at the exhibit.
“The Hogle Zoo community should be proud of the courageous leadership the zoo is showing in making this difficult choice,” Dan Ashe, president and CEO of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, said in a statement.
(Utah Historical Society) Princess Alice at Utah's Hogle Zoo in this undated photo. The zookeeper can be seen smoking, and several of the children watching are inside the elephant enclosure.
