MIAMI (WSVN) — Two older female African elephants joined Zoo Miami’s exotic animal family, Tuesday.
According to zoo officials, Cita and Lisa arrived in Miami from the Virginia Zoo as part of a recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). "I kinda like to draw the parallel as to kind of being ‘The Golden Girls,’" said Zoo Miami spokesperson Ron Magill. "They’re coming down here to what I’m going to consider the Club Med for elephants."
The recently retired pachyderms made their way to South Florida after a 23-hour drive down Interstate 95. "It was a long, long drive," said Greg Bockheim with the Virginia Zoo.
Lisa, a 42-year-old African elephant who was born in the wild, arrived at the Virginia Zoo in 1976. Cita is almost 48 years old and arrived at the Virginia Zoo from the Indianapolis Zoo, in 2005. The middle-aged females will be joining Zoo Miami’s resident African females, Peggy and Mabel, both of whom are 40 years old.
The move was part of an exchange program from the AZA. "The AZA now has made it a requirement that zoos maintaining elephants and accredited institutions should have herds of at least three or more, and this is to satisfy their social and psychological needs," he said.
Experts say keeping elephants in herds helps support the psychological and physical well-being of the giant creatures. "As they get older, they might need more social needs. That’s popular with a lot of the great apes. They need social requirements," said Bockheim. "Elephants are kind of the same, so they need to meet and live with more of their kind."
According to zoo officials, all four females are beyond their reproductive ages and therefore will not be part of any breeding program.
While the decision to move the elephants was a tough one for zoo officials and zookeepers at Virginia Zoo, it was ultimately the right choice, said Zoo Miami officials.
Zoo Miami is the only zoo in the continental U.S. that is located in a sub-tropical climate where elephants can remain outdoors year-round. "Elephants need to be outside. They have to be at a facility where, 12 months around the year, you can be exposed to the sunshine and be exposed to a climate similar to where they come from. It’s very important," said Magill.
But, like any two strangers moving into a family’s house, everyone needs time to adjust. After being acclimated to their new home, they’ll join Peggy and Mabel. "They are both about 40 years old, and so they’ve been paired here for a while," said Dr. Meredith Persky, assistant vet at Zoo Miami. "They’ve bonded nicely, and I think, hopefully, they’ll be like ‘The Golden Girls’ and just have two new roommates."
As soon as Lisa and Cita were taken out of their crates, however, Peggy and Mabel got a little excited. "They’re amped up. There’s no question about it," said Magill. "When we brought the crates back to the barn, Peggy and Mabel immediately smelled the new elephants. Their trunks went up. As soon as they did that, their ears went out."
The resident elephants made a splash, literally, as their new guests arrived so, officials said, they’ll have to introduce the four animals slowly. "They’ll be able to touch each other and smell each other within the next day or two, and then we’re just gonna have to read their behavior and see what happens," said Magill.
Cita and Lisa will be officially presented to the public on May 20, following the completion of a mandatory quarantine period.
For more information, visit www.zoomiami.org/african-elephants or call Zoo Miami at 305-251-0400.