Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Welcomes New Elephant
12/17/2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sean Anglum
Public Relations Manager
Cheyenne Mt. Zoo
633-9925 ext. 140
228-2077 pager
sanglum@cmzoo.org
CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN ZOO
WELCOMES NEW ELEPHANT
Crucial First Step Begins Elephant Expansion and Exhibit Renovation
December 15, 2008 – Cheyenne Mountain Zoo has announced that America’s mountain Zoo is the new home to a 22-year-old African elephant. The new female elephant, Malaika (ma-LIE-ka), was welcomed to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo on Saturday evening, December 13 after her owner chose the Colorado zoo for her elephant’s new home. The Zoo has been searching for an additional elephant to join their other two elephants. The addition of Malaika is an important step in the Zoo’s plans for redesign and expansion of its elephant exhibit area.
The Zoo recently received word that the private owner of Malaika was retiring from the animal training business and, even though she wanted to keep Malaika for the rest her life, the trainer’s health issues denied her of the option of keeping the elephant. She was very attached to this animal and wanted to choose the right place where she would be going. The trainer was quoted as saying that Malaika should “go to an institution where she will fit in.” Cheyenne Mountain Zoo feels honored that a trainer of her experience of over 30 years would choose the mountain Zoo to be the best home for Malaika.
New arrival Malaika was wild born in 1986 in Zimbabwe and arrived in the United States in July of 1987. She has been under the care of her private trainer for her last 21 years. After weeks of planning, which included employing of one of the world’s best exotic animal shippers, members of Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s Animal department joined Malaika on her journey. She arrived at the Zoo via climate-controlled truck and has settled into the elephant exhibit building for her required quarantine period.
For over three years, the Zoo has been searching for an additional elephant to join the Zoo’s two other elephant family members. The addition of a
third member to the Zoo’s elephant social group is recognized as a benefit to the elephants involved. The addition of a third elephant also alleviates the chances of an elephant being cast alone with the loss of their companion. With Malaika’s arrival, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo now has a total of three African elephants, joining 30-year-old Kimba and 28-year-old Lucky.
She will eventually be introduced to the Zoo’s two resident elephants, but that introduction timeframe has yet to be determined. The Zoo’s elephant management team will soon announce when Malaika will be available to be seen by Zoo guests.
Results of recent guest surveys have indicated that the future of the Zoo’s elephant program was of high importance to Zoo guests and that improvements to the exhibit space were recommended by the community. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is in the process of finalizing plans for a renovation of its elephant exhibit; both the yard and holding facility. These important modifications demonstrate the Zoo’s commitment to managing an elephant program that currently exceeds the new standards of elephant care recommended by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is an accredited institution of the AZA.
The AZA Standards for Elephant Management and Care set requirements for enclosure design, nutrition, reproduction, enrichment, and veterinary care to ensure high-quality zoo habitats for elephants. These mandatory standards, adopted in 2003, are working and the North American elephant population is thriving. Elephants in zoos are as long-lived as elephants in Asia and Africa. The current female African elephant life expectancy in professionally-managed zoological facilities is 33 years.
With more than 3,880 years of collective elephant management experience and an extensive network of scientific advisors covering the disciplines of nutrition, veterinary medicine, pathology, behavior, reproduction, population management, education, and research, the elephant care professionals at AZA-accredited zoos are the trusted experts on the health and welfare of elephants. Through their collective conservation, education and research programs, elephants in the care of AZA-accredited zoos play an essential role in the survival of the species in Africa and Asia.
Elephants in AZA-accredited zoos help educate visitors, make emotional connections, and change behaviors that positively impact elephants and their wild habitat. In a Harris Interactive poll, 95 percent of Americans said that seeing elephants in zoos helps people appreciate them more. That same poll found that 86 percent of respondents believe that visiting zoos and aquariums encourages people to donate time and/or money to conservation.
By visiting elephants in accredited zoos, people help make possible the field conservation, research, habitat restoration, reduction of human-elephant conflicts and community-based initiatives necessary to protect wild populations. AZA-accredited zoos, including Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, provide the majority of funding for the International Elephant Foundation, supporting elephant conservation projects worldwide.
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