SEATTLE - Woodland Park Zoo and Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium are making final arrangements for the transfer of Bamboo, a 38-year-old female Asian elephant, from Seattle to Tacoma. The move is expected to be completed before Labor Day. A transport date will be announced later.

Bamboo will join the Tacoma zoo’s existing herd of two Asian females: 41-year-old Suki (SOO-key) and 41-year-old Hanako (HAH-nuh-koe). The goal of the move is to optimize the social environment for the herds at both institutions. The American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) recognizes the social nature of elephant communities and recommends that elephants be managed in groups of three or more. AZA has sanctioned this move.

Woodland Park’s herd, all females, will be reduced to three: Asian elephant 26-year-old Chai (rhymes with eye); 4-year-old Hansa (HUN-suh), the calf of Chai; and African elephant 36-year-old Watoto (wah-TOE-toe).

“The move is a win-win situation that serves the best interests of Bamboo, Woodland Park Zoo, and Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. She will have an opportunity for maximized social contact,” noted Woodland Park Zoo General Curator Dr. Nancy Hawkes. “We have carefully assessed both herds and are very confident that Bamboo will be more compatible with Asian elephants her age and disposition at Point Defiance.”

The zoo staffs are collaborating to make the move safe and comfortable for Bamboo. Point Defiance Zoo’s elephant care staff has been visiting Bamboo so she will see familiar faces when she
arrives in Tacoma and so that PDZA staff members are familiar with Bamboo and how she has been cared for. And Woodland Park elephant care staff will work at Point Defiance for a time to assist with her acclimation. Additionally, the zoos will exchange elephant fecal and urine samples so the elephants will recognize each other’s scents when Bamboo arrives in Tacoma. Smell is the most important of the senses for elephants.

Bamboo, who weighs about 8,370 pounds and is in good health, will make the trip in an air conditioned tractor trailer driven by one of the nation’s most highly regarded animal movers. Zoo veterinarians and zookeepers will accompany her on the short trip to Tacoma. Once she arrives, she will be introduced to a stall that has been prepared for her at Point Defiance’s state-of-the-art elephant barn. Because the barn offers a glass viewing wall, visitors will be able to see Bamboo in the barn right away.

One of the benefits for Bamboo is that she will be fully integrated into the herd at Point Defiance Zoo.

“Bamboo is not fully compatible with one of our other adult females and doesn’t exhibit predictable social skills toward newborns and very young calves,” added Hawkes. “This inconsistent behavior has required us to manage our four animals as two separate herds, limiting Bamboo’s proximity to the other animals at certain times.”

Experts from both zoos believe Bamboo’s temperament and social skills are far better suited to a herd of post-reproductive females than within a herd with young calves. At Point Defiance, she will have daily access to many of the same features she enjoys at Woodland Park, including a packed-sand yard with water features, shade and boulders in the Zoo’s new Asian Forest Sanctuary. She will also have near constant social contact with the two other females.

“We’re looking forward to Bamboo’s arrival,” said John Houck, deputy director at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. “We’re confident that she will fit in well with Suki and Hanako, and that she will have a good life here.”

Woodland Park and Point Defiance participate in the AZA’s Species Survival Plan (SSP) for elephants, a cooperative breeding program in North American zoos to manage and expand the populations of endangered species.

The SSP has recommended that Chai reproduce again, through artificial insemination, which Woodland Park will attempt this fall. The SSP has supported the transfer of Bamboo. Bamboo is beyond breeding age, and Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium is not currently an elephant breeding facility. Both Point Defiance and Woodland Park zoos are accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association and adhere to rigorous AZA guidelines and requirements that ensure the highest standards of animal care.

Accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, award-winning Woodland Park Zoo is famed for pioneering naturalistic exhibits and setting a standard for zoos all over the world. With conservation, education and excellent animal care at the core of the zoo’s mission, the zoo is helping to save endangered species in Washington state and around the world including tree kangaroos, snow leopards, red-crowned cranes, African wild dogs, western pond turtles and Oregon silverspot butterflies. By inspiring visitors and others to care and act, Woodland Park Zoo is making a difference in our planet’s future.