The Buffalo Zoo's two elephants have joined the pair of older elephants at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. Audubon says Surapa, 36, and Jothi, 37, are not yet consistently on view in the zoo's big new elephant yard, because they are getting settled into their new home and getting acquainted with their new roommates, Panya, 54, and Jean, 45. All four elephants are female.
Surapa and Jothi were moved from Buffalo, where the elephant house was a century old. The California-based animal activist group In Defense of Animals had ranked Buffalo's exhibit five times over the last 10 years on itslist of the 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants in North America. Their new enclosure has shade, pools and a barn with heated and padded floors.
Audubon spokeswoman Lauren Messina Conrad says elephants often live into their middle 50s, and "above 40 would be considered an older elephant."
