End of an era: Taronga Zoo says goodbye to its two Asian Elephants

  • Taronga Zoo is moving its two remaining Asian Elephants to start a new social herd in South Australia.
  • Asian Elephants have been a star attraction at Taronga Zoo for 100 years.
  • Crate and seatbelt training has already begun to ensure the elephants are moving safely.
  • READ MORE: Taronga has welcomed two new baby penguins

Although they were fan favourites for 100 years, Taronga Zoo will now be saying farewell to its Asian Elephants as the final two, Tang Mo (26) and Pak Boon (33), prepare to leave the iconic zoo and to South Australia in late March 2025.

The mammoth move is already underway, with both elephants starting “crate training,” which from a video released to media today looks like gently preparing the elephants for transport, including daily create and seatbelt sessions. These are designed to building positive associations to the transport crate and the safety leg bands that each elephant must wear to keep them safe during the March move.

“The daily sessions give Tang Mo and Pak Boon the option to explore, test, enter and exist their transport crate at their own pace, and is ultimately conditioning them to the safe and positive space that they will travel in,” explained Taronga Zoo Exotics Manager Mandy Everett.

Tang Mo was born in 1999 and arrived at the Sydney Zoo in 2002, where she has been living ever since, becoming one of the superstars of Taronga Zoo along with the older Pak Boon who arrived at the zoo in the same year. Both elephants were transported to Sydney from Cocos Island Animal Quarantine Station in Cocos Islands.

A farewell date for the two Taronga Zoo stars has been set for late March with plans being made so the community has the opportunity to say farewell to the elephants and thank the keepers who have cared to them from close to two decades.

While this will the end of the “Asian Elephant era” at Taronga Zoo, the state still has a sizeable herd of Asian Elephants at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo, currently home to seven of these endangered animals, with an additional birth expected later this year.

Once Tang Mo and Pak Boon have been moved on, works will commence for a new mixed species habitat for a Greater One-horned Rhinoceros and Water Buffalo.

The two Asian Elephants will form a new social herd with three other elephants from Auckland Zoo and Perth Zoo in Monarto Safari Park in South Australia.


Taronga Zoo

Address: Bradleys Head Rd, Mosman NSW 2088
Contact: (02) 9969 2777
Opening Hours: Monday – Sunday (9:30am – 5pm)

taronga.org.au


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