Image: Taronga Zoo
Taronga Zoo’s last pair of elephants have moved on to greener pastures, leaving the wildlife conservation hub to settle into a new life with a herd of elephants in South Australia.
Last year, Taronga announced plans for the departure of Asian Elephants Tang Mo and Pak Boon from Taronga Zoo. The decision was made with “best animal welfare practices in mind”, as the rare opportunity presented to form a new social herd with three other elephants from Auckland Zoo and Perth Zoo at Monarto Safari Park in South Australia.
Moving elephants is no small task, and relocating Tang Mo and Pak Boon included daily training sessions where the elephants were given the option to explore, test, enter and exit their transport crate at their own pace. This conditioned them to the safe space that they would travel for more than 20 hours to arrive in Monarto Safari Park.
Taronga Zoo Exotics Manager Mandy Everett said, “the goal of training is to give Tang Mo and Pak Boon the choice to voluntarily participate in daily crate and seatbelt sessions, which build positive associations to the transport crate and their safety leg bands ahead of the March move.”
“Pak Boon and Tang Mo voluntarily present their feet for safety leg bands to be comfortably fit, which are much like a seatbelt or handle that you hold when standing on a bus or train. It’s an important safety and comfort measure to help in the journey when the transport truck brakes, accelerates, or turns”, explained Everett.
Joining Tang Mo and Pak Boon at Monarto Safari Park will be female elephant Burma (41) who has made the move from Auckland Zoo, female elephant Permai (11) and male elephant Putra Mas (33) who will move from Perth Zoo.
Taronga Zoo’s elephant keepers will accompany Tang Mo and Pak Boon on the journey to South Australia. The keepers will spend some time with the Asian elephants as they settle into their new home at Monarto Safari Park.
Greater-One Horned Rhinoceros and Water Buffalo to Join Taronga Zoo
As part of a Great Migration, Taronga Zoo has announced that the elephants’ departure will make way for a new, multi-species habitat at Taronga Zoo featuring Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros and Water Buffalo.
The Greater One-horned Rhino are one of the largest species of Rhinoceros and often referred to as “real life unicorns” due to their distinctive solo horn which distinguishes them from other Rhino species.
CEO of the Taronga Conservation Society Cameron Kerr told the ABC that Hari, the one-horned rhino who was born at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo in 2021, would soon arrive alongside water buffalo.
“They are the most wonderful creatures – they’re enormous rhinos, they’ve got the big wrinkly skin and they’re gentle giants,” Kerr said.
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