The Denver Zoo said one of its elephants is moving to Texas.
Chuck, an Asian elephant, will go to the Houston Zoo to start his own family, according to a news release from the Denver Zoo.
This is part of the Asian Elephant Species Survival Plan to maintain healthy genetic diversity of the animals in human care through breeding programs, according to the Denver Zoo.
“Chuck’s departure marks a significant milestone in the ongoing efforts to ensure the survival of Asian elephants, a species facing numerous threats in the wild—including habitat loss, poaching, and human-wildlife conflict,” the Denver Zoo said in its news release.
He is the first to leave Denver since the Toyota elephant enclosure at the Denver Zoo opened in 2012.
Chuck has been in the Toyota Elephant Passage since 2018 when he and his half-brother Jake moved to Colorado from Ontario, Canada, the Denver Zoo said.
The enclosure aims to simulate nature, according to the Denver Zoo, where young male elephants generally leave their herds when they enter maturity and seek out older, adult male elephants to teach them how to navigate the world.