The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden has a new 10,000-pound resident. Raja, a 33-year-old Asian elephant bull, arrived at the zoo’s Elephant Trek habitat on Thursday, Oct. 29, moving from the Saint Louis Zoo on a breeding recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Cincinnati Zoo announced.
Raja is not just any elephant. He was the first elephant ever born at the Saint Louis Zoo, where he arrived on Dec. 27, 1992, and grew into what the Cincinnati Zoo called a St. Louis legend. In Cincinnati, the zoo hopes he will pair with its young females, Anak and Yasmin, also known as She-Ra, and help grow the herd.
“Raja is beloved in St. Louis and leaves a legacy that lives on in our multigenerational elephant family,” Katie Pilgram-Kloppe, curator of mammals/ungulates and River’s Edge at the Saint Louis Zoo, told the Cincinnati Zoo in its announcement. “While we’re sad to see him leave, we’re thrilled that he will have the chance to start new families and contribute to his endangered species.”…