MELBOURNE – The elephants at Melbourne Zoo were reunited with their herd after a complex, five-day move to a larger enclosure, where they greeted each other with trumpets, trunk touches, and ear flaps.
Nine Asian elephants traveled 40 kilometers from Melbourne Zoo to Werribee Open Range Zoo, a journey facilitated by police escorts and coordinated traffic lights across three truck convoys, according to Zoos Victoria.
The animals’ reactions demonstrated they were happy with their move, the elephants’ manager Erin Gardiner said.
Gardiner, a spokesperson for the zoo, noted that the elephants displayed behaviors signaling comfort and excitement upon reuniting, such as ear flapping, trunk touching, and vocalizations.
“So, roaring, trumpeting, tweaks and squeaks. And so all those interactions helped us understand that they are happy to see each other and feeling comfortable. By the afternoon, those calves were playing together and interacting and I just couldn’t believe how well they traveled,” Gardiner added.
Planning the move began almost two years ago by training the elephants to enter and exit the transport crates, veterinarian Bonnie McMeekin said.
“Without that training and comfort, I think it would have been really hard to do it safely,” McMeekin said.
The elephants weighing a combined 23 metric tons (25 U.S. tons) were given mild sedatives to reduce their stress during their 40-minute journeys. The adults were also tethered around their ankles to hold them steady on the road.
The trucks mostly traveled around 60 kph (37 mph) but took turns cautiously, McMeekin said. The crates were air-conditioned and purpose built, three of them specifically for mothers and calves to travel together.
The herd has one adult male, five adult females and three calves, all 2 years old.
The adult male, who is the most solitary member of the herd, made the journey alone on Feb. 6 in a crate hoisted onto a truck by a crane. On Saturday, one truck carried an aunt and another carried a crate with a mother and calf. Two mothers with calves plus the herd matriarch followed in three crates on Monday, when the herd was reunited.
McMeekin said two days was a long time for females in a herd to be separated.
The herd on Wednesday was introduced into their new 21-hectare (52-acre) enclosure that has two 3.5-meter- (11-foot-) deep swimming pools. The enclosure is as big as the entire Melbourne Zoo where the herd had outgrown their 2-hectare (5-acre) habitat.
Their new 88 million Australian dollar ($55 million) home has mud wallows, specially designed elephant barns and a communal sleeping area filled with 3,300 metric tons (3,600 U.S. tones) of sand.
The herd will be given weeks to settle into their new home before the habitat is opened to the public.
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This story has been edited to correct the spelling of Eric Gardiner’s name from Gardner.
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