How You Introduce a New Elephant to the Herd is So Important

Zookeepers at the San Diego Zoo integrate Jewel, an Asian elephant with some health issues, into the Elephant Odyssey exhibit.

Transcript

00:00This morning at the San Diego Zoo's New Elephant Odyssey Exhibit, we did introductions with our elephants.

00:06We have Jewel, who is one of our recently acquired elephants, that came into the zoo with some health issues.

00:12And today was very special because it was the first day we actually did a physical introduction with her to two of her fellow exhibit mates.

00:20Jewel came out this morning to meet Chacha and Smitty.

00:24They moved close together. There was a little touching and smelling.

00:27And they were all eating. It was very quiet. It was a very peaceful introduction, which makes all the keepers happy.

00:36The elephant behavior and the condition of the exhibit and our weather really control the pace of our introductions.

00:44The keepers observe the animals closely every day.

00:47And if they see really good interactions between the elephants, we'll speed up our introductions with certain individuals.

00:52And so over the next few weeks, we hope to have several more animals together at the Elephant Odyssey Exhibit.

00:58Girl Chacha and Girl Chacha.

01:06Girl Chacha.