Mary, left, and Shaba
It has been over a month now since we began introductions with elephants Shaba and Mary at the San Diego Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey (see post Shaba’s Next Step). The progress has been steady and encouraging. Shaba and Mary first met each other through a fence. We observed their interactions to get a better idea of what to expect when they would be in the same yard together. These fence-line introductions lasted for almost a week, getting longer each day until the two could be in adjacent yards overnight.
Mary didn’t seem very interested in being aggressive with Shaba through the fence. In fact, if there was food anywhere in the yard, Mary didn’t seem interested in Shaba at all! But Shaba was interested in Mary and initiated most of the contact between them. At night, when they had adjacent yards, Mary chose to sleep on the opposite side of her yard, far from the shared fence and closer to Sumithi, Devi, and Tembo, while Shaba slept close to the shared fence. Mary seemed to be drawn to what was comfortable and familiar to her, and Shaba seemed to be reaching out to establish new companionship.
Encouraged by the positive interactions and lack of aggression we saw, we moved to the next step. We began with Shaba and Mary together in our largest yard with small amounts of food placed throughout. Mary was more concerned with the food than she was with Shaba. Shaba followed Mary around and initiated most of the contact. From time to time, Mary would have enough of her new shadow and put her very quickly in her place. To do that, Mary would chase Shaba and give her a fairly good push.
Any time we do introductions, we have keepers placed all around the yard taking notes, filming, observing, and ready to break up any fight that looks like it could get out of hand. What can we possibly do to stop two massive animals from fighting? It’s amazing what some loud noise can do to get their attention! After that, we call them to separate ends of the yard and give them their space. Happily, we never had to interfere with Shaba and Mary. Shaba has good instinct. When Mary pushed, she braced herself and waited it out. Running away only makes a more dominant elephant want to chase, so standing still makes the aggression get boring pretty fast. Eventually, their interactions turned into gentle touches and even some instances of eating side by side from the same feeder. Mary is not one to share her food, so that was a big deal!
Once we were certain that Shaba and Mary could get along well in the same yard, we brought Sumithi (Smitty, as we affectionately call her) into the adjacent yard for a concurrent fence-line introduction. Shaba and Mary were still together, but Shaba had the choice of interacting with Mary in the yard or visiting Smitty at the fence. She balanced her time fairly evenly between them. Shaba seems eager to make new friends. Smitty, on the other hand, was more eager to let Shaba know who was going to be the boss. She spent much more time at the fence than Mary had and initiated more contact in the form of pokes and jabs. Nothing serious, just something a human child might do to a sibling just to be annoying. Shaba would leave when she had her fill but never stayed away for very long.
On August 16, we began introductions with Mary, Smitty, and Shaba together in the yard. Again we had food spread out and had keepers stationed all around. These introductions have been a little less peaceful than the previous ones. Smitty does more chasing and pushing than Mary did. We’ve seen some interesting behavior from Mary. A few times, she made her way over to stand between Smitty and Shaba when Smitty was pushing, and other times she joined in. For the most part, though, Mary stays out of it, more involved in feeding herself than policing anything.
The pushing and shoving is perfectly normal. Elephants live in a hierarchy. Each one is dominant or submissive depending on which other elephants are around. We need to give them opportunities to establish their dominance and settle into a comfortable herd structure so that we can start leaving them together for longer periods of time and eventually have a complete, cohesive herd of female elephants. It just might take awhile for everyone to find their place.
We will continue introductions with Shaba, Smitty, and Mary for awhile before we go to the next step, which will be fence-line contact with Tembo and/or Devi. Their behavior and level of comfort will be the determining factors. Generally, we do introductions first thing in the morning, so feel free to stop by and observe with us! We’re happy to point out “who’s who” in the yard and tell you what has been happening. So far we’re very pleased with the progress that we’ve seen in such a short time.
Nora Kigin is a keeper at the San Diego Zoo.
I’m glad to hear all seems to be going well for Shaba with the others to date.
It would be so nice if the Zoo had a cam like the Park does so we could watch this herd as well.
Perhaps something to consider for the future
When doing introductions, do you start with the dominate females first?
Yes, if possible. It helps establish the hierarchy from the beginning.
Are all the other elephants Asians? If so, I guess that Shaba is used to Asians because of her dear friend, Connie. If there are other Africans, would Shaba feel better with them?
Moderator’s note: Elephant Odyssey’s herd includes one other African elephant: Tembo.
So happy to have an update for Shaba! It sounds like all is going well. I’m glad that she is so interested in seeking out companionship. Just think, she now has two more friends than she would have had if she had been left in Arizona, and there are more to come. You guys are so good with these wonder full creatures. Thank you for all you do and thank you for sharing.
Thanks for the informative update on Shaba. I feel so bad for her and have been wondering how she’s been doing, She seems so sweet. Sounds hopeful that she will find some new friends among the divas.
Thanks for the update. So nice to hear that she’s beginning to make new friends. I know she’s being well cared for in San Diego.
Thank you Nora for such a detailed informative article. I am impressed how you go about handling the long and sometimes dangerous procedure involved in elephant introductions. Also it obviously requires a great deal of patience by you all. Great job and continued success !
Thanks for the update Nora. It’s amazing what goes on behind the scenes to ensure the elephants stay one happy family. I enjoy the dynamics of this blended family compared to the elephants at the Safari Park where they were from one herd in the wild. They are similar but different, all at the same time.
Lee: the Park ellies were forced together due to a cull that was to occur, each adult female is not related to the others. So they are a blended family too.
Has the San Diego Zoo ever thought of moving Tembo over to the SDSP to be in the African elephant herd? If she went then poor old Ranchipur wouldn’t be scared anymore. By way way what did Tembo ever do to make Ranchipur always take off when she is around? It is very funny.
Current recommendations suggest that elephants that have been in mixed herds (Asian and African elephants living together) not be placed in a breeding group. Ranchipur had never seen an elephant larger than himself; we can only guess that he feels a little shy around the big girl.
I heard that those recommendations are because of a virus that doesn’t hurt one of the species and hurts the calves of the other species – is this true?
I’m glad to find out Ranchipur’s just spooked by Tembo’s size, instead of it turning out that Tembo behaved badly!
Elephant Team responds: Yes.
“Ranchipur had never seen an elephant larger than himself”
Whoa, just realized something sad.
If Ranchipur had never seen an elephant larger than himself until meeting Tembo, then what happened to his *parents*? I mean, just about every guy over in the Safari Park herd starts off seeing *lots* of elephants larger than himself…!
Thanks for the updates on her. It is good to see she is moving on – I must admit I was worried after the loss.
I read your article about the EO elephants getting to know each other better. I sure do hope that Mary, Shaba, and Smitty will get along very well, then eventually get together with Tembo and Devi, and they will all get to know each other and get along, too. I wonder when all of them will get with Ranchipur? He needs some company, too!
I was on the elliecam for about 30 minutes late this afternoon, and there were a bunch of ellies around the muddy water hole! They were sniffing, slurping, and rolling in that hole. Mostly it was the young kids that were in there more than the adults. Even Swazi’s newest calf got in the middle of it! She was in that muddy hole trying like crazy to get up, and with the help from mom and cousins, she got up and out of there. Then, the older kids were in there again just pushing and shoving each other for the best spot! Then, Swazi’s little girl got back in there again when the bigger kids got out, and she managed to lay down in the mud, get up, and with a little bit of help, get out of the hole. Everybody decided they had enough of that mud fun, and went their ways. Swazi’s calf is sure learning about the fun stuff pretty quick thanks to her brother and her cousins!
BTW, I have not seen anything about Swazi’s new baby up on the Meet the Elephants list yet. When do you think you will get her cute pic and info in there? Very soon, I hope! And, give us an update on Swazi’s little girl, ok? Would like to hear how she’s been doing in the last couple of weeks or so!
Well, going back to the elliecam to see more ellies for as long as you have daylight in Cal!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
loved the nice long article on the introductions. so glad things are going well for Shaba after the loss of her longtime companion, Connie. I just checked the meet the elephants page and I was wondering, why hasn’t Shaba been added to it? It’s too late for Connie but Shaba has been at the zoo more than 6 months and really deserves to be listed with the other elephants.
Wonderful news concerning Shaba. Please let us know how the rest of the story turns out. She sure is lucky to have you guys take care of her for her remaining time on earth. Thank you.
I just came back from a visit to San Diego. The Behind the Scenes Tour at the Safari Park was amazing. The baby Okapi is adorable and his name should be Congolese for cute as a button. Feeding the rhino was a hoot. He snorts when he eats. I also visited the SD Zoo and saw Ranchipur and noticed his wound. I also saw the infamous big girl Tembo but I was floored when I saw Shaba. She is enormous or at least she looks that way. So how is Ranchipur taking to Shaba? Big Girl Tembo makes him shy, what must Shaba do?