"There is scarcely enough space now in the Tierpark thanks to our successful elephant breeding programme. We're delighted that our elephants have now found a new home in Madrid", says Zoo and Tierpark Director Dr. Andreas Knieriem. "The grey giants were born in an Indonesian zoo, with the exception of three-year-old Bogor who is a bona fide Lichtenberger, and can now all move together."
In cooperation with the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP), Zoo Madrid was chosen as the new home. The Berlin elephant family, with roots in Indonesia, will move into a newly built open-air enclosure. Elephant bull Valentino and his two ladies are Europe's only breeding group of Sumatran elephants and should provide plenty of offspring in Spain. The signs are looking very good – both female elephants are already pregnant.
Building work has already begun – a very large crane is required for the loading the four heavyweights onto a truck. The elephants will then travel to Madrid in specially constructed transport boxes in maxi format. Vet Dr. Günter Strauß explains "The move is expected to take 40 hours – there will of course be plenty of breaks to replenish the pachyderms."
Sumatran elephants are smallest of all the Asian elephant species with a shoulder height of up to 3 meters. Only around 2,400 to 2,800 Sumatran elephants currently live in their country of origin in Indonesia, they are therefore considered to be very threatened.
There will still be six African and six Asian elephants living in Tierpark Berlin after the move.
