An endangered female elephant has been waiting to meet her mum and little sister after she was brought back to a zoo in Switzerland for the first time in nearly three decades.
Panang returned to her old home after she was separated from her mum Ceyla-Himali, 48, and dad Maxi, at the age of six, and moved to the Hellabrunn Zoo, in Munich, Germany in 1995.
The 34-year-old female elephant arrived at the Zurich Zoo, in Switzerland, in a massive transport box, and was released in the zoo’s Kaeng Krachan Elephant Park on Tuesday evening, 21st November.
Images taken from the time show the Asian elephant, a species listed as ‘endangered’ on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species, setting foot on Swiss ground again after 28 years.
She will reportedly be reunited with her mum, and meet her little sister Farha, 18, for the first time ever, in a few days, said zookeepers.
Zoo director Severin Dressen said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: “We warmly welcome the new old woman from Zurich back to her elephant family at Zurich Zoo.”
He added: “We assume that Ceyla-Himali will recognise her daughter again even after 28 years of separation and will then convince Farha to accept Panang into her ranks from now on.”
Dressen explained that the reunification will take place in several steps, and said: “The first step is taken only through smell and hearing.
“Then there is an initial physical contact, but still spatially separated by a fence.
“If the first two steps are successful, the third step will effectively bring the three elephants together.”
In her new surroundings, Panang was also joined by two zookeepers from the Helllabrunn Zoo. They will reportedly spend the next several weeks in Switzerland to help her adapt.
In addition to rejoining her family, Panang, will also meet young Thai, a male Asian elephant zookeepers have set her on a date with.
Dressen said: “We are pleased that, after the drastic loss of young animals due to the herpes virus in 2022, we will be able to expand our elephant group again with the arrival of Panang, and thus be able to contribute to the conservation of endangered Asian elephants in the future.”
The Kaeng Krachan Elephant Park, is a 90,900-square-foot enclosure that was completed in 2014.
It currently hosts Asian elephants, as well as other species, in a nature-inspired habitat topped by a 73,200-square-foot shell roof made primarily from wood.
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Story By: Georgina Jedikovska, Sub-Editor: Georgina Jedikovska, Agency: Newsflash
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