First the Sonics, now Oklahoma City gets Seattle’s elephants

Two Asian elephants from Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo will be moved to the Oklahoma City Zoo this spring.

“We are delighted to be able to provide Bamboo, 48, and Chai, 36, a great new home with a family,” said Woodland Park Zoo Board Chair Laurie Stewart. “They will be with a larger, multi-generational herd, which is a primary recommendation of our Elephant Task Force.

The WPZ announced in November that it would shutter its elephant program after a nearly decade-long debate about the well-being of the zoo’s program.

“They’re just going to go to another zoo and it’s more of the same,” the Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephant’s founder, Alyne Fortgang, told KIRO Radio in November.

The group was hoping the elephants would be moved to an elephant sanctuary. It was targeting PAWS in California, “where they’ll have a mountain top, wooded hills, in a sunny, warm climate. That’s what we owe these two.”

Zoo officials said the zoo in Oklahoma was found to best meet a criteria based on recommendations from animal welfare experts: a social herd of Asian elephants into which Chai and Bamboo may successfully integrate, a state-of-the-art facility, a healthy environment free of active infectious disease, high caliber elephant keeper and veterinary staff, a restricted contact management system, and an established history of stable finances and leadership.

“Oklahoma City Zoo is the best choice and meets our requirements to provide the best social welfare in a healthy environment for Bamboo and Chai,” said Woodland Park Zoo President and CEO Dr. Deborah Jensen.

The Oklahoma City Zoo opened its new $13 million, 9.5 acre elephant exhibit four years ago. About four of those acres are available to the elephants. The zoo currently has an Asian elephant family of four females and one male that Chai and Bamboo will be slowly introduced to.

The Woodland Park Zoo is in the process of training the two elephants to make the 2,000-mile road trip. They’ll ride in individual, climate-controlled crates pulled by a tractor-trailer.

“The timing of their departure will depend on the elephants’ readiness as well as ideal road conditions,” said Martin Ramirez, the zoo’s mammal curator. “We know our elephants are very special to thousands in our community, so we encourage everyone to come and see Chai and Bamboo before they head to their new home.”