When Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo transferred its two elephants to the Oklahoma City Zoo last year, officials were optimistic that the animals would integrate well with Oklahoma’s existing herd.
Bamboo, the elder female, would become the matriarch. The younger Chai would be an “auntie” to Oklahoma’s young elephants, they predicted.
But within a few months, one of Oklahoma’s baby elephants was dead of a viral infection almost certainly passed to her by Chai. A few months later, Chai herself collapsed and died from a combination of emaciation and a systemic blood infection.
Now, zoo records show that far from acting as a matriarch, Bamboo has attacked — and been attacked by — the other elephants at her new home.
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On at least three occasions, Bamboo suffered bites on her tail, including one described as an “amputation” that left bits of tissue and tendon exposed in the severed tip. The wound took months to heal.
In an incident in April, a female elephant chased and pushed Bamboo, resulting in a 6-inch scrape on her trunk. And in May, Bamboo charged a 20-month-old female, shoving her under the electrical “hot wire” that surrounds the compound.
Related video: New home for WPZ elephants
An inside look at the Oklahoma City Zoo, where Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo elephants Chai and Bamboo will soon join five others in a 3.95-acre habitat. Read more. (Steve Ringman and Lauren Frohne / The Seattle Times)
Oklahoma City Zoo spokeswoman Candice Rennels described the incidents as a normal part of establishing dominance hierarchy within a herd. Bull Shit!
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