Asian Elephants

Chester Zoo’s Elephants of the Asian Forest exhibit is home to our charismatic herd of Asiatic Elephants, which are part of a European Endangered Species Breeding Programme.

They are highly intelligent, social and long-lived animals, which can reach an age of 70 years. In the wild, loss of habitat to agricultural development has brought them into direct conflict with humans. Chester Zoo’s Asian Elephant Conservation Programme works to facilitate sustainable co-existence between elephants and people.

Our Asian Elephant herd consists of 6 females and two males, Upali and Nayan. Upali was born on 14th November, 1994 at Zurich Zoo. He was hand-reared and came to us when he was just 2 years old. Upali formed a particularly close bond with Sheba, who was the matriarch and leader of the herd for over 40 years, before she sadly passed away in February 2011.

We also have a three-generation family within the herd. Nayan was born July 2010 and he has an older sister Sundara. Their mother, Sithami, is Thi’s daughter – making Thi the grandmother to Nayan and Sundara!

Our youngest elephant is Jamilah, born to Thi in January 2011. So this means that Nayan has an auntie Jamilah who is 6 months younger than him!

Jangoli is a mature female who is extremely playful for her age and is still a calf at heart, whilst Maya is very bright and will do anything to get the attention of her Keepers!

The relationship between our elephants and their Keepers is fantastic! Our keepers know our elephants very well and can easily detect subtle changes in their moods. This knowledge and understanding of the animals is important when it comes to providing the best care and management for our elephants.

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