Elephant in need of a friend finds perfect match
SAN ANTONIO, TX – An afternoon dip in the pool together. A stroll around a dirt patch. This is what friendship looks like between two elephants at the San Antonio zoo.
Lucky and Nicole are almost always within a few feet from each other. Zoo officials have never seen Lucky have such a close friend.
Lucky, a 57-year-old Asian elephant, has been at the zoo since she was two. She didn’t hit it off with her most recent companion, Boo, who died of cancer 3 years ago. Zoo officials have been looking for a new elephant friend that Lucky would warm up to.
They reached out to Feld Entertainment, the company that owns the Ringling Bros. circus, who had recently announced it would retire all of its elephants. The company knew the perfect friendly elephant for Lucky.
"Nicole has been with other elephants before and she always had an affinity for being introduced to new elephants,” said Stephen Payne with Feld entertainment.
Nicole is a 40-year-old Asian elephant originally from Burma. When she was 4, she began performing with traveling units of the Ringling Bros. Circus until her retirement. She has a reputation for getting along with other elephants.
The zoo initially introduced the two elephants in an open yard with a metal barrier so the two could smell and touch each other, and their handlers could observe their behavior.
"Nicole went, pretty much right to Lucky,” said Alan Kardon, Vice President of Animal Care at the San Antonio Zoo. "Lucky was a little standoffish at first. Lucky hasn’t seen another elephant for about 3 years. But Nicole went right to her, and Lucky approached the common barrier between them."
By that afternoon, they were hanging out in the same yard together. No barriers needed.
For more inspiring stories, LIKE the Humankind Facebook page.