Three of Dickerson Park Zoo’s elephants will celebrate milestone birthdays during Zoobilee on Saturday, May 30. Ol’ C.C., the zoo’s oldest elephant, is estimated to be 60 years old this year. The herd matriarch, Pinky, turns 45; and Patience will be 35 years old. Dickerson Park Zoo’s elephant herd comprises four adult cows (female) and one adult bull (male).
C.C. was wild-born in the Assam region of India in approximately 1949 and
came to Dickerson Park Zoo from the Dusit Zoological Park in Bangkok,
Thailand, in May 1954. Although she has never given birth to a calf of
her own, she has many years of experience as an “auntie” to calves both
here and at other zoos. She spent many years in the role of herd
matriarch but recently “retired” from that position.
Pinky was wild-born in approximately 1964. She came to Dickerson Park Zoo on November 25, 1981, from the Abilene Zoological Gardens in Abilene, Texas. Pinky fulfills the role of herd matriarch. She gave birth to a stillborn calf in 1985, Kate in 1991 and
Asha in 1995. Asha lives with her half-sister Chandra at the Oklahoma City Zoo
(currently on breeding loan to Tulsa Zoo).
Patience was born in Thailand in 1974. She arrived at Dickerson Park Zoo
from Brookfield Zoo in Chicago in October 1990. Patience gave birth to Kala in
1998 and Haji in 2000.
Dickerson Park Zoo's elephants had a little fun with gigantic pumpkins today. One pumpkin - weighing in at more than 300 pounds - was met with great excitement by "Patience."
"Pinky" corralled the 200-plus pound pumpkin and mashed it in very short order.
Not to be outdone by his pachyderm friends, "Henry" the hippopotamus, chomped a pumpkin, too!
It is with heavy hearts this morning that we write. Our elephant calf Nisha died from the elephant herpesvirus in the early hours of Dec. 1. Her zookeepers and the adult female elephants were with her in the elephant barn throughout the night.
While there were a few positive signs yesterday, Nisha's condition deteriorated rapidly throughout Friday evening.
Our elephant keepers and everyone here at Dickerson Park Zoo are deeply saddened by the loss of Nisha. She was a darling of our community, and many throughout the Ozarks participated in naming her after her birth in 2006 and enjoyed watching her grow up these last 16 months. We know you - our visiting public - will miss her as much as we will.
If you would like to send a message of support to Nisha's keepers, click on the comments link below or send an e-mail.
Dickerson Park Zoo celebrated the birth of Nisha in July 2006. It is with heavy hearts we announce today that late yesterday afternoon, Nisha began showing symptoms of a typically fatal elephant herpesvirus.
This isn't a new experience for the elephant staff at the zoo. We've seen this virus before. Luckily for one calf - Chandra - the staff developed an experimental treatment that was successful in saving her.
However, other calves with this virus - here at DPZ and at other zoos around the world - haven't been so fortunate.
Dickerson Park Zoo's elephant staff of well-trained professionals is consulting with veterinarians and experts across the country. They are spending 24 hours a day with Nisha. Please keep the keepers and Nisha in your thoughts.
If you would like to send your well-wishes to Nisha and her zookeepers, please click on the comments link below or send an e-mail.
Nisha enjoys an early birthday present during the elephant fruit stomp Tuesday, July 17. The fruit stomp is part of Animal Enrichment Tuesday during Elephantastic Week.
Animal Enrichment Tuesday is a demonstration of enrichment activities provided by the zookeeper staff.
Elephantastic Week is a week-long celebration of Nisha's first birthday. As you can see, she is already enjoying the festivities. To view video of this event, visit YouTube.
Nisha turns one on July 18. My how she's grown. She was 238 pounds at birth and now weighs more than 880 pounds!
Celebrate Nisha's birthday and help elephants in the wild. We've put together a special ADOPT package for Nisha's birthday. For $75, you receive a 12-inch TY plush elephant, a 5x7 color photograph of Nisha, an elephant fact sheet and a personalized ADOPT certificate. Dickerson Park Zoo will contribute $25 of your ADOPT fee to help elephants in the wild in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka is home to more than 3,000 wild Asian elephants, which is significant for this fairly small island. Many conservation projects provided by National Zoo are underway to preserve the mystifying Asian elephants and protect populations from further harm. Projects include GPS satellite mapping to track elephant herds and studies to understand how traditional agricultural dynamics influence elephant movements and habitat. Dickerson Park Zoo has been contributing to these efforts since 2005, and will continue to help raise awareness of Asian elephant conservation.
