Elephant exhibit earns pachyderm-size praise

Some say an elephant never forgets. But Hogle Zoo's elephants, Hi-Dari, Christie and Misha, may not remember their old habitat because their new $5.5 million digs are so comfortable.

Earlier this month, Hogle Zoo opened its new Elephant Encounter exhibit, funded with a $10.2 million general obligation bond approved by Salt Lake voters in 2003.

The new exhibit makes Hogle the leader of the pack (or herd) in elephant habitats and makes the zoo more eligible to get and breed additional pachyderms.

"Hogle Zoo is leading," said Bill Foster, American Zoo and Aquarium Association president. "They are ahead of the curve. (Hogle) Zoo will be known globally for the advancement that it's making now."

Hogle Zoo is one of 211 zoos accredited by the nonprofit AZA.

The Elephant Encounter exhibit tripled the space the elephants previously had, so Hogle could obtain and breed up to three more elephants, bringing the total to six.

"We're looking for new prospects right now," Hogle executive director Craig Dinsmore said. But, he noted, elephants are difficult to acquire.

The process could take a few months or even years, but because Hogle has taken a leadership role, Dinsmore said, its "elephant stock" increases. Currently Hogle can only accommodate one extra elephant because white rhinos Princess and George are living in the Elephant Encounter exhibit until their habitat, African Savanna, is completed.

"Breeding is certainly part of our long-range plan," Dinsmore said.

Breeding could happen one of three ways, he said. Hogle has no bulls, so the zoo could send one of its females to another zoo to breed with a male, bring a male to Hogle to breed with a female or artificially inseminate a female so no elephants have to move.

Under AZA, zoos wanting to obtain elephants must get an elephant through AZA's species survival plan, a computer registry of the roughly 300 elephants under AZA and other elephants available across the nation and around the world. The registry records elephants' genders, ages, weights and even characteristics to make sure elephants will get along socially. Foster describes it as a "computerized dating game."