No pressure: Wichita zoo counting on new bull elephant to get it its first baby ever
The singles mixer that is the Sedgwick County Zoo’s elephant herd is about to get even more interesting.
And the zoo’s chances of getting its first ever baby elephant are about to swell.
On Thursday, the zoo announced that a new bachelor will soon be moving in, and he’s got a reputation. Callee, a bull elephant who’s been living in Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo, has in recent years impregnated five of Omaha’s female elephants. He’ll arrive in the next few weeks.
His assignment: get done in Wichita what he got done in Omaha. And if he gets it done quickly, the zoo could have a baby elephant in about two years, said Jennica King, the zoo’s director of marketing and communications.
“Our chances are very good,” she said.
The zoo now has eight African elephants, and when Callee arrives, it will have nine. Six of them — Stephanie, Simunye, Arusi, Xolani, Talia and Zuberi — are females, and all are of breeding age except for Stephanie, one of the zoo’s original residents, who turns 52 this year.
The females have been mixing since 2018 with Ajani, 22, who was also moved to Wichita in 2018 to breed with the female population.
“But Ajani hasn’t been able to get the job done,” King said.
The other male, Titan, has only recently grown to reproductive age, and he has been “practicing,” King said.
Soon, all eyes will be on Callee, who has three babies in Omaha with another two on the way.
The zoo is absolutely cheering him on, King said.
“We’ve never had a baby elephant in the zoo — ever,” she said.
Callee’s move was recommended by the Association of Zoos and Aquarium’s African Elephant Species Survival Plan. The move closely mirrors the natural behavior of elephants in the wild, King said. Adult males always live together in small “bachelor” herds, which go in search of females living in multi-general family groups. The males breed then move along.
The African elephant population is threatened because of poaching and the illegal ivory trade, said a release from the zoo. A potential breeding program in Wichita would help to protect the population of African elephants in the United States.
