An Update on Asian Elephant Chuck
Since August is Asian Elephant Awareness Month, we wanted to take a moment to give an update on our newest Houston Zoo elephant, Chuck!
It’s been a little over three months since our 16-year-old male elephant, Chuck, arrived at the Zoo and he’s been settling in nicely. Chuck came to us from the Denver Zoo on a recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Plan® (SSP) Program. As an unrelated male, he will be able to breed with many of our females in the future.
Chuck has been introduced to three of our four boys – Thailand, Tucker and Nelson. He spends most of his time in the bull habitat with Tucker and Nelson and can be seen outside almost every day. He has also had exhibit time with Shanti and Joy. Although he has had introductions through the bollards with the remaining elephants, he has yet to share space with them.
As a very social elephant, Chuck loves to spend time with the other elephants. He is often seen throwing hay on his back and sidling up to someone to encourage them to touch him and eat with him. Chuck is also crucial to being a role model for Nelson and aiding in his transition to the bull exhibit. It is very exciting to see him forming new bonds with our elephants at Houston Zoo.
He continues to get used to our daily routines and is making progress in his training. He has a bath routine and we are drawing blood from him weekly to monitor for elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV).
As mentioned previously, Chuck’s arrival to our Zoo will hopefully result in future baby elephants. But that is not his only role. There are only an estimated 40,000-50,000 Asian elephants left living in the wild, making Asian elephants an endangered species. Elephants in human care play an important role in the conservation of the species. Any research done to improve the welfare of elephants in human care is also used by researchers and conservationists to help their wild counterparts. The Houston Zoo participates in multiple areas of research, most notably assisting Baylor College of Medicine in the development of the first-ever mRNA vaccine for EEHV. In addition, every time you visit Houston Zoo, you are also helping save wild elephants! A portion of every admission ticket and membership sold is helping the Zoo plant trees to reforest habitat and protect wildlife in parts of Malaysia.
