SPIKE BOUND FOR FLORIDA
CALGARY ZOO TO SAY FAREWELL TO 31-YEAR-OLD MALE ASIAN ELEPHANT
After 20 years at the Calgary Zoo, Spike is returning home to Florida.
The 31-year-old male Asian elephant will be moving to Busch Gardens in Tampa at the end of the summer, zoo officials announced Tuesday.
There won’t be a dry eye at Elephant Crossing when Ganesh — better known as Spike — bids adieu, say officials, though they acknowledge the move to a warmer city will be good for the 5,900-kilogram pachyderm.
“One of the biggest constraints we face here in Calgary is the climate,” said Dr. Jake Veasey, director of animal care at the Calgary Zoo. “At Busch Gardens, they’re going to have access to outdoor space 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”
Plans have been underway since April 2012 to find new homes for the Calgary Zoo’s four adult elephants after officials decided its island location did not provide enough space or a large enough herd for the pachyderms.
The zoo is still finalizing a new home for its three female elephants, Maharani, Swarna and Kamala. The trio must remain together and be moved to the same location.
Once at his new home, Spike will be quarantined, then integrated with the facility’s five female Asian elephants, said Jeff Andrews, vicepresident of zoological operations at Busch Gardens, adding the hope is for the animals to breed.
Andrews added Busch Gardens’ expansion plans are still in development, but the hope is to expand the herd size and the facility space, which will likely be “several acres” in size.
Spike’s 8,165-kilogram crate, equipped with heating and cooling systems, arrived from California on Monday. It was smeared with elephant dung and filled with food to make him feel at home.
On Tuesday, he peered timidly inside the container — 20 feet long, 11 feet tall and eight feet wide — as Swarna explored and marched in and out of the open crate fearlessly.
“Over the next couple weeks, we’ll be familiarizing Spike to the crate
Will have access to outdoors 365 days a year DR. JAKE VEASEY, CALGARY ZOO
so he becomes accustomed to it, he sees it as a non-scary thing, and will be very comfortable being in there,” Veasey said. “Then, toward the end of August, early September, we hope to be able to transport him in that crate by road.”
Spike will be accompanied by a large team of handlers, including vets, elephant experts and staff from Busch Gardens and the Calgary Zoo for the two-day trip. “We will make regular welfare checks,” said Andrews, adding the animal will be monitored the entire journey via CCTV.
While male elephants in the wild are known to migrate between social groups, it’s not known how Spike’s absence will affect the remaining elephants at the zoo.
“They’ve been with Spike for 20 years,” said Veasey, “and they’re going to recognize that change.”