This is the heartwarming moment an elephant touches trunks with her daughter and granddaughter after being separated for 12 years.
Pori is a 39-year-old grandmother elephant and was reunited with her 19-year-old daughter Tana as well as her granddaughters, Tamika, 4, and Elani, 1.
In the wild, the male elephants will often leave their herd to find a partner, but the females stay with their mothers for life.
This particular family reunion is part of a programme to recreate this natural process in herds that are held in captivity.
The zoo has closed the elephant house to give these animals a chance to relax and become reacquainted with each other.
‘Pori’s arrival in Halle is an important step in modern elephant husbandry. In the future, all elephant herds in European zoos should be cared for in such natural family structures. Today we have come a great deal closer to this goal. ‘
Here at Kingdoms, we do not believe any wild animal should be held in captivity, except for the welfare of the animal or the species. If they are in captivity the keepers should try their best to maintain the best quality of life for the beautiful creatures.
As part of EEP, a conservation breeding program, the elephant population in zoos is monitored. This is to determine new herd compositions and the resulting animal moves.
