Welcome To Our Elephant Eden, M’Changa!
10th Nov 2014
This week, we’re delighted to welcome our second male bull elephant, M’Changa, to the paradise that is Elephant Eden, and we’re almost as excited as Janu and Buta are about meeting him!
M’Changa is six years old and comes from Boras Zoo in Sweden. We have been anticipating his arrival for some time, and it has involved a lot of planning to get to this stage. The trip itself took two days by both road and ferry; he arrived in Dover on Friday morning (from Calais) before being transported to us here at Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm, arriving Friday night. He was unloaded at first light on Saturday morning after a rest. We’ve been discussing this move for many months with elephant experts in Europe, who agree that it will greatly benefit M’Changa. As we establish our herd, our modern facilities give the elephants access to a vast, enriched environment. As well as this, they are being cared for by some of the most experienced Keepers, with our Head Keeper having had over 12 years’ experience working directly with elephants in both Europe and the US. We are also in constant contact with experts in elephant care for up-to-the-minute advice.
We are sure M’Changa is going to love Elephant Eden as much as we will love having him there. Described as a ‘Five Star Destination for Elephants’, the space features state-of-the-art features; from central heating and automatic doors to swimming pools and computer-controlled night time feeding. In fact, the area is three times bigger than minimum zoo requirements, at an impressive 20 acres! M’Changa will be joining Buta – our 30-year-old female African elephant who joined us back in February from Knowsley Safari, near Liverpool. Janu, like M’Changa, is a young bull elephant. He came to us from Port Lympne Reserve in Kent just a couple of months ago and has really made Elephant Eden his home. The arrival of M’Changa will be shortly followed by our fourth elephant, Kruger, who is due to be with us before Christmas. He also comes from Port Lympne Reserve so we are very much looking forward to reuniting him with his pal, Janu. If you want to learn more about Elephant Eden, be sure to visit the Elephant house for 12.30pm or 3.30pm to hear the twice-daily Keeper Talk.
With Christmas approaching, what better gift to give an animal-lover than an Elephant Keeper Experience? They will get to spend the morning as an Elephant Keeper, helping with the daily tasks and really getting to know these amazing animals, including our new additions!
