Meru is no longer the newest member of the elephant herd — but she's still the baby 🐘
Meru is no longer the newest member of Reid Park Zoo 's elephant herd — but she is still the baby.
In late October, the zoo welcomed Tsavo — a 16-year-old male elephant who moved to Tucson from Florida. He joined Reid Park Zoo's herd of all females, including Semba and her daughters 10-year-old Nandi, 4-year-old Penzi and 8-month-old Meru, along with allomother Lungile.
Tsavo's move was made on a recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' African Elephant Species Survival Plan, mimicking the natural behavior of male elephants to move between herds in the wild. The last time Reid Park Zoo, 3400 E. Zoo Court , was home to a male elephant was in 2022 when Mabu — the father of Nandi, Penzi and Meru — moved to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo.
"Tsavo is amazing. He's so, so intelligent and very sweet," elephant care specialist Mara Eisenbarth says. "For elephants, because they are so big and powerful, we do have to make sure we set up (introductions) in a really safe way. We do a lot of work ahead of time to get them introduced to each other through a barrier first."
Introductions are done through extensive communication between keepers and veterinarians, allowing staff to prep themselves for any possible scenario.
When the herd first met Tsavo, it was between two barriers — they couldn't touch each other, but they could see each other. When Tsavo settled in, keepers removed one of the barriers, allowing the herd to touch their new member. The zoo calls this a "howdy."
"We did that one at a time and in groups, so it wasn't overwhelming for him," Eisenbarth says. "If they're comfy with how quickly or slowly we're moving, we take that into account to make sure the next few steps are comfortable for everybody."
Lungile and Tsavo have since spent time together without the barriers, though keepers aren't pushing the duration of their hangout time.
"We really want to build up the relationship and it's looking really good for far. They have a lot of positive interactions," Eisenbarth says. "During the day, you might see him and Lungile on one side and the rest of the herd on another side — they can still interact, but safely. He's more comfortable in the far yard at the moment, so for now we are focusing our efforts on the social aspect and as he gets more comfortable, we'll move him over and try to see if he's comfortable exploring the other yard (closer to the public)."
If you know anything about 750-pound baby Meru, who was born at Reid Park Zoo on March 8, it's that she's brave and the opposite of shy.
"Meru is a package deal with Semba, so we had to do that howdy through the fence line with just Semba and Meru," Eisenbarth says. "Meru is very curious and bold and confident in herself and she just walked right up to say hi. Semba was a little more aware that this was somebody new, but Meru was just thinking it's a new buddy."
Tsavo has never been around an elephant as small as Meru, so he was cautious — so much so that he accidentally touched her with his trunk when trying to sniff her, causing him to retract quickly.
"Meru is interested in him, but she isn't trying to bother him too much — she learned from Penzi when too much is too much," Eisenbarth says.
Beyond the new addition to the herd, Meru has made lots of training progress in the last month. Training sessions at Reid Park Zoo are voluntary for the elephants and done through positive reinforcement. Training sessions allow keepers to monitor the health and well-being of the elephants.
"Her attention span has increased pretty dramatically and she is really focused on learning new things," Eisenbarth says.
She recently learned to put her trunk back, which allows keepers to check her mouth. It's a skill she picked up quickly — whenever she sees that shiny bucket filled with treats, she'll show off her new expertise.
Meru still loves grapes and she recently added pears to her list of favorites. But the fruits have to be cut into small pieces — not too large and certainly not pureed. She's also a fan of sweet potato, but not pumpkin.
Just as she was during her first month, 8-month-old Meru is still as playful as ever. She loves climbing on logs and has recently been obsessed with a boomer ball that is mostly in the habitat just for her. The indestructible ball made for animal enrichment is small enough for the other elephants to step over — but tiny Meru has to climb onto it.
"She absolutely loves climbing on it and resting with her belly on it," Eisenbarth says.
Like our furry four-legged friends at home, elephants also get the zoomies — especially when it's rainy and cloudy. On a recent overcast day, the girls all had the zoomies together, running through the mud and rain.
"Several times, the mud caused a slip n' slide for Meru, but she didn't care. She was just flipping and flopping around everywhere," Eisenbarth says. "I think I've said this before, but she plays hard and she sleeps hard."
