Anura, a Sri Lankan Elephant, has been kept at Tama Zoo for 56 years since the park opened, and is the oldest male Asian Elephant in Japan. Although he lived with female elephants for a period, he has lived alone for over 20 years since the death of the last female elephant, Gachako, in 1993.

With Anura, the elderly elephant, in mind, we tried something new this summer: we let her out into the enclosure not only during the day but also at night.

Until now, the animals could only be outside from around 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. throughout the year. Especially since Amara and Vidura arrived two years ago, they have been taken turns being let out into the enclosure and the narrow terrace in front of their sleeping area, meaning they can only be in the enclosure for a few hours in the morning. To improve this, we have started allowing them to be let out at night, but only during the hot summer months.

Initially, we were worried that it might fall into the moat. Therefore, we installed additional nighttime lighting and surveillance cameras, and for the first few days, staff stayed overnight to monitor it as a precaution.

However, contrary to our concerns, Anura seemed quite relaxed from the very first day, foraging, sand bathing, and water bathing at her own pace. She was completely unfazed by the thunderstorms and heavy rains typical of this season.

Furthermore, they were observed entering the pool around 2 AM and sometimes resting there for more than three hours.

Currently, we clean the enclosure and prepare food before releasing the dinosaurs into the wild at night, but even during that time, they cling to the door of their enclosure as if to say, "Let us out already!"

We plan to continue releasing Anura into the wild at night, with the minimum temperature being 15℃ or higher. Unfortunately, you won't be able to see this, but please understand that this experiment is being conducted for Anura's health management, not for exhibition purposes.

Photo: Anura in the enclosure during the daytime.

[Tama Zoo Tama Zoological Park]

(August 29, 2014)