Raja, a bull Asian elephant who spent his life at the Saint Louis Zoo, has arrived at Cincinnati Zoo’s Elephant Trek. The Saint Louis Zoo said he arrived safely on Thursday after a breeding recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Asian Elephant Species Survival Plan. Cincinnati hopes he will breed with Anak and Yasmin, also known as She-Ra; the planned pairings have not produced a reported outcome.
The scale of the managed population helps explain why individual transfers matter. The AZA SAFE Asian Elephant Program Plan 2024–2026 reports that the 2023 population included 137 elephants at 33 institutions. After excluding 68 animals because of age and reproductive status, the plan counted 69 potential breeding individuals with fully known pedigrees. Those figures describe the 2023 population, not a current headcount.
A coordinated change to the Cincinnati herd
Cincinnati’s hoped-for pairings address a gap in its herd: according to WLWT’s report on the zoo’s account, Anak and Yasmin had been housed with Cincinnati bull Sabu for more than two years, but he showed little interest in breeding. The report says Raja has fathered calves in St. Louis and that the females’ genetics are considered underrepresented. The intended match could contribute genetic diversity, but whether Raja will sire calves in Cincinnati remains unknown.
The recommendation also involves other moves. WLWT reported that the plan calls for a bull to go to the Saint Louis Zoo and for Cincinnati’s younger bulls, Sanjay and Kabir, to transfer to another AZA-accredited institution as they mature. Their destination had not been announced in the report. These are elements of a population-management plan, rather than evidence that any one transfer will result in breeding.
Transfers are part of a broader strategy
A separate example illustrates the limits of comparison: the Association of Zoos and Aquariums said Utah’s Hogle Zoo decided in 2023 to transfer African elephants Christie and Zuri under its elephant strategy. That case involved two females and a different species, so it is not a direct parallel to Raja’s move as an Asian elephant bull. It does, however, show that planned transfers feature in AZA population management beyond this Cincinnati herd change.
Raja was the first elephant born at the Saint Louis Zoo, arriving in December 1992, according to First Alert 4. His move now gives Cincinnati a new breeding option within a managed population where the plan’s figures show that potential breeding individuals make up only part of the total. The recommendation sets out an opportunity; the eventual contribution to the population will depend on what happens next.
