The Denver Zoo just got bigger. At 11,000 pounds, Groucho, a male elephant, has joined a growing menagerie that will be displayed in the 10-acre Toyota Elephant Passage when it opens June 1.
Groucho, now the Denver Zoo’s largest animal, is a 41-year-old transplant from the Fort Worth Zoo. He is the Denver Zoo’s second male elephant, joining 7-year-old bull Bodhi, who arrived in December, as well as females Mimi and Dolly.
The Toyota Elephant Passage can house up to eight bull elephants. Denver Zoo said today it would have the only zoo habitat capable of accommodating that many males.
“The effort was designed to support zoo breeding programs by providing additional space for bull elephants,” the Denver Zoo stated in a media release.
The exhibit supports the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Asian elephant Species Survival Plan with artificial insemination through semen collection.
