OSAKA--They may have combs instead of tusks, but for the current occupants of an elephant house at a zoo in this western city here, that is something to crow about. 

Two roosters who have dodged death many times have taken a starring role while occupying a space designated for pachyderms.

The cage at Osaka Tennoji Zoo in the city’s Tennoji Ward was left without its inhabitants when the last of the zoo’s herd of elephants died three years ago.

The roosters now rule the roost.

They may be spotted standing still pensively on top of a tubular chair at one moment and welcoming an approaching zookeeper in the next.

Their names are Masahiro and Yoshito.

CLOSE BRUSHES WITH DEATH

Masahiro, the older, will turn 6 this year. He once became an idol under the moniker of a “miracle rooster.”

Masahiro came to the zoo in July 2015, soon after he was born at a poultry farm. As an unwanted chick, he was destined to be offered to a raccoon as prey instead of being exhibited.

The zoo was working at the time on artificial hatching of mallard ducks.

Newborn ducklings are too timid to eat food on their own. In the presence of a chick, however, they will learn to feed themselves by imitating what it does.

The chick, who happened to have turned up at the zoo, was selected for the role of the “teacher” of ducklings, which saved him from the fate of becoming a raccoon meal.

A wild weasel trespassed on the zoo’s “flight aviary” in September of that year. Zoo officials then designated the chick to serve as bait for trapping the weasel.

The chick spent three days in a cage, but no weasel turned up in the end. The chick was relieved of his duties.

The chick had grown into a cockerel by autumn, a typical time of the year when chickens and other prey are offered to carnivores to help them recover from summer fatigue.

All carnivores, however, remained in good shape that autumn, so the cockerel was never called for.

The zoo officials gradually began keeping their eye on the yet unnamed Masahiro, who had escaped death by a hairbreadth on three occasions.

“He is so tame and friendly,” said Yoshiyuki Oso, 52, a zookeeper, affectionately of Masahiro. “You will see him jump casually onto a bicycle basket or the platform of a truck.”

Oso has long been looking after the roosters, although he is primarily in charge of other animals.

Masahiro would sometimes come close to zookeepers as they were consulting each other. Everyone grew to feel affection for him because of his confident manner. His name was composed by combining parts of the names of two zookeepers who were working at the time.

A STAR IS BORN

Masahiro’s “miracle” won instant fame after his story was covered by a weekly magazine and on TV in 2016.

A crowd of photographers would swarm around Masahiro as he moved within the premises of the zoo. He was given heart-shaped pieces of bread, his favorite food, as a present on Valentine’s Day on Feb. 14.

Initially supposed to be a prey, he ended up as an idol in an improbable “rags-to-riches” story.

Some zoo officials proposed appointing a double for Masahiro, who had abruptly become busy, to reduce his workload. A chick who was destined to be fed to a snake was selected for that job.

He was named Yoshito by combining the remaining parts of the names of the two zookeepers after whom Masahiro had been so named.

Although Yoshito owes his life to Masahiro, the two birds never stand on ceremony with each other. Male roosters, by nature, get along badly among themselves. The two initially fought each other so hard that both bled from their combs.

Yoshito, however, sometimes takes over tasks that are too difficult for Masahiro, who is slightly crippled. The two have thus been supporting each other and enjoying their lives together.

Having interactions with zoo visitors was an important assignment for Masahiro and Yoshito before the novel coronavirus pandemic. The zoo, however, decided to suspend the interactions last year because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The two roosters fight less often these days, be it out of their advancing age or out of esteem they now have for each other. They live in peace from day to day, although people are still worried about how they will get along.

Neither of the roosters are yet regular exhibits of the zoo, so they are both technically in limbo. That means they could be reassigned to be prey at any moment.

“I am looking forward to seeing what else Masahiro is going to do the rest of his life,” Oso said in hoping the bird will “have another try.”

Masahiro, by the way, doesn’t appear to be concerned about anything. He strolls, he pecks at feed, and he sometimes gets into fitful fights with Yoshito, with whom he appeared to be getting along well up until a moment ago.

His "do-things-my-way" attitude is unlikely to change in 2021.