FUKUOKA—After a seven-year absence, elephants are back at the Fukuoka Zoo and Botanical Garden, a journey that involved elaborate preparations and a small mountain of sugarcane

The city has invested around 1.9 billion yen ($13 million) into the facilities that will house four Asian elephants from Myanmar and nearly 100 million yen on their transportation.

However, visitors will have to wait until autumn to see the zoo’s new residents. The elephants—one male and three females—are currently acclimating to their new environment after arriving in Fukuoka on July 30.

“We are responding to citizens’ longtime hope to see elephants at the municipal zoo as the animal is immensely popular with children,” Fukuoka Mayor Soichiro Takashima said of the project.

The female elephants range in age from 3 to 22 and include a mother and her daughter. The 14-year-old male is the zoo’s first since it opened in 1953.

Together, the four weigh 14.2 tons.

These are the first elephants to live at the zoo since Hanako, its last elephant, died in 2017.

In addition to observing them for research, zookeepers hope calves are in the cards.

'10 KANGAROOS AND 10 OSTRICHES'

The city spent the last several years preparing for this moment and had to clear a slew of hurdles just to secure this specific species for the zoo.

The Asian elephant is registered as an endangered species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.

This posed a dilemma since the Washington Convention bans commercial trade of endangered species.

After Hanako’s death, zoo officials began their search for Asian elephants in Myanmar as Fukuoka is Yangon’s sister city.

A deal was eventually made with a Myanmar zoo where, instead of purchasing elephants, four would be sent to Japan in exchange for two lions, 10 kangaroos and 10 ostriches.

The Fukuoka zoo also offered to trade veterinary equipment.

This was prior to the 2021 military coup that overthrew the civilian government.

In addition to navigating international regulations and political instability, the city-run zoo was determined to establish a comfortable environment for the elephants.

The Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums issued a recommendation in 2017 that zoos have multiple elephants because of their highly social nature.

In 2021, the association shared additional guidelines on habitat.

These include allocating 500 square meters for each elephant in an outdoor enclosure so they have ample room to exercise. Others are keeping indoor temperatures at 14 degrees or higher and constructing a swimming pool large enough for all elephants to bathe in.

Bulls—male elephants—are known to live alone in the wild so a space was specifically constructed for him.

The area for the cows, female elephants, and calf was renovated to include a 13-meter-tall hill that mimics the environment they were accustomed to in Myanmar.

THE MOVE

In addition to the money dedicated to these facilities, it cost Fukuoka roughly 95 million yen to bring the elephants to their new home.

The 28-hour journey spanned air and land and each elephant was transported in a 3-meter-tall crate.

Handlers accompanied the animals with 90 kilograms of sugarcane for each hefty passenger on the flight from Yangon International Airport to Kita-Kyushu Airport, via Thailand.

Both staff and snacks were there to keep the animals calm and prevent any accidents.

“If the elephants get hungry, even handlers who have been with them all the while could have difficulty controlling them,” a zoo official explained.

After the animals disembarked at the airport, boxes containing around 700 kilograms of ice were placed on top of each cage to keep them cool during their final leg of the journey.

Zoo staff welcomed the four with 10 kilograms of fresh grass, a pumpkin, watermelon, 1 kg of apples and another of pineapples.

The zoo is expected to allocate 23 million yen annually for the elephants’ food. The figure is equal to 40 percent of feed for the zoo’s other animals prior to the elephants’ arrival.

It also estimates water and utility costs for the elephants will total around 40 million yen annually.