St. Louis Zoo's Iconic Elephant Raja to Relocate for Breeding Initiative

The move, part of the Asian Elephant Species Survival Plan, aims to manage the population and increase genetic diversity among Asian elephants.

Raja, a male Asian elephant born at the St. Louis Zoo nearly 31 years ago, is being relocated to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Asian Elephant Species Survival Plan.
The move, expected to occur in late 2024 or early 2025, aims to manage the Asian elephant population by providing an environment for Raja to bond with four females, breed and mentor a young male.
Raja is the father of the only three female Asian elephants of breeding age in St. Louis. The other three females there are too old to reproduce, and one of them is Raja's mother.
When Raja leaves, the St. Louis Zoo will have room for a new male, tentatively expected to be a 15-year-old named Samudra from the Oregon Zoo in Portland.
Meanwhile, Raja's 16-year-old daughter Jade is pregnant with her first calf and due to give birth at around the time that Raja leaves. It will be the first elephant calf born at the zoo through artificial insemination.