Elephants arrive (China)

Author(s)

Shanghai Daily

Date Published

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HANGZHOU Wildlife World has imported six African elephants, marking the first arrival of such animals in Zhejiang Province.

An enclosure covering 1,000 square kilometers was built for the new arrivals. It is equipped with a heating system designed to keep the temperature around 18 degrees Celsius.

Two of the elephants are male and the rest are female. The animals weigh about 1 ton on average. They are all about 1.6 meters tall and around three years old.

African elephants have a life span of 60 to 70 years and reach maturity between at 18 and 24 years. They can reach 4 meters in height and weigh 10 tons in full adulthood.

The six elephants must spend 30 days in routine isolation for quar­antine and inspection purposes before they can meet visitors in the spring.

They are being fed carrots, sugar cane, apples and hay at their new home in Hangzhou.

 

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/city-specials/hangzhou/Elephants-arrive/shdaily.shtml