Pittsburgh Zoo Set To Move Elephant To Alabama
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium is getting ready for a big move involving one of their elephants.
Zoo officials say that today, Thursday and Friday will be the last chance for visitors to say goodbye to Callee.
The 10-year-old male elephant is heading to a new home at the Birmingham Zoo in Alabama. There he will join other male elephants just like him.
According to zoo officials, Callee has reached an age where, if he were in the wild, his family herd would start to push him out to join a male group. That has now started happening at the zoo.
The animal experts at the zoo say young males in the wild would join up with a bachelor group and they are only included in the family herd when it is time for breeding.
While the zoo is sad to see Callee go, they also know it's for the best.
Dr. Barbara Baker, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, said in a press release: "This is a tough goodbye. Callee was only the second African elephant successfully born here at the Zoo. Though you don't want to see him leave, you know it is for the better. You can compare it to sending your child off to college the first time, you know it is an important step, but it is still tough."
Once in Alabama, Callee will be part of the Birmingham Zoo's Trails of Africa exhibit, which has a bachelor home for male elephants.
Callee was born in September of 2000 and has two sisters, Victoria and Angeline.
