The Elephant Family

Nikolai
Nikolai first came to Hannover in 1999 as a ‘tiny tot’ from Canada, and spent four years of his childhood under the watchful but indulgent protection of our lady elephants in the Jungle Palace until the big wide world (in the person of the Coordinator of the European conservation breeding programme, EEP) took him off to Amsterdam. Now he’s 16, all grown up, and back to court his former governesses. In 2010, he will become father of four youngsters. Nikolai is easy to recognise in our herd – he’s the only one with tusks.

Indra
Indra is Jenny’s best (and very clever) friend. She’s a real Hanoverian, born here in 1973, the fourth calf of Burma, who was 28 at the time. Indra and Jenny are not only inseparable friends but also blood sisters! For Jenny’s dramatic operation lots of elephant blood was needed, donated by Indra from a vein behind her ear. This makes Indra easy to recognise today – her ears look tattered because she had to give blood so often.

Manari
Manari (17) is in other circumstances and already has a child - Califa, who´s as well pregnant. In 1992, she was born in Malaysia and came to Hannover together with Sayang in 1998. The young mother isn’t particularly big compared to Indra. With Sayang and Califa she makes up an inseparable threesome – they’re always together.

Sayang
In 1996, Sayang (13) was born in Malaysia and, like Manari, has lived in Hannover since 1998. She is very quick to learn, and the star of the shows – she can paint, play basket ball, kick a football better than Beckham and is unbeatable at tug-o-war. The first one to be told about her pregnancy was her best friend Manari. Obviously jealous, the normally calm elephant lady was unusually beasty - until she herself became pregnant. Now, they´re once again best friends.

Khaing Hnin Hnin
Khaing Hnin Hnin, born in 1982, is the mother of Farina, Tarak and Shanti. In autumn 2010, her fourth child will be born. The most complicated thing about this pretty lady is her name – it’s Burmese and perfect for such a heavyweight: Khaing Hnin Hnin (pronounced Kie Nay Nay) means ‘Snowflake’. In her behaviour she’s very straightforward: she learns fast and obeys the orders of her keepers without fuss. Khaing Hnin Hnin was born in Burma and first moved to a Dutch zoo before coming to Hannover in 1996. It took a while for her to settle down here. She found her place in the group easily enough, but because she’d been trained as a working elephant in Burma she only understood Burmese, and the keepers had to cope with a few awkward misunderstandings until she’d learnt her second foreign language …

Califa
Califa (6) was the first elephant baby to be born in Hannover after 30 years (2nd February 2003). She´s calm and very quick and can´t be stressed easily. Her hanging ears are a sure give-away. In 2010, her first child will be born.

Farina
Farina (6) was born on 20th March 2003 in Hannover. At birth she was 91 cm tall and weighed 116 kilos. Now she weighs 1,200 kilos and expects her first child. She particularly loves playing in the sand and clambering onto anything that will bear her weight – no step, pillar or tree trunk is safe.

Tarak:
Tarak was born on 28th October 2005 in Hannover. He is Khaing Hnin Hnin’s second child, Farina’s little brother and big brother to Shanti. Like her, he’s a great climber and clamberer. For his age, he is quite dominant and acts as if he were an adult bull: he prefers to be on his own.

The name Tarak is Indian and means ‘star’ – very appropriate, as he’s been adopted by Mercedes-Benz Hannover.

Shanti
Shanti was born on May 6, 2008, in Hannover. His name is Sanskrit and means "peace". He used to be rather shy, but is now a little whirlwind, running around, playing joyously with the sand and, like his siblings Farina and Tarak, clambering onto anything he can reach. His new favourite spot, however, is the pool. Every morning, he fights with his brother over the best place in the water - only to leave it sopping wet and roll back and forth in the dry sand. You can imagine, what the result looks like...

Shanti as well has been adopted by Mercedes-Benz Hannover.