The Louisville Zoo’s two aging elephants have arrived at their “retirement home” in Tennessee, zoo officials announced in a news release June 5.
African elephant Mikki, 39, and Asian elephant Punch, 55, will live out their days at The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee. The elephants have been longtime fixtures at the Louisville Zoo — Punch arrived at the zoo in 1973 and Mikki came in 1987, according to the zoo’s website.
The elephants were transported 24 hours apart from one another but have since been reunited. They will now acclimate to their new habitat and will be able to meet other companions when they indicate they feel ready, zoo officials said.
Mikki, a 39-year-old African elephant, spent decades living at the Louisville Zoo. She will now live at The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee.
Interactions will be divided by a fence line initially to ensure trust and comfort before they are able to freely roam around the 3,000-acre sanctuary. Like Mikki and Punch, the other elephants at the sanctuary are females. They include Asian elephant Sissy, 57; African elephant Nosey, 43; and African elephant, Edie, 42.
The sanctuary is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and is the largest natural habitat refuge for Asian and African elephants in the United States.
The departure comes after zoo officials announced in March 2024 that Punch and Mikki would be rehomed to accommodate ideal social structures for the elephants, which have become better understood in recent years, The Courier Journal previously reported.
“The gap continues to widen between what we can realistically provide our aging elephants and our evolved understanding of their geriatric needs,” Louisville Zoo Director Dan Maloney said in March 2024. “Louisville Zoo has reached the point where it is imperative that we secure a place for Mikki and Punch where they can retire together, and their complex social needs are fully met throughout their golden years.”
With the move complete, Maloney said he and others at the zoo are feeling bittersweet.
“Since last year’s announcement of Mikki and Punch’s departure, I have been reminding guests and staff that it’s OK to feel some sadness and profound joy at the same time,” Maloney said. “Although seeing such iconic, longtime members of our Zoo family leave is hard, we know that this is the best decision for them at this stage of their lives. We will be eagerly viewing the elephant cams alongside our community watching Mikki and Punch explore the vast grounds of The Sanctuary and making new friends along the way.”
The elephant sanctuary is not open to the public, but a live-video feed is available online to see Mikki, Punch and the elephants enjoying the sanctuary.
Punch and Mikki’s former home, the elephant yard at the Louisville zoo, will be made into a larger habitat for the zoo’s southern white rhinoceroses, according to the news release.
“The Zoo then hopes to welcome a new species — okapi, also known as forest giraffe — into the current rhino yard. In future master planning exercises, the Zoo will consider the potential of having elephants back at the Zoo.”
Contact reporter Killian Baarlaer at kbaarlaer@gannett.com or @bkillian72 on X.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville Zoo elephants Mikki and Punch moved to Tennessee sanctuary