Our Elephants

Porntip - 'Gift From Heaven'

Year : 1992 

Sex : Female

Porntip is the matriarch of our group and the other elephants look to her for leadership and guidance. She has a laidback and easygoing personality and has very strong maternal instincts.

Pathi Harn - 'Miracle'

Year: 10 March 2010

Sex: Male

Pathi Harn is the second Asian elephant calf to be born at Taronga Zoo. He was concieved by our female matriarch Porntip to Melbourne Zoo’s bull elephant - Bong Su through artificial insemination.

Thong Dee - 'Golden'

Year : 1997 (estimated)

Sex : Female

Thong Dee is the shortest female elephant in the Taronga herd. She is easy to distinguish due to the notch at the top of her right ear and she also has very small tusks (called tushes).

Luk Chai - 'Son'

Year : 4 July 2009

Sex : Male

Luk Chai was the first Asian elephant calf to be born in Australia. He was born after a gestation period of 660 days to Thong Dee who was a former street elephant from Bangkok.

Pak Boon - 'Morning Glory Flower'

Year : 1992 

Sex : Female

Pak Boon originally came from an elephant camp on the outskirts of Bangkok in Thailand. She was a former ride elephant prior to arriving in Taronga Zoo's breeding program.

Tang Mo - ' Watermelon'

Year : 1999

Sex : Female

Tang Mo is the youngest female in the herd. She is extremely intelligent, very energetic and thrives on attention and interaction with her keepers. She is a quick learner and is very enthusiastic in all the games and activities we do with the elephants.

Gung - 'Prawn'

Year : 2000 

Sex : Male

Gung is a very energetic young elephant and has a mischievous streak in his generally friendly personality. His relationship with the females has evolved over time, as he transitioned from a youngster to an adolescent male motivated to breed with the females.