Raja, the first elephant born at the Saint Louis Zoo, is preparing to leave the city where visitors have watched him grow for nearly 34 years. The zoo’s October 23 announcement sets out a revised transfer plan: the 33-year-old Asian elephant will move to another accredited zoo this fall, but his destination has not been disclosed.
The update changes a plan familiar to longtime readers. A preliminary recommendation announced in December 2023 would have sent Raja to Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. Saint Louis now says that proposal was reconsidered after further assessment of Columbus’s herd, including its two calves, and its facilities. A new breeding recommendation issued this year instead pairs Raja with females at another zoo. The receiving institution will join in announcing his destination.
That is the substantive change from our earlier report about the proposed Columbus move. The October announcement concerns preparations; it does not say Raja has already arrived elsewhere.
Born on December 27, 1992, Raja became a familiar presence for generations of local families. As St. Louis Magazine reported, some visitors who knew him as children now bring their own children to the zoo. He has since fathered Maliha, Jade and Priya and become grandfather to Jet, born in November 2024.
The zoo offered visitors a farewell-card signing at River’s Edge on October 24 and 25, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., alongside elephant-themed souvenirs and a café treat. Those announced dates have now passed. Curator Katie Pilgram-Kloppe described mixed feelings about his departure while emphasizing the opportunity for both transferring males to establish new families and the importance of a safe transition.
Raja belongs to an eight-elephant, four-generation group. His mother Pearl and fellow senior female Ellie are both 55; Sri, an unrelated female, is 46. His daughters Maliha, Jade and Priya are 20, 19 and 13 respectively, while grandson Jet is one. The zoo says daily care includes varied habitats, enrichment, nutrition and specialist health care.
After Raja leaves, Saint Louis plans to receive Samudra, an 18-year-old male from Oregon Zoo, in 2027.
Oregon’s own announcement, published October 13, says Samudra’s departure date remains unsettled. His caregivers expect him to stay in Portland at least until spring. Born August 23, 2008, he was the first third-generation elephant born in the United States and now weighs about 10,000 pounds.
Oregon elephant-area manager Steve Lefave explained that young males naturally leave their natal groups as they mature. Saint Louis’s River’s Edge offers pools, streams and a splash pad, giving the water-loving Samudra opportunities to swim while meeting a different herd.
Both transfers follow the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Asian Elephant Species Survival Plan, which coordinates breeding and social management across participating institutions. Oregon describes that work as one part of conservation, alongside habitat restoration, wildlife corridors and coexistence projects in Asia, where an estimated 40,000–50,000 Asian elephants remain in fragmented wild populations.
For Raja’s followers, the next major detail is still outstanding: which zoo will become his new home.
