Just days after announcing the recent arrival of several new animal babies, Dickerson Park Zoo welcomed a new Asian elephant Friday.
Hugo, 8 years old, came to Springfield from the Endangered Ark Foundation, a private nonprofit and circus elephant retirement ranch in Hugo, Okla.
He will be in quarantine for at least a month, during which time he will be introduced to Patience, a female elephant, with the goal for them to be on exhibit together, the zoo said in a news release.
Asian elephants are critically endangered, mainly due to loss of habitat and poaching. Hugo came to Dickerson Park Zoo to help increase the genetic diversity of the U.S. elephant population, the release said.
Last week, the zoo welcomed a male baby giraffe, a planned birth through the Species Survival Program. Earlier this month, a black and white colobus monkey was born, and a ring-tailed lemur was born April 10.
The zoo is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1401 W. Norton Road. Admission is $15 for ages 13 and older; $10 for ages 3-12. Children 2 and younger and Friends of the Zoo members get in free.
SPRINGFIELD NEWS-LEADER
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