Oklahoma zoos hope to mate elephants

As the adage goes, an elephant never forgets. And there's another starts-with-F verb that Tulsa Zoo officials hope will remain top-of-mind for their resident pachyderm, Sneezy. Saucy!

According to an Associated Press report, the zoo recently borrowed two female Asian elephants from the Oklahoma City Zoo, in hopes they will mate with Sneezy. Dwight Scott, assistant Tulsa Zoo director, said keeping the endangered species alive is the reason for the reproduction.

The article cited Sneezy as being ranked as the No. 1 elephant for successful seed in this continent. (Who knew there was such a list? And, God forbid, who has to rank it?) He's 36, while his new roomies, Chandra and Asha, are ages 13 and 12, respectively. (Were Sneezy a human, he'd be behind a different set of bars.)

Chandra and Asha will remain as Sneezy's personal playthings for about two years. Brian Aucone, interim director for the Oklahoma City Zoo, said they didn't appear to mind the trip. He told AP: "When we opened up the trailer, they were just standing there, eating, messing around with each other."

No, not that kind of messing around. That's Sneezy's job.

  • or