Andrew Coers has helped care for Burma for years and has made the move to South Australia to continue the work. Photo: Supplied/Monarto Safari Park
When Auckland Zoo's sole remaining elephant found a new home in Monarto Safari Park in South Australia, it was welcome news for many.
Elephants are social animals and are meant to live in herds. Burma had been on her own for over two years.
By mid-year four cows and a bull elephant will have joined her at the complex, her longtime keeper, Andrew Coers told Summer Times.
He was confident Burma would get on with her new companions within a few days or at the most, a few weeks.
Burma will soon have an extended barn to share with the other elephants for night quarters as well as yards and another four habitats which will be much more spacious than what she was used to in Auckland.
It's now been several weeks since she came out of quarantine in Australia and Coers said she was adjusting well in her new home about 65km from Adelaide.
"She's a bit of a champ, she's doing super well [but] got a way to go ... there's still a lot of things she has to get used to."
Chief among them were the kangaroos that were a source of interest for her as well as the possums in her barn that woke her in the middle of the night.
"The security of [having] another elephant around will be super helpful in that situation, but more generally she's doing really well, handling the heat really well."
Kangaroos often startled Burma by arriving suddenly to graze.
"It's like a bit of a standoff. As soon as kangaroos get a bit of a fright they're bouncing all over the place and it can escalate from there. ... It's just quite hilarious because Burma, she gets all big and brave and she'll try and mock charge them and then they'll turn and face her and she's too scared to run backwards in the opposite direction."
During the day the keepers provided some assistance but night-time CCTV footage revealed often amusing scenes of how things played out with Burma and the kangaroos and possums.
Once the new living quarters were finished, there would be bathing spaces as well as trees with pulleys for high feeding, he said.
Burma and Andrew Coers in the water at Auckland Zoo. Photo: Auckland Zoo / supplied
The area has a walking track around it that visitors can use to get a good view for observing the elephants.
Coers and two other Auckland staff have accepted permanent roles at Zoo South Australia so the longstanding care he has provided to Burma will continue.
"It's a pretty exciting time over here."
Photo: Auckland Zoo / supplied
