Shanthi an Asian elephant at Smithsonian National Zoological Park

☨ ♀ Shanthi
Shanthi & Kandula. National Zoo 06/2009. Photo: © Ryan Easley

Identification

SSP nr	165

Description

Species:	Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
Sex and age:	Female ♀ 44 years old
Origin
Born:	* 1976 wild
Birth place:
Capture:	1976
Imported:	1976
Death
Dead date:	† 2020-06-26
Death reason:	euthanised: advanced osteoarthritis
Offspring
Total: 2 babies

1. Born 1993-12-14 (dead † 1995-04-26)	♀ Kumari SSP id: 350

2. Born 2001-11-25	♂ Kandula SSP id: 538
Locations
Present / last location:	Smithsonian National Zoological Park, in United States

Date of Arrival (Presently sometimes errors!)

1992-11-12	Smithsonian National Zoological Park from Syracuse Zoo (Rosamond Gifford Zoo) Syracuse Zoo (Rosamond Gifford Zoo) 1991-03-15 from Smithsonian National Zoological Park Smithsonian National Zoological Park 1976-12-29 from Sri Lanka National Zoological Gardens (Dehiwela Zoo) Sri Lanka National Zoological Gardens (Dehiwela Zoo) 1976-12-00 from Pinnawala elephant orphanage

Document updated	2009-02-10: Previous locations, Birth, Text 2010-01-28: Image, Text 2013-08-07: PC 2020-06-28: death report
Google map

Relevant literature

Description

† Shanthi is a dead Female ♀ Asian elephant, (Elephas maximus), who died at Smithsonian National Zoological Park, in United States, of euthanised in 2020-06-26. Official death reason described as advanced osteoarthritis. (see detailed list).

Offspring

(F) 1993-12-14 -- † 1995-04-26 Kumari SSP id: 350
(M) 2001-11-25 Kandula SSP id: 538

Origin

Shanthi was born wild 1976, captured 1976 . and imported 1976

Comments / pictures

Shanthi means peace in Sinhalese. It also is translated to mean blessing.

In November 2001, the 320 pound newborn calf of the Smithsonian National Zoo was only the second Asian elephant in the world to be born through Artificial Insemination, following the birth of Haji two years previous at the Dickerson Park Zoo in November 1999. He was the fifth elephant in the world conceived via the method. Kandula's one hundred percent Sri Lankan heritage from his mother Shanthi and father Calvin would leave him visibly tuskless, as less than ten percent of those males grow long tusks.

In April 2007, three attempts were made to Artificially Inseminate Shanthi by zoo veterinarians and fertility experts from Germany.

In January 2008, two separate Artificial Insemination procedures were performed on Shanthi in an effort to conceive a calf.

In 2010, 34 year old Shanthi weighed 9000 pounds.

Reference listKoehl, Dan, (2021). Shanthi, an Asian elephant at Smithsonian National Zoological Park in United States. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 11 April 2021 at https://www.elephant.se/database2.php?elephant_id=213. (archived at the Wayback machine)