Swarna
Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) at
Smithsonian National Zoological Park Washington in United States

Biography

♀ Swarna
Swarna. Calgary Zoo 03/2009. Photo: © Brent Van Hooft

Identification

SSP nr	146

Description
Species:	Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
Sex and age:	Female ♀ 51 years old
Management:	Protected contact
Origin
Born:	* 1975 wild
Birth place:
Locations - owners
Present / last location:	Smithsonian National Zoological Park Washington, in United States

Date of arrival

2014-05-22	Smithsonian National Zoological Park Washington from Calgary Zoo

1976-05-25	Calgary Zoo from Sri Lanka National Zoological Gardens (Dehiwela Zoo)

Record history
History of updates	2009-02-01: Previous locations, Management, Text 2009-03-01: Text 2009-03-04: Image 2014-05-22: transfer

Latest document update	2020-10-18 06:25:24
Google map

Biography

Swarna is a living Female ♀ Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) , located at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park Washington, in United States.

Swarna arrived in 2014-05-22 to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park Washington, relocated from the Calgary Zoo, in Canada.

Social

Swarna lives together with 6 other elephants at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park Washington: (detailed list)

♀ Bozie born 1975
♀ Linh Mai born 2026-02-02
♀ Maharani (Rani) born 1990-07-14
♀ Nhi Linh born 2013-08-10
♂ Spike (Ganesha) born 1981-07-02
♀ Trong Nhi born 2003-05-13

Casualties

1 casualties

2008-05-18: elephant keeper Brent Van Hooft attacked by Swarna. Around 1:30 p.m., a crowd of people in the Elephant Crossing facility looked on in disbelief as one of the animals; a 33-year old elephant named Swarna, became agitated, and knocked the zoo keeper down. On the ground and with the potentially agitated Swarna standing over him, Van Hooft had the presence of mind to pull himself into a corner where the elephant couldn't reach. Brent Van Hooft Survived. "Apparently he had his back turned and she pushed him or bumped him, and he fell into the wall and struck his head," said Grahame Newton, the zoo's director of corporate services. Senior elephant keeper Brent Van Hooft, 48, was taken to hospital. The force of being pushed into the concrete wall left Van Hooft with minor chest injuries, cuts and bruises to his face and possibly a broken nose.

Origin

Swarna was born wild 1975.

Comments / pictures

Swarna was a wild born Orphan in Sri Lanka. Kamala, Swarna and a bull who died in 1991, Bandara, all arrived at the Calgary Zoo in May 1976 from the Sri Lanka National Zoo.

Reference list

References

Koehl, Dan, (2026). Swarna, Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) located at Smithsonian National Zoological Park Washington in United States. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 17 February 2026 at https://www.elephant.se/database2.php?elephant_id=438. (archived at the Wayback machine)