Where is Auckland Zoo's $1.6 million elephant?

Wednesday, 27 March 2019

About $1.6 million was spent to move Anjalee, pictured, to New Zealand and there is a $1.6m budget for Nandi's arrival.

A young elephant was destined for Auckland Zoo but she is nowhere to be seen.

Nandi, then a 6-year-old female elephant from Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in Sri Lanka, was gifted to New Zealand by the country's president Maithripala Sirisena in February 2016.

Her arrival at Auckland Zoo was stopped in 2017 following protests from animal rights activists and a hearing in the Sri Lankan Court of Appeal. Around the same time, Auckland Council's finance and performance committee approved the elephant's $1.6 million relocation costs to the city.

But two years later, Nandi is nowhere in sight.

* Mystery over Auckland Zoo's new $1.6m elephant

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* Prime Minister John Key and the elephant in the Sri Lankan courtroom**

While the court case has been ongoing, Nandi has been living at the elephant orphanage.

Auckland Zoo spokeswoman Jane Healy said it was still waiting on the results of the court case to see whether Nandi could be moved.

The Sri Lankan Government had assured Auckland Zoo it was committed to sending Nandi to New Zealand, she said.

Increasing the herd size at the zoo was central to its elephant programme, Healy said.

Auckland Council gave the zoo a $3.2m loan for Nandi and another elephant, Anjalee, who arrived in 2015, she said.

In a letter, the loan was first proposed to Auckland Council in 2011 - the zoo's director at the time suggested having two young elephants would further its environmental education programme and the loan would help in 'ensuring breeding opportunities for those elephants'.

Anjalee arrived at Auckland Zoo in 2015 after a three-month quarantine in Niue.

Healy said the zoo had agreed to 'reduced annual operational funding to cover loan repayments, and the loan was paid some time ago at zero cost to ratepayers'.

'We have a budget of $1.4m for animal acquisition and disposition activities, including elephants, this year.

'If Nandi does not arrive this year, then a portion of those funds will be deferred until FY2020 to help cover the costs to transfer her.'

At a finance and performance committee meeting on March 20, councillor Cathy Casey asked Regional Facilities Auckland (RFA) members about the elephant after receiving no recent feedback.

RFA's strategy director Jonathan Wilcken - a former director of Auckland Zoo - said 'there have been some changes within government in Sri Lanka which have slowed down a process, which perhaps about nine months ago was looking like it was coming to a conclusion'.

Councillor Cathy Casey says Auckland does not need another elephant.

Nandi would remain at Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage 'until and and unless we get a chance to provide her a home over here', Wilcken said.

The $1.6m budget was being held 'separately and exclusively' for Nandi, he said.

'WHEN ARE WE GOING TO GIVE UP ON THIS?'

Councillor Cathy Casey said if Nandi came to Auckland, she would become an 'object of entertainment' and a 'cash cow'.

'The money should be given back to council - we have plenty of projects and it's better in our budget than in theirs,' Casey said.

'When are we going to give up on this? How many elephants are too many elephants?'

Head of campaigns for animal rights group, SAFE, Marianne Macdonald said 'it was strongly against Nandi being ripped away from her family group in Sri Lanka'.

'It's something that needs to be stopped straight away,' Macdonald said.

Auckland Zoo currently has two elephants, Burma who arrived in 1990, and Anjalee who came from Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in 2015.