Tucker has a habit of soaking zoo visitors who get too close to the water’s edge. Nelson nearly didn’t survive his first hour of life. Both elephants are now leaving the Houston Zoo.
Visitors didn’t take the news lightly. In the comments under the zoo’s announcement, people shared memories tied to both elephants. “Ugh!!! Hate to see them going. Hoping they have the safest travels and feel comforted/loved during the transition!” one person wrote. “These guys started my yearly donations to the zoo,” another added. “Oh no so sorry to see these boys go. I have fond memories of seeing Tucker when he was a baby!”
Tucker, now 20, arrived in Houston in 2008 with his mother, Tess, after being transferred from California at just 3 years old. “In the years since, he has grown into one of the most well-known members of our herd,” the zoo wrote, pointing to the playful behavior that made him a visitor favorite. “Smart and quick to learn, Tucker spent his younger years as a classic juvenile male, full of energy and always looking for a reaction.”
Nelson was born at the zoo on May 12, 2020, to Shanti, while the facility was closed to the public during the pandemic. Only keepers and veterinarians witnessed his first moments. Within an hour, they realized he was hemorrhaging from a torn vessel in his umbilical cord. An emergency surgery stopped the bleeding, and he was reunited with his mother the same day, standing and nursing before it was over.
The two elephants share the same birthday.
Both have also been part of the zoo’s efforts to monitor and combat EEHV, or Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus, a disease that poses one of the biggest threats to young elephants worldwide. In partnership with Baylor College of Medicine, the zoo’s veterinary team is working on an mRNA vaccine that could help protect elephants in human care and eventually in the wild.
The zoo said the move is tied to that broader conservation mission. “Because Tucker and Nelson share close genetic ties to much of our family herd, the AZA Species Survival Plan (SSP) recommended this move to create new opportunities for the population and strengthen the long-term health of Asian elephants in human care.”
Asian elephants are listed as endangered, with an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 remaining in the wild as habitat loss, human-elephant conflict and poaching continue to drive population declines. The Houston Zoo’s herd will drop to 11 once Tucker and Nelson depart.