Germany: Elephant joins trunk with daughter after 12 yrs of separation in a moving reunion

In a heartwarming incident that took place at a German zoo, an elephant united with her daughter after 12 years of separation. The reunion took place at Zoo Halle in Germany, where 39-year-old Pori met with her 19-year-old daughter Tana and also got to see her two granddaughters, Tamika, 4, and Elani, 1, for the first time. The zoo shared the heart-touching pictures of the reunion on Facebook, where it also informed that the elephants have been let out of their enclosures to mingle physically. 

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Zoo Halle informed on Facebook that Pori arrived in Halle from Berlin, where she had given birth to her daughter Tana 19 years ago in 2001. Tana was reportedly raised by her mother until she was 7-year-old was ready to leave. In nature, elephants always live together in herds and are always led by matriarch of the family. Daughters usually stay with their mothers for a lifetime, while male elephants leave the herds once they're ready for mating. Zoo Director Dr. Dennis Müller said, "Pori's arrival in Halle is an important step in modern elephant keeping. In the future, as far as possible, all elephant herds in European zoos will be maintained in such natural family structures. We got a big step closer to this goal today."

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From Africa to Germany

Pori was born in Africa in 1981 and brought to Germany in two years later in 1983. Pori lived at Magdeburg zoo for some time before moving to Leipzig zoo. Pori was finally handed over to the Berlin zoo for breeding purposes, where she gave birth to her first calf Tana. The emotional reunion was followed by a bit of sand shooting on the back of each other by Tori and Tana, which is normal when elephants meet after a long time. Finally, Tori carefully approached her two young granddaughters, who did not take much time to bravely stand under their grandmother's belly. The touching reunion was captured on camera by zoo officials and subsequently shared by them on the facility's Facebook handle. 

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