Kareema the elephant

In May 2007 we were successful in freeing Kareema from her day chain. The first picture shows her on the short chain that she had been connected to everyday for 35 years. After much negotiation and work with the zoo management, AAE was able to convince them to free her from this chain. The second picture shows Kareema off her chain at the back of her enclosure finding dust to spray on her back. The whole experience left us speechless and
incredibly relieved to see her finally free to roam her enclosure and do some of the natural behavious elephants should be doing,  like dust bathing and spraying herself with water.
We in no way see her situation at this zoo ideal at all but as the zoo will not give her up or any of the other animals we do our best to improve the conditions and treatment of these animals whilst they do have to live out their days here.

Kareema is in her fifties and weighs in excess of a tonne! Elephants have been known to live as long as humans, with some individuals living longer than 60 years. Kareema loves oranges and melons. She is a very naughty girl with a ‘sweet tooth' and loves sugar cane, even though she is not meant to eat it! Kareema lives at the Alexandria zoo and is incredibly gentle and slow-moving. She absolutely loves her food and enjoys being sprayed by the water hose. Did you know that elephants eat up to 56 kilograms (125 pounds) of food a day?! They are herbivores and Asian elephants inhabit tropical forests near water sources.

In their natural habitat, Asian elephants have been known to swim long distances with their trunks held high, much like a snorkel. Although elephants are very social, intelligent mammals, Kareema has lived her whole life alone. Given this, we cannot help but assume that Kareema must long for a mate and a baby of her own. Elephants communicate through rumbles, growls, bellows and moans, and some of the sounds they produce are too low for the human ear to detect!

Asian elephants like Kareema are an endangered species.