Mek Kapah
Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) at
Werribee Open Range Zoo in Australia

Biography
♀ Mek Kapah
Bong Su, Dokkoon, Num Oi, Kulab and Mek Kapah. Melbourne Zoo 2008. Photo: © Molly Flora.
Bong Su, Dokkoon, Num Oi, Kulab and Mek Kapah. Melbourne Zoo 2008. Photo: © Molly Flora.

Identification

Local id Number 780012
ASMP nr49

Description
Species:Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
Sex and age:Female ♀ 52 years old
Management:Free contact
Origin
Born:* 1973 wild
Birth place: in Malaysia unspecified location
Locations - owners
Present / last location:Werribee Open Range Zoo, in Australia

Date of arrival

2025-02-13Werribee Open Range Zoo
from Melbourne Zoo

1978-05-11Melbourne Zoo
from Negara National Zoo

Record history
History of updates2025-02-20: elephants arrived
2025-03-18:

Latest document update2021-11-13 18:08:55
Google map

Biography


Mek Kapah is a living Female ♀ Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) , located at the Werribee Open Range Zoo, in Australia.

Mek Kapah arrived in 2025-02-13 to the Werribee Open Range Zoo, relocated from the Melbourne Zoo, in Australia.


Social

Mek Kapah lives together with 8 other elephants at the Werribee Open Range Zoo: (detailed list)

  1. Aiyara born 2022-11-16
  2. Dokkoon born 1993
  3. Kati born 2023-01-01
  4. Kulab born 2000
  5. Luk Chai born 2009-07-04
  6. Mali born 2010-01-16
  7. Num-Oi born 2001
  8. Roi-Yim born 2022-11-25


Origin

Mek Kapah was born wild 1973 at Malaysia unspecified location.


Comments / pictures

Wildborn in Terenganu.

The two oldest residing elephants of the Royal Melbourne Zoological Park, Bong Su and Mek Kapah, arrived in 1977 and 1978, respectively. They would remain together alone until the import of three Juvenile females from Thailand in 2006.

The $15 million "Trail of the Elephants" exhibit opened in 2003, the result of preparations for building a regional captive elephant breeding program, one of the first in Australia. Under a joint collaboration between the Melbourne and Taronga Zoos, eight elephants were imported from Thailand’s successful and large domestic breeding population. Legal action and protests, located in both Thailand and Australia, delayed the elephants’ importation for two years after quarantine in both southern Thailand and the Cocos Islands. Diplomatic and ministerial negotiations between the two countries succeeded and, in November 2006, the eight animals were flown to the Avalon Airport by a Russian Ilyushin cargo plane and delivered to their new homes via tray trucks. Females Num-Oi, Kulab and Dokkoon found new home in Melbourne, while females Tong Dee, Tang Mao, Porntip, and Pak Boon and male Gung made residence in Sydney.

Reference list

References

Koehl, Dan, (2025). Mek Kapah, Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) located at Werribee Open Range Zoo in Australia. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 29 March 2025 at https://www.elephant.se/database2.php?elephant_id=2021. (archived at the Wayback machine)


Sources used for this article is among others:


Litterature about Werribee Open Range Zoo

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Categories1973 births | Born in Malaysia | Elephants from Werribee Open Range Zoo | Australia | Asian elephants




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