Samorn
Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) at
Monarto Zoo in Australia

Biography

☨ ♀ Samorn
Museum locations
Present / last location:	South Australian Museum, in Australia

Date of arrival

1994-00-00	South Australian Museum, Adelaide, Australia

Identification

ASMP nr	33

Description
Species:	Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
Sex and age:	Female ♀ 44 years old
Status:	foot problems
Origin
Born:	* 1950 wild
Birth place:
Death
Dead:	†1994-10-10
Death reason:	accident: fell in the moat and died
Locations - owners
Present / last location:	Monarto Zoo, in Australia

Date of arrival

1991-11-17	Monarto Zoo from Adelaide Zoo

1956-11-30	Adelaide Zoo from Dusit Zoo

Record history
History of updates	2025-03-18:

Latest document update	2020-10-18 06:25:24
Google map

† Samorn is a dead foot problems Female ♀ Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), , who died 1994-10-10 at Monarto Zoo, in Australia, . Official death reason described as fell in the moat and died.

Museum locationThe Museum specimen remains of this animal is within the collection at South Australian Museum, in Adelaide, Australia, since 1994-00-00.

Origin

Samorn was born wild 1950.

Comments / pictures

Her Skeleton is on display at the University of Adelaide Medical School

Over Frome Road, the University of Adelaide Medical School also turns it on for visitors. The Anatomical Sciences Resource Centre is usually only open by appointment, but Open Day, August 1, gives Adelaidians a chance to see Samorn the Elephant again. Donated to Adelaide Zoo (just a few hundred metres away) in 1956, the elephant was legendary till her death at Monarto in 1994.

Researchers spent six months assembling her huge Skeleton for comparative Anatomy. They discovered severe honeycomb deterioration of one toe bone. Samorn had endured a very sore foot.

http://www.postcards.sa.com.au/features/adelaide_uni_25th.html

Victoria Raine published a book about Samorn in 1986, called Elephant in our Zoo. The “autobiography” is a collection of short stories about Samorn who arrived in 1956. It’s educational, historical, honest and humorous.

Reference list

References

Koehl, Dan, (2025). Samorn, Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) located at Monarto Zoo in Australia. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 18 April 2025 at https://www.elephant.se/database2.php?elephant_id=2059. (archived at the Wayback machine)