Sheba (Nirvana)
Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) at
Ridgeways circus in Australia

Biography

☨ ♀ Sheba (Nirvana)

Identification

ASMP nr	47

Description
Species:	Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
Sex and age:	Female ♀, unknown age
Origin
Born:	* 1967 wild
Birth place:
Death
Dead:	†
Death reason:	disease: choked to death of twig/pneumonia? / death from a branch
Locations - owners
Present / last location:	Ridgeways circus, in Australia

Date of arrival

1973-08-00	Ridgeways circus from Wellington Zoo

Record history
History of updates	2010-05-24

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

† Sheba (Nirvana) is a dead Female ♀ Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), , who died at Ridgeways circus, in Australia, . Official death reason described as choked to death of twig/pneumonia? / death from a branch.

Origin

Sheba (Nirvana) was born wild 1967.

Comments / pictures

1974: Nirvana was sold to a circus after near accidents involving the staff.
During transport she attacked the truck driver in the dark and took his finger straight off.

She was sold to Ridgways Circus in New Zealand. Because she had been bought for the zoo with money raised by public donation her name had to be changed. With the circus her name became Sheba and she lived for about 10 years. I think that she died of pneumonia
Steve Robinson, 2010.

Sheba choked to death in Christchurch on a small twig from a branch of a tree she was eating. She was buried there.

Reference list

References

Koehl, Dan, (2025). Sheba (Nirvana), Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) located at Ridgeways circus in Australia. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 30 March 2025 at https://www.elephant.se/database2.php?elephant_id=3326. (archived at the Wayback machine)