Nely
Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) at
Brasilias Zoo Garden in Brazil

Biography

☨ ♀ Nely

Alternative name:	Neli, Deterfom, Detefon,

Identification


Description
Species:	Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
Sex and age:	Female ♀
Origin
Born:	* wild
Birth place:	in Asia unspecified location
Death
Dead:	†1994
Death reason:	disease: arthritis
Locations - owners
Present / last location:	Brasilias Zoo Garden, in Brazil

Date of arrival

1956-00-00	Brasilias Zoo Garden from Rio de Janeiro Zoo

	Rio de Janeiro Zoo from Asia unspecified location

Record history
History of updates	2023-04-30

Latest document update	2023-04-30 01:19:28

† Nely is a dead Female ♀ Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), , who died 1994 at Brasilias Zoo Garden, in Brazil, . Official death reason described as arthritis.

Origin

Nely was born wild at Asia unspecified location.

Comments / pictures

Detefon was in Indian elephant which came directly from the wild to Rio de Janeiro back in 1950, later sold to Brazil.

"Monkeys, macaws, toucans and an elephant were the first attractions of the space, which gained several theories about the history of its foundation. The best-known version among Brazilians is that the zoo was created to house the female Asian elephant Nely, who would have been a gift from the Indian ambassador to President Juscelino Kubitscheck.

However, documents from the Brasília Zoo deny the main version. The Zoo's Book of Records states that the first animal cataloged was a male monkey of the black howler species, captured by a resident.
The famous female elephant is cited as the zoo's second animal and would not have been a gift to the president. The book says that it was donated by a pharmaceutical company in São Paulo and that its original name was Deterfom, related to the medicine that this company advertised."

1994: Death cause was arthritis, she was 54 years old.
Jana Havlova, Source

Reference list

References

Koehl, Dan, (2025). Nely, Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) located at Brasilias Zoo Garden in Brazil. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 18 April 2025 at https://www.elephant.se/database2.php?elephant_id=4271. (archived at the Wayback machine)