Maja
Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) at
Kharkiv Zoo (Kharkov Zoo) in Ukraine

Biography

☨ ♀ Maja

Alternative name:	Maya

Identification

EEP nr	3402

Description

Species:	Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
Sex and age:	Female ♀ 31 years old
Status:	foot problems
Origin
Born:	* 1934-05-01 captive-born
Birth place:	in Leipzig Zoo

Parents:	♂ Jacky x ♀ Benga
Death
Dead:	†1965-09-13
Death reason:	unknown: Leg problems
Offspring
Total: 1 babies

1. Born 1958-06-06 (dead † 1963-04-07)	♀ Charkowtschanka EEP id: 5802
Locations - owners
Present / last location:	Kharkiv Zoo (Kharkov Zoo), in Ukraine

Date of arrival

1953-01-01	Kharkiv Zoo (Kharkov Zoo) from Unknown

1947-04-24	Unknown from Leipzig Zoo

Record history
History of updates	2020-10-17

Latest document update	2020-10-18 06:25:24
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† Maja is a dead foot problems Female ♀ Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), , who died 1965-09-13 at Kharkiv Zoo (Kharkov Zoo), in Ukraine, . Official death reason described as Leg problems.

Offspring

(F) 1958-06-06 -- † 1963-04-07 Charkowtschanka EEP id: 5802

Origin

Maja was born captive-born 1934-05-01 at Leipzig Zoo.

Parentage

Parents of Maja are: ♂ Jacky (father) and ♀ Benga (mother).

Siblings through the father Jacky:

1932-01-29 -- † 1964-00-00 (F) Minyak
1936-08-08 -- † 1953-07-31 (M) August

Siblings through the mother Benga:

1925-03-00 - † 1941-10-04 (F) Nelly II (Baby)

Pedigree

**Majas ancestral Pedigree:**
P	I	II	III
Maja	Sire (f): Jacky Born: 1899	Sire ff: Born:	Sire fff:
		Sire ff: Born:	Dame ffm:
		Dame fm: Born:	Sire fmf:
		Dame fm: Born:	Dame fmm:
	Dame m: Benga Born: 1910-1915	Sire mf: Born:	Sire mff:
		Sire mf: Born:	Dame mfm:
		Dame mm: Born:	Sire mmf:
		Dame mm: Born:	Dame mmm:

Comments / pictures

Contradictory records:

EEG death record
EEG state death year 1966

Records about Maja from EEPEuropean Studbook for Asian elephants state following records for the asian elephant Maja:

3402 F 1 May 1934 JACKY BENGA LEIPZIG 1 May 1934 NONE Birth Maja
KYIV ZOO 1 Apr 1947 NONE Transfer
KHAR KOV 1 Jan 1953 NONE Transfer
13 Sep 1965 Death

Source: EEP studbook for Asian elephants online

Statement from Kiev Zoo
Kirill Trantin, director in Kiev Zoo, writes: "Oleg Hryshchenko, Head of elephants department in Kharkiv Zoo, following our request had conducted re-investigation of East Ukrainian Zoo documents and confirmed Maya arrival from Kiev [17], but there is no information about the previous history of her life and possible stay in Kyiv Zoo. It is therefore possible that period between 1947 and 1953 years she spent not in Ukrainian capital zoo but in a circus or in one of mobile zoos or menagerie that traveled through the Soviet Union.
Thus, these six years of Maya life remain unknown, at least for now."

Reference list

References

Koehl, Dan, (2025). Maja, Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) located at Kharkiv Zoo (Kharkov Zoo) in Ukraine. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 28 January 2025 at https://www.elephant.se/database2.php?elephant_id=588. (archived at the Wayback machine)

Sources used for this article is among others:

Elephants and Egotists by Patricia Sumerling
87-year history of elephants maintenance in Kyiv Zoo, Ukraine, by Kirill Trantin, Kiev Zoo

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About this documentThis document was updated: 2020-10-18 06:25:24 with valid HTML5