Tonga is a living Female ♀ African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana) , located at the Vienna Zoo, in Austria.
Tonga arrived in 1998-08-18 to the Vienna Zoo, relocated from the Bussolengo Safari Park (Garda Zoological Park), in Italy.
Tonga lives together with 4 other elephants at the Vienna Zoo: (detailed list)
1: Dan Koehl (head-keeper from 1998 to 1998 )
Tonga was born wild 1985 at Kruger National Park.
Tonga was not totally off-hand in Bussolengo, but not really trained. The headkeeper Gian Carlo, managed her in a friendly, not dominant way, and she had a nice relation with him and other keepers in Bussolengo. When she grew older, she started to destroy her stable, and since she was Bussolengos last and only elephant, it was decided to sell her to Schoenbrunn in Vienna. She was transfered to Free Contact training by Dan Koehl during a hot summer in 1998. Already after two weeks she could be ridden. In November 2011 Tonga was inseminated with semen from a wild elephant bull in Africa.
(The name Tonga is already submitted into the link, just click on the link for relevant results)
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