Bella packs her trunk for 'blind date'

Zoo finds mate for lonely elephant - and transports her all the way to China from Africa

A "blind date" advertisement has resulted in the arrival of a new elephant at Harbin Northern Forest Zoo.

The zoo published an ad requesting a mate for male elephant Doudou, and a month later, 8-year-old Bella was found to be a suitable candidate.

She arrived from Africa on Sept 20.

At the beginning of August, the zoo placed the ad seeking mates for eight of its "single" animals, including Doudou, a 9-year-old male African elephant.

The ad attracted a great deal of attention from domestic zoos, and information on various potential candidates was provided to the Harbin zoo.

Most of the animals got the chance to meet their blind dates.

However, the zoo found it difficult to find perfect matches in domestic zoos, especially an age-appropriate and healthy female African elephant for Doudou.

After failing to find a candidate at home, the zoo expanded its target range to the elephant's home continent.

"In order to absolutely guarantee the pure blood of his descendants, we have high standards for candidates," says Liu Xiaomi, zoological science engineer at the zoo. "Due to the special climate in Harbin, it is quite important for the candidate to be in good health."

Thanks to the zoo's efforts, Bella was eventually discovered in Zimbabwe.

After she arrived at Shanghai, Bella was taken to Harbin by road on Sept 18, along with a three-member team from the zoo, including a professional breeder and a veterinarian.

"Because of her huge weight, careful driving was required to prevent her from being hurt during the trip," says Li Wei, the accompanying breeder.

Without any stops except for feeding, it took 46 hours to complete the 2,300-kilometer trip by container truck.

"Every three hours, we would have a stop to feed Bella about 15 kilograms of food, including fodder and fresh fruits such as watermelons, apples and pears," says Li, "Interestingly, it seemed that she had never tasted these kinds of fruit before."

"She was reluctant to eat them at first but then tried them cautiously. Finally, she fell in love with the delicious food," Li adds.

In order to make Bella feel comfortable and at home, the elephant house at Harbin was renovated before her arrival.

"We put some red soil from Bella's homeland in the corner of her enclosure and she really loves it," says Liu. "She quite happily plays with the mud made from the soil and water."

When Doudou finally met his chosen girlfriend, he seemed a little shy.

Unexpectedly, generous and polite Bella took the initiative of saying "hello" to him with her long trunk.

After several hours together, the two elephants became familiar with each other and had some interactions through a fence.

"Progress seems much better than we anticipated before they met," says Liu. "However, they have to be separated temporarily to avoid being hurt by each other."

"Since she will be remaining with us, visitors will be able to meet Bella at the zoo after she has adapted to the change of surroundings," Liu says. "We all hope Bella and Doudou can have a happy life together."

Contact the writers at tianxuefei@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 09/29/2017 page18)