Springfield Zoo welcomes new elephant

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) – Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield is welcoming a new 8-year-old Asian elephant.

The elephant, named Hugo, arrived Friday from the Endangered Ark Foundation, a private nonprofit and circus elephant retirement ranch in Hugo, Oklahoma.

The Springfield News-Leader reports Hugo will be in quarantine for at least a month. He will then be introduced to Patience, a female elephant, and the zoo hopes they will someday be on exhibit together.

Asian elephants are critically endangered. The zoo said in a news release that Hugo came to the zoo to increase the genetic diversity of the U.S. elephant population.

Also this month, the zoo also welcomed a male baby giraffe and a black and white colobus monkey. A ring-tailed lemur was born April 10.