MIAMI – Zoo Miami introduced its two new African elephants to visitors Friday.
Cita and Lisa arrived from the Virginia Zoo last month and are now being introduced to Zoo Miami's other elephants after being quarantined.
Zoo Miami spokesman Ron Magill said the elephants are being held in an adjoining paddock next to the zoo's resident African elephant females, Peggy and Mabel. He said employees hope to eventually place the four elephants in the same paddock.
"During that process it could get a little testy so to speak, so we're going to figure out how to do that the best possible way. Eventually, we'll have them all in an exhibit together and they'll be the golden girls of Zoo Miami," Magill said.
The four elephants, dubbed the "golden girls" by zoo employees, range in age from 40 to nearly 48 years old.
Magill said the animals are well into their golden years, since elephants have an average lifespan of 35 years in captivity.
As part of Zoo Miami's Golden Girl celebration, the TREND Group donated a life-size gold mosaic elephant figure to the zoo, which is valued at about $100,000.
The figure took 12 mosaic artists more than a year to create. It weighs 2,710 pounds and measures 7 feet wide, 16 feet high and 27 feet long.
Cita and Lisa were moved to Zoo Miami last month as part of an Association of Zoos and Aquariums recommendation.
Magill said the recommendation came because of an upcoming AZA requirement that accredited institutions exhibiting elephants keep them in herds of three or more to support their "complex and psychological health."