OUISVILLE, Ky. — Two of the most popular residents of the Louisville Zoo are moving to Tennessee.

The Louisville Zoo’s African elephant Mikki and Asian elephant Punch are going to move to The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee. The Sanctuary is the largest natural habitat elephant refuge in the United States. The Louisville Zoo says the pair will move in the spring of 2025.

Louisville Zoo Director Dan Maloney said in a release, “Even though we know that Punch and Mikki moving to The Elephant Sanctuary is best for them, we also know that we will miss them terribly. Experiencing both some sadness about their eventual departure, and joy regarding their new life in Tennessee, is expected, and we all appreciate having the coming year to say our proper goodbyes.”

Elephants have been featured at the zoo for most of its 54-year history, but it says they needed to look at what is best for the animals. It says the move to the sanctuary will ensure “lifelong companionship for Mikki and Punch in a safe, expansive setting.”

Maloney added, “Louisville Zoo has reached the point where it is imperative that we secure a place for Mikki and Punch where they can retire together, and their complex social needs are fully met throughout their golden years.” 

Employees are acclimating the elephants to the transportation process. The elephant care team is training the pair to voluntarily enter a custom-designed 8-foot-wide, 17,000-pound transportation container.

The Louisville Zoo will repurpose the elephant enclosure for Sindi and Letterman, the zoo’s southern white rhinoceroses. It is still deciding what will inhabit the rhino exhibit.

It’s uncertain if the Louisville Zoo will add more elephants. They are considering future master plans, but a new larger elephant habitat that has shade and the ability to hold a multi-generational herd comes with a large price tag. A state-of-the-art elephant habitat is estimated to cost over $100 million.

Fitz the elephant was born on Aug. 2, 2019. Here he is on September 13, 2019. He died from an infection in 2023.(Louisville Zoo)

Punch, the Asian elephant, arrived at the zoo in 1973 and Mikki joined him in 1987. While in Louisville, Mikki gave birth to two male calves, Scotty and Fitz. Scotty was the first elephant born in the state of Kentucky. The three-year-old died of severe gastrointestinal and digestive issues on May 12, 2010. Fitz died from a viral infection on June 30, 2023. He was also three years old.