Chendra's Journal

Friday, Nov.12
Zookeeper Ray Hopper and PR guy Steve Cohen from the Oregon Zoo left Portland at 10:30 p.m. to begin their long journey to Sabah, Malaysia, on the isle of Borneo. Steve is armed with a special cellular phone, a tiny lap top computer and a digital phone, which he will use to try and send us daily updates.

Saturday, Nov. 13
One sad e-mail from Steve today entitled "No Phone."  Steve is still in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah's capitol city. He found a way to connect to the internet from there, but tomorrow he heads into the back country.  We're afraid all our technology may be too much for the wilds of Borneo. Knowing Steve, he'll find a way to keep us in touch, or he'll die trying!

Monday, Nov. 15
Still no word from Steve...
By now, he and Ray should be in Tabin Wildlife Reserve, in Eastern Sabah, where Chendra is waiting.

Tuesday, Nov. 16
Steve is back in Kota Kinabalu, and has re-established contact. Here's his latest message and a photo:

Most everything going well, but very hectic. We hurry-up and wait a lot. Chendra was loaded in her crate yesterday ( Monday) and we left Tabin at 6 p.m. We drove through the night over Mt. Kinabalu and Chendra did very well. The physical move itself, was very anticlimactic. We arrived in Kota Kinabalu this morning around 6 a.m. and drove her to the home of the local shipping agent. We'll go back at 4:30 tomorrow morning and bring her to the airport and she'll fly to Kuala Lumpur. Ray and JB, Chendra's current keeper are exchanging information and JB is looking forward to coming to the US and meeting zookeepers. Didn't have time to seek out other wildlife, but saw many hornbills, pig-tailed macaques and monitors. In Tabin, the night was filled with the sound of bellowing wild elephants.

Wednesday, Nov. 17
The latest from Steve:
This morning we were still in Kota Kinabalu and Chendra was put back in her crate at 4 a.m.and driven to the airport for her journey today to Kuala Lumpur. Ray and I were on a different flight than Chendra. Hers was supposed to have left earlier than ours, but it was delayed and we arrived before she did.

The animal "hotel," which was designed for horses is part of the huge, new Kuala Lumpur airport . Ray and JB took Chendra out for a walk in the exercise yard, gave her a bath and brought her back in to feed her. She's very fond of yams and sugar cane. There was some local confusion about what is hay and what is straw, but it definitely was straw that was delivered from the Kuala Lumpur Zoo. They say that is what they use to feed their animals.

She seems to be doing very well. Nervous, of course, but everything is new to her -- sights, smells, noises. Ray and JB will go back and check on her frequently. We do have a layover here of over 30 hours.

Right now, the rain is torrential and the lightning is spectacular.

Friday, Nov.19....
Chendra and her entourage flew today from Kuala Lumpur to San Francisco, via Seoul, South Korea and Anchorage, Alaska. In San Francisco, Chendra was greeted with fresh hay and was loaded onto a truck which headed for Portland.

Saturday, Nov. 20
Chendra and crew arrived at the zoo about 10:45 a.m. As a crowd of reporters, photographers and zoo and Enron staff watched, Chendra's crate was carefully forklifted off the back of the truck and set down behind the elephant barn, while another, smaller forklift was maneuvered into place. As Chendra swung her trunk back and forth with nervous anticipation, elephants in the nearby "front yard" stuck their trunks under the fence to better smell the newcomer. 

Chendra's crate was then forklifted to the door of a suite where she will spend six weeks of quarantine before going on exhibit. Chendra was let out into her new quarters, and spent the next hour conversing with the zoo's other elephants.

Sunday, Nov. 21
Things are quieter in the Elephant barn today. The USDA inspector paid Chendra a visit, and everything went well. Then the zoo's maintenance staff made a bonfire of the leftover bedding and food from Chendra's crate, to make sure insects or seeds from Malaysia don't spread into Oregon.

Monday, Nov.22
Chendra has settled in nicely. Keeper Ray Hopper says she is eating everything they give her, and is enjoying a gift of mangos, papayas and yams delivered by Pacific Coast Fruit company. Ray and Steve are recuperating from their trip. 

Friday, Dec. 31.
Chendra is getting along just fine and the vet has released her from quarantine. Keepers are slowly introducing her to her new world and the other elephants. If all goes well, she will be on public view in late January or early February. We're planning a big party for her debut. Check back in mid-January to find out the date.