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New Elephant Bozie To Join Others At National Zoo

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A new Asian elephant is being introduced to the other elephants at the National Zoo and will begin sharing the same living space.

Officials say 37-year-old Bozie will join the zoo's two other females Thursday in the elephant community center.

Bozie arrived in May from the Baton Rouge Zoo in Louisiana. She was placed on a 30-day quarantine. In recent days, curators moved Bozie gradually closer to the other females to introduce them.

Now they have formed a new herd. A zoo spokeswoman says the oldest elephant, 65-year-old Ambika, seems to hold the dominant position over 38-year-old Shanthi and Bozie.

Zoo records indicate Bozie and Shanthi lived together briefly as calves in Sri Lanka before coming to North America.

Bozie has not yet been introduced to the 11-year-old male, Kandula.

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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