Elephants
Elephants were a major attraction at Chessington for many years... both in the Zoo and the circus, however in 1981 plans were made to transform the Zoo in to a theme park and many of the larger animals were relocated to other collection in order to make way for the arrival of the theme park rides.
Thankfully parts of the zoo survived the re-modelling and although on much smaller scale, the zoo areas that remained have managed to stand the test of time and are now a key feature in Chessington's success.
Thankfully parts of the zoo survived the re-modelling and although on much smaller scale, the zoo areas that remained have managed to stand the test of time and are now a key feature in Chessington's success.
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From the zoos opening in 1931 up until 1996 when the last elephant left, there are records for at least 9 elephants having lived at Chessington...

The majority of the the elephants housed at Chessington over the years were Asian, however there is one African elephant recorded who was named "Estar".
One of Chessington's ex-elephants is still alive and living in UK at Chester Zoo.
Source: http://www.elephant.se http://asianelephant.net
Chessington Zoo's Elephants
- Bella (Asian) - Born: Wild - Captured 1968
- Rosie (Asian)
- Comet (Asian)
- Marjorie (Asian)
- Lulu (Asian)
- Maya (Asian)
- Estar (African)
- Candy (Unknown)
- Barbara (Asian)*4
Notes:
- A report in The Gazette newspaper on Tuesday 16th June 1970, mentions that Chessington Zoo's "Lulu" had died - reading what information is available on the internet, it appears that there were two different elephants that were both called Lulu. Over time there may have been a mistake and the two animals confused for being the same one, therefore it may be that Chessington's baby "Lulu" actually died in 1970 shortly after appearing on Blue Peter and that the adult "Lulu" that died in Belfast in 2006 was a completely different elephant. More information on this subject is discussed here: http://h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A87736134
- A report from the Milwaukee Journal that is dated Tuesday 15th September 1970, which reports of "Lulu" the elephant at Chessington Zoo who is oiled to protect her skin from cracking by keeper Evlyn Pavlo - released almost 3 months after the Gazette reported of her death.
- A report in The Gazette newspaper, names an additional two elephants called "Candy" & "Barbara" that supposedly belonged to Chessington Zoo and lived with "Lulu" - unfortunately no other information or documentation can be found for them at present so they remain uncounted.
- Photo & Information on Barbara has since been sourced from an original 1958 Chessington Zoo Guide book.