--- description: Kandula has never left the Smithsonian National Zoo before today title: Young Elephant Sets Off On A 1,300-Mile Quest To Find A Mate image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Young Elephant Sets Off On A 1,300-Mile Quest To Find A Mate  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Oct 20, 2015 9:06 PM CUT  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Oct 20, 2015 9:06 PM CUT Kandula, a young male Asian Elephant, has spent his entire life at the Smithsonian National Zoo. But around 1 p.m. on Tuesday, the 13-year-old animal got into a flatbed tractor-trailer and left his Washington, D.C., home to begin his 1,300-mile quest to find a mate. Kandula is being shipped to the Oklahoma City Zoo, where zoo keepers hope he will be able to breed with a female elephant that isn’t related to him. While Kandula’s exit comes at a time when the National Zoo has been trying to build their elephant herd, he shares too many genes with the zoo’s breeding-age female for them to be able to mate, according to [The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-male-elephant-all-grown-up-leaves-washington-on-a-search-for-love/2015/10/20/fed0c046-7739-11e5-bc80-9091021aeb69%5Fstory.html?tid=sm%5Ftw "undefined"). The 7,300-pound elephant is a favorite of zoo workers and will be dearly missed. Brandie Smith, the zoo’s associate director for animal sciences, said that while it was a difficult decision to send Kandula away, she knows it was the right one. “Oklahoma City has just opened up a big new elephant facility,” Smith explained. “They have a great facility. They have a great staff. They have female elephants there who are just awaiting his arrival.” But his departure won’t change how those close to the great beast feel about him. “Love of my life,” long-term elephant keeper Debbie Flinkman said about Kandula. “I love that kid so much.” ### 26 of LIFE’s Best Animal Covers  February 8, 1937 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Charles J. Belden). LIFE Magazine  March 1, 1937 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Henry M. Lester). LIFE Magazine  April 26, 1937 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Torkel Korling). LIFE Magazine  July 26, 1937 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt). LIFE Magazine  January 10, 1938 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Lane Flinders). 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