A young elephant interacts with a child at Guizhou Forest Wildlife Zoo on Jan 19. [Photo/gog.cn]

Twelve elephants from Laos made their debut at Guizhou Forest Wildlife Zoo on Jan 19. Children and visitors enjoyed interacting with the zoo’s latest inhabitants.

The twelve elephants, ranging from 2 to 40 years old, were transported via road from Laos –– a journey of 1,300 kilometers.

The zoo decided to introduce elephants in 2014, and a team was sent to Laos to select the animals during a two-year investigation. After one-month in quarantine, the elephants appeared calm when they first began to have contact with visitors. Visitors were allowed to offer them bananas and carrots which the elephants appeared to particularly enjoy.

The zoo has an elephant house measuring 2,700 square kilometers which can accommodate up to 3,000 people, as well as living quarters measuring 700 square kilometers for the animals.

An elephant entertains visitors to Guizhou Forest Wildlife Zoo. [Photo/gog.cn]