The New Zealand Herald reported this week that Whirling Bros Circus owner Tony Ratcliffe was planning to give the “star of his show”, Jumbo, to the zoo after it retired from the business.

A zoo spokesman said there had been a “misunderstanding” and the 35-year-old, eight-foot tall, four-tonne elephant would not join ranks with the zoo’s two remaining African elephants, Cuddles and Yum Yum.

“Sadly, it must be a misunderstanding,” the spokesman said. “We’re always looking at a range of options for the future and looking at how to better care for them.

“I believe there was initial contact where they asked what the circumstances in relation to this animal was, he misconstrued this.”

The Herald reported Jumbo was the only working African elephant this side of the equator.

Her “circus routine involved waltzing, standing up on two legs and bowing to the audience”.

Cuddles and Yum Yum are the only two African elephants left in Australia following the death of their companion, 35-year-old Cheri, in June this year.

An autopsy on Cheri revealed she died from an obstructive gastrointestinal problem.

The three elephants had been long-time companions since they arrived at Western Plains together in 1977.

Zoo Life Sciences manager Maria Finnigan said at the time of Cheri’s death that Cuddles and Yum yum had been “out of sorts”.

“At this point, they are a dying breed,” she said. “Our care is more extreme, they are extra precious.”