SALT LAKE CITY — It's said that elephants never forget, and that certainly seems to be the case for Christie and her 6-year-old daughter Zuri, the two elephants taking up residence at the Hogle Zoo.

Eric Peterson, the zoo's elephant manager, has cared for the two animals for nearly their entire lives. Along with keepers Jason Sorstokke and Melissa Farr, he's with Christie and Zuri constantly. Peterson started at the zoo as a volunteer, but something about elephants called to him.

"I like the training aspect," he said. "I like the idea of building a bond with an animal, and that animal trusting you, and me trusting that animal."

Elephants never forget, not just because of their long lives, but because of their sharp minds. Peterson and his crew say elephants are some of the most intelligent creatures on the planet.

"Usually they're compared to the intelligence of whales, and certainly younger humans," said Farr. "There's been studies done on elephant awareness in the past. A little red dot is placed on their forehead, and you show them a mirror, and instead of looking at the mirror, they're like, 'Oh, there's a dot on my forehead.' So there are some studies that show they're a little bit self-aware."

Maybe that intelligence is part of what makes them a lot like us.

"They live in these herd structures, and they can be pretty complex," said Farr. "They're usually filled with adult females, aunts, daughters, younger calves, grandmothers, so it's definitely a family-based herd. They're very, very social."

"They're based off of a matriarchal system," said Peterson. "They very much bond with each other."

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Beloved African elephant euthanized at Hogle Zoo

Dari, who came to Hogle Zoo in 1967, was euthanized after her health had steadily deteriorated over the last several months, according to a press release from Hogle Zoo. She lived to 55 1/2 years, well beyond the average life expectancy of 42 years for elephants in the wild. Dari also holds the record for longest-lived African elephant in America.

Elephant herds have matriarchs, but at the Hogle Zoo, the matriarch is missing — Dari, a 55-year-old elephant who had lived at the zoo since 1967, passed away in August.

"She broke the longevity record for elephants in North America," said Peterson. "We ended up having to put her to sleep. We made the decision, based on her health and her ability, that we didn't want to see her suffer anymore."

The loss of Dari wasn't just hard on Peterson and his team. It was also a day the two surviving elephants will never forget.

"They definitely know that she was gone," said Sorstokke.

With animals as intelligent as Christie and Zuri, their keepers did something some may find a bit unusual.

"They got to go in and say their goodbyes to Dari," said Sorstokke.

"We all cleared the area and let them come in and surround her, and be able to touch her and visit with her," said Farr. "Their ears are out, they're like, 'Whoa, something's different.'"

"It's just a way of saying goodbye," said Sorstokke. "Even in the wild, elephants, if they come across another elephant's skull or bones, will sniff it just to see if they knew that elephant."

"They definitely understood," said Peterson. "It's not something you can quantify and say, 'Yeah, they definitely understand,' but by watching their reaction and their nuances, having been around them for as long as I have, you see that — things that you don't see normally. The sniffing, the checking her out, so you know that they know."

"Christie was a little more alert," said Sorstokke. "Ears out, trunk up, kind of sniffing the air. Zuri was a little more wound up than normal, so just running around a little bit. When you lose the head of your family, it kind of throws you into chaos a little bit."

Christie and Zuri may have thick skins, but the past month has been challenging.

"They've been a little clingy with each other," said Peterson. "They don't want to be separated as much."

Elephants grieve, just like us — but their lives are slowly returning to normal. Christie and Zuri may never forget their matriarch, but they may have some surprises ahead.

"At some point, it'll be a whole new ballgame when we bring in another elephant," said Peterson.

While the zoo has no immediate plans to introduce a new member to its herd of two, Peterson says he's confident it will happen at some point.

"It'll be all new for them," he said. "So it'll be exciting."

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