Three elephants from Calgary made their debut at the National Zoo today.

Kamala and Swarna, both 39, as well as Kamala’s 23-year-old daughter Maharani, were under 30 days of quarantine, where they “had access to five stalls inside the elephant barn and one off-exhibit outdoor yard.” Now they can access the public outdoor portion of their habitat and will — gradually — be introduced to the Zoo’s four other elephants.

The Zoo anticipates that the herd will form a social group like those found in the wild. Although the two groups of elephants were not able to physically interact while the females from Calgary Zoo were in quarantine, they have been able to see and hear each other. According to elephant-keeper staff, there has been a lot of communication between the two groups. Elephants ‘talk’ using a low-frequency infrasound.

The three elephants are on a long-term loan from the Calgary Zoo. They can also be viewed using the elephant cam.