Elephants in Dresden » Dresden Zoo

Elephants in Dresden
20-07-2008

So, to fill this section of the Forums:

In Dresden there life 1 old Asiatic-Elephant-Cow, 3 aduld African-Elephants and one ofspring (1,0) of one of them. Now there´s trouble, cause the Eles life there in a kind of circus-keeping. They have a nice enclosure, but the keepers are always near the animals, they chain them for houres (even the litte one, woh is now 2 1/2 years old), hit them hardly with hooks, and so on...

Now its said in the newspapers, that the bull have to go (remember how young he is!!!), cause he pushes the keepers some times...
They have no money for a bull-area, so they say he has to go...
By the way, he wasn´t bread naturaly, but the mother was given an AI (is it called that way in english?).

So what do you think? Is it ok to give a such young calv away, cause the keepers have to keep up their egos instead of doing protected contact?!

21-07-2008

At two and a half years old?
No, and the people who decided to do it should be shot if they do.
Although most places give elephant calves away before they're 12, and I don't think that should be done. Can't do them any good.
This place sounds like it shouldn't be allowed to keep elephants...

22-07-2008

I think two and a half is way too out there,

Many people say that the pre-teen years (around 5-6) is the right time to seperate them in a Captive herd. This though is sometimes because of the facilities won't provide for all the elephants though.

This pushing, doesn't seem to be aggresive behaviour, the first stage is around 4-6 years when the young bulls will attack other members of the herd, in the wild at that age young bulls will wonder away from the herd from time to time and then come back much like a human teenager,But a zoo can't fully provide that, they can separate them for a short time but Thabo-Umasai is still far too young,