Sorry if this has already been posted but after glimpsing on asianelephant.net Birma arrived at Touroparc Romanèche on the 18th April, but i cannot find anything else about it. At Romaneche they have the bull Kali, 35 and female Laxmi, 32 and niether have ever bred so there may be a chance of Kali breeding if both are able to. Even if not it, means it could become a nice little herd for 2, probably socially deprived females to socialise.
I didn't know Romaneche have elephants, but they have taken old Gorillas and hybrid orangutans from other places in the past. I guess its a sort of retirement home for Birma then. I believe Romaneche is a mixture of Zoo and giant touring caravan Park. It would be intereting to know exactly WHY Birma was 'repatriated' back to France...
Yeah I read that Birma didn't really get on with the chester herd, hopefully her and Laxmi will gain a good friendship though it's unlikely that Kali will breed with her but who knows!
Its also rumoured it was down to her lack of breeding (Well getting along with Upali to be precise). Am disappointed with this and would like to know the real reason from Chester.
Also being alone vefore coming to chester, could that of effected her social skills to interact with Birma's herd?
What is exactly the rationale for her being sent to Romaneche and not have her re-breed at say Le Pal where a proven bull is available (even as a stand alone)? Romaneche is not exactly the first rate elephant facility and I am not entirely happy she will be entertained to her requirements. Romaneche has indeed a bull - unrepresented and unproven - standing with a cow of yonder years. No project for Kali's relocation to a breeding group as with this elderly cow - with whom he probably has an infatuated brother-sis relationship - it is not going to happen!!!! Was the Species Coordinator involved in the move? Was Birma reproductively evaluated at Chester at all?
You say 're-breed' but Birma has never been bred so far- having lived alone in the Mauberg Zoo many years before going to Chester. I would be interested to know why her stay at Chester has been so short. When I saw her there she looked perfectly fine with the others in the group. Maybe Chester don't want to feed and upkeep a third(Sheba, Mya, Birma) elephant that has no breeding potential.
is maya still at chester? i remember her when she had a brief stay at bristol in 1990. They tried to pair her with wendy who had lost her mate christina 4 yrs ago.
She is. She had several homes, Bristol being one of them, before ending up successfully at Chester though she is a nonbreeder.
I spoke to Mick, the elephant keeper, for some time today and asked about Birma. The problem wasn't just that she wouldn't submit to Upali, it was the wider implications of that on the herd. It was distressing for them as well as for Birma when she didn't get on with Upali, and was making everything with the herd take "four times as long". Mick said that taking Birma on was a gamble that didn't pay off. Birma has apparently settled in well in Romaneche. On her first night, she was in a pen next to Laxmi, and the pair slept alongside each other. Hopefully Birma will continue to settle at Romaneche and will have a stable and happy life there.
sometimes it is better with just another cow to keep another one's comapany than a herd. Just like it's better sometimes to just have one good friend than a clique.
Thanks for the full explanation. It is a pity as she seemed to get on so well with all the other females. But I can see why she had to go now.
well, that's one way of explaining away an experiment that didn't work out. Why didn't they just tell the truth- that she was incompatable with the bull 'Upali' which in turn created other problems for the group. Instead they are implying she was sent all the way to Chester just to be socialised so she could then later be sent all the way back to France to join two other elephants. Rubbish! It didn't work out so why not just say so? there is no shame in it.
Propably the best tactic to not get the anti-zoo people on their backs, However saying that atleast they didn't try and hide the problem there and moved her on for her own good.
I think the best tactic not to get the anti-zoo people on your back is to be OPEN about the reasons for the move instead of telling such a *** story without giving any reasons. Because you could very well ask why the h** they seperated Birma from the herd with which she had bonded so well! I am not at all happy about the move and I tend to believe it was cruel to seperate her from Sheba just because she had problems with Upali - isn`t he going to leave in a few years anyway?
