That's terrible news, RIP Yum Yum. yet another species on its way to becoming non-existent in Australia.
I remember seeing the four young African elephants at WPZ a couple of months after arriving from the UK in 1977, It's a shame they never bred even when they were joined by another male (Congo) and another female from the USA. RIP Yum Yum
...so now we (Australia) are down to one African elephant. Another species on the way out. Werribee and Monarto, with their strong African emphasis, SHOULD acquire African elephants (but I'm not going to hold my breath waiting!)
While I would love to see African elephants in Australia I feel since we have so few major zoos in the region Monarto in this case should go with the flow with the rest of the ZAA zoos and exhibit the Asian species it's a bit pointless being the only holder when they could help increase the size of the regions breeding herd with another six or so animals held here would be of great help in holding more bloodlines.
