Starting the first news of the year off with a bang, 30 year old Sabi at Wuppertal has been announced pregnant, with a mid 2023 due date. The sire is of course 30 year old Tooth. This is the 6th calf for Sabi, but will only be the second for genetically valuable Tooth. Fingers crossed all goes well as it usually does for Wuppertal, and hopefully a little cow will grace us in a year and a half’s time
https://www.kenyanews.go.ke/plans-u...uBxPr3PdmKIBUhkGToYPcKze3uZH9Rwy3JR0nhqnhUP-g Looks like plans will go forward with the "rewilding" hopefully all goes well.
In the great scheme of African Veldt or Bush Elephant conservation in Kenya the above media roll out exercise does little and is not worth the parchment of paper it was written into. Also, it is not rewilding as the elephants will remain captive in a fenced area and their genetics remain admixed southern African/Tanzanian. No prior genetics research has been run on them compared to local elephants nor health checks (remember no resistence to tsetse flies et all).
I don't know how relevant this is but before I update the Colchester Zoo news thread with updates from my visit on Thursday that included an Aardvark experience I have some news about Colchester Zoo's African Elephants. The zoo have plans to possibly move cows Tanya and Opal into protected contact in the next couple of years, Zola and Tembo are already I believe. Earlier this year they investigated if A.I was possible with one of the zoos cows on a vet day earlier this year (the keeper doing the experience was fairly new and doesn't work with the elephants so didn't know a lot, including which cow was investigated). I have to say I feel more positive about the second bit of news than the first.
Investigating whether AI would be possible probably involved Opal. It doesn't make sense for Zola or Tanya. However, I doubt she could get pregnant at all when she had her only calf in 2010. It's too long time.
Great that they are finally ending the free contact! But one thing is absolutely sure, none of the Colchester females will ever have a calf again. They are too old and too much time went since their last pregnancies. Looking into AI for them is a waste of time and money!!
Maybe, I don't really know, I thought they were in free contact because of the public feeding, it is a bit sad that they might be phasing out the free contact as it is quite a historical thing and I like the close relationships with the elephants, but it is probably for the best. I mean obviously I will hope for the best that this might have a chance of being successful, but hopefully sometime soon they look into possibly getting new individuals and accept the 3 females currently at Colchester are most likely not sustainable for breeding. Of course Valencia would be the logical option for new cows as well as a return for Jambo to England somewhere but they support the EOP so could that not be on the cards if there is any displaced elephants?
@Rajang-GOAT what is the EOP? I think Jambo should return to England,maybe even to Colchester. The best scenario for Jambo in my opinion would be Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm. If Jambo did return to Colchester I would import Jambo with a couple of the Valencia Cowes. I think Opal or Tanya should remain to become the matriarch. If a new herd was formed around Jambo a couple of Valencia Cowes, and Tanya/Opal, I would relocate Tembo and Zola to Howeletts. I recommend Howeletts as Damian Aspinall is realsing his African Elephant Heard “ultimately the best in Europe” to Africa. Note I do not agree with Aspinall’s latest idiotic realesement proposal.
Do they have a choice at all? I would have thought they have been put low on the list for animal exchanges given that they have had so little success with breeding Africans. Another issue is now the Brexit exclusion that more or less prevents large scale shipments like these for large mega vertebrates. Finally, I would think a few other facilities on the Continent with higher chances of breeding may well take precedence over those with low likelihood of any success. I do think it is rather flimsy.
When I said EOP I was referring to the Elephant Orphanage Project which Colchester Zoo supports that new elephants could potentially come from maybe. The scenario you have mentioned is pretty good, though however unrealistic it would be idealy I would wish for all the current Colchester elephants to stay (apart from maybe if Jambo replaced Tembo if he was required to leave). Tembo could live as the breeding bull for this herd and Zola could live with him in the bull section or be integrated with the other cows which could be Tanya, Opal, and probably 1, most likely 2, of the Bioparc Valencia individuals as you mentioned, with Jambo either living at Noah's Ark, or coming to live with Tembo at Colchester (I don't know if this would be achievable considering the number of individuals able to be housed or potentially disagreements between the pair, I just thought Jambo could learn from Tembo on how to be a breeding bull. @Kifaru Bwana you are probably right with your points but hopefully this is all still possible. On an unrelated note, I should probably be more grateful for the elephants currently at Colchester as you never know what could happen in the future. Edit: I have just had a thought, maybe Colchester Zoo are trying to breed and make the most of their current elephants because they know it will be extremely difficult to obtain new individuals? Maybe they know something we don't? I don't know really, this is all just speculation from me based off what I have found out from zoochat and what I know about the zoo itself, I am probably quite wrong.
The problems experienced with African elephant breeding in Europe exactly DO stem from the unwillingness of failing holding institutions like Colchester (or Valencia, Lisboa) to release some of their elephants with potential to breed elsewhere. Bull Tembo could and should have left long time ago to somewhere he could have been of any use in a breeding program (West Midlands, Knowsley) and Colchester should have already tried to wean some of the Howletts elephants off them to re-assemble a credible breeding herd. All current females in the herd are unlikely now to breed at all having not done so for almost a decade and more. The EOP option would and probably should be explored to recreate and reinvent African elephant captive husbandry and breeding in UK.
Well it would seem Yambo wasted no time at Beekse Bergen, at least one of the cows is now pregnant! No confirmed due date yet, but still a while off.
It appears not only Pina Nessie was mated by Yambo but also her mother Punda so either Punda or Pina Nessie are pregnant, and if both cows are pregnant it is a step in in the right for direction Beekse Bergen for the goal of a multi generational herd
and hopefully others will follow. Especially Bongi and Madiba. I think it’s too late for Carla and Sabi.
These pictures of Yambo mating with Punda are from May 1st, so she is not the one whose pregnancy is announced now. My guess is Pina, but I am sure more pregnancies will follow soon.
Remember, elephants don’t only mate when people are filming them It could honestly be any of the three mature cows, although considering he’s been breeding Punda as recently as 2 weeks ago, it’s probably not her (although I do know some bulls will still mate with pregnant/non cycling cows, and I do also know of cows who will allow bulls to breed with them even if they are not cycling or are pregnant, so never say never).
Pina-Nessi is the elephant who is pregnant. The calf is expected by the end of 2023. Rumour has it that a second cow is also pregnant. Whether this is actually the case is not yet known.
