Kulab is pregnant, now bringing Australia's total to 4 pregnant elephants? Melbourne Zoo celebrates second elephant pregnancy - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Excellent news. Now who are the fathers of the four calves. Gung inseminated one at Taronga and Bong Su this one, but what of the other two?
I think this would be more exciting if it was a natural pregnancey instead of AI but I'm still excited as hell...How good will Melbournes herd look with two littlies.
i agree with you Pat, it would be exciting if it was a natural mating but assisted reproduction has more in-situ applications for elephant conservation. hopefully the frozen sperm technique is refined and perfected; when this happens it will be another case of zoo-based programs assisting field conservation and, I imagine will prove a massive aid to managing these animals in the wild. so as it stands, more than half the elephants imported into the country are pregnant or a sire. great result. we need to be realistic about this; worse case scenario and a calf dies the program proves breeding can be accomplished and i think this program is rapidly moving from the 'potential' to the 'viable' category. one interesting thing is that the new director at MZ has started talking about future transfers etc, a departure from the original 'family herd' script. its not a bad thing; clearly the emotional needs of these animals are being acocunted for and any future transfers will surely consider herd dynamics. good work MZ and TZ
Really!? wow, I thought Boong Su sired then all with the exception of Tong Dee's baby in Taronga I heard of Chawang ( singapore bull) donating sperm to Melbourne, but I didn't hear that he sired them. Is there any article I can read about this?
Is it the sperm or the ovariy that decides sex? Could "they" have easily already decided to have only girls? The technology is there yes? I think that if they are going to AI captive animals it is appropriate that "they" then also decide sex. It surely just good management!
I suppose they could of decided the sex, but I don't think they should ever do that (my personal opinion). Its much better this way because than zoos have to co-operate with each other because in theory if they did decide the sex of their animals they could keep breeding for their own needs.
From the Zoo's media release: "Kulab, a 10-year-old Asian elephant, has been artificially inseminated and will give birth next spring. The conservation program has resulted in four pregnancies, two at Melbourne and two at Taronga Zoo in Sydney. The pregnancy resulted from an artificial insemination procedure carried out in late November, with the zoo's bull elephant Bong Su the donor." As far as I know, sex determination in elephants using AI is not possible at this stage.
That`s correct, in elephants sex selection is not possible, at least not in the way that you can opt for a female - 80-90% (rather 90, I think) of all elephant calves sired by AI are MALE. So be prepared for a lot of boys! (another reason why AI should be abandoned when it comes to elephant breeding, JMHO).
hmmm interesting fact, come to think of it now... most of the calves made by AI I can think of are boys. any particular reason that AI produces more males?
Good news, but why would they AI her with a bull from the same zoo, surely it would be cheaper just to let them do it themselves...?
