This is something that has recently gotten to me, as I read that apparently the elephant population in North America would die out without the import of more young females. Is this true?
Unfortunately, this can happen if zoos do not cooperate more. Many zoos have cows suitable for breeding, but they do not have bulls (some cannot even place them, Montgomery, Memphis, San Diego safari park). Some zoos, in turn, have only bulls who cannot produce offspring because they lack breeding cows (Birmingham, Denver, Osh in Oakland).
The African Elephant population in North America seems to be plummeting at the moment. I feel like the United States thread is full of articles about elephants passing away. It's quite alarming. Are Asian Elephants struggling as much as African Elephants?
For Asian elephants, it is not that scary, but it is also diminishing. For example, one Asian elephant was born in North America this year, 3 died (luckily all old). The African elephant was also born only 1, but 8 died (and worryingly, 3 were to be used for breeding). The future of African elephants in North America therefore depends largely on the San Diego Safari Park, Sedgwick County Zoo, Henry Doorly Zoo, Disney Animal Kingdom and Lowry Park in Tampa, which have large herds of elephants with several breeding cows. Unfortunately none of these zoos have a pregnant elephant! (Lowry Park doesn't announce it, so perhaps Mbali and Matjeka are pregnant)
