Australian and ( NZ) Elephants news and discussion

Boo hoo. No tusks.....

He probably would have lost them at Melbourne anyway. I’ve noticed Man Jai has lost his just like Ongard before him.

 

At the young age of six I think its unnaturally young to be removed from their natal herd, but it seems to be done quite frequently these days and I know available space and ease of transporting smaller/younger elephants play a role too in these things. Maybe the old cow will play a role as a substitute 'auntie' for them as well as them giving her some company- at least till they get bigger...

 

If you have followed the discourse on various threads you may have noted that I have observed on several occasions the young ages at which bulls in zoos seem to reproduce is more an artificiality of the captive environment (some of it is down to improved diets, others in husbandry practices et cetera) and it is also true for cows where the onset of breeding is quite young.

Secondly on the constant: Yes, I would like to see zoos ideally replicate the elephant social structure and life ecology in zoos what would occur in the wilds. Which is I believe what zoos should strive to do in order to have sustainable, balanced (in age/sex structures) and long term viable conservation breeding programs. And yes, all the examples you have identified fit into that category.

You may expect the very same in future when the subject comes off again.

 

In July 2009, Taronga Zoo made history with the first elephant calf born in Australasia; while in January 2010, Melbourne Zoo made history with the first female elephant calf born in Australasia.

Now these two calves have grown up and been brought together for breeding, when Mali gives birth to the first calf of the second generation of Asian elephants in the region - it will truly be the joint achievement of both Taronga and Zoos Victoria.

 

I hope with the young bull that moved to Melbourne and the two new young bulls from Dublin that the regional program can push ahead for more calfs in the region. Once Auckland and Perth zoo elephants have been sorted that should be a set program among the holding zoos apart from Australia zoo which appear to be doing their own thing!

 

I'd like to see regular breeding from the herds at the two open range zoos; combined with regular exports of surplus male calves to Europe and the United States (who would benefit from new genetics). It's hard to imagine, but breeding/rearing could become so successful that even female exports are possible.

It's an obvious win-win for all involved.

 

Lets not rule out Monatro zoo, its quite possible they could/might join in the program at some stage, I know they were toying with the idea of African elephants but nothing was set in stone with that.

Perhaps if there were enough young bulls wanting homes maybe NZ could be an option for holding them?.

I belíeve it would be a long time before any surplus females would ever be there for export,Our program compared to Europe or the USA is only a baby to compare!
With the resent moves within the elephant program building Werribees new exhibit should be pushed to the front line!

 

To be honest, I can't see any of the New Zealand zoos acquiring elephants any time soon - Auckland and Wellington due to space; and Hamilton and Orana due to cost.

Hamilton Zoo have several exciting developments planned - including an expansion to the savannah and the addition of lions and cheetah; as well as new Sumatran tiger exhibits, but have no plans to acquire elephants.

If the hippopotami breeding programme kicks off again soon though, I wouldn't discount Orana or Auckland acquiring some - especially since Auckland Zoo will need a crowd-puller to replace their elephants.

 

It would be good to see a real Hippo program kick off not that I believe there ever really was one that I know of. Many of the public love Hippos, they live a long time and are easy to feed so really a win for the zoos holding them. If Monarto do start a new group which is likely as part of its new massive African exhibit it could become a hub to the other holders within the region like Dubbo, Werribee and perhaps a couple of the smaller regional zoos that have shown an interest. If we see Werribee kick off its breeding again with the importation of one or more bulls could see the region in good standing for years also if Auckland zoo includes them again after its elephants are gone would be even better!

 

With the space that will be at Werribee (50 acres), I see no reason why Putra Mas shouldn’t be sent to Werribee as a second breeding bull. Two breeding bulls have been successfully used in the past in many zoos such as Zurich, and can sustain an Elephant population for almost half a century. Taronga Western Plains already have Gung, and they only have around 9 acres of space dedicated to the elephants. Taronga also presents as an option but would either need to build a new Asian Elephant enclosure, or remove the camels from the former bull enclosure. It occurs to me that if Taronga and Melbourne both phase out their Asian Elephants, they could together (alongside Western Plains) begin an Indian Rhino Breeding Program, which would be exciting.

 

That’s nice that Saigon finally has some companions. The bulls will only be able to be exhibited with her for only the next few years before they begin to head into musth and have to be separated, but she seems to be definitely be benefiting from these interactions.

Saigon is in her early 60’s and could live for another decade but it will be interesting to see what Sydney will do with their Elephants following her death. By that time, Taronga (may) be the only city Zoo with Asian Elephants. Even though Sydney Zoo isn’t in the city, it has a similar size to your average city zoo, and in fact, it is smaller than both Taronga and Melbourne. Unless the Zoo expands, their Asian Elephant facilities would be rather small and will only be able to hold a few individuals, meaning no breeding. Because of their genetics, both Taronga and Werribee will be interested in importing these bulls and they could theoretically be swapped for a few surplus bulls from TWPZ and WORZ in the future.

 

The only reason why Luk Chai dosen’t have tusks because they were removed after he got an infection in them five years ago. Luk Chai won’t have tusks for life because of this, which I think, makes him resemble his mother, Thong Dee, a lot. Man Jai had his right tusk removed last year as well, due to infection. And Ongard did have tusks, they just didn’t grow very much and were rather small.

 

Not by my recollection. He had one longish tusk and had lost the other.

 

Really? There are photos of him with smallish tusks. Man Jai has one midsized tusk but lost the other so maybe your thinking of him?

 

With all the talk now about young bulls which could be used within the Australian breeding program casts my mind back to Tarongas He-man a really wonderful bull in his prime. Its disappointing that he was never bred from and that his genes will never be past on to the future generations, I am not quite sure why Tarongas elephants never bred back in the 70s perhaps the setup was never big enough for them?. He was wild born in 1956. I was glad when he was finally moved out to the Western Plains zoo at the end of 2005 and lived for about one year before he died of a gut infection.

 

Did they ever take any semen samples off him for future AI or something?

 

Not to my knownage, I am not sure if they were doing that kind of work here back in the day. From what I have heard and please tell me other wise I understand that Asian elephant semen has trouble freezing?, It appears to work for the African species though.

 

It’s especially sad that Heman’s genes were never passed on. Looking back at the records, there were four cows at Taronga when Heman arrived in February 1963:

0.1 Jill (1913-1977) aged 50
0.1 Sarina (1933-1971) aged 30
0.1 Ranee II (1955-1998) aged 8
0.1 Joan (1958-1976) aged 5

Given Heman was aged seven on arrival, it appears they had a decent starting basis of 1.2 young elephants. I assume Heman was a behavioural non breeder; otherwise they would have attempted natural breeding between him and Porntip/Pak Boon.

Yes, that is sadly the case. It had a negative affect on Auckland’s last two attempts of AI with Anjalee, using frozen semen.

 

I have been trying for some time to find a successful breeding using Frozen semen from an Asian elephant (not chilled) I did hear they have problems freezing it. It appears African elephant semen does not have the same problem. The enclosure at Taronga back then was sub standard, not that large all concrete yard that I can remember with a round steel swimming tub!

 

No, I don't have them confused. Have a google. He lives at Zoo Miami.