I agree with MeiLover and mentioned something in the polar bear thread. Did a docent or keeper happen to tell you this? I just would find it absurd of the zoo to get a new female to mate and give up when she only had one mating season, and was in getting out of quarantine for some of it. As I mentioned before, she was exhibited with Aussie too late in the season for mating to occur. I know she has been indifferent to him, but perhaps when mating season comes this time around, she'll be more receptacle to him. Also, it would have to be discussed with the Buffalo Zoo as they own her.
I think tryingto mate Anana with Aussie would be a last resort because his genes are well represented throught North America (Indianapolis, Quebec, and many other places). I still think giving up on Hudson and Anana would be premature since she has been they for less than a yearand both bears are still very young unlike Aussie who is in his mid 20's. Also where did you here about the bonobos? I would find it shocking for the zoo to aquire them and keep the off exhibit with the earliest an exhibit could be made for them is in 2016. And the zoo already has enough issues with the lawsuit and the new children's zoo so aquiring them would seem quite strange unless they are holind them for another zoo (Milwaukee or Memphis).
TropicWorld54, I get what you are saying about Anana and Aussie being bred. But, Aussie and Arki's genes are not really well represented in many places. Originally they had 5 cubs located throughout North America: Marty in Toledo, Tiguak in Quebec, Kinapak in Buffalo, Payton in Memphis, and Hudson who of course is still in Brookfield. Tiguak and Kinapak passed away and never produced offspring. I also wanted to add that Hudson is almost 7, Anana is almost 13, and Aussie is 28. If you want to learn more, here is the link to some information on polar bears in America: Zoos in den USA | Eisbären im Zoo - Polar Bears in Zoos
IIRC, the story withe Polar Bears is that the Buffalo Zoo was willing to allow Brookfield to attempt to mate Anana but wasn't very optimistic. The attempts to mate her with Hudson failed and I can't recall what/if anything happened with Aussie. I believe he was a Keeper. He was inside the building for Great Bear Wilderness and very friendly, but he didn't seem very academic. I do believe it was said that Buffalo was the zoo that had asked Brookfield to hold her for them, rather than Brookfield acquiring her for their own interests - they're more interested in buying their own female. I also asked if they would consider acquiring a female and breeding their brown bears and he said they weren't allowed to. A staff worker at the Information Center, although this was around 2009 or so and the situation could be different now. I might inquire about it again next time I visit because seeing how empty Tropic World is now in my previous visit made me curious again.
A few updates from my last visit. -I was told the old bear grottoes and baboon island will be demolished at the same time. -Anana the polar bear has been off exhibit on my last few visits. So, I asked a zoo employee about where she has been, and he said she was behind the scenes while they determine if she's pregant from Aussie. -The zoo is currently doing construcition to the indoor rhino area. The pachyderm house has taken down the "future" elephant plan signs and replaced them with new rhino signs. One sign says "pardon our dust, future breeding facility" and the second sign goes into more detail and says "Continuing the tradition, Pachyderm House will be transformed into a dedicated black rhino breeding facility. The renovation will allow us to add more of these critically endangered animals to our breeding program."
Oh okay. I guess we will see. From what I've heard from an inside source is the two zoos have an agreement that Anana is to stay at Brookfield for three years. Perhaps they'll get another female, if they can find one, and exhibit her with one of the males, Then, Anana will rotate with the other male or by herself until the Buffalo Zoo completes their exhibit.
The zoo has put up a fence blocking access to the old bear grottoes and childrens zoo. Construction on the new exhibit should be starting soon.
It has been mentioned in the last Annual Report that Nakili and Layla will be a future breeding pair. This reads like the Pachyderm House will have more rhinos in residence. Possibly either a second female or even another pair. This goes back to the erstwhile numbers in the house ... (5-6 at capacity).
