Also not to beat a dead horse at this point, but one (or even two) generations of inbreeding doesn't really seem to affect elephants. Is it ideal? No. But is it the worst in the world? Also no. Case in point is at Ramat Gan, with both their African and Asian elephants. They have produced animals who are by all accounts quite inbred (two half siblings bred together to produce a female calf, that female then bred back to her father to produce 3 male calves), plus many mother/son breedings with the Africans, and father to daughter breedings with their Asians. Of these inbred animals, the vast majority of them have survived into adulthood and live normal, healthy lives. Some of them are even breeding and producing healthy calves now at other facilities. The oldest ones are in their 20's and 30's now, and show no signs or slowing down or showing any other "defects" associated with inbreeding.
I'm sorry but what on earth are you talking about? Are you really as cruel as to describe Hari's death as a blessing? No matter if he was inbred or not, no sane person would describe his death as a blessing. Would you be saying the same if a human was a result of incest and then died? I understand that it isn't good for the breeding programme but surely you don't think that a zoo like Chester wouldn't know that and do something about it. If a captive animal was killed because they were inbred would you be saying the same thing because all animals deserve a chance at life and surely it would be easy enough to keep them in non breeding groups where they can have a good quality of life even if they might have health issues. As long as a captive animal isn't suffering then it shouldn't die. I'm sorry if I sound rude here but I feel like I needed to say something. You may not have meant it in that way but if you did I'd recommend having a think about why you're on zoochat.
Yes, but there are many things Chester can do to prevent the scenario your proposing from happening. An accident will be very unlikely if not, impossible, if Chester does the right things to ensure Aung Bo doesn't have access to Indali when she is cycling, which still might not be for another few years. The things you said before are extremely offensive and disrespectful. The fact that you pointed out that animals with physical or mental disabilities are better off dead than alive, is absolutely not right. You ARE slandering Chester Zoo if your saying that it was a blessing that Hari died. Think of the keepers, who loved and cared for him, and even the general public who did so too. How would they feel reading your comments?
Going back to the title of this thread, does anyone know if Sundara is due to give birth anytime soon, or if she is even pregnant?
Sundara only gave birth to Riva 20 months ago, so she wouldn’t be heavily pregnant. It’s possible she may be pregnant again, although the zoo could be looking to consolidate the success they’ve had in that Sundara has two healthy female calves - one of which isn’t yet weaned and soon approaching the high risk period for EEHV.
What an absolutely vile thing to say. We were told at an event at Chester that they knew at the time that Upali was Sundara's father, although it wasn't widely known then, and the decision was made after due consideration that the risk to Sundara long-term by preventing her from getting pregnant was considered to be greater than the risk of her breeding with Upali. How do we know that some element of inbreeding doesn't happen in wild populations? Yes there are risks but so long as it isn't a regular occurrence then the risk is not high. Maybe all humans should get genetic testing before being allowed to breed because there's plenty of inbreeding in humans due to people incorrectly believing who their father is.
That's just nasty to say think of what his keepers and Sundara felt after the death of Heri, after his death Sundara isolated her self from the rest of the herd but once she had Indali she became much more to be frank happier. But on the subject of inbreeding in elephants most elephants that are inbred live quite fulfilling lives with them breeding and having calves themselves this year a female named Christina gave birth to healthy male calf named Neco, her father was also her grandfather who mated with his daughter. Ramat Gan is another facility well known for inbreeding their elephants but a just majority are still alive today which shows that inbreeding doesn't really affect elephants
Just a note on inbreeding, there’s several references to its occurrence in the wild. Like with many species, extensive inbreeding can lead to health problems - but one generation of inbreeding would not be considered extensive. Also, the offspring of an inbred animal mated with an unrelated animal are not by definition inbred.
