I think that the key to this is between Monarto and Australia Zoo. Monarto certainly has the room and the upcoming cash, as the giant pandas will suck tourists into seeing both the major zoos in Adelaide, to fund a large-scale elephant exhibit. But Australia Zoo must be worrying about what to do with their elephant situation. Young, breeding elephants must be a priority for both zoos, and with the Taronga and Melbourne herds doing well then Glyn is right when he states that there is an awful lot of potential to be had with elephants in Australia. If Monarto and Australia both brought in young Asians then that would solidify the breeding program, and even if Monarto brought in Africans then they at least have the room to house such massive species.
in the near future I would suspect the only reason why any zoos in the region import more Asian Elephants wont stem from a need to diversify the genes of the regional herd but rather to fill 'empty exhibits'-multi-million dollar exhibits left empty or half empty as older stock drop off the perch. with 8 un-related founders, plus Bong Su and the Perth pair this program shouldnt be in a rush to import new stock for fears of inbreeding. and the lengthy generation gap and long process of breeding itself means that, without imports, numerically the ASMP will probably dip down in numbers within the next 5-10 years before rising as first generation births occur. it will be a long time, I suspect, before zoos stop breeding elephants for fear of running out of space. even if, worst case scenario, the 7 Thai cows produce 6 bull calfs in the next five to 8 years, one of these could remain at Taronga, and the other 3, or however many could go to Western Plains Zoo where, by this stage, there probably wont be too many elephants left.
i agree glyn. and australia zoo are trying to import a fourth group too, which will definitely do the program even better for many years to come. its not the an immediate need for additional founders and spaces to hold those founders that turns me off an african import though. its the idea that if africans are brought in, the temptation will arise for them to be bred (indeed as a general rule i'm against importing animals simply for display, as it only encourages the waste of valuable genetic lineages) and tempts other zoos to keep them. since i want eventual closure of the perth, taronga and melbourne elephant exhibits. the last thing i want is the open range zoos filled up prior to that event with the african species...
I was talking to a Monarto Zoo keeper and they said (this was early 2007) that they hope to get 4 female African elephants and maybe get a male as well in a separate enclosure.
