I'm not entirely sure if there is a thread for this already, but I'm genuinely curious - when Burma inevitably departs Auckland Zoo, are there any potential opportunities for *a* New Zealand zoo to house elephants? I believe I've heard rumblings about Orana Wildlife Park potentially being able to take them on given the amount of space they have - what are your guys' thoughts?
We have this thread, but it’s more specific to Auckland Zoo than the future of elephants in New Zealand; so there’s no harm in starting a new thread: Auckland Elephants to leave [Auckland Zoo] Unfortunately, I’m of the belief New Zealand zoos will never house elephants again: Wellington Zoo phased them out in 1985 due to space. Hamilton Zoo potentially have the space, but lack the resources/funding to exhibit them. Orana Wildlife Park have the space, but lack the funding. From Orana’s website: Orana Wildlife Park is the only major zoo in New Zealand that is not owned and operated by local government. Therefore, its operational costs are not highly subsidised by the rate-payer and all capital developments are separately fundraised for from outside sources. It’s a shame as elephants would surely thrive at Orana. Due to logistical considerations, I imagine they’d hold bachelor Asian bulls - likely on a one way trip from Australia. Man Jai (2013) and Sabai (2016) would be the two obvious candidates at this point in time as neither are likely to be needed within the breeding programme.
It would be cool for Orana Wildlife Park to house a herd of African Elephants as it would fit their mostly african variety, but because of their heavier size and they required amount of funds & equipment required to internationally transport them safely the chances of it ever happening is close to 0. (unless the city council gave them an extra huge grant, but that's not likely either)
Orana isn’t government funded like the other main zoos, so sadly government/council funding is a non starter. Their best hope is for a benefactor to make a generous donation, but even then it would have to cover the long term upkeep of elephants to account for the fact they can live decades and the initial start up costs would be just a fraction of that. Though African elephants are a better fit, Werribee are exhibiting Asian elephants as ambassadors for their African counterparts, so I imagine Orana would (hypothetically) do the same. A bull facility would best serve the needs of the region - as well as being the simplest logistically (a one off import of young bulls versus a breeding herd requiring the imports every generation).
