North American African Elephant Reproduction

With the transfer of 1.0 Ajani from the Birmingham Zoo to the Sedgwick County Zoo, that will enable the Sedgwick County Zoo to participate in the reproduction of African elephants in North America.

In addition, that will enable 1.0 Ajani, who is genetically valuable, to breed with 0.1 Simunye, 0.1 Zuberi, 0.1 Arusi, 0.1 Xolani, and 0.1 Talia, all of whom are genetically valuable as well as they were imported from Swaziland.

 

Willy from the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is infertile.

 

What elephants does Milwaukee have?

 

The Milwaukee County Zoo has 0.2 African elephants:
0.1 Ruth (Rip x Tanya) 1981-11-02
0.1 Brittanie 1981-00-00

With the construction of the new elephant habitat, I would believe that the Milwaukee County Zoo is hoping to acquire additional elephants to grow their herd. Where the Milwaukee County Zoo will acquire elephants from is still unknown.

 

I believe the new exhibit is going to be able to House a bull.

 

Yes but not right ways. They will let the 2 females get used to the new exhibit first

 

The last I heard from a zoo keeper and the director, yes Milwaukee will be able to House 5 elephants and a bull, for a total of 6 elephants. However they won’t be breeding elephants in milwaukee at this time because the new exhibit isn’t big enough. As for getting more elephants they aren’t sure where these new elephants are coming from, since no zoo has elephants to spare. So for the feasible future Brittany and Ruth will be the only residence in the new elephant exhibit.

 

I heard that the girls won't breed because 37 is a bit old for first time moms

 

That’s right, but they are also saying overall they aren’t planning to be a breeding zoo due to space and facilities. So if they get a younger female they won’t be breeder her. I say that with a huge *, that may change depending on the overall population of the North American Elephant population.

 

Willy from the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is actually sterile. For reasons unknown to his care team, his internal reproductive organs never matured past a juvenile stage, and he is unable to reproduce. I have spent the semester studying his interactions with his four female exhibit mates and comparing them to those of fertile bulls in the wild and in other zoological parks.

 

Was the last African elephant birth in the US at DAK in early 2017? Because it seems like its been a bad 2 years for the species. Hopefully Dallas, Sedgwick and Omaha can get their herds breeding. I also wish a new bull would be brought into SDZSP as well to get that herd breeding.

Also are any elephants pregnant besides the one at the Louisville Zoo?

 

I know Oakland zoo has no chance with the current females but is there any way they can restart a breeding herd at the zoo? They have a nice large exhibit which would be perfect for them.

 

Given Oakland's zoo focus on rescuing animals, I doubt they would sent their herd away and restart. Its sad because the exhibit is great their. I know Oakland wanted to upgrade its barn, but does anyone know if they ever completed that?

 

The last known birth of an African elephant in the US was the birth of 0.1 Stella (Maclean x Donna) on January 4, 2017 while the last known birth of an African elephant in North America was the birth of a male calf at Africam Safari on May 16, 2017.

I hope so too in so far that a proven breeding bull is acquired to breed with 0.1 Khosi and 0.1 Phakamile. 1.0 Mabhulane should continue to serve as the breeding bull to 0.1 Ndula, 0.1 Litsemba, 0.1 Umngani, and 0.1 Swazi as offspring have already been produced between these elephants and breeding these females to a different male would complicate family relations. Because 1.0 Msholo has yet to produce offspring despite being around fertile females, is he still fertile?

In addtion to 0.1 Mikki at the Louisville Zoo, who is expecting in the summer of 2019, 0.1 Ndula and 0.1 Umngani at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park are expecting as well. Both are due in 2018 with Ndula expecting in August or September while Umngani is expecting in October or November. Both conceived through 1.0 Mabhulane while he was on breeding loan from September 2016 to February 2018.

 

Could Gina and Asali possibly be transferred to the Oakland Zoo? I mean they've both conceived, and are somewhat young?

 

I would highly recommend 0.1 Asali be transferred to an institution that is actively participating in the reproduction of African elephants as she's produced offspring (to my knowlegde, she's had a calf who died in infancy and a miscarriage) and she's considerably valuable within the population.

However, I won't recommend breeding 0.1 Gina as she was past the prime breeding age when she produced her first offspring which ended in a miscarriage.

Unfortunately, I won't recommend 0.1 Asali and 0.1 Gina be transferred to the Oakland Zoo as their current bull 1.0 Osh has yet to prove himself as a breeding bull, he's descended from a represented family lineage in Europe, and he's inbred through his parents which share the same father.

 

I believe they have. Also on Oakland's "rescuing" motivation, it's starting to look like Oakland is trying to do some more captive breeding as Grey wolves, Jaguars, and Bison are planned to have breeding programs at the zoo. Hopefully this mentality comes to the other animals and more importantly, the elephants.

 

0.1 Ndula gave birth to a male calf named Umzula Zuli on August 12, 2018 at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
Safari Park Welcomes Baby Elephant 'Umzula-Zuli'

This is Ndula's third calf and Mabhulane's thirteenth calf but only their second calf together.

Even though I was hoping for a female calf so Ndula could have a daughter of her own, I'm glad the pregnancy and birth went smoothly.

Congratulations to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park for another successful birth and for contributing to the reproduction of African elephants in North America.

 

A female African Elephant was born last night at 11:20 pm, September 26, 2018, at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park to 28 year old Umngani and Mabhulane(who resides at the Reid Park Zoo). The Calf is 281 lbs. She is doing well and is bonding with her mother. She has been introduced to her 3 siblings and 2 of her half siblings. A female is very great for the population.

 

That`s great news for San Diego and Umngani! Especially since Umngani already has a daughter; this is the start of a true matriline. However, the park urgently needs a new bull to continue breeding with the adult females and to begin breeding for the 2 young females, Khosi and Kamile. They are already 11 and 12 years old, it`s high time that they start having their own kids.