Thanks for the info! Given that Aziza comes from London, I guess she`s living together with Mya, while Kaylee could be together with Lucha, who has been with her in Whipsnade since many years. It`s sad that the 2 mothers don`t come along with each other and that the calves can`t be together, but unfortunately it`s a common problem that introducing adult female elephants doesn`t work out in long term.
Yassa- actually I have a feeling the keepers told me it was not what you'd expect- each 'pair' of friends was actually one ex London and one Whipsnade female. I'm not sure on this though.... I do know that the Tywcross female was with the Aziza 'group' though.. Maybe someone else can confirm the above?
I thought it was differnt azizah , euan , new born , kaylee , leelee mya , Karishma and lucha rotate once at a time with the adult and babie groups but now with the new born it could be all change - whipsnade are hoping to breed from karishma and lucha soon
okay, you're saying they rotate them more than I thought. I have NEVER seen them in the indoor area though since they've been breeding, so I don't know in what combinations they are kept then. On my last visit Karishma was in the Aziza 'group' while I didn't see the female calf at all as Kaylee and her companion female were in a paddock which is virtually out of sight for the public- it is in a field behind the bull's sand paddock, and screened by a hedge and trees.... How are they going to get Lucha to breed? Does that mean they think Mya is a non-breeder?
Mya should be too old for a first calf now and isn`t Lucha still carrying the body of her calf who died in utero in 2002? Then I can`t see how she could get pregnant again. But maybe she expelled the fetus, then a new pregnancy should be possible.
I am sure they tried, but I have no idea if they were sucessful. I hope one of our members here knows more! Same for the social problems between the female elephants - seems to be pretty complicated.
I knew nothing about Lucha still being 'pregnant'- the calf must be mummified or -as said above- she would have died years ago? It doesn't sound like she is a good prospect for breeding in this condition.. What SHOULD happen is these two non-breeding females be exchanged for the four still at Twycross, so Twycross just exhibits non-breeders (I wish) but I accept that they have bonds with the other females at Whipsnade so they will probably never leave...
I hadn't seen it reported until it was posted on youtube, but Whipsnade have had a White Rhino calf born last month...