Australasian Asian Elephant Population 2021

Jambo said:
Maybe the hope is for Burma to fufill the role of matriarch once she arrives.
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I’d say that’s unlikely given Burma’s age and personality. She’s very sweet natured and rather than rule with a firm hand (or should that be trunk?), often cedes to the adolescent Anjalee.

Megawati is in her prime and firmly established as matriarch. I believe the elephants are currently reunited at night but even in her absence (i.e. long term seperation from the herd), Widya would likely step up to this role rather than Burma.

I can see Burma playing an aunty role to the younger two females. Burma is matriarch by default at Auckland Zoo and would probably relish a retirement where she didn’t have to think about making decisions for the herd etc. I have no doubt Australia Zoo was chosen for her with this in mind. :)
 
I really hope the zoo follows through on initial plans to import Sumatran bulls for breeding long term.

The Sumatran subspecies has a very unique appearance and it’d be great if we could run a purebred Sumatran breeding programme in our region.
 
Zoofan15 said:
I really hope the zoo follows through on initial plans to import Sumatran bulls for breeding long term.

The Sumatran subspecies has a very unique appearance and it’d be great if we could run a purebred Sumatran breeding programme in our region.
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Aren't the eldest two cows in there early 20s already? Unless they had already bred prior to their import, I'm starting to think those two may never breed which would really be a shame.
 
Animals R AMAZING! said:
Aren't the eldest two cows in there early 20s already? Unless they had already bred prior to their import, I'm starting to think those two may never breed which would really be a shame.
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Yes, Megawati and Widya are aged 22 and 20 years old respectively. I’m not aware of them having bred previously.

Personally I think it’s a great shame no effort was made to get them pregnant prior to export. Had they arrived in the early stages of pregnancy, there would have been ample time for them to settle in; and then there wouldn’t have been such an urgency to import the bulls for a few years as there is now.

Pregnancy hormones can affect behaviour, so this was presumably the main reason they didn’t want to do this. Combined with the stress of international transit, it could have negatively affected the keeper’s efforts to build a relationship with them; but in other non contact species (e.g. rhinos), to have founder cows arrive in calf has been a huge asset to the breeding programme
 
Animals R AMAZING! said:
I know, but having four breeding cows is much better for the population that having just two especially if Megawati and Widya are unrelated to the younger girls.
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I think it really wouldn’t matter otherwise. Having 2 females breeding is enough to sustain a growing herd into the future.

It’s quite lucky Christina and Raflessia are much younger, as it gives Australia Zoo more time to find a Bull. I believe they’ll probably have to end up merging with the regional population in the future, even if they import a Sumatran bull originally. I doubt this will happen though, as the region has already shown in the past that they aren’t interested in just specifying with different Asian subspecies.
 
Designing the Werribee Exhibit

I thought this study conducted as part of the design process of Werribee’s elephant complex might be of interest to some people.

https://www.joncoedesign.com/pub/PDFs/WORZ-Elephant-Facility-Benchmark-Report_ 2018.pdf

Introduction:

Werribee Open Range Zoo has a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create the world’s best zoo elephant display and management system. It has the expansive site, agreeable climate, motivated and capable staff and most of all the animal welfare mandate to achieve this goal while creating a world-class visitor experience and adding essential research findings benefiting elephant managers the world over.

This study profiles research findings from nine ground-breaking international zoo elephant facilities ranging from smaller, urban and intensively managed facilities such as those in Copenhagen and Dublin to expansive and more passively managed exhibits at Boras Djurpark in Sweden and the very green open range facility at North Carolina Zoo. It includes facilities displaying elephants with other species (Dallas Zoo, Boras Djurpark) and exhibits where elephants, rhinos and other species rotate (time share) in ever- moving circuits (Denver Zoo).

The nine comparative zoos were:

Denver Zoo
Oregon Zoo
Dallas Zoo
North Carolina Zoo
Los Angeles Zoo
Dublin Zoo
San Diego Zoo
Copenhagen Zoo
Boras Djurpark

The species rotation/time sharing concept is an interesting one, though Werribee currently have no plans to implement this.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Designing the Werribee Exhibit

I thought this study conducted as part of the design process of Werribee’s elephant complex might be of interest to some people.

https://www.joncoedesign.com/pub/PDFs/WORZ-Elephant-Facility-Benchmark-Report_ 2018.pdf

Introduction:

Werribee Open Range Zoo has a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create the world’s best zoo elephant display and management system. It has the expansive site, agreeable climate, motivated and capable staff and most of all the animal welfare mandate to achieve this goal while creating a world-class visitor experience and adding essential research findings benefiting elephant managers the world over.

This study profiles research findings from nine ground-breaking international zoo elephant facilities ranging from smaller, urban and intensively managed facilities such as those in Copenhagen and Dublin to expansive and more passively managed exhibits at Boras Djurpark in Sweden and the very green open range facility at North Carolina Zoo. It includes facilities displaying elephants with other species (Dallas Zoo, Boras Djurpark) and exhibits where elephants, rhinos and other species rotate (time share) in ever- moving circuits (Denver Zoo).

The nine comparative zoos were:

Denver Zoo
Oregon Zoo
Dallas Zoo
North Carolina Zoo
Los Angeles Zoo
Dublin Zoo
San Diego Zoo
Copenhagen Zoo
Boras Djurpark

The species rotation/time sharing concept is an interesting one, though Werribee currently have no plans to implement this.
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I believe a huge lake/swimming area is one of the ideas
 
It includes facilities displaying elephants with other species (Dallas Zoo, Boras Djurpark)

Since Werribee already has a breeding herd of Blackbuck could it be possible that the herd of Blackbuck be moved from the Safari section of the zoo to the elephant exhibit once construction is complete.
 
Mr.Ivory said:
It includes facilities displaying elephants with other species (Dallas Zoo, Boras Djurpark)

Since Werribee already has a breeding herd of Blackbuck could it be possible that the herd of Blackbuck be moved from the Safari section of the zoo to the elephant exhibit once construction is complete.
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Its possible but probably unlikely but lets see what happens. This new complex will bring Werribee to another level which is long overdue in fact if all goes well with all the current pregnant cows may put WPZ at the top of the tree as a breeding centre in this part of the world. When they move Perths bull across it will give them even more options on hand for breeding
 
Zorro said:
When they move Perths bull across it will give them even more options on hand for breeding
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Has it been confirmed that Putra Mas is going to Werribee? That would be wonderful if they could get Putra Mas breeding with all the girls and save Luk Chai for breeding Putra Mas' daughters. That being said, it's very likely at least one of Luk Chai's unborn calves is going to be female so Putra Mas would even be able to breed with those cows if he survives till they reach maturity.

Once Tricia passes away, if Putra Mas isn't heading to Werribee (which seems unlikely at this point) I would think they would send him to Taronga to breed with Pak Boon. That is unless Pak Boon and Tang Mo aren't already in Dubbo by then.

I feel like Melbourne made the wrong decision bringing in Luk Chai as their bull rather than Putra Mas since he is much more valuable to the population than Luk Chai is and much older. Putra Mas is not really needed as a breeding bull at the moment as all breeding cows (besides the Sumatran cows) in the region have a bull to breed with now.
 
Animals R AMAZING! said:
Has it been confirmed that Putra Mas is going to Werribee? That would be wonderful if they could get Putra Mas breeding with all the girls and save Luk Chai for breeding Putra Mas' daughters. That being said, it's very likely at least one of Luk Chai's unborn calves is going to be female so Putra Mas would even be able to breed with those cows if he survives till they reach maturity.

Once Tricia passes away, if Putra Mas isn't heading to Werribee (which seems unlikely at this point) I would think they would send him to Taronga to breed with Pak Boon. That is unless Pak Boon and Tang Mo aren't already in Dubbo by then.

I feel like Melbourne made the wrong decision bringing in Luk Chai as their bull rather than Putra Mas since he is much more valuable to the population than Luk Chai is and much older. Putra Mas is not really needed as a breeding bull at the moment as all breeding cows (besides the Sumatran cows) in the region have a bull to breed with now.
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As far as I am aware it appears to be the general consensus that Putra Mas will be moved across to Werribee zoo. I understand there will be ample space and bull yards to carry a few adult bulls which gives them more on site options to play with. With a purpose built complex having extra bulls on site should be a big plus. As far as Taronga is concerned I believe they would be best served to send all the elephants off site as Melbourne zoo is doing. Putting a new herd in a city zoo was a costly mistake and was never going to work out long term
 
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Animals R AMAZING! said:
Has it been confirmed that Putra Mas is going to Werribee? That would be wonderful if they could get Putra Mas breeding with all the girls and save Luk Chai for breeding Putra Mas' daughters. That being said, it's very likely at least one of Luk Chai's unborn calves is going to be female so Putra Mas would even be able to breed with those cows if he survives till they reach maturity.

Once Tricia passes away, if Putra Mas isn't heading to Werribee (which seems unlikely at this point) I would think they would send him to Taronga to breed with Pak Boon. That is unless Pak Boon and Tang Mo aren't already in Dubbo by then.

I feel like Melbourne made the wrong decision bringing in Luk Chai as their bull rather than Putra Mas since he is much more valuable to the population than Luk Chai is and much older. Putra Mas is not really needed as a breeding bull at the moment as all breeding cows (besides the Sumatran cows) in the region have a bull to breed with now.
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It’s quite likely Putra Mas will be heading to Werribee. There’s really no other option besides Australia Zoo, which is unlikely as I believe they were looking to import a Sumatran bull. Holding two bulls has been done in the past in some zoos around the world and has been incredibly successful, as it allows for the population to be sustained for around 30-40 years without needing any new imports.

I doubt Taronga would take Putra Mas. They have already moved Camels into the old bull enclosure and it seems that it’s a permanent move.

The cows at Taronga will probably end up at Dubbo, but their arrival will really be pushing their herd to capacity with 5 adult cows. Maybe the whole reason why they haven’t been moved from Taronga yet is because they’re gonna be moved to Werribee once the complex their opens. They’ll definitely have the space to accomodate 2 extra cows.

Melbourne wanted their females to breed naturally as soon as possible but Perth weren’t willing to give Putra Mas and Permai up until Tricia dies, which could still be another 5-10 years. Melbourne couldn’t afford to wait that long, and so Luk Chai was the only other option.
 
Mr.Ivory said:
It includes facilities displaying elephants with other species (Dallas Zoo, Boras Djurpark)

Since Werribee already has a breeding herd of Blackbuck could it be possible that the herd of Blackbuck be moved from the Safari section of the zoo to the elephant exhibit once construction is complete.
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I honestly doubt this will happen. I don’t think Werribee has any plans to create a mixed species enclosure with their elephants.
 
Zorro said:
As far as I am aware it appears to be the general consensus that Putra Mas will be moved across to Werribee zoo. I understand there will be ample space and bull yards to carry a few adult bulls which gives them more on site options to play with. With a purpose built complex having extra bulls on site should be a big plus. As far as Taronga is concerned I believe they would be best served to send all the elephants off site as Melbourne zoo is doing. Putting a new herd in a city zoo was a costly mistake and was never going to work out long term
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I agree that seems likely. Werribee is going to be the region’s breeding hub and Putra Mas would add a founder line to their herd - a valuable addition.

Long term, Luk Chai and Man Jai will need to be separated as Man Jai matures and they begin to clash. While bachelor herds can function into adulthood, the presence of cows on site would complicate this.

Dokoon’s line is on track to becoming well respresented in the region (with her and her daughter breeding), so it’s not hard to imagine Man Jai could be exported to the USA. He’s a male from Bong Su’s line; but so is Pathi Harn, who could instead take on the role of breeding bull in years to come.
 
Man Jai and Luk Chai live separately already, but have regular visits together; they’re not a permanent ‘bachelor herd’ at this point. And the other week I saw Luk Chai in with the cows. I get the impression the two bulls have quite a flexible social life at MZ.
 
marmolady said:
Man Jai and Luk Chai live separately already, but have regular visits together; they’re not a permanent ‘bachelor herd’ at this point. And the other week I saw Luk Chai in with the cows. I get the impression the two bulls have quite a flexible social life at MZ.
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That sounds similar to Luk Chai’s relationship with his younger brother, Sabai, who spent time with him but also lived apart (in his case with the female herd).

It’s good Luk Chai is able to mentor Man Jai and that the younger male will have the opportunity to observe natural breeding for the first time - something he never experienced while Bong Su was the breeding bull.
 
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