North American Asian Elephant Population 2023

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John Marchwick said:
I thought elephants don’t start cycling until they’re 8? Isn’t Joy only 5 years old still? And wouldn’t Baylor and Duncan be better off in a bachelor herd?
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Nope. There are numerous examples of captive females giving birth as young as 6 years old (meaning they had started cycling by age 4). So Joy and maybe even Tilly should be cycling by now.

As for potential moves, last I heard one of their young bulls was to be transferred out but that was delayed and may or may not happen now. Also based off of previous birthing intervals, I’m inclined to say Shanti is due sometime this year but I’m not so sure anymore considering the whole space situation.
 
John Marchwick said:
I thought elephants don’t start cycling until they’re 8? Isn’t Joy only 5 years old still? And wouldn’t Baylor and Duncan be better off in a bachelor herd?
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Females can start cycling as early as three in some cases; so there's a possibility, but it depends on the individual.

Baylor and Duncan are still rather valuable, and as @IndianRhino mentioned there was a transfer for one of them that was delayed. I'd imagine Houston would want all the space possible for when Nelson and Teddy reach dispersal age.
IndianRhino said:
Also based off of previous birthing intervals, I’m inclined to say Shanti is due sometime this year but I’m not so sure anymore considering the whole space situation.
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Since they're now approaching capacity, it's likely Houston are now breeding their girls at slightly longer intervals. If Shanti is indeed being bred now, she'll have a four, approaching five year age gap which is still natural, but slightly more than the usual.
 
Jambo said:
Since they're now approaching capacity, it's likely Houston are now breeding their girls at slightly longer intervals. If Shanti is indeed being bred now, she'll have a four, approaching five year age gap which is still natural, but slightly more than the usual.
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Once again, North America is not Australia, there is no need to limit reproduction due to space concerns here. Between the many 40+ year old wild caught's that are all gradually passing away due to age or poor health, and herpes and mismanagement of breeding animals causing a demographic crisis in the younger age brackets, there is a constant need for more animals. Even when Houston enviably runs out of space, there are any number of facilities who will be waiting in the wings to snap up their surplus. And putting that aside, Thai is a still reasonably genetically valuable breeding bull, and he's also very old. Houston would logically want to keep calves coming from him as much as possible while they're still able to.
 
 
 
Absolutely fantastic news! So wonderful to have another young first time mom! Hopefully all goes well this little guy! Will be wonderful to see Brazos and him interacting with one another.

I was expecting another birth from Fort Worth sometime this year but not this early!
 
Delightful news! With another breeding cow fully on line, Fort Worth’s Elephant program is looking very promising going into the future indeed. The fact these two boys are fairly genetically valuable isn’t terrible either. Fingers crossed now the next round of calves for them will be girls ;)
 
Awesome! Definitely a valuable calf, especially since he's Pete and Alana's only grandchild and only Groucho and Rasha's second (After Brazos). Fort Worth is easily becoming one of the country's more impressive facilities.
 
Jake From State Farm said:
Awesome! Definitely a valuable calf, especially since he's Pete and Alana's only grandchild and only Groucho and Rasha's second (After Brazos). Fort Worth is easily becoming one of the country's more impressive facilities.
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He is certainly a relatively valuable calf but he is not Pete/Alana’s only grandchild or Groucho/Rasha’s second.

Brazos was also sired by Romeo, plus Romeo has two daughters and a granddaughter at White Oak. Alana also has another son Doc at Syracuse who has three living sons himself.

Groucho and Rasha also have a 9 year old grandson Bowie at OKC.
 
IndianRhino said:
He is certainly a relatively valuable calf but he is not Pete/Alana’s only grandchild or Groucho/Rasha’s second.

Brazos was also sired by Romeo, plus Romeo has two daughters and a granddaughter at White Oak. Alana also has another son Doc at Syracuse who has three living sons himself.

Groucho and Rasha also have a 9 year old grandson Bowie at OKC.
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My bad there, I've been working on a family tree and totally had a lapse and overlooked the others, the excitement got to me there. I'll be sure to looks things over more thoroughly before I post. Thanks for the reminder.
 
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I don’t think this was ever mentioned but Bowie has begun to be introduced to the other elephants at the Oklahoma City Zoo. Bowie initially lived at the Fort Worth Zoo and I kind of wonder looking back if Fort Worth moved Bowie to make room for Belles new calf? Maybe it was just the timing but I won’t speculate further than that on this thread.
 
There’s a number of factors that went into his transfer, but I will say Bowie wasn’t originally slated to go to OKC.

However Oklahoma seemed keen to acquire another young bull, and Bowie fit the bill. He’s healthy, totally independent of his mother, and had no viable breeding options at Ft Worth. He’s also of an age and nature that he will likely also be an excellent sparring and social partner for Kandula, who is also a fairly social, outgoing younger bull.

While Ft Worth absolutely has the facilities to accommodate 3 bulls in addition to the breeding herd, I have no doubt they were happy to offload Bowie as well. He is now in a more socially dynamic environment (which is good for him), and Fort Worth has one less expensive mouth to feed, and more flexibility in their housing arrangements for their remaining animals.
 
Yazziel said:
San Antonio Zoo last remaining elephant Nicole will be going to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.

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Something I did find interesting regarding Nicole’s departure was this statement made by the San Antonio Zoo.

“ "Elephants WILL return to San Antonio Zoo in the future as part of the zoo's expansion with a new world-class elephant habitat," said Morrow. "We are currently in the largest growth period our 108-year-old zoo has ever seen, and elephants are a big part of our future plan. An inspiring new entrance will be opened later this year, with the largest gorilla habitat in the U.S. coming shortly after. Inspiring our community through education and conservation will continue to be our focus as we look to the next 100 years of securing a future for wildlife and wild places in Texas and worldwide."

Planning is underway to join the current elephant and giraffe habitats, allowing the zoo to add more giraffes and other species to an expanded savanna. Until that construction begins, five Bactrian Camels will move into that space shortly after Nicole's departure.”

So it sounds like San Antonio will be bringing back elephants which I’m glad about however I’d feel more confident that they will in that regard once they actually start building the exhibit.
 
Yazziel said:
San Antonio Zoo last remaining elephant Nicole will be going to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.

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Probably just as much a PR move as it is a welfare move - though I am optimistic as far as how they will design a world-class elephant complex within the expansion area. Either way, the zoo's acting in Nicole's best interests and hopefully she receives the best company and care possible.
 
John Marchwick said:
So it sounds like San Antonio will be bringing back elephants which I’m glad about however I’d feel more confident that they will in that regard once they actually start building the exhibit.
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I have no doubts that San Antonio wants to bring back elephants, however I do have doubts that it'd be possible for them to acquire elephants, unless there are significant changes to the population trajectories.
 
A bachelor group would be possible (and is very very attractive for the visitors, much more so then a Group of old females).
 
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