Nile Hippo Expert
Well-Known Member
I hope it is a healthy girl calf!
North American African Elephant Population 2024
- Thread starter E Maximus
- Start date
Nile Hippo Expert
Well-Known Member
I also noticed this, it's looking real good!
Frankie_number_1_fan
Well-Known Member
Three calves within the span of a month is just incredible! Its so wonderful seeing the NA population grow like this.
Nile Hippo Expert
Well-Known Member
Frankie_number_1_fan
Well-Known Member
Do you have a source from the other threads? I Haven't seen anything posted about this anywhere as of yet, but I am very surprised about this move!
I guess intros to the girls didn't go as planned, which is such a shame given that it looked like he was settling in nicely...
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I’m assuming his arrival will be announced very soon; it’s usually up to the PR team.
The Safari Park has a lot of valuable girls who should be being prioritised breeding wise at the moment due to their ages. Continuing on trying with Vusmusi if it wasn’t working would’ve been pointless, and obviously waiting around for a better outcome wouldn’t be in the best interests of the girls. Fingers crossed a new bull is on the way to the Safari Park asap.
Will Callee make his way to San Diego next?
There’s a lot of valuable bulls that would be suitable for San Diego’s girls, but then again I think they might be at the point where a proven bull may be required. And in that case we have very few at the moment (at least who could be transferred).
Callee is one of those options. He’s done his job at Sedgwick thus far; so is a fair chance imo.
Aside from Callee, there’s really only two proven bulls who could be considered candidates.
The first is Tendaji at Dallas. He recently became a father for the first time, and Dallas only has one breeding female at the moment. Tendaji’s a valuable wild born male so I’d consider him the strongest candidate imo.
The second is Maclean at DAK. I find him moving more unlikely considering his age and recent breeding success there. There’s no reason why he should be transferred out, but if the Safari Park are in need of a proven bull - he’d be the way to go.
What about one of the younger bulls that DAK has? (Or even AI from a bull like Louie)
Nile Hippo Expert
Well-Known Member
This whole conversation really belongs in the discussion thread.
Potentially although it's likely the Safari Park will be looking for a proven bull, which neither of DAK's younger bulls are (as far as we know). In saying that, it is possible one of the two could be the sire of Luna's unborn calf.
There are photos of Musi down at Elephant Odyssey posted with today's date on the SDZ photographer Facebook group. They’ll most likely post about it on their social media soon
Nile Hippo Expert
Well-Known Member
Personally I think Callee should take a break from breeding for a few years because of the fact that he has recently had nine calves and the SSP does not want Callee siring every elephant calf or else we'll be stuck with a bunch of elephants who are related and thus can't breed each other.
Other than Tendaji and Maclean, what other proven bulls are there? (Of course Callee if the goal was calves on the ground, but then again there'd be the issue of half sisters and brothers.)
That's very true but when there are limited options and calves are needed asap, Callee may be required (at least for now).
He's only the known sire of five calves thus far, plus the Sedgewick pregnancies (which may not all be by him). He's not as overrepresented as you may think.
There is Bulwagi at Birmingham, but considering his age and the fact that he hasn't sired a calf in almost two decades, I ruled him out. Of course there's still a chance he could be considered; especially being a very valuable bull. None of his offspring have conceived thus far.
There's also Sdudla at Lowry Park. He hasn't sired a calf in more than a decade. Not sure why as Lowry Park have apparently been trying to breed him with their cows for a while now.
Neither are really strong candidates imo.
Frankie_number_1_fan
Well-Known Member
Toledo has just announced that they have added additional names to the naming contest!
The four additional options are Arlo, Addo, Kirk and Tripp.