Rajang-GOAT
Well-Known Member
Her name is Myrtle, though I don't remember where and when it was first announced.
Chester Zoo Chester Zoo discussion and questions 2025
- Thread starter Typhlonectes
- Start date
Myrtle.
AmazonianHippo
Well-Known Member
Well it is to come with the proposed India section! That said, is it just me or are Chester's elephants Sumatran...
Charles
Well-Known Member
According to ZTL they’re south East Asian (Indian) elephants currently but I think Karishma and Elizabeth are Asian elephants no subspecies specific
They're certainly not Sumatran.
They're all Indian Elephants mainly. Although Indali's part Sri Lankan via her maternal great grandmother (Ceyla at Zurich). So is Elizabeth via her paternal grandmother (Romani at Syracuse).
What proposed India section?
AmazonianHippo
Well-Known Member
Check Ed123’s post on page 12. That one.
My dear Zoochat fellows, how many times do we have to highlight and correct this adagium and take it with a little more salt than we currently do so matter-of-fact like!
Indeed and fair enough, Sri Lankan elephants have a peculiar history where Sri Lankan elephants seem actually distantly related to those from Myanmar ... (with known trade routes and introduction from there to Sri Lanka)! Further, the cut off point for Sri Lankan from mainland elephants is put at only 48,000 years ago - in evolutionary terms - quite young and very recent (where usually very little genetic divergence of bloodlines develops nor exists). So whereas Sri Lankan elephants are yet recognised as a separate subspecies..., the jury on the (accumulated) data are still out.... and even now some of our greatest taxonomists of our age(s)!
PERSONAL INTERJACTION NOTE: Unfortunately till quite recently biodiversity and taxonomy had taken a backseat to microbiology and genetics/DNA and not the age old study of natural history, evolution, speciation and taxonomics and cladistics ..., well here speaks personal frustration ..... and mindboggling incomprehension at this lack of concern and focus on biodiversity - TBH the loss of which is actually our Major All Over-Arching Crisis, not Economic Development nor Climate Change or Nitrogen Crisis locally ...I know)!!!
Safe to say, it would be advisable to perhaps maintain Sri Lankan and Indian subcontinent origin elephants separate ..., but that is actually running in front of current research and what conclusions may be taken away from the most recent genetics studies. However, a current study (2025, in progress on captive Asiatic elephants in European zoos) seems to confirm that there are 4 subspecies ... at the very least (yet, it is far from ad finitum).
Personally, I am inclined to consider that Indian / Sri Lankan elephants may actually be genetically from the same ESU given old as well as recent trade and traffic across and consequently may / might yet be re-arranged under the same subspecies cluster (however unlikely at this point ... this seems at present). Further (and consider this carefully): those straits between the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Sri Lanka are not as huge as in other parts of Continental Asia and island archipelago S.E Asia (Sumatera or Kalimantan from mainland or the other islands within the Indonesia archipelago).
The old subspecific taxonomy rationale has been fully revised quite a while back and thankfully has given us actually more with the penultimate recognition of both Sumateran and Kalimantan elephants as island subspecies connected/restricted to their respective islands.
Further to research on this aspect, there may in future also be consequences for the subspecific status of mainland S.E. Asian, IndoChina (previously recognised as their own subspecies ...) and PR China elephants with further genetic research.
Links:
IUCN current subspecific taxonomic status
A) IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Recent research on specifically Sri Lankan elephants (wild + captive)
B) Revisiting traditional SSR based methodologies available for elephant genetic studies | Scientific Reports
Current animal collection management / knowledge base
C) https://wildlifesos.org/introducing-the-subspecies-of-asian-elephants/
Research in progress on European captive elephants: study under review and unpublished
D) Genomics reveals distinct evolutionary lineages in Asian elephants
Destiny Raven-Silva
Member
Yes, theyre still shut.
Destiny Raven-Silva
Member
Penguins are getting netting installed over their enclosure today
Surprised this wasn't included when they redeveloped the enclosure a little while back
Lafone
Well-Known Member
Thanks, shall give some thought to how much I want to see the new area vs how sad I will be to miss out some of the amazing bird spaces!
If it helps, the birds in the Latin America aviary and (under the new layout) the Tsavo aviary have viewing from outside so are still visible even when the aviary is closed, albeit not as well as if you could enter. The Bali Temple has no proper viewing but you can see a few angles distantly, whereas the Sumatra aviary is not viewable at all. The indoor bird free-flights are open with footbaths so they're fine.
Lafone
Well-Known Member
Thanks, I do love the Bali and Sumatra aviaries but if I can see the other things (and have more time for them if shut I get a bit lost in those!) that's certainly worth keeping open as an option and I can always head back.
The control zones differ across the country, so the restrictions will vary on the back of those. There's some detail here but zoos treat the different spaces differently so good to ask specifically.
Bird flu (avian influenza): latest situation in England
Shortly after this happened I had been informed by a keeper that the original plan was to net it over and bring in Inca terns. This now seems more like a caution for bird flu though.
Plus it will stop the seagulls swooping in, would be nice to see Terns added though.
Jambi
Well-Known Member
This is the same thing Blackpool Zoo has done with their penguin enclosure. Inca terns are a lovely little bird, and it would be nice if Chester ever got them.