The issue there is that both of those bulls live, like Musi, almost on complete opposite sides of the country. Moving either bull there long-term would be hard to justify, let alone temporarily. It could be done but I'm not holding my breath unfortunately.
Perhaps Samson could handle that as he lives a state away in Baltimore. But the issue is he did not witness natural breeding growing up. I still think overhauling the facility at Pittsburgh is an immediate necessity regardless of what bull scenario happens in order to follow modern zoo guidelines.
Anyone feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken, but I believe that when Pittsburgh imported their most recent wildborn females they were sent to ICC due to space and compatibility issues that could've arisen with the other cows at the main zoo. Breeding efforts were "moved" there with Jack but ultimately haven't had much success, and obviously moving him back to the zoo at this point makes little sense due to his daughters being the only reproductive individuals.
Them not being AZA at the times has nothing to do with no breeding at the zoo. There’s a lot of other issues going on. But they have a plan to fix it in the hopefully not too distant future.
I was just thinking that if an outdoor expansion is not in the cards, then all the viable cows could get moved to ICC then the zoo itself could house a bachelor herd like San Diego does. Pittsburgh ditching elephants is unthinkable atp with their rich history of housing and breeding them.
The current zoo exhibit is not really fit for bachelors either. They likely have some kind of expansion planned down the line regardless of how they opt to hold elephants in the future.
I guess they're right now either unsure of what plans they have to house elephants moving forward now that they just regained AZA status or they do have an expansion plan that's kept secret until some future time. I'm sure they're still very commited to housing them.
I pictured them expanding the elephant space into the former giraffe/zebra yard, then build a completely giraffe barn and yard from scratch somewhere else in the africa area. But I could be wrong. If the plan is for antelope to cohabitate the giraffe and zebra, another option would be to build a fresh new elephant yard around where the nyala currently live.
According to images of the new giraffe barn, it will be on the other side of the visitor path from the elephant facilities. And the pdf has no implication of PPG phasing them out as it looks to keep the current yard and barn. But maybe they could build another yard by where the cheetah amur leopards and even the rhinos are.
The same applies to the now defunct hogle and Tyler exhibits. But I dont think these 3 facilities were built brand new from the ground up. That explains more on how antiquated and unnatralistic they quickly turned out.
I can guarantee that all of the facilities you mentioned won't be looking for another bull anytime soon.
I just think oregon fort worth abq and rosamond etc. should do bull swaps soon, st louis already has one planned, ans smithsonian should bring in a younger bull to breed the Rotterdam pair in case spike has not impregnated them.
Oregon and Syracuse, as of a few years ago, do have plans to change bulls. ABQ has no reason to if Albert is capable of breeding and exhibiting the appropriate behaviors. Same with Fort Worth. Romeo has sired two calves there, it makes little sense to move him.
Curious to hear your reasoning on these facilities? Almost every single one has stated plans to bring in a new bull, has a perfectly functional bull on site or has no breeding program..
I just explained one reason on a few of them. But also many of the asian breeding facilities are capable of housing 2 or more adult bulls or even bachelors alongside breeding herd pretty much they have 3 or more outdoor holding pens meaning multiple spaces for bulls to hang independently. Most African breeding facilities on the other hand can only hold 1 mature bull as they only have 2 outdoor enclosures ( e.g. Dallas, Reid Park, Fresno, Sedgwick) meaning only 1 space for a bulls to hang alone. And finally, I just think Billy and bodhi have lived in Denver for too long now.