Asian Elephants in Europe 2025

To clarify things:

farina, luna and sitara are pregnant or is it just farina and Luna?

luna is a result of two half siblings and sitara is not related to ta wan?

typing from phone so excuse grammar errors please.
 
To clarify things:

farina, luna and sitara are pregnant or is it just farina and Luna?

Farina has just given birth; Luna is pregnant; Sitara has not been reported to be pregnant.
To clarify things:

luna is a result of two half siblings and sitara is not related to ta wan?
Luna is not inbred; but if you meant her unborn calf, then yes, the sire is her paternal half-brother (Ta Wan).

Ta Wan is unrelated to Sitara.
 
Farina has just given birth; Luna is pregnant; Sitara has not been reported to be pregnant.

Luna is not inbred; but if you meant her unborn calf, then yes, the sire is her paternal half-brother (Ta Wan).

Ta Wan is unrelated to Sitara.

Thank you for the clarification. They have so many elephants so I had to sort it all out for a while.
 
Of course, as others have expressed, I am also somewhat skeptical of Ta Wan being the sire. Not only was he extremely young, but Ta Wan is much smaller than Farina overall, and he is specifically very short of leg as well. I honestly don't know how he would have managed to reach her to breed short of Farina squatting down on her knees, which would likely set her too low for successful penetration anyway. But the optics of an accidental half sibling breeding are far worse than that of an accidental breeding between Po Chin (who is unrelated) and Farina, so I see no reason why the park would lie about it.
I was thinking much the same as I've already mentioned on here - it makes little sense. Farina was far taller than Ta Wan at the time, so as you say, he wouldn't have been able to mate her unless she squatted or he mated her at a point where he had an elevation advantage (like in the pool?).

Best case scenario here is Pairi Daiza are jumping to conclusions and Po Chin has somehow mated Farina - through the fence line perhaps.

I know at the time Po Chin was kept with the herd a lot unless he was in musth, but I'm sure Pairi Daiza would know if Po Chin was in with the herd at the time of this calves conception.
 
The sire is most likely Po chin, I think they would have announced that Ta Wan would be the father, but considering Soraya is a pretty tall for her age I doubt she would let herself be mounted by him.
Agreed. Given that it was announced over a year in advance, it was likely planned. Whereas, Farina and Luna's pregnancies were announced earlier this week, and Farina obviously gave birth just days later.
 
I was thinking much the same as I've already mentioned on here - it makes little sense. Farina was far taller than Ta Wan at the time, so as you say, he wouldn't have been able to mate her unless she squatted or he mated her at a point where he had an elevation advantage (like in the pool?).

Best case scenario here is Pairi Daiza are jumping to conclusions and Po Chin has somehow mated Farina - through the fence line perhaps.

I know at the time Po Chin was kept with the herd a lot unless he was in musth, but I'm sure Pairi Daiza would know if Po Chin was in with the herd at the time of this calves conception.
It could be possible that Po chin mated with Farina, and maybe Luna, considering Soraya is also due later this year the time line matches up with Farina conceiving first, followed by her sister and daughter, it is also worth pointing out that a bull doesn't need to be be in musth to breed with a receptive female.
 
It could be possible that Po chin mated with Farina, and maybe Luna, considering Soraya is also due later this year the time line matches up with Farina conceiving first, followed by her sister and daughter, it is also worth pointing out that a bull doesn't need to be be in musth to breed with a receptive female.

I just feel this is just soap opera to create attention which is working! :) . The best thing is to draw blood and dna test. Charmundi is there also. I have no idea what they do with him though.
 
It could be possible that Po chin mated with Farina, and maybe Luna, considering Soraya is also due later this year the time line matches up with Farina conceiving first, followed by her sister and daughter, it is also worth pointing out that a bull doesn't need to be be in musth to breed with a receptive female.
Exactly - hence why I pointed it out. It's not unreasonable to assume he may have mated Farina at the time without anyone noticing. Cows can often cycle quite unexpectedly.
 
I was thinking much the same as I've already mentioned on here - it makes little sense. Farina was far taller than Ta Wan at the time, so as you say, he wouldn't have been able to mate her unless she squatted or he mated her at a point where he had an elevation advantage (like in the pool?).

Best case scenario here is Pairi Daiza are jumping to conclusions and Po Chin has somehow mated Farina - through the fence line perhaps.

I know at the time Po Chin was kept with the herd a lot unless he was in musth, but I'm sure Pairi Daiza would know if Po Chin was in with the herd at the time of this calves conception.

I saw Ta Wan with the herd in 2022. In that time he was already almost as high as Soraya and Farina. They were next to each other and ate from the feeding pyramid. These elephant cows are not big. It is totally possible he could mated with them.
 
I agree with Vimoto! I also saw Ta Wan with the family in autum 2022 and he was not that much smaller then Farina, who is a petite female! It is absolutely possible that he was able to mate with her a year later in 2023!
 
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Hagenbeck - Otto is currently fighting EEHV :(
Otto sadly passed away this morning despite intensive efforts. In anticipation of Rani and Savani's arrival, everything was done to minimise Otto's risk of herpes infection. Before their arrival, for instance, he was vaccinated with the new herpes vaccine from the Netherlands. And blood plasma was taken from his father in recent weeks and months, which was also used in Otto's treatment. But unfortunately, all the preventive and acute medical measures have unfortunately not worked.

Source: Facebook Tierpark Hellabrunn
 
Otto sadly passed away this morning despite intensive efforts. In anticipation of Rani and Savani's arrival, everything was done to minimise Otto's risk of herpes infection. Before their arrival, for instance, he was vaccinated with the new herpes vaccine from the Netherlands. And blood plasma was taken from his father in recent weeks and months, which was also used in Otto's treatment. But unfortunately, all the preventive and acute medical measures have unfortunately not worked.

Source: Facebook Tierpark Hellabrunn
Very sad news to hear - EEHV obviously can strike quite quickly and in most cases, there isn't much that can be done once it's progressing into the later stages.

It's good to hear that Hellabrunn took the initiative to be proactive prior to the new cows arrival, but it's obviously difficult to generate a good vaccination with all the different strains of the virus. Let's hope that efforts globally continue to progress and there's eventually an effective vaccination.
 
Very sad news to hear - EEHV obviously can strike quite quickly and in most cases, there isn't much that can be done once it's progressing into the later stages.

It's good to hear that Hellabrunn took the initiative to be proactive prior to the new cows arrival, but it's obviously difficult to generate a good vaccination with all the different strains of the virus. Let's hope that efforts globally continue to progress and there's eventually an effective vaccination.
sorry to hear the news about Otto.
very sad
 
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