North American Asian Elephant Population 2025

Mature, not sexually mature. He is already sexually mature - hence his son.
In the natural order of things in the natural range states an 11 year old - correction 9-year old is not a territory holding and sexually active and reproducing bull... By all natural orders, your Bowie would never be accepted by the mature cows 12-15 to 35-40 age range as he is a pubescent adolescent and even the mature bulls would give him the run around ... (bulls get pissed off by younger bulls not half their age and maturity getting in their way ...).
 
In the natural order of things in the natural range states an 11 year old - correction 9-year old is not a territory holding and sexually active and reproducing bull... By all natural orders, your Bowie would never be accepted by the mature cows 12-15 to 35-40 age range as he is a pubescent adolescent and even the mature bulls would give him the run around ... (bulls get pissed off by younger bulls not half their age and maturity getting in their way ...).
True - but it is not a correct term to call Bowie not yet 'sexually mature'. When in fact he is.

A better way to put it would be to say whilst he is sexually mature, he isn't yet at 'prime reproductive capacity', which is usually achieved by bulls once they reach full maturity in their 20's.
 
Although Kandula has seen countless breeding of his past 10 years at OKC, I feel the reason he hasn't directly bred any of the cows there is cause he hasn't witnessed any natural mating behavior when during calf hood at smithsonian
 
True - but it is not a correct term to call Bowie not yet 'sexually mature'. When in fact he is.

A better way to put it would be to say whilst he is sexually mature, he isn't yet at 'prime reproductive capacity', which is usually achieved by bulls once they reach full maturity in their 20's.
Yes, ... just I would say that age is only reached at ... say around 28-35 years of age. So, Mr. Bowie ... even though he precociously sired a calf ..., is not by a long shot a bull that would do so in the wilds...
 
It's probably a misguided management decision.
I would not term it that ... by a long shot and it is nigh on disrespectful towards zoo keeping staff and the curatorial management up to directorships.

Looking a bit at Kandula's story it very much seems things are kind of very complex and I really know too little about the local politics nor AZA involvement/force to make any kind of formal judgement ..., nor should anyone else. I honestly do think OKC Zoo is doing a good job at breeding Asiatic elephants ...
 
Yes, ... just I would say that age is only reached at ... say around 28-35 years of age. So, Mr. Bowie ... even though he precociously sired a calf ..., is not by a long shot a bull that would do so in the wilds...
I think every bull both in the wild and captivity is different with the initial age they inseminate cows akin to every human is different with the first age they get a boyfriend or girlfriend. I think it all depends on their their fonfidence level based on the amount of guidance bulls have been taught.
 
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If so, ... why is he still maintained at OKC with a breeding herd?
It's likely a combination of factors.
There aren't really any breeding facilities that really need a new bull at the moment outside of what is currently planned, and Kandula's genetic value is really up in the air depending on how you look at it.
He is also a companion to Bowie who, at 10 years old, absolutely needs the company and mentorship of another bull. He and Kandula enjoy each others' company and are very well integrated, even being able to share a yard with the cow group.
 
It's likely a combination of factors.
There aren't really any breeding facilities that really need a new bull at the moment outside of what is currently planned, and Kandula's genetic value is really up in the air depending on how you look at it.
He is also a companion to Bowie who, at 10 years old, absolutely needs the company and mentorship of another bull. He and Kandula enjoy each others' company and are very well integrated, even being able to share a yard with the cow group.
So it's definitely no biggie if Kandula doesn't breed cows there. But as it has been said here, the number of much more competent breeding bulls in US zoo Asian population seemingly outnumber the Africans. Thus there is no big push w bull transfers and swaps eith the former.
 
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Kandula and Bowie are actually related through Calvin. It is likely one of them will be moved out at some point. OKC may wish to keep one bull over another.
The bull in question who would be moved soon would be Kandula as he's a behavioral non breeder.
 
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