Asian Elephants in Europe 2025

john said:
Yanadar born and raised at Cologne. maybe left too early.
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I agree, he left to Belgium shortly before his fourth birthday and then a year later was transferred across to Heidelberg at age five. That's around the age where bulls begin to really develop their social skills, and the lack of cow interaction he's had since he was young perhaps plays a part in his uncertainty now.
 
john said:
maybe, maybe, Sibu would be za good candidate for this try out.
proven, closeby without a breeding job, less paper work.

maybe some other relevant candidates?
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Sibu is going to Le Pal Zoo in France. Upali is supposed to be moving to Planckendael apparently to teach their bull Kanvar how to mate. After a few months, Kanvar will go elsewhere to breed.
Also, I’ve heard that the bull in Osnabruck, Ananda, is also struggling to mate and will potentially be moved out for a new bull to replace him.
It seems there are a few issues right now with young bulls not breeding.
 
Can they not simply try to show a video? Elephants are smart animals and that could probably work right? And it costs way less and doesn't require moving bulls back and forth.
 
EliasNys said:
Can they not simply try to show a video? Elephants are smart animals and that could probably work right? And it costs way less and doesn't require moving bulls back and forth.
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I don't think that, on waking up this morning, I expected that by the early evening I would come across someone suggesting "provide bull elephants with pornographic material" as a solution to breeding difficulties at a zoo :rolleyes::D:p
 
TeaLovingDave said:
I don't think that, on waking up this morning, I expected that by the early evening I would come across someone suggesting "provide bull elephants with pornographic material" as a solution to breeding difficulties at a zoo :rolleyes::D:p
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Me neither, but hasn't this been done with Giant pandas at China? So why shouldn't it work with elephants too?
 
remar said:
Me neither, but hasn't this been done with Giant pandas at China? So why shouldn't it work with elephants too?
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smell, touch, taste, organ of Jacobson, the wonderful diversity of elephant sounds.
all should be included.

besides that, the right moment, the circumstances. all counts. maybe.
and not anything is in this regard possible.
 
MennoPebesma said:
Sibu currently lives in Artis, not Amersfoort. He has already done his job in Artis. Today I saw a photo of a transport crate there, so Sibu will not be in Artis for much longer.
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Thanks for the correction. I was thinking the right facility and group of cows but wrong name. It is indeed Artis.
 
Seeing elephants are tactile, I would not think showing them a video would work very well.

Plus how would the young bull be able to watch the senior bull mate if the senior bull acts aggressively towards to the younger bull? It could be dangerous.

I believe that the attempt to impose artificial intervals with a calf every ten years may be the issue here, the bulls stay with their mothers less than that in captivity and go to the bachelor groups. It would make more sense to have the bulls stay with their maternal groups longer and shorten the intervals a bit, maybe to eight years? That way the bull can stay with the maternal group for ten years, witness breeding and experience at least one baby calf. It is by case-by-case situation of course.
 
MennoPebesma said:
30-year-old Asian elephant bull Upali is on his way from Le Pal to Zoo Planckendael. This winter, the outdoor enclosure at Le Pal will be completely redesigned, and the park will be ready to welcome a new elephant bull in March 2026.

Source: Facebook Le Pal
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I don’t think this has been mentioned but,
According to the website Petra Prager Nina (Le Pal Zoo) had a male calf in June this year that died (probably a stillborn). The father being Upali.
From videos I saw of Nina a few months prior to this she looked pregnant, so if this is true, it’s very sad…

Nina -> Petra Prager – elefanten-fotolexikon.eu
 
MennoPebesma said:
30-year-old Asian elephant bull Upali is on his way from Le Pal to Zoo Planckendael. This winter, the outdoor enclosure at Le Pal will be completely redesigned, and the park will be ready to welcome a new elephant bull in March 2026.

Source: Facebook Le Pal
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Upali arrived last Friday and has already been introduced to the four cows. The genes of the previous bull, Kanvar, are still very important to the EEP. That is why he will be moving to a zoo in Germany later this year, where he will once again take up the position of breeding bull.

Source: https://www.gva.be/binnenland/planc...-upali-is-al-veertien-keer-papa/98545460.html
 
Jambo said:
Kanvar's very very valuable so I suppose that's a good choice as it will give him at least two females to breed with initially, and we know Chester aren't afraid of getting as much calves as they can onto the ground asap.
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Chester would be an extremely poor destination for Kanvar. Of their two potential breeding cows (assuming Karishma is now a non breeder after her failed pregnancy a few years back), neither are *spectacularly* genetically valuable (although to be fair, neither of them are the worst genetic matches, either).

But the bigger issue, Chester is simply too much of a gamble. Their infant mortality there is, while improving significantly, still extremely high, and they’ve lost multiple adults in recent years as well. And of course, being in the United Kingdom with the whole Brexit situation, it makes the potential to send any offering back to mainland Europe, significantly more difficult.

Considering Kanvar is an unrepresented founder, it’s simply too much of a risk to send him to the UK, especially to a facility like Chester.

Of course it’s already been mentioned here he’s going to somewhere in Germany, and I’ve heard rumblings it’s specifically going to be Osnabruck, but we’ll find out soon enough!
 
Hyak_II said:
Chester would be an extremely poor destination for Kanvar. Of their two potential breeding cows (assuming Karishma is now a non breeder after her failed pregnancy a few years back), neither are *spectacularly* genetically valuable (although to be fair, neither of them are the worst genetic matches, either).

But the bigger issue, Chester is simply too much of a gamble. Their infant mortality there is, while improving significantly, still extremely high, and they’ve lost multiple adults in recent years as well. And of course, being in the United Kingdom with the whole Brexit situation, it makes the potential to send any offering back to mainland Europe, significantly more difficult.

Considering Kanvar is an unrepresented founder, it’s simply too much of a risk to send him to the UK, especially to a facility like Chester.

Of course it’s already been mentioned here he’s going to somewhere in Germany, and I’ve heard rumblings it’s specifically going to be Osnabruck, but we’ll find out soon enough!
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Fair points!

If we're talking about the best matches for Kanvar genetically, Osnabruck (if true) isn't necessarily the best situation for him too. Yes, Douanita is a wildborn founder, but she's approaching her 40's. The only other female there atm is her daughter, who's much younger, but comes from very well represented lines through her father (Timber).
 
Hyak_II said:
Of course it’s already been mentioned here he’s going to somewhere in Germany, and I’ve heard rumblings it’s specifically going to be Osnabruck, but we’ll find out soon enough!
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I have heard the same rumor. Due to Douanita's age (38) they are eager to produce a female calf to maintain the matriline. According to my information they have a breeding permit for both cows. Ananda Yinghtway arrived about two years ago and hasn't succeeded. Douanita isn't interested in the young bull as it seems, while Sita would, but nothing happens. So Kanvar might be the new one there, genetically certainly more interesting than Ananda. However... Kanvar is of the same age and hasn't succeeded at Planckendael - I would not bet too much money on him impressing Douanita more than Ananda did. Maybe a new location helps but it's certainly not the kind of move you would normally do for getting a safe breeding option.
 
Why not send on Upali? He could teach both young bulls the mating game. Dounita gets pregnant with hopefully a female calf. A win for everyone.
 
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