Writhedhornbill
Well-Known Member
Ashley-h, Donaldson is probably the best elephant name I've ever heard!
Woburn Safari Park Woburn !
- Thread starter cottoni
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dragon(ele)nerd
Well-Known Member
Sorry but i have to disagree with you on this Writhedhornbill, I think traditional names are much better,
That was probably the bull? There is another paddock out of view where two females go in the daytime. As I mentioned above, the two 'alpha' females can't be kept together. So you won't see more than three of the(five) females together and two will normally be out of sight. They do seem to vary the combinations of females and I guess they think changing companions stimulates interest and gives enrichment as all the elephants are still within smell, earshot of each other, whichever 'subgroup' they are put in.
Johnstonii- we presume Karishma gets to walk in the grounds- on my two visits since she came she didn't leave the paddock though. She is the easiest to distinguish, being slightly smaller with a short body and rounded back.
Writhedhornbill
Well-Known Member
I do love names like sundara, Thi hi Way and tunga, and they are so much more appropriate, but I just adore the name donaldson!
I do think it's a cute name for a baby elephant, but when he grows up, and is about 10 feet tall it might look like a bit of a stupid name... I still really like it though!
And it wasn't the bull that was seprated, as he was in the bull pen and the lone female was in a hotwired area of the main field. Also, one of the females in the main field kept seperating herself from the others and approaching, and interacting with the seperated female. It's confusing!
And I don't think they walk Karishma because of her ''reputation'' back at Twycross. They also don't walk the London female who killed one of the keepers.
And it wasn't the bull that was seprated, as he was in the bull pen and the lone female was in a hotwired area of the main field. Also, one of the females in the main field kept seperating herself from the others and approaching, and interacting with the seperated female. It's confusing!
And I don't think they walk Karishma because of her ''reputation'' back at Twycross. They also don't walk the London female who killed one of the keepers.
It is very perplexing!
I've never seen a single female separated off like that. I had a feeling too maybe they don't walk 'Karishma'. It seems to be quite a complicated way of having to keep the elephants.
Do you know the name of the female which killed the keeper? These were probably the two females in the field(one was definately Karishma, see description above) while the others were being walked/ out foraging.
You would!
But I do wonder why they have given him a 'cute' name- the last female calf had an Asian name 'LeeLee' though the older one is 'Euan'- what's that about?
London Zoo do sometimes name animals after people(often media-types)- White rhinos; Ben & Bebe(after Ben Lyon & Bebe Daniels) Black Rhinos; Esther and Parky(Rantzen & Parkinson) Guy gorilla(Guy Fawkes because of date of arrival) yet other animals have more typically appropriate names.
The Whipsnade elephants are very confusing as the three that came from London were all renamed after coming to Whipsnade- anyone know why?
Why would they rename them, surely that would just confuse them?!
Hmm I don't quite get the naming, or the way they keep them seperated... Maybe they'd be better to rehome the females (maybe to Woburn) who have to be seperated, and just keep one group.
Weren't the Woburn females orphaned and human reared? If they were then it'd probably be good for them to have experienced mothers around.
Hmm I don't quite get the naming, or the way they keep them seperated... Maybe they'd be better to rehome the females (maybe to Woburn) who have to be seperated, and just keep one group.
Weren't the Woburn females orphaned and human reared? If they were then it'd probably be good for them to have experienced mothers around.
dragon(ele)nerd
Well-Known Member
Many zoos name their elephants in Tradition and give them nicknames such as a female in Melbourne zoo called Mek Kapah she is more commonly known as Sausage. I would personally prefer that overall if I was an elephant keeper,
dragon(ele)nerd
Well-Known Member
Hmmmm, when Donaldson grows up introducing him I think would flow quite well, very large bold "carny" to me. The herd situation reminds me much of the schoolyard separating bullies from one another,
Wouldn't the two Alpha females eventually let one take charge? In Colonge two Matriachs of two different groups physically fought one another, one came out on top and the two are still kept together. I'm also confused,
They have definately renamed at least two of the London females(I believe one each of the Whipsnade and ZSL ones died after transfer.) I cannot remember which females are from which group, which were renamed or which ones have bred successfully. Anyone know which is which for sure?
The four adult females whose (current) names I know are Mya; Kaylee; Aziza and Lucha- plus Karishma from Twycross. I believe Kaylee has the two calves and Aziza the one, but I could have that wrong too. Anyone?
I was told the two alpha females will not live together but I cannot imagine them parting with elephants to Woburn for the time being at least, unless there was real trouble they couldn't manage- but maybe as the herd grows larger they would though- only twelve miles away and there's an unrelated bull(one of only three grown-up Asian bulls in UK) and suitable housing...
The 3 from London were Dilberta, Mya and Aziza (aka Layang Layang). Dilberta died in Whipsnade, apparently from arthritis, which is strange because she was not even 30. But living conditions in London were really bad, that may have caused her problems. The 3 orignal Whipsnade females are Anna, Lucha and Kaylee. Anna died in 2002 after birth complications and Lucha still carries a dead fetus after having birth complications in 2002, too.
Aziza and Kaylee both had 2 calves, Kaylee is the mother of Aneena (born 2004, died 2006/2007) and Lee Lee (b. 2007), Aziza is the mother of Euan (2004) and Donaldson (2008) - terrible name for an elephant if you ask me..
@ dragon: what happens when 2 dominant females are introduced to each other is totally unpredictable. The 2 females in Cologne actually made friends quickly and stopped fighting (and they may have never fought if the zoo had given them more time to get used to each other over the fence...). But that was a lot of luck. It can also happen that fighting never stops and in such a situation, it is totally irresponsible not seperating them. Constant fights are a high risk for the health of an elephant (injuries, miscarriages..) and in worst case can end up deadly. Even if no physical injuries happen, it`s a huge stress for the whole herd if 2 elephants who don´t come along with each other are forced to share an enclosure.
Aziza and Kaylee both had 2 calves, Kaylee is the mother of Aneena (born 2004, died 2006/2007) and Lee Lee (b. 2007), Aziza is the mother of Euan (2004) and Donaldson (2008) - terrible name for an elephant if you ask me..
@ dragon: what happens when 2 dominant females are introduced to each other is totally unpredictable. The 2 females in Cologne actually made friends quickly and stopped fighting (and they may have never fought if the zoo had given them more time to get used to each other over the fence...). But that was a lot of luck. It can also happen that fighting never stops and in such a situation, it is totally irresponsible not seperating them. Constant fights are a high risk for the health of an elephant (injuries, miscarriages..) and in worst case can end up deadly. Even if no physical injuries happen, it`s a huge stress for the whole herd if 2 elephants who don´t come along with each other are forced to share an enclosure.
Thanks Yassa. I think Dilberta may have had another name too before she died.
I believe the two that can't live together are Mya(ex London) and Kaylee (whipsnade) Whipsnade will obviously never have a single group while they still have both these cows. They could if one of them was to leave though.
dragon(ele)nerd
Well-Known Member
Infection will come into play, depending on how long the fetus has been in. Operation to extract the dead calf out is extremly risky though,
She was re-named Geeta
Yes, I thought so.... I wonder why?
You don't really notice it though as they normally exhibit three cows and the calves together in the main paddock and out in the grounds. Only when you know there are never the five females together does anything seem wrong. But sadly there are only two breeding females at present- until Karishma hopefully joins the list.
The ZSL have a confusing policy of a public name and a 'house' name, therefore:
Dilberta = Geetha (now deceased)
Emmett = Tundi (this was his name in Syracuse, not sure it is still used)
Aziza = Layang Layang (still used?)
Euan (public) = Toomai (house)
LeeLee (public) = Bets (house)
I'm not sure what the reasoning is behind this, but I guess it's something to do with avoiding confusion in the animals if the public shout out names.
Bets is named after the American elephant researcher Bets Rasmussen, and it may or may not be coincidence that the former director of Philadelphia Zoo was Bill Donaldson.
Dilberta = Geetha (now deceased)
Emmett = Tundi (this was his name in Syracuse, not sure it is still used)
Aziza = Layang Layang (still used?)
Euan (public) = Toomai (house)
LeeLee (public) = Bets (house)
I'm not sure what the reasoning is behind this, but I guess it's something to do with avoiding confusion in the animals if the public shout out names.
Bets is named after the American elephant researcher Bets Rasmussen, and it may or may not be coincidence that the former director of Philadelphia Zoo was Bill Donaldson.