Elephants at Chester Zoo

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funkyelephants

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Due to the death of Sheba, has anyone got any information regarding who the new matriarch of the herd is?

Any news on if they are planning to extend the heard further?

Thank you.
 
I think it's been established as Maya as the new matriarch.

I don't think there is any plans to acquire a new bull or females.
 
I don't think the herd currently has a matriarch in the way most herds do.more of a coalition between 2 or more of the females.

As for expanding the herd further there will be more births as and when they get any of the breeding females pregnant again,I have not heard of any plans for any other females to be brought in,but they do have a long term plan for another Bull once Upali has fathered enough young but apart from that,I don't know of any other plans for any more Elephants been brought into the zoo.
 
'Matriarch' normally implies a senior female with an extended family. At Chester only Thi fits that bill really as Jangoli and Maya don't have families of their own, but are probably both 'senior' to Thi. I dont know if Sheba was a true 'Matriarch' to the rest of the herd but quite possibly as she had been there a lot longer than all the others. I don't know if other Zoos all have true acting matriachs in their herds either- e.g. does Whipsnade(or Twycross) for example?

Possibly one day in the distant future if Thi becomes the senior female she will be the true matriarch if all the rest are her relatives.
 
I am unsure of Twycross and Whipsnade's current matriarch but at Blackpool the youngest female Kate is the matriarch although she has been there the longest and Indra is the next in line and then Marcella.
 
Has anyone picked up on the deaths of 2 elephants at chester last weekend from a herpes virus? The daily mail as usual in an anti zoo item had a quote from Born Free stating no more breeding of elephants should be undertaken in captivity as they die of this virus. apparently the same is true in the wild, so better stop them breeding there too.
 
dean said:
Has anyone picked up on the deaths of 2 elephants at chester last weekend from a herpes virus?
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Firstly, of course we've picked up on the deaths :p secondly, to be accurate one of the deaths came at the start of July and one at the end of July, they were not both last weekend.
 
... and the second one hasn't been confirmed as from the Herpes virus yet- though it probably will be.:(
 
Thanks for that folks I must have miss read the item i thought both deaths had happened last weekend. I knew it would have been noted, but the short time I have lately to go online I hadn't seen any comments on it so i thought i'd ask. Very sad anyway.
 
I have probably left this a bit late but I'm going to Chester tomorrow and plan to spend quite a bit of time watching the herd. Anyone have any tips on how to identify who's who?

I can probably figure out who Sithami and Sundara are by their calves.

I saw in a video that at least two of the cows have tushes, and one of the taller ones has some odd "humps" on her back, and that one of the calves has a splotch of freckles on her shoulder, just behind her ear.
 
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lamna said:
I have probably left this a bit late but I'm going to Chester tomorrow and plan to spend quite a bit of time watching the herd. Anyone have any tips on how to identify who's who?
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I suggest you read the whos who boards round the enclosure,it certainly helps me tell one big grey thing from another!
 
And if there's a talk the person doing it will help you, that's what I did because I find photos can only help so far!
 
I found it fairly easy to tell them apart. Only the calves and their mothers were confusing. The younger calf is bigger and less hairy than the older one, presumable just to confuse people.

Aung Bo was throwing his weight around a bit, hopefully he was just showing off and won't turn out to be mean. Whatever his personality, he is going to be spectacular when he's older. Only twelve and he is already big with a good pair of tusks.

You could really tell who was part of the Hi Way family and who wasn't. I don't think you could call Maya or Jangolie matriarchs, they didn't seem to have much to do with the Hi Ways, especially Maya.
 
lamna said:
I found it fairly easy to tell them apart. Only the calves and their mothers were confusing. The younger calf is bigger and less hairy than the older one, presumable just to confuse people.

Aung Bo was throwing his weight around a bit, hopefully he was just showing off and won't turn out to be mean. Whatever his personality, he is going to be spectacular when he's older. Only twelve and he is already big with a good pair of tusks.

You could really tell who was part of the Hi Way family and who wasn't. I don't think you could call Maya or Jangolie matriarchs, they didn't seem to have much to do with the Hi Ways, especially Maya.
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I don't think Mya is interested in any power struggles, her main priority is getting plenty of grub, she is great:)
 
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