Asian & African elephants in the United states 2013 (Zoos only)

he has had "issues" in the past concerning his upbringing, he has only been at Birmingham 3 years and Tamani is one of his 3 calves.
 
Fort Worth actually received a 22 year old male named Colonel Tusk from the Endangered Ark Foundation in Oklahoma. He has not bred successfully although he was housed with several breeding females for around a decade. Another bad move on behalf of the SSP?
 
loxodontaafrica said:
Fort Worth actually received a 22 year old male named Colonel Tusk from the Endangered Ark Foundation in Oklahoma. He has not bred successfully although he was housed with several breeding females for around a decade. Another bad move on behalf of the SSP?
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A solution would perhaps be to have some bulls with an experienced mature and breeding bull in order to learn the cues and behaviours involved in elephant reproduction.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
A solution would perhaps be to have some bulls with an experienced mature and breeding bull in order to learn the cues and behaviours involved in elephant reproduction.
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thats basically what they are doing with Trails at Birmingham and plan for long term at its sister exhibit in Dallas.

They have Bulwagi who is in his early 30s with his son Tamani (around 8), and two other young bulls (both 13ish). All four came from different institutions. They have thought that Bulwagi (who was always raised with his mom and auntie) would lose some of his troubled behaviors by having to "man up" by being with other bulls while at the same time teaching the other three how to be bulls. Compared to when he first arrived - Bulwagi doesn't do the swaying quite like he used to and he even "disciplines" the other 3 teenagers.

Seeing as he doesn't breed naturally (as said all three of his calves were AI), the third calf is present with him, and Callee is the offspring of Jackson an over-represented bull, it is thought that Ajani would be the potential breeder of the 4 Birmingham bulls. There has been un-sourced anecdotal evidence floating around the net that negotiations are in place for Bull swaps. I am curious with which zoos and for which bulls.
 
loxodontaafrica said:
Fort Worth actually received a 22 year old male named Colonel Tusk from the Endangered Ark Foundation in Oklahoma. He has not bred successfully although he was housed with several breeding females for around a decade. Another bad move on behalf of the SSP?
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Of the two females that successfully had calves at Carson & Barnes, one of them was Colonel's mother. So I wouldn't exactly say he was surrounded by eligible females.
 
A lot of activity in the SSP since the last update to this thread (concentrating everything that has transpired in one place)....
2013
Asian elephant
Births:

  • Priya, 0.1, St. Louis, Raja x Ellie
    Mike, 1.0, Ringling, Romeo x Angelika
    Belle, 0.1, Ft. Worth, Groucho x Rasha
    Nellie, 0.1, African Lion Safari, Johnson x Natasha
    Bowie, 1.0, Ft. Worth, Groucho (?)x Bluebonnet *potential inbreeding*
    Jazmine, 0.1, ABQ Biopark, Samson x Rozanna
Deaths:

  • Judy, 0.1, Baton Rouge
    Boo, 0.1, San Antonio
    Jewell, 0.1, Little Rock
    Pinky, 0.1, Dickerson Park
Transfers:

  • Bozie, 0.1, Baton Rouge------->Smithsonian
    Colonel Tusk, 1.0, Endangered Ark-------> Ft. Worth
    Billy(Budi), 1.0, Antwerp----->Denver
    Babe, 0.1, Niabi----->Little Rock
    Sophie, 0.1, Niabi----->Little Rock
    Spike, 1.0, Calgary-----> Busch Gardens



African elephant
Births:

  • Mavi, 0.1, Lowry Park, Sdudla x Matjeka
Deaths:
N/A
Transfers:

  • Iringa, 0.1, Toronto-------->PAWS
    Toka, 0.1, Toronto------->PAWS
    Thika, 0.1, Toronto-------->PAWS
    Thandi, 0.1, DAK------->NEC
    Moyo, 0.1, DAK-------->NEC
    Tsavo, 1.0, DAK--------->NEC
    Tufani, 1.0, DAK-------->NEC
    Tava, 0.1, Six flags------->Wildlife Safari
 
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You missed the transfer of Spike (Asian male) from Calgary Zoo to Busch Gardens Tampa.

In 2014 the National Zoo is receiving Calgary's Asian elephant females, Kamala, Swarna and Maharani and a future calf Maharani may be pregant with fathered by Spike. It could be due in late 2014 or sometime 2015. Im not certain about a pregancy is just something I read on the Calgary forum awhile back.

And I know you said zoo only but Toronto's 3 female Africans, Thika, Toka and Iringa are at PAWS as of last night so cross Toronto off your list of zoos with elephants.
 
TZFan said:
You missed the transfer of Spike (Asian male) from Calgary Zoo to Busch Gardens Tampa.

And I know you said zoo only but Toronto's 3 female Africans, Thika, Toka and Iringa are at PAWS as of last night so cross Toronto off your list of zoos with elephants.
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I have edited the recent post with Spike! Unfortunately I cannot edit the initial post (regarding the Toronto trio)...
But yes, this week two more (Northern) zoos went out of the elephant business this week. Niabi & Toronto.

I have unofficially broadened the thread to include non-zoo elephants due to transfers to PAWS and interactions with private facilities/circuses.
 
Glad I could help you make the Spike correction.

It is sad that we have lost our elephants in Toronto. They needed to go south because we just didnt have the facilities or the funds to build the facilities to keep elephants in the north as comfortably as we could. I just wish there hadnt been the whole ugly battle over where to send them. There keepers always should have made the final decision, not politicians bribed by a certain television game show host whom I loath with a vengence after his uncalled for, insulting and just insane comments. I wish we could have let the keepers decide and sent them south on a happy note. Not with more mud slinging, anger and fighting. They deserved better. At least now that they are gone we in Toronto can move forward.
 
I spoke to a docent at the Seneca Park Zoo and asked if the zoo intended to acquire a male African elephant since they made revisions in their exhibit for one. I was told they're ready, but there are none available at the moment? Is this an accurate statement? Well, it may also have to do with the fact a male ending up at the Seneca Park Zoo would not be used for mating (unless they used his semen for A.I. at other zoos) since the two females cannot reproduce.
 
Yes that is accurate. There is in fact a big shortage of elephants (bulls & cows) in this country and has been for several years now.
 
With the shortage of elephants, how can zoos with only two elephants acquire another one to meet AZA standards?
 
That's the big question. There are only so many elephants in private hands. Some zoos are going to have to close their exhibits and ship out their elephants. Elephants will need to be imported from at least European zoos, if not from their range countries. The majority of Asian elephants in this country are 40-50 yrs of age. That's over 80 elephants - they won't all live much longer.

Most zoos will just have to apply for a variance in the rules. And because the SSP is supposed to manage demographics as well as genetics, it won't be the zoo's fault if another elephant cannot be sourced. The most likely scenario is that these 2 elephant zoos will be maintained that way until one of the elephants die. Then they will be asked to move their remaining elephant. If the zoo wishes to exhibit elephants in the future, it would then need to find a way to source its own elephants, or wait a long time until the SSP can get them another small herd. There is currently a handful of zoos that have shipped out their elephants and elected to bring elephants back at a later time - Philadelphia, Omaha, Brookfield, and Baton Rouge.
 
gerenuk said:
I still don't get your point. Several zoos have 6 or more elephants.
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I was just making a bad joke about how while many zoos are struggling to keep just three Asian Elephants, Smithsonian's numbers seem to keep growing as the months go by.....

~Thylo:cool:
 
gerenuk said:
That's the big question. There are only so many elephants in private hands. Some zoos are going to have to close their exhibits and ship out their elephants. Elephants will need to be imported from at least European zoos, if not from their range countries. The majority of Asian elephants in this country are 40-50 yrs of age. That's over 80 elephants - they won't all live much longer.

Most zoos will just have to apply for a variance in the rules. And because the SSP is supposed to manage demographics as well as genetics, it won't be the zoo's fault if another elephant cannot be sourced. The most likely scenario is that these 2 elephant zoos will be maintained that way until one of the elephants die. Then they will be asked to move their remaining elephant. If the zoo wishes to exhibit elephants in the future, it would then need to find a way to source its own elephants, or wait a long time until the SSP can get them another small herd. There is currently a handful of zoos that have shipped out their elephants and elected to bring elephants back at a later time - Philadelphia, Omaha, Brookfield, and Baton Rouge.
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Much like Birmingham who had their two elderly asians die on site and then switched species.
 
gerenuk said:
There is currently a handful of zoos that have shipped out their elephants and elected to bring elephants back at a later time - Philadelphia, Omaha, Brookfield, and Baton Rouge.
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Last I heard, elephants have been scrapped from Philadelphia's master plan.
 
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