I was also at Chester today and I was surprised to see Upali mixed with Sheba, Maya, Jangoli and Tunga. He seemed to be enjoying it and behaving himself.
It's hard to compare sizes when he is in the bull paddock, because its level is lower; but today I could see quite easily that Upali is almost as tall as Jangoli (Chester's largest cow) but much more muscular around the neck and shoulders and he has very big feet. I expect that in a couple of years he will be significantly larger than any cow - as, of course, he should be.
Thi and Co were off-show when I visited the elephant house at 5.30 pm. I didn't see any animals in the small yard by the car park when I arrived or when I left either. I guess there may be a birth imminent, there may be some other problem of course.
Thi, her oldeat daugther Sithami, Sithami`s 5 year old daugther Sundara, and Thi`s 3 year old calf Raman...
Maybe the keepers were just doing foot care (although that is more likely to take place in the morning). I thought that for births, the whole (female) herd was kept together, incl. the very caring Sheba? But how knows, a new baby would be wonderful, certainly.
Thi, her oldeat daugther Sithami, Sithami`s 5 year old daugther Sundara, and Thi`s 3 year old calf Raman...
Maybe the keepers were just doing foot care (although that is more likely to take place in the morning). I thought that for births, the whole (female) herd was kept together, incl. the very caring Sheba? But how knows, a new baby would be wonderful, certainly.
My guess is because they are frightened he might mate 'Sundara' as their previous bull 'Chang' did her own mother 'Sithami' at a similar age. So to mix him with the main group they take out Thi's 'subgroup' as a precaution.
It is good to see the door from that wretchedly small bullpen open for once and Upali playfighting a younger male- they need that sort of social contact. But if I am correct in the above he still can't be kept with the whole female group so he will still be spending most of his time in there.
My guess is because they are frightened he might mate 'Sundara' as their previous bull 'Chang' did her own mother 'Sithami' at a similar age. So to mix him with the main group they take out Thi's 'subgroup' as a precaution.
It is good to see the door from that wretchedly small bullpen open for once and Upali playfighting a younger male- they need that sort of social contact. But if I am correct in the above he still can't be kept with the whole female group so he will still be spending most of his time in there.
I agree with every word of this. But it doesn't explain why I didn't see Thi and Co in the house or in the car park yard, although they might have been there during the day while I was in the other parts of the zoo. Did anyone else see the elephants yesterday (13th)?
