You can really get a good comparison of the calves here.
Aiyara’s definitely more chunky and is a lot hairer. She looks a lot like Dokkoon.
Roi Yim on the other hand is much skinnier, and shares an arched back with her maternal grandfather (Bong Su). The skinny factor probably comes from Luk Chai who was also very skinny too as a calf.
Roi Yim was definitely bigger at birth, but it does seem Aiyara’s done a bit of growing.
I noticed Roi Yim's kinky tail like Mali's as well! The short amount of time between their births was a lot more obvious than I expected; Aiyara definitely looks older and more filled out.
@marmolady Yes, I was going to mention that too and was just trying to research which elephant it was that had that tail as I’d forgotten off the top of my head. I was sure it was Mali...
Aiyara definitely looks a lot older. She filled out rather quickly, similar to Mali did when she was a calf. In comparison, Man Jai was also very skinny for quite a long time (like Roi Yim) so it might just be the males who tend to grow a little bit slower after birth.
@Jambo@marmolady The growth is highly variable but has nothing to do with gender. In general, male ungulates are heavier than females at birth - but they’ll always be variation. Pathi Harn was noted by Taronga keepers to be stockier than Luk Chai, but not as tall for example.
@Jambo Luk Chai’s always seemed like a tall elephant. I kept waiting for Pathi Harn to overtake him in height, but he never did during their time together. Given the size of Luk Chai’s parents versus Pathi Harn’s parents, this always surprised me - though Pathi certainly inherited their weight/build.
@Zoofan15 Luk Chai’s still a rather short male in fact. Not that much taller than the girls. I’d anticipate Man Jai to take over him in height eventually. Pathi Harn probably already has taken over Luk Chai in height by now. He looks to be quite an impressive young bull now from recent photos.
It’s interesting to see Sabai on the other hand, who unlike Luk Chai, was a very short and stocky calf, despite both sharing the same parents. Just goes to show how different calves can be, no matter the parents!
@Zorro It’ll be fascinating to see the herd dynamics develop with these calves and observe the different parenting styles - not just of the mothers; but of the other two cows.
