Taronga Zoo AI of A Elephant

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If i remember, most attempts with A.I are done with elephant sprem that has been frozen,
 
stretchedandy said:
Elephant semen can be frozen much like cattle or or own, preserving sperm generally requires that a semen specimen be mixed with a solvent fortified with nutrients and chemicals that maximize the specimen's chance of survival. Samples are usually kept in a special tube that is then submerged in a tank of liquid nitrogen to be frozen at minus 196 C. Samples are thawed when needed. Also it can be stored
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Andy, elephant semen can be frozen, but the techniques for thawing it out, and having it still be viable are still a long way from perfect. It is generally accepted that only fresh (not frozen) elephant semen is used for AI.

stretchedandy said:
And also like i said the breeding programs are controlled. And yes like i said the genetics are monitored. I tell you off the top of my head who monitors these records, it might even be the zoos?? But all I know is Breeding is controlled to the point where your told which animal needs to be bred with which.
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Zoos are not "told" which animals to breed with. All zoos participating in a program in Australasia are involved in review of the draft recommendations, and they sign off on them, once all participating zoos agree with the recommendations. And of course, this only applies to animals that are managed regionally - for non managed species, the zoos decide which animals they want to breed and when they want to breed them.
 
hmmm, hope no one writes, to us via laptop, while driving a car! (if you know what i mean)
 
Go gyln, drunk is good! But ya post is deleted.

Thanks Zoopro. I wasn't exactly sure about the whole frozen thing, i was told it was best to use fresh, as the frozen preservation methods where not perfect.
 
i like being drunk. Care free, and fantastic. Nothing in relation to postings, didnt read wht glyn wrote.
 
zoo pro dont u know anything. dont write posts like that which belittle the intelligence of other members because it offends them, whether u are drunk at the time or not is no excuse! God.
LOL
and no im not drunk.
now can we get back to the elephants? does anyone have enough time to trawl back through media releases pre November 2006 and see how many experts, politicians and activists swore blind these elephants would never breed?
 
I just know that, one of the organisations were RSPCA they had serious doubts about the elephants health and use for breeding, though they are in tip top shape, and three elephants have bred, Gung, Tong Dee and Dokkoon. Three out of eight is a great start, wonder how RSPCA is now reacting?
 
The Humane Society and the Green Party were others, as was Lee Rhiannon of Sydney, what was the third organisation that took the zoos to court? It never could happen they all said, and when it did happen they all said that she was too younf and shouldn't have been allowed to happen. Now they really don't have a leg to stand on re Dokkoon. But have you noticed that is always seems to eb Taronga that cops the flack re these elephants?
 
recently the Berlin experts speculated that Thong Dee may actually be older than the 8 year figure she is thought to be.
this puts the zoo in an uncomfortable position. on the one hand, any criticism from opponents to the program and Thong Dee's age may be countered by this expert opinion, but on the other hand, as part of the import protocol the zoos did need to prove with authentic documents that the elephants were born into captivity and that their age etc could be reliably proven...the Berlin assertion makes the rego system seem invalid.
either way, Thong Dee, at the risk of humanising an animal, is surely happier at Taronga living this life then she would have been on the streets of Bangkok. and she certainly is happy enough to breed.
But I thought Id just throw that in as a point of interest.
 
ZooPro said:
Andy, elephant semen can be frozen, but the techniques for thawing it out, and having it still be viable are still a long way from perfect. It is generally accepted that only fresh (not frozen) elephant semen is used for AI.
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I will re-check what the current procedure at IZW with successful AI is. ;)
 
About what Glyn said, didn't they also do a dental check on Tong Dee? Or am i wrong.
 
I hope now it looks like Tarongas Elephant family is expected to grow that they will start expanding the exhibit area with a bit more in size
 
Too late now of course, and easy for me to be wise after the event, but I reckon the whole new elephant complex should have been constructed adjacent to the old one. There is plenty of room down along the lawn where they hold the outdoor concerts.

Of course, that wasn't the area planned for wild Asia. (Proves to me once again that zoogeographical layout is not always practical.)
 
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