Asian Elephants in Europe 2023

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Hyak_II

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Well the time has come for a new thread with the first news of the new year, and unfortunately it's not a good start.

Young bull Shamu at the Budapest Zoo is presenting with a high load of EEHV :( Fortunately it has not yet progressed to EEHV-HD, so fingers crossed the little fellow can pull through thanks to the early detection and aggressive treatment I have no doubt he will receive from the zoo!

Read more at the link here

In recap, 2022 had quite a few odds and ends going on, with a number of deaths and transfers, along with a handful of births.

Born into the population, we've had:

1.0 Kamon to sire Mekong and dam Sandry at Knies Kinderzoo
0.1 Nang Phaya to sire Ming Jung and dam Geetha at Whipsnade Zoo
1.0 Akito to sire Voi Nam and dam Pantha at Leipzig
1.0 Maxi to sire Fahim and dam Faya at Rotterdam
0.1 Un-named to sire Voi Nam and dam Thuza at Leipzig

Deceased this year we've had:

0.1 33 year old Maejaruad at Koln due to attack from Bindu
1.0 62 year old Motek at Ramat Gan due to old age after a very long and prolific life
1.0 4 year old Raj due to EEHV-HD at Hagenbecks Tierpark
1.0 2 year old Umesh due to EEHV-HD at Zurich
0.1 40 year old Khine War War due to age related issues
0.1 8 year old Omysha due to EEHV-HD at Zurich
0.1 5 year old Ruwani due to EEHV-HD at Zurich
1.0 5 year old Plaisak due to EEHV-HD at Copenhagen
1.0 48 year old Luka due to old age/sudden chronic wasting at Osnabruck
0.1 67 year old Targa due to old age at Augsburg

We also had the following exported out of the region to the US:

0.1 19 year old Trong Nhi
0.1 9 year old Nhi Linh

There were also a good handful of transfers, almost all younger bulls:

0.1 Babaty from Rio Safari to Sevilla
0.5 Mara, Sandra, Leika, Bridget, Nellie to Safari Park Richter from various sources
1.0 Sang Raja from Koln to Pont Scorff
1.0 La Min Kyaw from Koln to Pont Scorff
1.0 Kitai from Koln to La Tarniere
1.0 Taru from Szeged to Lodz
1.0 Tarak from Heidelberg to Koln
1.0 Minh Tan from Osnabruck to Heidelberg
0.1 Delhi from Usti nad Labem to EHEES
1.0 Kyan from Veszprem to Lodz
1.0 Ravi from Pairi Daiza to Romaneche Turoparc
1.0 Thambi from Pairi Daiza to Romaneche Turoparc
 
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Another posting of extremely bad news, I’m very unhappy to report :( Young cow Amalee at Prague has succumbed to EEHV-HD. Fingers crossed the other 3 young animals all manage to survive the inevitable flare up that will pass through the facility.

See more here
 
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This is very unfortunate to hear! While Amalee has a number of relatives through her prolific father, she was her imported mother's only female calf and was an important addition to Prague's herd.

So many EEHV cases have been popping up in the European population lately :(
 
Very heartbreaking. I would watch them on the cam and the two sisters are very attached to each other as they sleep with each other, touching.
 
It looks like they are expecting Swe Zin to give birth anytime. It has been reported that the birthing stall is ready.

She looks miserable enough!
 
Ditto to that, I’ve seen recent pictures of her, and she is HUGE!

Also in more positive news, it would seem young Shamu at Budapest is successfully overcoming his herpes flare up :) While he’s not out of the woods yet, the zoo has stopped treatment and is cautiously optimistic about his continued recovery.
 
Nagarr's birth was also filmed on security footage:


The footage shows that Swe Zin gave birth lying down, which has not been observed by keepers in Emmen in an elephant birth before.
 
john said:
By who?

How came Swe Zin in Emmen? And her sisters?
And what are the biological reason for sex determination during fertilization? or pregnancy?
Click to expand...

I was being sarcastic because of all of the boys over the years.

glad he’s here and healthy but they really need girls. Swe Zin is the only female that the studbook manager has approved to breed. What if she has all boys like her sisters? What would happen then?
 
Does anyone know what happened to Alix and Ziha’s at Palmyre Zoo? On the 2022 thread, there were some speculations about their pregnancies, but I’ve seen no further news on this.
 
MennoPebesma said:
Emmen seems to be fairly unlucky since a lot of bulls are born there. Of the 31 births in both the old and current zoo, 27 were male and only 4 female.
Click to expand...
Yes. A wonderful balance male female. How does it look like if all pregnancies started at Emmen are counted?
But I also can't explain the bias. I think we don't know that much about elephants. They could surprise us.
 
And the female calf at Leipzig has a name. Bao Ngoc. Doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but I suppose *a* name is better than none. I wouldn’t be surprised if it just ends up being shorted to Bao more often than not, though, by both keepers and visitors.

Read more here
 
MennoPebesma said:
Emmen seems to be fairly unlucky since a lot of bulls are born there. Of the 31 births in both the old and current zoo, 27 were male and only 4 female.
Click to expand...
Well technically 5 females, Marlar was conceived at Emmen despite being born at Koln, and her gender would have been determined at conception. Not that it shifts the ratio that terribly much.

Also it really is a quandary. As it stands, the fate of expanding Emmen’s matriarchal line is in a precarious situation, currently lying solely on the shoulders of Swe Zin, and unfortunately, she isn’t off to a good start with her first calf being yet another bull. I know it’s been spitballed around on the forums, and actually from the elephant staff as well, that perhaps the lush diets the cows are given is contributing to male calves? Fingers crossed though, hopefully with Swe Zin’s next calf, they can break the “curse” and actually get a cow for once.

Also a final thought on a more positive note, if nothing else, Nagaar should make for a stunning bull as he matures. Timber is quite the strapping bull, well built with excellent tusks, and of course maternal grandsire Radza was an absolute unit in every department. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Nagaar become one of the best looking bulls in Europe in 20-25 years time.
 
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