The Sleepy Hippo
Well-Known Member
Great footage of the progress at Werribee, and in this we learn that they are still building 7 paddocks, not 5!
Australasian Asian Elephant Population 2024
- Thread starter Zoofan15
- Start date
Great footage of the progress at Werribee, and in this we learn that they are still building 7 paddocks, not 5!
That’s fantastic news. I had hoped that the long term plan would be to subdivide to create a sixth and seventh paddock as funding allowed; but it’s great to know they’ll have this capacity from the outset.
If the matriarchal herd remains cohesive long term, then the obvious groupings a decade from now would be:
1. Luk Chai
2. Roi-Yim
3. Matriarchal herd
4. New breeding bull
It would be easy for Werribee to receive a new bull from within the region (e.g. one of the Sydney bulls) in anticipation of breeding the next generation - tying in nicely with Aiyara/Kati producing their first calves.
May I ask why it's always suggested the bulls will be housed in separate groupings and not together as they are in NA and Europe? Just curious if there's a compatibility issue within the region as I have seen many people suggest that these open-ranged zoos will house their bulls by themselves.
It’s as much about having a contingency that those bulls may require their own paddock for all or most of the time as oppose to living in a cohesive grouping.
At Taronga Western Plains Zoo, Luk Chai and Pathi Harn (then adolescents) had three contact sessions a week towards the end of their time together; but otherwise lived separately; while the adult bull, Gung, lived alone. Gung would spend time with Luk Chai, but of course had to remain separated during his musty cycles, which due to his young age, were irregular.
Luk Chai is a patient and friendly bull. He had a great relationship with the younger Man Jai, so I anticipate he’ll be a similarly good mentor to Roi-Yim. Hopefully they can spend the majority of their time together in the future; but Werribee certainly has the space to manage any required separations.
The Sleepy Hippo
Well-Known Member
It also stems from Zoos Vic saying they want to allow the elephants to live as close as possible to how they would in the wild. Males love solitarily in the wild, occasionally coming together.
There will definitely be a strong emphasis on replicating the natural social order, both at Werribee and regionally. Cows will live out their entire lives within matrilineal herds, ideally remaining in their natal herd.
Natural breeding will be the aim in all pairings; and with adequate social interaction provided to young bulls/cows, behavioural non-breeders will become far less common. Luk Chai had the opportunity to observe his father mounting cows from a young age; and now Roi-Yim will have the same experience.
Update on Werribee’s complex:
The complex is expected to open early 2025; and as mentioned above, will include seven management yards.
The two barns have now been built.
New elephant habitat taking shape at Werribee Zoo
The herd and bull barns have been built within the Zoo's 21-hectare elephant habitat, consisting of seven management yards, two mega pools, a visitor walking trail and elephant overpasses.
The complex is expected to open early 2025; and as mentioned above, will include seven management yards.
The two barns have now been built.
New elephant habitat taking shape at Werribee Zoo
The herd and bull barns have been built within the Zoo's 21-hectare elephant habitat, consisting of seven management yards, two mega pools, a visitor walking trail and elephant overpasses.
Good to see the project progressing well. The elephants were scheduled to move in November but the exhibits do still look a little while away so I'm assuming December may now be the moving date with the complex opening in January. Overall I'm thrilled to see the complex taking shape now after years of construction. I'm certainly looking forward to checking it out this summer!
Yes, it’s nice to see it progressing more or less to schedule considering how far behind other projects in the region have fallen. The elephants need to be on site by the end of the year, so I’d agree December is likely.
The order of the matriarchal herd will be:
Mek Kepah; Dokkoon (and Aiyara); Mali (and Roi-Yim).
Kulab; Num-Oi (and Kati).
With Luk Chai likely transferring with the latter group since he and Mek Kepah have their own crates.
Happy world elephant day!
Happy World Elephant Day.
Considering announcements are often made on these awareness days, I was hopeful we’d have heard a pregnancy announcement from Dubbo today. All that’s been mentioned thus far is a behind the scenes look.
With the plan being for Anjalee to conceive in the second half of 2023, I’m hopeful it won’t be too much longer now before we hear news of a pregnancy. She had five failed cycles at Auckland Zoo, which was partly attributed to timing around her irregular cycles; but with bulls on site, this will help mitigate this challenge.
I remain of the opinion it’d be beneficial for Porntip to have one more calf. Succession in the herd currently rests on a single juvenile female and even in the event Anjalee produced a calf, it would provide valuable socialisation; as well as providing Kanlaya with experience around calves.
Porntip has two offspring and Pathi Harn’s only breeding avenue at this point in time is if he successfully breeds Anjalee (last I heard Gung was also being the opportunity).
Yeah there's definitely the risk of him panicking when the move happens, especially when the aircraft is taking off and landing at steep angles on the trip. Good move by Perth zoo
It will be a monumental move for Putra Mas and Permai considering they were just three years old when they came to Australia and have since spent their entire lives at Perth Zoo. Burma similarly came to New Zealand as an eight year old in 1990 and has spent the past 34 years at Auckland Zoo. This move will be a positive for all three elephants (and Pak Boon and Tang Mo), but a big adjustment nonetheless.
These elephants are relics of 20th century zoos, where it was standard practice to hold 2-3 elephants in city zoos. Going forward, we will hopefully see the matriarchal herds at the three Australian open range zoos flourish, with cows living their entire lives in the herds they were born into.
Perth Zoo - Transit Crates
Perth Zoo are tendering for two transit crates to transfer Putra Mas and Permai to Monarto:
Relocation of Perth Zoo’s beloved elephants moves forward
The male crate must be 3.5 metres high 4.5 metres long and 2.1 metres wide, while the female crate has the same length and width but is slightly shorter at 3.25 metres high.
Image credit: Perth Zoo
Perth Zoo are tendering for two transit crates to transfer Putra Mas and Permai to Monarto:
Relocation of Perth Zoo’s beloved elephants moves forward
The male crate must be 3.5 metres high 4.5 metres long and 2.1 metres wide, while the female crate has the same length and width but is slightly shorter at 3.25 metres high.
Image credit: Perth Zoo
Attachments
Pregnancy Announcement- Taronga Western Plains Zoo
Anjalee (2006) is pregnant with her first calf (due late 2025).
Gung (2000) is the sire.
From socials:
We are delighted to announce that 18-year-old Asian Elephant Anjalee is pregnant with her first calf!
Anjalee joined our herd at Taronga Western Plains Zoo from Auckland Zoo in 2022, and is a significant addition to the Australasian breeding program.
With a 22-month gestation period, Anjalee is expected to give birth in late 2025. Our team over the next 14-months will ensure her pregnancy, delivery and introductions to the seven herd members are as smooth as possible.
Successfully integrating a new individual into the female herd and fostering positive introductions with experienced breeding bull, Gung is no small feat. Our dedicated Elephant Keepers have worked tirelessly for this incredible outcome and we are thrilled that Anjalee has adapted well to her herd and home in Dubbo and has become a loving aunty to Kanlaya, our youngest elephant.
Anjalee (2006) is pregnant with her first calf (due late 2025).
Gung (2000) is the sire.
From socials:
We are delighted to announce that 18-year-old Asian Elephant Anjalee is pregnant with her first calf!
Anjalee joined our herd at Taronga Western Plains Zoo from Auckland Zoo in 2022, and is a significant addition to the Australasian breeding program.
With a 22-month gestation period, Anjalee is expected to give birth in late 2025. Our team over the next 14-months will ensure her pregnancy, delivery and introductions to the seven herd members are as smooth as possible.
Successfully integrating a new individual into the female herd and fostering positive introductions with experienced breeding bull, Gung is no small feat. Our dedicated Elephant Keepers have worked tirelessly for this incredible outcome and we are thrilled that Anjalee has adapted well to her herd and home in Dubbo and has become a loving aunty to Kanlaya, our youngest elephant.
Last edited:
That’s correct. Unlike the Sumatran subspecies at Australia Zoo, which will not be hybridised with the other sub species; there’s no restriction on breeding Indian and Sri Lankan elephants together.
Given Anjalee’s size, I’m expecting the offspring to be quite large. Gung’s son, Luk Chai, is reasonably tall; though not stocky like Bong Su/Pathi Harn.
Incredible news - and long awaited to say the least!
At the age of eighteen, I'm glad she's finally conceived at the last hour. An additional matriline to be added to the regional breeding program is very much something to look forward too.
It's also interesting to not hear of any announcement regarding Thong Dee. Although she's not the most genetically valuable female, another calf from her wouldn't do any harm. She's approaching eight years this December since her last birth, so she's pushing reproductive limits. If she was to have another calf you would assume it would be around Anjalee's upcoming calf. They can't afford to wait another few years until the next potential cohort of calves.
Incredible news - and long awaited to say the least!
At the age of eighteen, I'm glad she's finally conceived at the last hour. An additional matriline to be added to the regional breeding program is very much something to look forward too.
It's also interesting to not hear of any announcement regarding Thong Dee. Although she's not the most genetically valuable female, another calf from her wouldn't do any harm. She's approaching eight years this December since her last birth, so she's pushing reproductive limits. If she was to have another calf you would assume it would be around Anjalee's upcoming calf. They can't afford to wait another few years until the next potential cohort of calves.
There was talk of retiring Thong Dee and Porntip.
I don’t foresee retiring Thong Dee as a great loss to the breeding programme given her representation. Luk Chai will sire a subsequent cohort of calves at Werribee within the next few years, taking her total descendants to eight (all going well). Even accounting for a loss or two, that’s a fantastic representation.
Porntip on the other hand only has two descendants. Pathi Harn likely won’t be breeding for a while (especially if Thong Dee isn’t planned to breed); and the current plan is to breed with Kanlaya when she’s 12 years old (to give birth at 14) according to reports. I would definitely prioritise breeding Porntip sooner rather than later.
It’d be nice to have two calves close in age; with the option of then synchronising Anjalee’s second calf with Kanlaya’s.