Tricoart
Well-Known Member
Idk their names, or how they're being split, only that I've seen at most 2 of 'em in there at a time. Hopefully someone a bit more knowledgeable might know, though.
Australia Zoo Australia Zoo News 2022
- Thread starter WhistlingKite24
- Start date
Yep I understood your comment.
I believe they are also running 2 groups of 2 cows!
As much as I would like to see them import a bull I believe its unlikely!
Last I heard, the groupings were:
0.1 Megawati (1999)
0.1 Raflesia (2014)
0.1 Widya (2001)
0.1 Christina (2010)
Initially Megawati and Raflesia were kept off display. A more regular visitor can confirm if that’s still the case i.e. they’re being rotated; or if you’re seeing the same two elephants (Widya and Christina) on display everytime.
Always_Amity
Well-Known Member
It's always Widya and Christina on display. I asked a keeper a few months back and apparently Megawati and Raflesia had yet to even step into the display area.
They aren't kept in two separate groups because of social issues either. All four get along very well. Megawati was sick for a while so they decided not to put her on display, and kept Raflesia with her so she wouldn't be isolated. I imagine once Megawati is back to full health and she and Raflesia are ready to go on display they'll go into the main area with Christina and Widya. That was always the plan.
It made sense to isolate Megawati from the herd to prevent her illness from spreading to the other cows. Holding her in total isolation would have comprised her welfare, so isolating her with one other elephant was the obvious compromise - with the risk of transmission being minimal given they would have got on top of it early with medication.
Megawati will never breed and it appears Widya won’t either given she’s now 21 years of age. If they can import a bull within the next decade, they’ll be a chance to breed from the younger two cows at least with the older cows playing a supportive/aunt role.
Swanson02
Well-Known Member
The younger two cows are half sisters so unfortunately, Aust Zoo will never be able to breed their offspring together even if a second bull was imported.
That explains why they’ve canned plans to import two bulls. The second bull would otherwise just be sitting around for a decade or more with no breeding application (costing money to feed and doing nothing to boost visitation).
It’d be more cost effective to import one bull, breed him to the two younger cows and then import a second bull to breed to their first generation daughters when they’re aged 10-14 years of age.
There’s no guarantee the first calves of the first generation will be female, so we can’t assume the second bull would be needed in 10 years, it could easily be 20 years after the arrival of the first bull.
Assuming they import any bull to start with
Hopefully this new construction is for new bull facilities.
It makes sense to have an on display yard for the bull rather than rotating as the bull will be an impressive display; while they'll be keen to capitalise on the attraction of calves.
Perhaps since they appear to keep them in 2 pairs of 2 it might be for the other two females which are not on display?, unless there is some construction for a barn for this second display area then it's unlikely it maybe for a bull.
The barn may well be off display with a racewat linked to the main exhibit, but that is a possibility.
The other alternative is there's a shift around of our region's elephants with regards to Burma and Permai but there's so many possibilities, I won't get too far into speculation on that.
I doubt this, as the females are only in two groups due to Megawati's illness so should be able to recombine further down the line.
Expanding the current enclosure should indicate new additions - especially as their current enclosure is sizeable enough for their current four girls.
Confirmation on elephant exhibit construction:
I’ve contacted Australia Zoo, who’ve confirmed the construction works around their elephant complex are an extension of the cow exhibit - not an exhibit for a bull elephant as we’d hoped.
It appears the import of a bull elephant is still at least 3-5 years away assuming it remains in their plans.
I’ve contacted Australia Zoo, who’ve confirmed the construction works around their elephant complex are an extension of the cow exhibit - not an exhibit for a bull elephant as we’d hoped.
It appears the import of a bull elephant is still at least 3-5 years away assuming it remains in their plans.
Unfortunate but expected news.
It's a shame a bull import isn't a priority at the moment. They can't really afford to wait around; especially with delays and such. Christina will be thirteen next year, so it'll be in her best interests to get a bull in asap.
Since they appear to have discounted breeding from Widya (21 years), it’s safe to assume we won’t see a bull imported for at least 3-5 years. Porntip and Pak Boon both conceived without issue to give birth to their first calves at the age of 18 years, so Christina will likely be a similar age upon conception under this timeframe.
Long term, I don’t anticipate seeing a large herd held at Australia Zoo. If a bull were to be imported, I’d anticipate a calf from each of the two younger females followed by a 6-8 year gap minimum until they were bred again - especially if a female calf is produced (the intended result).
As expected for the cows only, I doubt if a bull will ever be imported.
I have to say I would be very surprised if Australia do eventually import a Sumatran bull. The Sumatran population is quite small (outside of Indonesia); but hopefully Terri’s Indonesian connections can assist her with being able to acquire a bull.
Always_Amity
Well-Known Member
Honestly a little annoyed it's just an extension of the existing exhibit. As is it's nowhere near small, so it really doesn't need it.
The additional space could of easily gone to a separate bull area so any future males could be on display at the same time as the females or even just an exhibit for a new species. Feels like a waste of space, especially with the zoos Asia area being so barren as it is, 5 species, with 2 of them being small tortoises you rarely ever see. Would of been nice to see them add some new species (or even just shift the Asian species from the front of the zoo up to fill out of area a bit).
Thinking optimistically, it may be future proofing for growing the herd. What’s considered a spacious exhibit for four cows wouldn’t necessarily meet the needs of an expanded herd a decade or two from now.
I fully agree however it’d be nice to see a greater diversity of species within the zoo’s Asian collection. So often are birds and reptiles overlooked in the creation of Asian/South East Asian precincts.
With birds, we’re limited to what Australian aviculture can supply, but there’s a range of options for reptiles I’d expect a facility like Australia Zoo to be investigating. False gharial would be a nice tribute to Steve given his history with the species - he led the capture of a wild False gharial that was coming into contact with humans and relocated it to the Singapore Zoo.