ZSL Whipsnade Zoo elephant and rhino births at whipsnade
- Thread starter Coquinguy
- Start date
just on a side note - whats with the "african" lion safari having "asian" elephants? i hate overdescriptive or undescripive names!...
its like the cairns wildlife safari preserve. should hae just stuck with the mareeba wild animal park!
glad to hear about the elephants though. i saw them in your pics right mark?
its like the cairns wildlife safari preserve. should hae just stuck with the mareeba wild animal park!
glad to hear about the elephants though. i saw them in your pics right mark?
Re Colchester Zoo African elephants. They had only two females(Tanya & Zola) for a long time in a small enclosure. They built a big new elephant area and acquired two more cows(Rosa & Opal) plus the bull(Tembo) from Chipperfields organisation. Two bull calves have since been born- the first by AI with the bull,( he has also fathered one by AI in Vienna..) the 2nd by natural mating. The third female which is currently pregnant also produced a stillborn calf. All five adults are within the same age range.
The enclosure is simple but quite spacious and has two outdoor paddocks.
Artis's Asian calf was born to a female which arrived pregnant from elsewhere but its still good news and is doing well.
Chester eles- they have bred from Thi hi Way(ex London Zoo), and from her daughter Sithami at an amazingly young age- she was not even half grown...(the female calf Sundara was fathered by her own father,Chang- he has now gone to France and their younger male Upali is now the only bull there). Also from an older female 'Jangoli- an ex 'zoo' elephant from another uk zoo(Flamingo Park) Jangoli is a lot older and so is something of a success story- after starting breeding she first had a stillbirth but since then two successful calves(males). Two other females at CHester don't breed- Sheba(old matriarch) and Maya(doesn't cycle) Last year they added another 'solitary' female to the herd, she is 'Birma' aged about 22 from Mauberg zoo in France.- in return for letting her go to Chester for possible breeding, EEP have arrange for Mauberg to have two older non-breeding females to exhibit.
Chester's bull Chang also fathered female calves by two females sent from Twycross Zoo. These were young females Tonzi and Mimbu -originally from
a Burmese logging camp. Twycross don't have a male and sent them to Chester where they soon became pregnant- they returned to Twycross and gave birth there- both births easy and the calves reared without fuss. Sadly they haven't repeated this again. One of the calves(8years) is now at Whipsnade.
Its like somebody said with domestic animals, sometimes breeding is easy, sometimes it isn't. I think that with eles, young females & mature male = good potential, but old females & young male= lousy chances of success. In the wild in both species I think the mature males come into the female groups and do the mating. Females breed when they reached puberty(8-10 years) so you rarely get females older than that pregnant for the first time around...
The enclosure is simple but quite spacious and has two outdoor paddocks.
Artis's Asian calf was born to a female which arrived pregnant from elsewhere but its still good news and is doing well.
Chester eles- they have bred from Thi hi Way(ex London Zoo), and from her daughter Sithami at an amazingly young age- she was not even half grown...(the female calf Sundara was fathered by her own father,Chang- he has now gone to France and their younger male Upali is now the only bull there). Also from an older female 'Jangoli- an ex 'zoo' elephant from another uk zoo(Flamingo Park) Jangoli is a lot older and so is something of a success story- after starting breeding she first had a stillbirth but since then two successful calves(males). Two other females at CHester don't breed- Sheba(old matriarch) and Maya(doesn't cycle) Last year they added another 'solitary' female to the herd, she is 'Birma' aged about 22 from Mauberg zoo in France.- in return for letting her go to Chester for possible breeding, EEP have arrange for Mauberg to have two older non-breeding females to exhibit.
Chester's bull Chang also fathered female calves by two females sent from Twycross Zoo. These were young females Tonzi and Mimbu -originally from
a Burmese logging camp. Twycross don't have a male and sent them to Chester where they soon became pregnant- they returned to Twycross and gave birth there- both births easy and the calves reared without fuss. Sadly they haven't repeated this again. One of the calves(8years) is now at Whipsnade.
Its like somebody said with domestic animals, sometimes breeding is easy, sometimes it isn't. I think that with eles, young females & mature male = good potential, but old females & young male= lousy chances of success. In the wild in both species I think the mature males come into the female groups and do the mating. Females breed when they reached puberty(8-10 years) so you rarely get females older than that pregnant for the first time around...
well i hope that means good news for melbourne then!!
Yes, I'd say there's good potential there- provided Bong Su reacts normally to the cows and knows what to do/is fertile etc. Has he ever mated / shown sexual interest in Mei Kepah in the past or were they simply platonic?
The new young females could stimulate him anyway.
The new young females could stimulate him anyway.
What are the ages of the three new Melbourne Females ?- I forget...
I wouldn't think Bong would do any of them harm, whatever their size, even if he mated them..
At Chester Zoo, the full grown bull Chang mated with his own daughter(!!) Sithami when she wasn't much more than FIVE years old AND she concieved AND she produced a female calf when she was no more than SEVEN - AND she reared it( sharing the raising and feeding with her own mother Thi who had just lost her next calf...) When I saw them, the 'teenage mother' Sithami was still dwarfed by the others in the group...
Obviously Chester were taken completely by sursprise over this and maybe its exceptional, but it shows how young female elephants are ready to breed before being full grown, I guess they just keep on growing despite having started breeding.
I wouldn't think Bong would do any of them harm, whatever their size, even if he mated them..
At Chester Zoo, the full grown bull Chang mated with his own daughter(!!) Sithami when she wasn't much more than FIVE years old AND she concieved AND she produced a female calf when she was no more than SEVEN - AND she reared it( sharing the raising and feeding with her own mother Thi who had just lost her next calf...) When I saw them, the 'teenage mother' Sithami was still dwarfed by the others in the group...
Obviously Chester were taken completely by sursprise over this and maybe its exceptional, but it shows how young female elephants are ready to breed before being full grown, I guess they just keep on growing despite having started breeding.
okay, I would say Dokkoon must certainly be old enough for breeding now.
I expect they regard the other two as too small/young yet, I would have done too until Chester's extremely early birth* occurred. What I still don't know is if that was an exceptional situation, or could it be normal with wild elephants too?
(They won't have another incestuous one at Chester as Chang has since gone to France)
I expect they regard the other two as too small/young yet, I would have done too until Chester's extremely early birth* occurred. What I still don't know is if that was an exceptional situation, or could it be normal with wild elephants too?
(They won't have another incestuous one at Chester as Chang has since gone to France)
copenhagen zoo
copenhagen zoo in denmark claims to have the best breeding record for asian elephants in europe. building commenced last year on a masive multi-million (dollar, euro, something i cant spell/currency thing) and three new elephants arrived in the last few years from thailand so hopefully this zoo will continue its success.
as with tiger sub-species, asian vs african lions and orangs, does anyone see the two main zoo regions (europe and north america) alligning themselves with a particular species of elephant????????????
i think europe may increasingly focus on the asian, with american zoos the africans. this isnt to say this will be a formal policy decision and that either species wont be found in the other region, its just that at the moment the asian elephant population in america is alot more shakier than the european one, and in the future, the avilability of animals may affect exhibition outcomes/focus.
copenhagen zoo in denmark claims to have the best breeding record for asian elephants in europe. building commenced last year on a masive multi-million (dollar, euro, something i cant spell/currency thing) and three new elephants arrived in the last few years from thailand so hopefully this zoo will continue its success.
as with tiger sub-species, asian vs african lions and orangs, does anyone see the two main zoo regions (europe and north america) alligning themselves with a particular species of elephant????????????
i think europe may increasingly focus on the asian, with american zoos the africans. this isnt to say this will be a formal policy decision and that either species wont be found in the other region, its just that at the moment the asian elephant population in america is alot more shakier than the european one, and in the future, the avilability of animals may affect exhibition outcomes/focus.
Glyn- That's an interesting thought. At present it often seems a chance thing which species a particular zoo keeps- then if they successfully start breeding they keep going with that species as they build up a herd.
In Europe there is now definately a trend towards zoos concentrating on Asians, due to its status in the wild. But look at Howletts/PL- having failed with Asians they'll obviously concentrate only on Africans in future, so too does Knowsley and Colchester in UK. You mentioned Copenhagen building a new massive complex for Asians. Cologne in Germany have recently done similarly and at the same time added to their group with five/six more cows from Thailand.
Interesting that in USA they have similar problems with elephant keeping and some of the city zoos with just old non-breeding females are phasing out elephants altogether. Yet Portland in Oregon was the first zoo in USA to breed an Asian elephant calf- back in the 1960's. THey have bred many since(twenty something?) yet most were sent elsewhere- now they only have about 6 (3 males & 3 females) and only one of the current females has any breeding potential.
In Europe there is now definately a trend towards zoos concentrating on Asians, due to its status in the wild. But look at Howletts/PL- having failed with Asians they'll obviously concentrate only on Africans in future, so too does Knowsley and Colchester in UK. You mentioned Copenhagen building a new massive complex for Asians. Cologne in Germany have recently done similarly and at the same time added to their group with five/six more cows from Thailand.
Interesting that in USA they have similar problems with elephant keeping and some of the city zoos with just old non-breeding females are phasing out elephants altogether. Yet Portland in Oregon was the first zoo in USA to breed an Asian elephant calf- back in the 1960's. THey have bred many since(twenty something?) yet most were sent elsewhere- now they only have about 6 (3 males & 3 females) and only one of the current females has any breeding potential.
Hamburg Zoo just opened a new elephant temple, Leipzig Zoo opened a new elephant exhibit not so long ago, Cologne opened a huge exhibit (room for ~3.15) two years ago, Opel Zoo in Germany is also planning a new exhibit, Prague Zoo is planning and the before mentioned Copenhage Zoo is busy building atm. As far as i know, the EEP-keeper for asian elephants has tried to force (as much as he could) institutions to either keep bulls or create the facilities to keep 1.3 animals and breed.
Ouwehands in the Netherlands started with a potential breeding group of africans last year in a new exhibit, but this species is not as regularly kept nor bred in Europe... (afaik Vienna and Berlin do well...)
Ouwehands in the Netherlands started with a potential breeding group of africans last year in a new exhibit, but this species is not as regularly kept nor bred in Europe... (afaik Vienna and Berlin do well...)
regon zoo is constantly mentioned as a zoo that has had immense sucess witbreeding asian elephants. now i havent checked my facts for a bit, but from memory - theyhavent had a birth in a long time. its mentioned that they have just one emale with breeding potential? my guess is thats the female that was imported in the90's (?) from sabah in malaysian borneo - a region that has since been proven to house an elephant population that is of a distinct subspecies not really kept in zoos. hate to be a downer yet again but i would love to track down those 20 something elephants born at oregon and see how much of a contribution the zoo has actually had to the elephant population in zoos today or more importantly what the future potential contribution will be from those animals decended from oregon....
Oregon= Portland as mentioned above, have had many births since the first Asian in the USA was born there in the 1960's. He was called 'Packy' and his mother was 'Belle'. 'Packy' is still there, one of three bulls. Their website(Portland Zoo) gives details & history of the three males and three females they currently have. You're correct, only one female has any potential for breeding and they seem to have now gone backwards re.breeding.
If you wanted to track what happened to all the others Portland or anywhere else has bred since, try;
Asianelephant.net- its a website with data - very up to date- on all Asian eles in captivity, breeding history, birthdates, deathdates etc, destinations of calves bred etc. If you can't find it, go through Leszoosdanslemonde- a french website, the same guy runs both of them.
If you wanted to track what happened to all the others Portland or anywhere else has bred since, try;
Asianelephant.net- its a website with data - very up to date- on all Asian eles in captivity, breeding history, birthdates, deathdates etc, destinations of calves bred etc. If you can't find it, go through Leszoosdanslemonde- a french website, the same guy runs both of them.
I was reading an old post about hybrid cats and Tigons at Canberra Zoo, in which Patrick mentions other hybrids, e.g between African/Asian elephants.
You probably know that the elephant cross has only ever happened once- at UK's Chester Zoo, and it was definately accidental, not deliberate. No one thought the (Asian) mother could be pregnant as there was no Asian bull, only an African one at the time. No doubt you know that the male hybrid calf(Mottie) died around ten days old from internal problems and has since been mostly hidden away somewhere in the Nat. His. Museum in London.
Interestingly, the calf's mother, Sheba, is still living at Chester, as the matriarch of their Asian herd. Sadly she didn't breed again after that remarkable event.
You probably know that the elephant cross has only ever happened once- at UK's Chester Zoo, and it was definately accidental, not deliberate. No one thought the (Asian) mother could be pregnant as there was no Asian bull, only an African one at the time. No doubt you know that the male hybrid calf(Mottie) died around ten days old from internal problems and has since been mostly hidden away somewhere in the Nat. His. Museum in London.
Interestingly, the calf's mother, Sheba, is still living at Chester, as the matriarch of their Asian herd. Sadly she didn't breed again after that remarkable event.