Chester Zoo Elephant Birth

As far as im aware.

Maya, Thi, Sheba and Jangoli were all born in the wild.

Sheba born in 1956, Maya in 1966, Thi in 1982 and Jangoli in 1968.
 
Maguari said:
Sheba is Sri Lankan. I've never heard anything definite either way for the others.
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Thi came(i'm pretty sure) from Burma so is Burmese?:)

I believe the two Twycross females hail from the same place. I meant to add that their star 'brands' are actually tattoos, not as with cattle..( and probably mean 'property of Burmese government' or somesuch.)

JavanRhino-I think the provenance of most Asian elephants is too complicated for them ever to divide into subspecies, except maybe an obviously seperate race like the Bornean pygmy.
 
Apparently there are only three subspecies of Asian Elephant.

maximus in Sri Lanka
indicus in mainland Asia
sumatranus in Sumatra

I assume that Chester have never kept sumatranus but have kept the other two subspecies.

The population in Borneo is now thought to have originated from introduced elephants in the 18th century.
 
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bongorob said:
Apparently there are only three subspecies of Asian Elephant.

maximus in Sri Lanka
indicus in mainland Asia
sumatranus in Sumatra

I assume that Chester have never kept sumatranus but have kept the other two subspecies.

The population in Borneo is now thought to have originated from introduced elephants in the 18th century.
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Thanks Bongorob and Pertinax. Zootierliste (though could be wrong) lists the group at Blackpool as pure indicus, the only ones in the UK. I know that there are 'elephants from Burma' but is this a separate subspecies, and if so can anybody provide the scientific name?

I would like to see pure subspecies herds but I realise it's not too likely. I assume it could be done, but if there is no need then it might be very awkward breaking pure subspecies out of established herds to put them all together in one or two places. Not good welfare wise though I don't think.
 
Javan Rhino said:
I know that there are 'elephants from Burma' but is this a separate subspecies, and if so can anybody provide the scientific name?
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I would take Bongorob's classification above, so 'Burmese' elephants would be 'indicus', same as the Indian and all the other mainland Asian elephants.

I think 'impractical' is the right term to describe the problems of trying to seperate races in captivity.
 
Pertinax said:
I would take Bongorob's classification above, so 'Burmese' elephants would be 'indicus', same as the Indian and all the other mainland Asian elephants.

I think 'impractical' is the right term to describe the problems of trying to seperate races in captivity.
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Thanks again Pertinax :) - I can certainly see the problems with establishing pure herds, and I think the only option would be to start from scratch and import individuals from logging camps in their native habitat. Again though, it is riddled with impracticalities and I assume that since it is not necessary it is not something zoos will look at doing (at least not anytime soon).

Anyway, I'm sorry I've taken that off on a slight tangent, let's get back to news about Thi's baby :)
 
Pertinax said:
She certainly came from a logging camp originally (Burma?) but whether she was wild caught/born there/already working there before she left I don't know. I believe the two females at Twycross(Tonzi & Mimbu) came from the same, or another similar, source though they were only halfgrown youngsters on arrival. They had 'star' brands on their rumps from their previous home too- these may have faded now.
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Tonzi and Mimbu at Twycross both came from a Burmese logging camp via a dealer in Rotterdam. Apparently it was a fairly large shipment so it wouldn't suprise me if ZSL had obtained Thi from the same source
 
Thi was born in Burma, she was part of the original group that came to emmen but didn't get along with the group. Great news for a female birth! and good jobs on Thi's part, baby number 7!
 
This is indeed great news, there's nothing as sweet as a baby elephant.
Does anyone know whether she has ventured out yet?

I have been waiting for a window of opportunity to pop down and may be able to make it down this afternoon. Despite the very grey weather!
 
Goretex said:
I hope she gets a nice name unlike that of some.
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What is wrong with Chester Zoo's elephant names? I think they have great names that some can be said are better than names here in Australia. The names I like most however are for the elephants at Hannover Zoo and Emmen Zoo!
 
dragon(ele)nerd said:
good jobs on Thi's part, baby number 7!
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Does that put her top of the table in Europe? By my reckoning she's now one ahead of Htoo Kin Aye (Emmen), Irma (Rotterdam) and Ceyla Himali (Zurich). It's a shame that only three (Sithami, Assam and the new calf) are still alive; at least two of the three are female.

If you include all EAZA members then Ramat Gan's Warda takes the crown with an incredible 12 calves. That said, it took her 33 years and Thi's only been at it for 18: who knows how many she'll have in the end.
 
From the number of births, Thi should be pretty near the top in Europe. If you take into account how many calves survived, Htoo Kin Aye is far ahead since all her 6 calves are alive today. Warda even has 9 surviving calves (out of her total of 12).
 
I saw the baby today.beautiful.it was being well protected.i thought the old Lady elephant was looking very old.
 
Javan Rhino said:
Not a fan, but maybe it'll grow on me. I know the idea got a mixed reaction but I still say it would have been nice if she were named Sheba as a tribute to the late matriarch. Maybe that is why I'm not keen :)
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I'll be honest Sheba was the only option I was totally opposed to actually, I thought it'd be better if the calf was given the option of developing her own identity without having to live up to the ex matriarchs reputation and surely as the Ellies are aware of the names they are called hearing Sheba being shouted again after she'd just died would be potentially confusing?
 
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