to be honest the problem with AI producing too many male calves isnt an issue to me.
AI is certainly an important tool for breeding elephants and inter-zoo genetic exchange; it also offers exciting applications for in-situ conservation for this species. it needs to be refined but despite the trend towards mainly male births AI still needs exploring for both ex and in-situ applications. on the other hand, natural breeding is balancing out the ratio and is just as exciting as it reflects a move towards creating natural herd structures.
certainly the trend amongst Western Zoos recently who are upgrading exhibits is to build seperate compounds for a bull, or in some cases, multiple bulls. reaffirming the commitment many zoos have to breeding these animals naturally. its a stark contrast to the past practises of keeping all female herds, with resulting fewer offspring. and ironically, as AI becomes more accurate i think we can say in regions like the US and Europe there is certainly a renewed focus on both natural matings and construction of bull facilites. in Australia all 3 major zoos who have elephants and have upgraded their exhibits have built or are building bull facilities, in the case of Sydney a multiple bull enclosure.
across the US most of the new or proposed developments have bull facilities attached, to cater for not only bulls currently kept on site but for future bull calves bred at these zoos. think Honolulu Zoo for example.
Auckland Zoo's proposal certainly is in line with this 'best practise'.
in doing this (building bull facilities) zoos are positioning themselves to hold a growing population of maturing bull calves in the future; we may also see as is happening in the US the emergence of bachelor holding facilities for bull elephants.
as Auckland Zoo has indicated it could hold up to ten elephants; whether that means two mature bulls i guess we will see. what we can be sure of is this; Auckland Zoo is certainly looking to move quickly on this development meaning new animals will need to be sourced either from Asia or zoo populations abroad, but probably not Australia because of the relative lack of stock. in doing so Auckland will be in a position to 'handpick' a herd and manage accordingly, but within the broader arrangement of the ASMP.
when it comes to elephants i think Australasian zoos could be said to be looking long-term, it certianly is one of the more exciting ASMP with potential for at least Australia and Perth Zoo to further expand their role in terms of holding capacity. and i would not be suprised if in the long-term future, when WPZ's African Elephants pass on that this facility became a specialist bull holding facility!
so to answer the question does AI worry me, no it doesnt. elephant bulls may be expensive and hard to manage but of course so are surplus male gorillas etc. i think globally the management strategy for pachyderms will closely resemble, over time, the form of the gorilla program where you have coordinated, planned breedings, zoos with both breeding groups and bachelors and bachelor holding facilities.
Do you have the same views here given the evidence that IVF produces male offspring most of the time in elephants.
