Auckland Zoo elephant herd now in the works

Hi glyn,

What I am particularly glad about is that ARAZPA and the cooperating zoos have now firmly set themselves goals towards sound Asian elephant population management in Australia/NZ region.

The use of AI in zoos where some of individual elephants are not yet sexually mature or acceptable to the opposite sex for breeding is a sound management strategy (the ultimate intention must be to create/replicate the conditions conducive for natural breeding) and the assemblage of potential breeding herds over the last few years and the designation of WPZ in Dubbo as an elderly Asian elephant rest home. In the years to come probably at least one ARAZPA institution will have to set up a bachelor bull facility to accomodate any sub-adult male calves born in the intervening years (that need re-homing at 5-8 years old).

I do applaud that now things seem to be moving on siting a new natural herd at Auckland whereby the elder female may live out her life at Auckland, and she and the younger female will be integrated into a natural herd structure.

One can similarly assume that at some point Australia Zoo will come on board with its elderly elephants within the ARAZPA Asian elephant cooperative programme.

K.B.
 
definitely. as discussed in another thread,,,Australia Zoo needs as many animals as it can get lol. and besides, you dont spend millions of dollars on an exhibit for a trio of rather old elephants. after all, white elephant elephant exhibits are expensive.
so expect to see more eles heading their way, either from within Australia or abroad.
back in the day we did the number crunching on this forum, but setting aside Taronga and Melbourne Zoo's exhibit spaces id estimate that within another few years there could be a need to replace at least two elephants in Perth (Trisha and female which died 07) and 3 in Australia Zoo (now all old, old girls).
all of this means that Australia and New Zealand's zoo community does face options when it comes to finding space to manage this species and yes, WPZ might still be able to become a bull holding facility.
 
The elephant section on the Auckland Zoo website has been updated.

This statement caught my eye
Quote: With the full support of the Zoo Board and Auckland City Council, we are now working to source Asian elephant(s) to provide companionship for Burma and to progress our plans to build up a sustainable herd.

Does this mean that the import situation has been sorted and they can start preparing to import as soon as a suitable individual is located?

Auckland Zoo The future of elephants
 
Nisha said:
Does this mean that the import situation has been sorted and they can start preparing to import as soon as a suitable individual is located?
Click to expand...
what is the "import situation" to which you are referring?
 
Chlidonias said:
what is the "import situation" to which you are referring?
Click to expand...

I gathered that the main delay in importing another elephant to New Zealand was that because no other asian elephant has been imported since the regulations had changed there would have to be a protocol drawn up and bio-security mesures put in place by the relavent people/department?

I'm just wondering if this was sorted now and they had the permission to import an individual?

Sorry for not making myself clearer
 
Auckland Zoo eyes Niue for elephant quarantine - Yahoo!Xtra News
Auckland Zoo says it is considering importing elephants though the island of Niue, 2800km north-east of New Zealand.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is working on an import health standard (IHS) to bring elephants into New Zealand, which the zoo said will require the animals to be quarantined in a third country.

"We are currently exploring the possibilities for such a third country quarantine to be Niue, and we are working with MAF and the Niue government to determine the suitability of this," the zoo's marketing and development manager Paula Corcoran told NZPA.

One of Auckland Zoo's two elephants, 40-year-old Kashin, was put down 10 months ago.

The zoo wants to at least provide companionship for its remaining Asian elephant, Burma, 27, and progress plans to build a sustainable breeding herd at Auckland Zoo.

It has drafted a disease risk assessment, and is now working on a detailed management plan for the imports.

New Zealand does not allow the direct import of elephants, though it has in the past allowed a New Zealand circus elephant to be brought back from a circus tour of Pacific islands.

The elephants would probably be flown in to Niue, which has an airport able to handle a Boeing 737, but the zoo said it could not indicate a time-frame or likely costs for the imports.

"Establishing a healthy, sustainable herd of Asian elephants is an exciting opportunity for Auckland Zoo," Ms Corcoran said.

Niue's Minister of Agriculture, Pokotoa Sipeli, told Radio New Zealand International he was meeting zoo officials to talk about the possibility of quarantining three elephants near the airport.

The director of Niue's Agriculture Department, Brendon Pasisi, said it had a programme of quarantining alpacas in the 1990s.
Click to expand...
 
Great: Auckland Zoo now working towards import of a full breeding herd. It is both timely and allows the zoo to initiate/enter into another species management programme within the ARAZPA region. :)

Not so great: singling out Niue for import. It is kinda strange that an island nation more vulnerable to biodiversity loss due to its land size and status of its fauna/flora which is a million times more vulnerable than NZ mainland. So much for Biosecurity, ay!
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
Not so great: singling out Niue for import. It is kinda strange that an island nation more vulnerable to biodiversity loss due to its land size and status of its fauna/flora which is a million times more vulnerable than NZ mainland. So much for Biosecurity, ay!
Click to expand...
I really don't think there's any issue with quarantining a couple of elephants on Niue. There is only one native land mammal (the Pacific fruit bat, which is widespread in the region) and very few birds left, none of which are endemic and almost all of which are very widespread (actually the bulk of their avifauna are seabirds and migrant waders).
 
Zoo fights for Burma | Stuff.co.nz
13/08/2010
AUCKLAND Zoo's sole surviving elephant Burma could be shipped off to Australia unless a plan to expand the enclosure through the acquisition of under-used parts of neighbouring Western Springs Lakeside Park goes ahead.

The plan to create separate areas for male and female elephants and build an exercise area where they can be taken for walks by keepers was approved by the Auckland City Council's arts, culture and recreation committee on Wednesday.

But it's still early days, with the land, made up mainly of steep slopes and old pine trees, needing to go through a public plan change process.

Since the death of the zoo's oldest elephant Kashin last August, Burma has been left with only her keepers for company.

Auckland Zoo director Jonathan Wilcken told the committee that acquiring the neighbouring pieces of land is vital to keeping elephants at the zoo.

"The needs of elephants are considerable.

"We need to provide considerable amounts of land and expertise.

"Burma is in an environment that's familiar and keepers are essentially acting as her family.

"It's fine for the short term. Long term I don't think that's appropriate."

A zoo spokeswoman says it needs to decide by the end of the year whether more elephants can be imported and is working with the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry on the import health standard needed to bring elephants into New Zealand.

"In terms of Burma's future, the zoo needs to have a decision by the end of year about whether we're able to import elephants into New Zealand or not," says the spokeswoman.

"If we're not, then we will look to move Burma to another zoo in Australia as soon as possible so she can be with other elephants."

While the current enclosure can hold up to four elephants, she says the long-term welfare of the animals means a sustainable breeding herd is needed, which requires more space. The new 24,000 square metre enclosure could house up to 10 elephants.

Committee chairman Greg Moyle says he supports the move to bring more elephants to Auckland Zoo.

"We are fortunate our zoo is able to expand when many international zoos don't have that luxury. We're expanding into an area of land not really used by the public."

City Vision councillor Glenda Fryer says it's a shame to lose public space, but voted for the proposal because she supports retaining elephants at the zoo.

The committee's sole voice against the introduction of an elephant herd was City Vision councillor Cathy Casey, who questioned whether the move is a revenue gathering exercise for the zoo.

"Why on earth is little New Zealand, on the other side of the world, looking at putting a herd of elephants in Western Springs Park?"

She says other international zoos have closed down their elephant enclosures in recent years, while shipping the animals halfway across the world is likely to cause them some distress.

Neighbours will be given the chance to have a say on the extensions if the council's community development committee supports a public plan change to the land's status.

A timeframe for importing new animals and building the enclosure, which has been costed at $13 million, is yet to be set.
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Jarkari said:
Auckland Zoo elephant enclosure extension ignites debate | NATIONAL News

Another article - there is a sentence that reads something like first or only elephant herd in Australasia - I believe there are 6 groups of elephants in Australasia plus four elephants currently being kept alone (including TWPZ's Burma who has contact with other elephants but can't be introduced)
Click to expand...

How can you expect people to make informed decisions when the media gets such a basic fact wrong.:(
 
this is the text of Jarkari's link (in case it gets removed from the news site in the future as sometimes happens). It is dated August 11
Auckland could soon be home to Australasia's only elephant herd, after the Auckland City Council gave the green light to a $13 million zoo extension.

The plan involves enlarging Auckland Zoo's existing elephant enclosure to six times its current size, which will see it branch into the adjoining Western Springs Park.

Auckland Zoo says that will allow for 10 new elephants from Sri Lanka to be housed in the premises.

The decision to expand comes after fears for the well-being the Zoo's sole remaining elephant, Burma, whose companion died a year ago.

Burma has been monitored 24 hours a day since then.

City councillors and animal rights groups have been vocal opponents of the upsize, with councillor Cathy Casey slamming the move.

"This is ridiculous, this is a ridiculous thing for us to be looking at," she said.

Animal rights campaigners SAFE have also expressed concern.

Spokesman Hans Kriek said the idea was going against normal trends, and that enclosures are not the way of the future.

"Zoos are actually moving away from keeping elephants in zoo enclosures, because it's not in their best interest. So we believe what Auckland Zoo's doing is a step backwards, not a step forwards," Kriek said.

But the Zoo's director, Jonathan Wilcken, said they were were well aware of what the elephants needed, and are adamant they can provide it.

Wilcken said bringing a herd over, instead of one companion, would improve Burma's living situation.

"I think it's to do with how we want to see Burma living," he said. "Elephants really ought to be living in a complicated social environment."

Some locals have also voiced their concerns, telling ONE News they knew nothing about the plan.

Public consultation on the project will be called for, before the end of the year.
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good to see SAFE as well-informed as always :D ("Spokesman Hans Kriek said the idea was going against normal trends, and that enclosures are not the way of the future.
"Zoos are actually moving away from keeping elephants in zoo enclosures, because it's not in their best interest. So we believe what Auckland Zoo's doing is a step backwards, not a step forwards," Kriek said.")
 
Glad that good old common sense prevails. A major step forward for the breeding programme in NZ (and thank goodness for Burma a long-term solution too).

The opponents: pretty predictable stuff. Why does no journalis ridicule the slappers, I ask you??? :rolleyes:
 
the antis (like the SAFE lot) make for good ratings; they always get brought onto the news programmes to give their viewpoints.

I haven't watched it yet but there's a news video on Jarkari's link which probably features the SAFE spokesman
 
Chlidonias said:
the antis (like the SAFE lot) make for good ratings; they always get brought onto the news programmes to give their viewpoints.

I haven't watched it yet but there's a news video on Jarkari's link which probably features the SAFE spokesman
Click to expand...

It remains filtered and blinkered jingoistic opportunistic journalism - I rather would not use the latter term for serious media -. Worst of all they are preaching to the converted few and give air-time to a sad minority posturing as intelligent folk - which evidently they are not - nor are they the serious conservation ilk we need to aspire to. :mad:
 
I wonder if Auckland's elephant keepers will get stuck in Sri Lanka as like ours did in Thailand because of this rubbish
 
Wanted: a herd of elephants - Yahoo!Xtra News
October 8, 2010, 8:29 am

Auckland Zoo's another step forward in its bid to import a herd of up to ten Asian elephants.

The city council's arts culture and recreation committee has approved $13 million for the project which will mean increasing the elephant enclosure by up to six times its current size.

Zoo staff are concerned their only remaining elephant, Burma, is lonely after the death of Kashin last year.

Planning is in its early stages and the zoo is still looking into where to get the elephants from.

It's also arranging to use Niue as a possible quarantine centre to ensure the elephants are free from diseases such as foot and mouth.
Click to expand...
 
I was at Auckland zoo today talking to a keeper, she told me the herd is a long term plan, but short term they are well on the way to getting one elephant to keep burma company.
There is a huge amount of building going on at the zoo now, its actually looking quite crowded exhibet wise. Because of the rain there werent too many people there, but if it was full there woudnt be much room on the walkways.

Most of NZ's older zoos are just running out of space, maybe its itme they followed the UK example of opening a subsidery animal park on a bigger area, where they can have room to build some large enclosures for the larger animals. The likes of lions, cheetah and tiger have very small enclosures really.
 
There has been talk about building a satellite zoo since the early 1970s, it wont happen because no one wants to pay for it...
 
I thought you'd been abducted by aliens or something NZ Jeremy! Been a long time since you've posted.
 
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