Toledo Zoo Elephants of the Toledo Zoo

Renee (Mbili) the elephant at the Toledo zoo is nearing her due date! The pregnancy resulted from AI with semen from Callee, and Ajani, both second generation elephants.

Also on the Toledo zoo website, it states that they hope Twiggy with show maternal instincts and have a calf of her own! How exciting, regardless of the exhibit, this zoo seems to have a progressive breeding program!
 
Progressive breeding program without an unrelated, adult bull?! And apparently without plans to bring on in? Renee has been all alone without female company for way too many years. And she could have had one more calf in the meantime if she had been moved to a zoo with an adult breeding bull, as she should have.
Twiggy is definately too old for a sucessful first pregnancy. Given her bad shape due to neglect of her former owner (very small, underweight for an adult female elephant) I very much doubt she is even cycling. But even if she does, at her age, she`ll likely never get pregnant, and if you mircously does, she has no chance to give birth to a life calf. They are delusional if they really think they can breed with her.
 
All of your points are completely valid. But at this point the number of animals in the U.S. in general is taking priority.
-Renee was left alone for far too long
-Louie is taking up space that could be used by a unrelated breeding bull
-and Twiggy getting pregnant and having a calf is very risky if not impossible. But the SSP is actually getting pretty desperate. If more calves aren't born the population will never become self sustaining, the goal number right now is 200. we are at around 150.
 
The SSP is desperate because they are leaving SUITABLE females like Renee (or female Mikki from Louseville) without breeding partner for way too long..... while proven breeding bulls like Chico re standing without suitable females in Caldwell.

There is so much mismanagement, it`s their own fault if there are no elephants left to present in a couple of years. But I guess the San Diego females will safe the population, since it seems other then in the rest of the country, the guys in San Diego are (now!) serious about doing what needs to be done to breed them naturally.
 
I actually live close to Chico! And I was just thinking the same thing! An AI program isn't going to save the species in captivity. BUT it seems that many of the bulls in the U.S. don't know how to mate, or have characteristics that make it impossible.
I think with growing elephant populations in South Africa and threats of culling, Zoos are going to import more elephants.

Someone like you should probably run the elephant SSP!
 
Yassa is so right when he talks about AZA mismanagement. For the past 20 years they have been talking about a self sustaining population while doing very little. Breeding age cows sat for years while bulls were housed with non reproductive cows or cows who were too old. For over twenty years AZA has talked about regional breeding centers. Where are they? Now they have been talking about building one National Elephant Center. Where is it? The SSP unfortunately is run by talkers and not by people who get things done. Do whats right by the elephants and forget politics, management style and all the rest and watch how quickly things would change.
 
The Pittsburgh Zoo (regardless of your opinion of them) created the international conservation center, to breed African elephants, they started construction this year for a barn that can hold up to twenty cows. They took initiative, they also went to south Africa and collected semen from wild bulls.
 
... and all they have at their "International Conservation Center" are 2 females who are too old for breeding and one of the very few breeding bulls sidelined, since he has no longer any females he could mate naturally. YEAH, great sucess so far. Maybe the International Conversation Center will become useful one day, but I remain sceptical until that actually happens.
 
We saw little Lucas today for the first time he was very cute and quite active.We also learned from Toledo Zoo staff that the zoo intends to keep Louie the zoo's 8 year old male at the zoo.

Team Tapir
 
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