Taronga Zoo heman has died

J

jay

Well-Known Member
20+ year member
Just posted on ABC Heman the bull elephant died during the night.
 
From the media release this morning:

"Heman passed away with little warning overnight and was found this morning by his dedicated keepers within his exhibit."
 
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this is so sad, especially since his retirement, he was having such a full life as well, to the staff and burma, we are think of you.

where did u get the press release from zoopro out of interest?
 
thats very sad. poor guy only got about a year out of his new, improved life.

but what does this mean for burma?

sorry to stirr things up so quickly, but even if the zoo were to keep her there, isn't it illegal to keep a solitary elephant in NSW unless the zoo can prove "exceptional circumstances" (which might not be hard if stardust got away with it). do the africans count as "companions"?
 
well maybe this is perfect opportunity to try and get arna and gigi, other wise, what other options, shes a dangerous elephant, no keepers go in with her, so taronga (which i would be disgusted at) couldnt have her, nor any other mainstream zoo, so this is a problem, and may just be an exceptional circumstance.
 
and if she is dangerous , it is highly unlikely that Auckland zoo will even think about importing her to NZ to have company with Kashin and Burma
 
but zooboy, why is it impossible to manage a female elephant with protective contact? all good zoos use the method with males. indeed as you say burma is managed that way currently. my point is that it is somewhat irresponsible in my opinion to house an elephant in a solitary environment. its a bit like the rigo thing, we justify that he has to live alone for over a decade because he didn't get along with two gorillas that the zoo chose. likewise because burma is not suitable to be managed the way we want her to be, is it right to justify keeping her seperate from potential companions?

in any event, this has only just happened, so i'm not going to jump the gun and critcise the zoo just yet. i see it highly likely that burma will stay there alone fo the time being, but there may be options for housing her in a more social environment and i would like to see those explored in the very near future.

you never know, elephants are complex creatures she might very well chill out a bit if she had some proper companionship!
 
you are right,

dubbo managed both elephant with protective contact, and facilities designed to do so, and if we look, every other zoo in the region has free contact with elephants, no it's not impossible, but it will inhibit zoos in the region, to take another elephant that has such needs. burma is a stricktly non human eelephant, as in no free contact after she attacked keepers at taronga yrs ago. she isnt an angry elephant, i think i gave wrong impression, shes she doesnt go out of her way to attack keepers, and she is co-operative. its just she has the problem of people in with her, though fence fine, but when u walk in with her, shes an angry elephant.

do you understand what i am saying, buy all means yes, she should go with other elephants, but its gonna be hard for zoos to want to take her, as zoos may be selfish and not jepodise there hands free contact, what i think would be better, is the aquisition of arna and gigi.
 
How about shipping her up to Aust zoo to be with their three old girls?. They have the room for her.
 
also, on the news just then, did you know dubbos breeding program will now be significantly inhibited through the loose of heamn- someone didnt do research.
 
Dubbo's breeding program was non-existent, of course, but the region's breeding program will suffer - Heman was fertile, and has had viable semen collected in the past. His genes are now lost to the region's breeding program.
 
thankyou zoopro, we were not aware of that.

its local media, that dont consider it important and said dubbbos program, not the regions program.
 
we were aware of that, or at least i was. i remeber we had a discussion about hemans viability just recently...

i would welcome the dubbo zoo aquiring gigi and arna as companion animals to burma. it would be ideal. however, i think it would be pretty tough for the zoo to justify paying a lot of money for them (and i have a feeling thats what what it would take to get stardust to sell). as much as i am unfond of circus' and feel an elderly elephant should't have to perform anymore, i don't think the onus is on the zoo to pay to "rescue" them. the onus is on the circus to find them a good home, regardless of the posibility of not making a profit.

australia zoo? keeping in mind that they don't own their elephants, it still seems a more likely possibility...
 
but should we be sending burma 3000 km away, shes just lost her companion, and now to remove her from her home, i think it would do more harm. the best option i see is to get arna and gigi, but tht is unlikely.

i know of some1 who recentally offered a substacial amount of money to satrdust for there 2, and it was turned down.
 
no secrets who that was zooboy - it was jarkari.

he said he offered a million dollars if i remember correctly. i wonder how old jarkari's going? do you think he's saved up the $50 for that ARAZPA membership fee yet?
 
just outta curiosity,

was heman given his unfortunate name after "he-man" from the "masters of the universe"?
 
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