Chester Zoo hybrid elephant Motty, 1978

Chlidonias

Chlidonias

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I came across this story in a Fortean Times and thought it was fascinating. I expect several UK members on here will already know of it but for those that don't.....at Chester Zoo in 1978 Asian elephant cow Sheba gave birth to a calf sired by African elephant bull Jumbolina. The calf (named Motty) had numerous intermediate characteristics of both its parents, but survived for only ten days.
* Ears - Large, African shaped with pointed lobes
* Head - Sloping forehead with one dome and two smaller ones behind
* Trunk - Deeply wrinkled, like African, but with one finger at the tip like Asian
* Body - Overall like African, with centre hump as in Asian, and hump in rear as in African
* Tail - Long, hangs below the ankle, flat with hairs in small groups forming two rows, one row on each edge,
* Foot - Asian, fore-feet five nails, back-feet four nails
* Legs - Long and slim like African

Here's a link with the story and more information Motty the african and asian elephant crossbreed
 
I think some of our UK members may of seen this calf and I think someone posted a photo of it in the gallery) could of been Bongobob)?
 
MARK said:
I think some of our UK members may of seen this calf and I think someone posted a photo of it in the gallery) could of been Bongobob)?
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Bongorob saw him alive.

I saw him some years later in the Natural history Museum where he was on display in an elephant group at one time. I think he is probably hidden away somewhere there nowadays.
 
I saw him too, although I was quite young at the time and don't really remember it.

I still have the Zoo News and Guide (the visitor magazine) from that day, and the one from a visit shortly after (July 1978) which has another photo of the calf on the cover. There's a news story and the same picture by Steve Cartwright as in your link in the first, but the second has the following paragraph appended:

"We regret to inform our readers that "Motty" died unexpectedly this morning, 21st July. He was found to have been suffering from a severe intestinal disorder."

Derek Lyon's text has a small error, insomuch as the father (aka "Bubbles") was called "Jumbolino", not "Jumbolina", according to zoo literature of the time.
 
LeeMac13 said:
Could this be Motty?:confused:
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No this isnt Motty . He is no longer on display and hasnt been for sometime (years). Idid enquire wher he was on a visit a few years ago . and was informed he is kept at a storage facility in Wandworth i think . Which aint open to the public
 
ChesterGemsbok said:
No, it's defiently the same sheba! I asked the staff!
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That's correct, "Sheba" currently at the zoo was born circa 1956 in Sri Lanka (wild caught), was imported by Tyseley Pet Stores and immediately moved to Chester in February 1965.

She's also the same female that miscarried after falling into the old enclosure's moat and given that Motty was her second and last calf she didn't have much luck in her early years, but she's now the oldest elephant at the zoo (by some ten years) and still seems to be doing well given her age.
 
SMR said:
That's correct, "Sheba" currently at the zoo was born circa 1956 in Sri Lanka (wild caught), was imported by Tyseley Pet Stores and immediately moved to Chester in February 1965.
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I believe Sheba some time at Flamingo Park in Yorkshire before she came to Chester, but I have no idea whether it was several years or just a few weeks (the place opened in 1961 and certainly had a young Asian elephant in 1963). As far as I know Tyseley only dealt in young calves and I doubt they would have had suitable facilities to hold a nine-year-old elephant, so I think it's more likely that Tyseley brokered the deal. Unfortunately her origins weren't mentioned in the zoo newsletter at the time (though the pictures certainly show a juvenile rather than a calf, suggesting that 1956 is fairly accurate).
 
The only elephant I can think of that came from Malton to Chester was Jangolie, but that's much, much later and of course she's still here. Sheba arrived at the zoo in February 1965 and is recorded as being imported that year, so although she could've spent a couple of months at Flamingo Land, I'm not sure it could be as early as 1963.

Do you know of a list of Malton elephants anywhere? I can only find four in total. It would be Yorkshire Zoological Gardens in 1965.
 
SMR said:
Do you know of a list of Malton elephants anywhere? I can only find four in total. It would be Yorkshire Zoological Gardens in 1965.
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I've managed to track down 15 named elephants at Flamingo Park, but most of these are fleeting references to animals which later turned up at other collections (e.g. Dudley's Flossie came via FP). There were certainly many more elephants passing through the place in the late 1960s and early 1970s when it was the heart of the Associated Pleasure Parks/Scotia group. As an indicator, I have tracked down the following snapshots from visitor notes, newspaper articles, etc:

May 1963: Young Asian calf
1964/65: 2 Asians
1966/67: Asian bull Freddie plus a very young Asian calf
ca.1968: 7 African calves imported
ca.1968: 3 and then 5 African calves seen on successive visits
April 1971: 9 elephants including an Asian bull - probably Hannibal from Llannerch?
1 Nov 1971: 2 Asians and 2 Africans
19 July 1972: 0.6 Asians imported from Calcutta, Asian cow Suzie and African bull Tembo already there
Early 1973: 12 calves imported - 2 remained at Flamingo Park, 3 to Dudley, 7 to Cleethorpes and another Scotia collection
June 1973: 8 Asians imported from Calcutta, 2 destined for Cleethorpes
Summer 1973: Susie, a five-year-old bull and six calves - 4 new arrivals and 2 from the importation earlier in the year
 
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