Taronga Zoo its a big girl

  • Thread starter Thread starter jay
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MARK said:
It will be interesting to see what sex the calfs are to be born of the two remaining females which have not been bred yet, one at Taronga and the other at Melbourne zoo lets hope another couple of female calfs appear that would really look good for the furture of the species in oz
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To sum up, the situation is looking really good.
From a current founder population of three bulls and eight cows, we have had five succesful births (as yet no deaths), representing two of the bulls and five cows. There are three male calves and two females. Hopefully within the next three years there will be at least two more births and hopefully the as yet unrepresented bull will be contributing soon. Also there is the possibility of the founder population increasing with the import of another herd for Auckland. AI has been successful in three(?) cases as well. Looking really good in my eyes.
As Mark said, lets hope we get a couple more females.
 
Just as an aside to the whole baby elephant thing in Aussie zoos; I'm so glad that the breeding program is such a success because it discredits all the determined opposition to the elephant importations launched by the RSPCA, IFAW and HSI (among others.)

Those are worthwhile organisations, specially the RSPCA, but they all include among their memberships a small percentage of animal rights zealots who were bloody-minded about the whole project. (Remember how, once they had failed to halt importation, they tried to discredit the breeding program by claiming that the zoos were irresponsible for breeding some of the cows at too young an age?)

They've all got egg on their faces now!
 
jay said:
, we have had five succesful births (as yet no deaths),
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Don't want to temp fate but there shouldn't be any deaths as all these cows are young and at good ages for breeding. The 'Mr Shuffles' episode was pretty bizarre but hopefully it was a unique case. You do really need two more female calves now!
 
Would anyone know if the two other cows or should I say three (Perth zoo)are going to be bred in 2011?.

Also if Taronga are going to expand their elephant exhibit?
 
MARK said:
Would anyone know if the two other cows or should I say three (Perth zoo)are going to be bred in 2011?.

Also if Taronga are going to expand their elephant exhibit?
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I believe it has been discussed on these forums before that Tang Mo (Taronga) was being introduced to Gung but im not sure if they mated. If Taronga indeed do producw more females, then they will almost certainly need to make a bigger enclosure or send half to Western Plains, which I think is Plan B as they want to keep the females together.

Maybe some Melbournians know what is happening with Nu-Moi?
 
UrMumzAGoat said:
Maybe some Melbournians know what is happening with Nu-Moi?
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I asked a zookeeper about this last time I went to the zoo, he said that they are planning to wait a while as she is too young, a little contradictive as Kulab is only one year younger than her.
 
If a split is needed at taronga in the future it most likely will be of two most closely bonded females and their female calves. Where they'll go will depend on other zoos facilities and how long cuddles hangs around for. I know space is needed but cuddles is my favourite elephant in the region so I actually hope it's a long time before they can become a holder for program elephants.
 
Jarkari said:
If a split is needed at taronga in the future it most likely will be of two most closely bonded females and their female calves. Where they'll go will depend on other zoos facilities and how long cuddles hangs around for. I know space is needed but cuddles is my favourite elephant in the region so I actually hope it's a long time before they can become a holder for program elephants.
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Yes, cuddles is a vey special animal being the last African Elephant left in Australia. I have also noticed that Burma at WPZ is getting to a ripe old age and Arna and Gigi are not too far behind her, so it might be possible but very saddening that in the next 5 years Burma might pass away leaving an extra space for new elephants. But if we split the herd in two, then how will they manage to breed them being so far away from a bull or will they have to resort to AI?
 
UrMumzAGoat said:
Yes, cuddles is a vey special animal being the last African Elephant left in Australia. I have also noticed that Burma at WPZ is getting to a ripe old age and Arna and Gigi are not too far behind her, so it might be possible but very saddening that in the next 5 years Burma might pass away leaving an extra space for new elephants. But if we split the herd in two, then how will they manage to breed them being so far away from a bull or will they have to resort to AI?
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Cuddles being the last African Elephant has nothing to do with my affections for her. On average Asian elephants live up to 20 years longer than African Elephants in Zoos. If Cuddles is to go it will free up space for maybe four or five elephants, there may need to be some work done on the barns. As for breeding AI would be an option or there is room for two Adult Bulls when Burma, Arna and Gigi pass away.
 
Jarkari said:
Cuddles being the last African Elephant has nothing to do with my affections for her. On average Asian elephants live up to 20 years longer than African Elephants in Zoos. If Cuddles is to go it will free up space for maybe four or five elephants, there may need to be some work done on the barns. As for breeding AI would be an option or there is room for two Adult Bulls when Burma, Arna and Gigi pass away.
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I didnt say she was special just because she is the last African but I find that about her also special along with her size and intelligence and personality. That is an interesting fact that I never knew about Asian elephants living longer than Africans. Does Cuddles live solitary in her paddock with contact with the Asian elephants and is her paddock particulsrly large?
 
Her paddock is quite large, bigger than any other in the country except maybe Australia Zoo's (I haven't seen their's) She is kept alone in her enclosure. She can see and smell the other elephants but there is a gap between their fences of maybe three metres.
 
Jarkari said:
Her paddock is quite large, bigger than any other in the country except maybe Australia Zoo's (I haven't seen their's) She is kept alone in her enclosure. She can see and smell the other elephants but there is a gap between their fences of maybe three metres.
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That seems really nice. I was also meaning to ask you is Burma free contact? On the elephant database it says that Burma at WPZ is free contact (along with Cuddles). It also states that Gung at Taronga is free contact and I have never heard of a breeding bull that is free contact.
 
I don't think Burma has ever been free contact while in the care of a zoo, that's why she went to Taronga in the first place.
 
She was originally excercised in her enclosure but is now occasionally going out. I'm not totally sure if they are as long as usual and they are not as frequent. Before Yum died I heard that they were occasionally going out onto the circuit which was very interesting for the other animals as well as the elephants.
 
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