Monarto Safari Park Monarto Safari Park News 2023

Abbey said:
Great news!

While I concur that a name of African origin would be appropriate and would be in keeping with the zoo's traditions, given the cub's birthdate, if this cub is a female, I wouldn't be surprised if members of the public floated the name Matilda, which would match with mum Makena and uncle Mlinzi.
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I can definitely see that happening if it’s a female.

It would also be a nice link to Makena’s ancestors from her maternal line, which all had the same initial (albeit J) - as this is something that hasn’t been readily done with lions in the region; and it’s a line which only has four members (genetically valuable).

Jacquelin (1974) - Juliana (1986) - Jespah (1990) - Maalo (1999) - Kiamba (2004) - Makena (2013) - Matilda (2023).
 
Elephants receive $1 million donation!

With this donation, Monarto are 87% of the way there!

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From socials:

We have the most ele-phantastic news!

We’ve received a very generous donation of $1million from a private, and anonymous elephant-lover to help us home elephants!

This means we are tantalisingly close to our original $2.025million goal!

And, guess what? Two other generous donors have also given us $150,000 to fund match and we’re starting right NOW!
 
Zoofan15 said:
Elephants receive $1 million donation!

With this donation, Monarto are 87% of the way there!

Home

From socials:

We have the most ele-phantastic news!

We’ve received a very generous donation of $1million from a private, and anonymous elephant-lover to help us home elephants!

This means we are tantalisingly close to our original $2.025million goal!

And, guess what? Two other generous donors have also given us $150,000 to fund match and we’re starting right NOW!
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So the foundation for this herd would be the 'pair' from Perth and the one female from Auckland, NZ? Do they intend to import any others do you think?
 
Pertinax said:
So the foundation for this herd would be the 'pair' from Perth and the one female from Auckland, NZ? Do they intend to import any others do you think?
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marmolady said:
They have announced an intent to source further cows, presumably to breed with Putra Mas.
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They’ve announced an intention to source a further two cows (as the cows from Auckland/Perth are too old to breed). Looking at the demographics of the Australasian population, it appears this will be Pak Boon (1992) and Tang Mo (1999) from Taronga.

Pak Boon is an unrepresented founder, following the death of her two offspring and Putra Mas is a founder with only one surviving offspring, so this would be a very valuable pairing. My assumption is they would be bred twice or three times in quick succession to build up a matriarchal herd around Pak Boon and her theoretical daughters.

Tang Mo is a non viable breeder, but she’s close to Pak Boon and would add numbers to the female herd; as well as acting an aunt to any calves. She doted on the Taronga calves.
 
Zoofan15 said:
They’ve announced an intention to source a further two cows (as the cows from Auckland/Perth are too old to breed). Looking at the demographics of the Australasian population, it appears this will be Pak Boon (1992) and Tang Mo (1999) from Taronga.

Pak Boon is an unrepresented founder, following the death of her two offspring and Putra Mas is a founder with only one surviving offspring, so this would be a very valuable pairing. My assumption is they would be bred twice or three times in quick succession to build up a matriarchal herd around Pak Boon and her theoretical daughters.

Tang Mo is a non viable breeder, but she’s close to Pak Boon and would add numbers to the female herd; as well as acting an aunt to any calves. She doted on the Taronga calves.
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I presume Putra Mas' offspring was an AI birth? but hopefully he will mate naturally with cows he didn't grow up with. When I visited Perth Zoo in the 90's I remember that they still had four elephants(1.3).
 
Pertinax said:
I presume Putra Mas' offspring was an AI birth? but hopefully he will mate naturally with cows he didn't grow up with. When I visited Perth Zoo in the 90's I remember that they still had four elephants(1.3).
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Yes, Putra Mas has sired two calves to date via AI. He sired a female named Willow - born 2016 to Num Oi at Melbourne; and a female named Kanlaya - born 2018 to Porntip at Dubbo. Willow sadly died as a neonate, so Kanlaya is his only surviving offspring.

That would have been a great time to visit! The elephants you saw were 0.1 Tricia (1957-2022), 1.0 Putra Mas (1989), 0.1 Permai (1989) and 0.1 Teduh (1990-2007). Putra Mas was observed mating with Permai in 2005 and there was initially hope this would lead to the birth of the first elephant born in Australia.

Sadly, Permai was unable to conceive/retain a pregnancy and that was the end of Perth’s breeding programme. I do however, hold out hope for Putra Mas breeeing naturally at Monarto when provided with viable cows.
 
Nisha said:
The fundraising total has been raised!
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A great effort by the Zoos SA community and the 4000 plus people who donated towards this project.

While this is the beginning of the end of elephants in New Zealand, it’s the start of the region’s third breeding herd and I look forward to seeing the herd grow over the years to come within this phenomenal complex.
 
It’s interesting to note that the successful fundraising has been for phase one of the elephant complex. There’s been little indication of what this will entail, beyond the renovation of the old elephant facilities.

Phase two will presumably be around receiving the two additional cows. I’m thinking the exisiting barn will be divided in two (initially housing the bull and two cows); with an additional barn then built to house the bull. The division within the original barn would then remain in place to facilitate the introduction of Burma/Permai to the new cows.

Pak Boon and Tang Mo are widely believed to be the additional cows, but it’s interesting to note Burma/Permai won’t be on site until late 2024 (probably 2025); with at least another year before the Taronga cows can be received (circa 2026). Aside from the infrastructure needed, they’ll want to ensure Burma and Permai are sufficiently bonded.

Pak Boon last gave birth in 2017, so they’ll certainly be pushing the limits re. birth intervals. The largest birth interval in the region to date has been nine years (2013-2022) and unless AI is undertaken at Taronga prior to transfer, Pak Boon would be looking at even longer.
 
Coverage on the ABC News website:

Elephant to catch 'jumbo jet' to South Australia after fundraising campaign realised

Elephants will return to a South Australian zoo for the first time in nearly 30 years, after thousands of people donated to help establish a new habitat.

Zoos SA, which runs the Monarto Safari Park south of Adelaide, had set a fundraising goal of just over $2 million to contribute to building a new habitat and the initial transfer of three elephants.

The organisation's chief executive, Elaine Bensted, said an anonymous $1 million donation had helped it achieve its goal in less than a month.

...​
 
Simon Hampel said:
Coverage on the ABC News website:

Elephant to catch 'jumbo jet' to South Australia after fundraising campaign realised

Elephants will return to a South Australian zoo for the first time in nearly 30 years, after thousands of people donated to help establish a new habitat.

Zoos SA, which runs the Monarto Safari Park south of Adelaide, had set a fundraising goal of just over $2 million to contribute to building a new habitat and the initial transfer of three elephants.

The organisation's chief executive, Elaine Bensted, said an anonymous $1 million donation had helped it achieve its goal in less than a month.

...​
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According to this source, the acquisition of the additional females might happen sooner rather than later:

Ms Bensted said the new habitat would be built to house more elephants in the future. "Our aim would be to have another two females join that herd very, very quickly," she said.

Assuming Pak Boon is one of the cows in question, this may well have been influenced by the time constraints on her reproductive health as outlined above. From a herd dynamics perspective, it would be preferable to introduce the additional females before Burma or Permai has chance to establish a hierarchy which would then be disrupted.

If the 1.2 from Auckland and Perth arrive late 2024/early 2025, we could potentially see the additional cows transferred in by mid-2025!
 
The fact that the intention is to introduce further cows as quickly as possible makes me think that it likely that discussions are already being had with Taronga for the sourcing of a pair of cows from within the region. An import from overseas would be a much lengthier process, and I can't see Australia Zoo nor WORZ/MZ re-shuffling their herds.

As with most commenters, my money would be on Pak Boon and Tang Mo, although if the priority is setting up a third breeding herd within the region, a complete reshuffle of Taronga's elephants could be an option as Pak Boon and Tang Mo have former companions among the Dubbo herd, enabling Monarto to take on two potential breeding cows rather than just one (Pak Boon).
 
marmolady said:
The fact that the intention is to introduce further cows as quickly as possible makes me think that it likely that discussions are already being had with Taronga for the sourcing of a pair of cows from within the region. An import from overseas would be a much lengthier process, and I can't see Australia Zoo nor WORZ/MZ re-shuffling their herds.

As with most commenters, my money would be on Pak Boon and Tang Mo, although if the priority is setting up a third breeding herd within the region, a complete reshuffle of Taronga's elephants could be an option as Pak Boon and Tang Mo have former companions among the Dubbo herd, enabling Monarto to take on two potential breeding cows rather than just one (Pak Boon).
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I agree imports from outside the region can be ruled out. Through no fault of our own (we have limited placements), we greatly under-utilise the valuable founder cows we already have. Bringing in more would be a massive waste of resources.

Kanlaya (2018) is the future of Dubbo’s herd and I’m confident she and Porntip will remain at Dubbo, but it’s not out of the question Thong Dee could transfer to Monarto. Like you say, she already knows Pak Boon and she has no daughters to tie her to a herd.

If that were to occur, I’d suggest Tang Mo accompanying Pak Boon (and Thong Dee) to Monarto would be preferable to sending her to Dubbo to take Thong Dee’s place. Dubbo are no doubt thrilled Anjalee has assimilated seamlessly into their herd and bring in Tang Mo could disrupt this. Given she’d do nothing to enhance Dubbo’s herd, I can’t see them taking the risk.

In summary, Pak Boon and Thong Dee to Monarto represents the ideal; but my assessment is Pak Boon and Tang Mo is more likely. At least it’ll motivate them to make use of Pak Boon! She could potentially have three calves over the next decade if bred at natural birth intervals.
 
Zoofan15 said:
I agree imports from outside the region can be ruled out. Through no fault of our own (we have limited placements), we greatly under-utilise the valuable founder cows we already have. Bringing in more would be a massive waste of resources.

Kanlaya (2018) is the future of Dubbo’s herd and I’m confident she and Porntip will remain at Dubbo, but it’s not out of the question Thong Dee could transfer to Monarto. Like you say, she already knows Pak Boon and she has no daughters to tie her to a herd.

If that were to occur, I’d suggest Tang Mo accompanying Pak Boon (and Thong Dee) to Monarto would be preferable to sending her to Dubbo to take Thong Dee’s place. Dubbo are no doubt thrilled Anjalee has assimilated seamlessly into their herd and bring in Tang Mo could disrupt this. Given she’d do nothing to enhance Dubbo’s herd, I can’t see them taking the risk.

In summary, Pak Boon and Thong Dee to Monarto represents the ideal; but my assessment is Pak Boon and Tang Mo is more likely. At least it’ll motivate them to make use of Pak Boon! She could potentially have three calves over the next decade if bred at natural birth intervals.
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The two females would almost certainly be Pak Boon and Tang Mo. Melbourne's herd will all be travelling over to Werribee; and I doubt Dubbo will send two females over from their already cohesive herd of which is on the small side.

If I was to read between the lines, the initial trio will probably be arriving late next year with Taronga's two girls following in 2025. By that time, Pak Boon will have last given birth eight years ago and a decade age gap now seems probably likely imo. I doubt they would look to undertake the costly procedure of AI when Pak Boon will have the natural opportunity with Putra Mas in a couple of years time.

Cows can conceive into their 50's, and whilst I doubt Pak Boon will do the same it's at least assuring that she'll still be able to have three or so calves in natural intervals, as she currently has no surviving relatives/descendants. Monarto could then potentially even acquire some of Dubbo's cows a decade down the line when they will require new females.
 
Babirusa said:
What is this information based on?
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This source:
Elephant to catch 'jumbo jet' to South Australia after fundraising campaign realised
and the following extract (also quoted by @Zoofan15 in post #54);
Ms Bensted said the new habitat would be built to house more elephants in the future. "Our aim would be to have another two females join that herd very, very quickly," she said.

Taronga currently have two cows (Pak Boon and Tang Mo) which fit the description and Taronga have previously mentioned plans to send them to another facility, of which was initially believed to be Dubbo but due to space constraints at Dubbo, may very well now be Monarto.

Aside from those two cows, options are slim as mentioned in above posts.

Both Werribee's and Australia's herds can be ruled out and Dubbo only has four females so it would be unwise to send a pair down to Monarto; especially if you consider it would have to be Porntip/Kanlaya; Kanlaya of which is Putra Mas's daughter.

Dubbo also wouldn't want to disrupt current herd dynamics, especially following Anjalee's arrival last year.
 
Babirusa said:
What is this information based on?
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The demographics of the Australasian regional population:

Melbourne have three viable cows, all of which have dependent calves and will be transferring as a cohesive herd to Werribee together next year.

Porntip and her juvenile daughter are the future of the Dubbo herd; along with Anjalee, who the zoo recently publicly stated would be breeding at Dubbo.

Taronga have two cows that have been publicly announced to be leaving Taronga in the future. Dubbo will struggle to accomodate them before the construction of the new barn and receiving them could unbalance herd dynamics.
 
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