Chester Zoo More news at Chester

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True, Thi could do with a break, but she is the most productive and fertile of all the elephants. You wouldn't want to leave too long a gap in case she shuts down her cycling. Still don't understand why there will be no matings this year.

Yeah, Sundara is Chang x Sithami, making her inbred as Sithami was Chang's daughter.
 
I would rather see 'Upali' stay a good deal longer than 3/4 years. He's only sired one calf so far and until he has sired several more I think it would be wise not to move him on. I think the reality is he'll probably be there some years yet...;)
 
I don`t think there is any danger that Thi could shut down her reproductive system in the next 10 years without breeding! The problem that elephant females become non-reproductive after a long time without breeding only concerns females who had just one calf and then none for a long time (8-10 years seems to be the critical time frame). A female who already went through 6 full-term pregnancies won`t develop cycsts or hormonal problems even after a long time without breeding.
 
I would like to see Upali stay longer than what is planned for him. It sounds rather silly tomove him if you ask me.

Interesting to see the Mongooses shall be joining the Red River Hogs, it will be nice to see how they get on together.
 
Chesters problems will begin in 3-4 years time when they have two young bull elephants that will need another home. Therefore if Upali manages to succesfully mate 3-4 females (not really sure how many breeding elephants they have) then Upali will be represented quite well within the herd. Therefore probably the right time to move a valuable bull elehant on, esp with the two young bulls growning up and need accomodation away from the females to prevent inbreeding. These bulls will be harder to place than Upali i persume.
 
bongorob said:
I was again told that the cheetahs are from Saudi Arabia. Could this be the place of export and not the origin of the animals perhaps? The cheetahs are siblings and once quarantine is completed Chester and Whipsnade will exchange some stock.
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I do not know the cheetah market in Saudi all that well I am afraid. I know several locations now keep southern cheetahs (S.Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia). Siblings you say ... so these are youngish, perhaps bred locally ...? I am confused on this.

But it is equally possible these are confiscations from abroad. The wildllife trade between Sudan/Somalia/Ethiopia/Chad/Niger and rich ME countries is still rife and turns up many rare and endangered taxa. So quite possibly they could be northeastern in origin. Again, I can not make out what is the right taxon here! :confused:

Anyhow, you talk plural ... how many sibling cheetahs are we talking about?

And slightly off topic here: Does anyone know when Whipsnade got their northeastern cheetah for the breeding project?
 
Apparently they have 2.1 already, with 1.2 coming soon. The information was supplied by a carnivore section keeper. This is the second time a keeper has given the origin as Saudi Arabia. They are supposed to be A.j.soemmeringii. I do not know their age.
 
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taun said:
Chesters problems will begin in 3-4 years time when they have two young bull elephants that will need another home. Therefore if Upali manages to succesfully mate 3-4 females (not really sure how many breeding elephants they have) then Upali will be represented quite well within the herd.
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It will present a similar situation as previously with Chang, plus the two youngsters Assam & Pochin. They went to a Belgian park, he went to France as a breeding male.

Potential or breeding females at Chester; Thi, Jangoli, Sithami, Sundara & (possibly) Birma- 5. I reckon Upali will be there a few years yet before they need to move him on. If they aren't having any more matings until 2009 then calves will be expected about 2011 at the earliest, that's if breedings go according to plan....

My only concern is for the as yet unbred 'Birma'- I should have thought trying to breed from her a.s.a.p was the best course- but presumably they know best...;)
 
Chester don't want to breed from Sundara until she is 7 or 8, which will make it around 2012.
 
I would say that they are not confirmed at the moment, but then I could be wrong but the introductions went so well and he has been seen mating all the females. So its more fingers crossed I believe at this stage.

Am sure someone with more knowledge will beable to confirm them or not
 
taun said:
I would say that they are not confirmed at the moment, but then I could be wrong but the introductions went so well and he has been seen mating all the females. So its more fingers crossed I believe at this stage.

Am sure someone with more knowledge will beable to confirm them or not
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I've sent an email, so hopefully I should have some answers soonish...
 
The keeper I spoke to said they were thought to be pregnant. As happened with the Sumatran birth in February, it is not always apparent that the female is pregnant. I would guess though, that the Borneans are.
 
CZJimmy said:
I've sent an email, so hopefully I should have some answers soonish...
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Do they reply to you? I have only ever sent two emails to them and I never got a response!

It will be great to see a few more babies around there, do anyone know chesters breeding records with both species?
 
I find it a bit hit and miss, some e-mails and letters are answered. Some are not. I've been waiting for 4 weeks for a response from Chester regarding identifying a cactus which I photographed.

The membership office are good at replying.
 
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