North American African Elephant Population

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Yi Qi said:
Looking over this list, I wonder who could go where. Lately I've been thinking:
  • Asha could go to Baltimore or Louisville, or alternatively Parc Safari or Granby to help develop their breeding program
  • Laura should likely go to Toledo, as its the closest (though it could have to mean swapping out either Renee or Twiggy)
  • Swapping out one of Dallas' calves, Tonya could go there.
If not, there's always the Sanctuaries. If my decisions are bad, please correct me on why they are
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Mmm, while its nice to ponder about, in reality things are a bit different.

Neither Asha or Laura are going anywhere anytime soon. With privately owned animals like them, unless they are forced by law, they will live out their lives at their current facilities.

Specifically for Asha, moving her on the premise of helping to develop a breeding program is a terrible idea. She is 36-37 years and has never bred. Even if she was able to conceive and carry the pregnancy to term (which is very unlikely) the birth would likely kill either her or the calf (or both). Additionally, all four of these facilities do want to expand their herd sizes and jump start their breeding programs, and a socially stunted non-breeding cow is not the right choice for that.

While for Laura, Toledo would likely enjoy adding another female to the herd, why in gods green earth would transferring out their only breeding cow for an upper middle aged non-breeder even be a consideration ?! Toledo has just in the past year and a half-ish socially integrated their three animals. It makes absolutely no sense to send out either Twiggy or Renee. I know Toledo is working on getting another calf out of Renee, so they probably wouldn't want to chance stressing her out and losing a potential pregnancy with the addition of a new animal right now anyway.

Dallas doesn't terribly much want any more animals at the moment, and when the time comes that they do add more animals to the herd, it will be in the form of births or a breeding bull, and not another geriatric non-breeding cow. Additionally, their only calf is two year old Ajabu, he will likely be at Dallas for the next 6-8 years at least. (also if they decided they *do* want to take on another geriatric cow, they wouldn't have to transfer anyone. Their exhibit can hold well over 10 elephants).
 
FYI, Laura passed away a couple years ago and Asha is not compatible with other elephants. It was tried in the past and did not work
 
Jaxton said:
Miss Bets, at the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, has passed away, the cause of death is still unknown. A devastating blow to the African Elephant SSP. The population is now 197 (37.160)
11-year-old female African elephant dies at the Fresno Chaffee Zoo
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Yi Qi said:
Cita passed away after a fight with Peggy according to a zoo's Facebook statement:
Zoo Miami
Zoo Miami Mourns Loss Of Elderly African Elephant “Cita”

Cita was pretty old and unable to breed anyway, so there's that. The population is now 196 (37.159).
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Eleven year old 0.1 Miss Bets passed away on February 9, 2019 at the Fresno Chaffee Zoo.
Fresno Chaffee Zoo African elephant dies | KMPH

Fifty year old 0.1 Cita passed away on February 22, 2019 at the Miami Zoo.
Zoo Miami Mourns Loss Of Elderly African Elephant “Cita” – CBS Miami

The North American population now consists of 196 (37.159) African elephants.
 
Six year old 0.1 Nyah passed away on March 19, 2019 at the Indianapolis Zoo.
A 6-year-old elephant has died at the Indianapolis Zoo | 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Nyah’s death is a devastating blow to the North American population of African elephants and the Indianapolis Zoo as she was a young reproductively viable female and a valuable member of the Indianapolis Zoo’s elephant herd.

The North American population now consists of 195 (37.158) African elephants.
 
John Marchwick said:
@Elephant Enthusiast how many elephants does the Indianapolis elephant herd have now?
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After Nyah's passing, the Indianapolis Zoo has 7 (1.6) African elephants.

Indianapolis Zoo - Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
1.0 Kedar (Bulwagi x Kubwa) 2005.10.18
0.1 Sophi 1968.00.00
0.1 Kubwa 1976.00.00
0.1 Tombi 1976.00.00
0.1 Ivory 1982.00.00
0.1 Zahara (Ali x Ivory) 2006.08.31
0.1 Kalina (Jackson x Kubwa) 2011.07.20

Even though I have no information on the breeding plans of their African elephants, I'm hoping the Indianapolis Zoo will artificially inseminate Kubwa and Ivory in the very near future. In addition, I'm hoping Kedar and Zahara will breed as both are nearing sexual maturity.
 
The elephant situation in Indianapolis‘ is a good example why US zoos are failing so badly to establish a self sustaining elephant population. Too little, too late.
No adult unrelated Bull, so no hope for natural breeding with normal 3-5 year calf intervals. Two breeding females in their prime who should have had serveral more calves then they did. A young female (Zahara) who has, most likely since years, reached sexual maturity but no acess to a mature bull. Another young female who should start cycling every moment and has no hope for natural breeding neither. Hope that AI will fix all problems but it actually makes everything worse because it delays the necessary transfers and decisions for decades.
 
Not sure if this is true or not but do elephants pelvic? bones fuse if they are not bred early (i.e. as soon as they reach breeding age) and this can cause complications if they become pregnant later in life? Not sure if I read it or heard it somewhere or if it's true for a different animal.
 
Yassa said:
The elephant situation in Indianapolis‘ is a good example why US zoos are failing so badly to establish a self sustaining elephant population. Too little, too late.
No adult unrelated Bull, so no hope for natural breeding with normal 3-5 year calf intervals. Two breeding females in their prime who should have had serveral more calves then they did. A young female (Zahara) who has, most likely since years, reached sexual maturity but no acess to a mature bull. Another young female who should start cycling every moment and has no hope for natural breeding neither. Hope that AI will fix all problems but it actually makes everything worse because it delays the necessary transfers and decisions for decades.
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I completely agree with you @Yassa. Artificial insemination, a valuable assisted reproductive technique that has contributed to numerous elephant births, hinders the reproduction of both Asian and African elephants in North America. Even though Kubwa and Ivory are excellent candidates for artificial insemination, I believe a proven breeding bull should be acquired to achieve normal calving intervals. The Indianapolis Zoo has the space and capability to house a bull, as evidence by 1.0 Maclean residing at the zoo from April 2005 to December 2007, so the only difficulty would be acquiring a successful breeding bull.

katinakalinakaterina said:
Not sure if this is true or not but do elephants pelvic? bones fuse if they are not bred early (i.e. as soon as they reach breeding age) and this can cause complications if they become pregnant later in life? Not sure if I read it or heard it somewhere or if it's true for a different animal.
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It's true. Around the age of 20 to 30, an elephant's pelvic bones begin to fuse as with any other animal. If a female elephant doesn't reproduce by age 25, there can be complications with the pregnancy and birth as the mother's pelvic region has already developed leaving minimal room for the calf to develop and pass through the birth canal during labour.
 
You know what the worst part is? Animal rights activists are probably going to get legislation that will ban elephant breeding by the time we just begin to sort it out.
 
katinakalinakaterina said:
Not sure if this is true or not but do elephants pelvic? bones fuse if they are not bred early (i.e. as soon as they reach breeding age) and this can cause complications if they become pregnant later in life? Not sure if I read it or heard it somewhere or if it's true for a different animal.
Click to expand...

This is partially true. The joints that allow the pelvic opening to stretch for calf birth do indeed become less flexible and eventually fuse over time, however this is not 100% the reason why, as some cows have had their first calves at rather advanced ages and were able to give birth just fine.

The other issue, and this is a BIG one, is uterine pathologies. As cows age, and undergo progressive continual cycles without falling pregnant, they become more and more prone to developing issues with their uterus, ovaries, and uterine horns. Many older, non breeding cows have fibroids, scarring of the uterine wall, ovarian cysts, and other issues that prevent the successful implantation of a fertilized ova, or conversely, even if an egg manages to implant, can cause hormonal issues that prevent the cow from carrying the pregnancy to term. I know this has been an issue for at least 1 cow in the US in recent years.
 
Oh no, this is an absolutely devastating blow for poor indy, losing BOTH of their young cows within a week. Thank god they still have their two breeding cows and young female Zahara, at least they still have the potential to build the herd back up again. Also for whatever reason, Africans just seem to be largely asymptomatic towards EEHV, I'm not certain if they've found anything concrete to determine why that is. However this this truly was caused by EEHV, this will be the first african calf lost to it in NA, and I believe only the second ever affected by it.
 
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