North American African Elephant Population

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Seven year old 0.1 Kalina passed away on March 26, 2019 at the Indianapolis Zoo.
Second African elephant dies at Indianapolis Zoo in a week | CBS 4 - Indianapolis News | WTTV

Kalina’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.

With the loss of three young genetically valuable females, the reproduction of African elephants in North America will need to significantly improve to ensure the sustainability of the population.

The North American population now consists of 194 (37.157) African elephants.
 
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I wonder who will also form the bachelor herd. Maybe Mpumi and Tsavo from for instance?

I've also heard Emanti and Mac are going to be paired with the 47-year old Tonya. Like that's gonna work out for breeding...
 
1.0 Macembe and 1.0 Emanti were transferred from the San Diego Zoo Safari Park to the Caldwell Zoo on April 5, 2019.
Caldwell Zoo’s newest residents, Emanti and Macembe, thriving in their new home | Tyler Morning Telegraph

Yi Qi said:
I wonder who will also form the bachelor herd. Maybe Mpumi and Tsavo for instance?
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Since the San Diego Zoo Safari Park has a number of young bulls, I would recommend Ingadze, Lutsandvo, and Inhlonipho be transferred to the Caldwell Zoo. In addition, Macembe and Emanti have already socialized with these bulls so there would be no need for an integration.

It’s very unlikely Mpumi will join the bachelor herd as she’s female. It’s possible Tsavo could be transferred to Caldwell however he’s genetically valuable through his late mother Moyo.

Yi Qi said:
I've also heard Emanti and Mac are going to be paired with the 47-year old Tonya. Like that's gonna work out for breeding...
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The purpose of Macembe and Emanti’s transfer was to provide Tonya with companionship after the passing of Rolinda. Since the Caldwell Zoo has intentions to develop a bachelor herd, it would make sense to relocate Tonya to another zoo, such as Cameron Park Zoo, to socialize with elephants of the same age and gender.
 
Because we can't resist speculating about, who will go where, here are some candidates for where Callee could be going to, some of which are less likely then others:
  • Sedgewick County Zoo
  • San Deigo Safari Park
  • Dallas Zoo
  • Disney’s Animal Kingdom
  • Reid Park Zoo
  • Zoo Tampa
  • Pittsburgh Zoo
  • San Diego Zoo Safari Park
  • Fresno Chaffee Zoo
  • Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
As for the two new calves, I think good candidates could be Maryland Zoo's Samson and Sedgewick County's Titane, who are around the right age to be transffered if i'm not mistaken.
 
OoooOO I me love some good 'ol speculation!

Ok lets see I'll add my two cents:

  • Sedgewick County Zoo Nope, they just got a new bull recently
  • San Deigo Safari Park Maybe, but I highly doubt it. That would be combining the two most genetically overrepresented bulls in NA.
  • Dallas Zoo I'd say this one is a high likelyhood.
  • Disney’s Animal Kingdom Nope. He's a half brother to two of their 6 potential breeding females, and additionally he has a half brother there as well, who serves the same purpose he would.
  • Reid Park Zoo Nope. They just got Mabu again recently.
  • Zoo Tampa Also no. ZT's breeding program kind of sucks. They probably won't get a new bull for another 3-5 years at the absolute least.
  • Pittsburgh Zoo Nope. He's a son, full, or half brother to all of their potential breeding cows.
  • San Diego Zoo Safari Park Department of redundancy department ;)
  • Fresno Chaffee Zoo Nope. They already have Vus Musi, and are working hard to get calves from him.
  • Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Nope. Their cows are all well past the age limit for first breeding (three of the six are at or pushing 50!) even if a few of them might still be cycling.

Also for the two new males, I don't think either of those bulls will be it. Maryland is just getting ready to open anew exhibit, so they'll want all the elephants they can get, plus they already have an adult bull for Samson to socialize with. Sedgewick could definitely spare Titan, and I would be less surprised to see him go, but at the same time he has many same age cows to "practice" with, plus a mature bull to "learn the ropes" from as well.

My personal guess would be two males from the SDWAP, specifically Lutsandvo and Ingadze. They're both hitting sexual maturity, have female half or full siblings at the same facility who are cycling, are already socialized, and will have each other as a support system when they move.
 
Funny. I did consider putting SDSP. I also considering Callee could go to Granby Zoo, but that's a pipe dream at best.
 
Yi Qi said:
Funny. I did consider putting SDSP. I also considering Callee could go to Granby Zoo, but that's a pipe dream at best.
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Why would he go to Granby? They already have a founder male for the NA population who is the same age. It wouldn't really make any sense to do that.
 
This is phenomenal news! I'm elated to hear that Callee is being moved to another zoo for breeding! I can't help but speculate as well so these are my predictions:

Montgomery Zoo - Montgomery, Alabama
The institution could definitely use a breeding bull as 0.1 Tanya (1984.00.00) hasn't bred in over a decade. In addition, her daughter, 0.1 Tonji (2007.11.07) has reached prime breeding age.

San Diego Zoo Safari Park - Escondido, California
Because 1.0 Msholo (1989.00.00) has failed to breed despite being with reproductively viable females, a new breeding bull should be acquired to kickstart their very successful breeding program. 0.1 Khosi (2006.09.11) and 0.1 Phakamile (2007.09.17) have both reached prime breeding age. Further, 0.1 Qinisa (2012.08.28) and 0.1 Mkhaya (2018.09.26) will be of breeding age in the coming years. As for the other females, 1.0 Mabhulane (1990.00.00) should continue to serve as their breeding bull as another bull, especially Callee, would complicate family relations.

North Carolina Zoo - Asheboro, North Carolina
The institution DESPERATELY NEEDS a viable breeding bull as 0.1 Tonga (1978.00.00) hasn't bred in nealry two decades! In addition, her daughter, 0.1 Batir (2002.01.21) needs to breed soon or we'll lose a very genetically valuable captive-born female!

Toldeo Zoo - Toledo, Ohio
Take this speculation with a very small grain of salt. The reason I'm considering the Toldeo Zoo is because the facility has the capability to house a bull and the institution is interested in producing another calf from 0.1 Renee (1979.00.00). However, artificial insemination will probably be the path they take as Renee has, to my knowledge, never bred naturally.

In addition, these are my predictions on the new bulls for Birmingham, from most likely to very unlikely:

• Ingadze (2009.03.13) San Diego Zoo Safari Park
• Lutsandvo (2010.02.14) San Diego Zoo Safari Park
• Inhlonipho (2011.09.26) San Diego Zoo Safari Park
• Tsavo (2008.06.28) Disney Animal Kingdom
• Jabali (2011.08.24) Disney Animal Kingdom
• Titane (2009.00.00) Sedgwick County Zoo
• Tsandzikle (2010.12.27) Reid Park Zoo
• Lucas (2011.06.03) Toledo Zoo
 
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cmrButton5 said:
Omaha Henry Doorly announced on their Facebook page today that Callee will be moving there
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Wow. What a ****ing waste. Granted, Louie hasn't had that much success breeding, but the suggestions Elephant Enthusiast are far superior to Henry Doorly.
 
An interesting move, to say the least. I'll assume in this case, that Louie has thus far failed to breed the cows there naturally (sadly not surprising, given his upbringing). However there is the off chance that Louie has indeed been breeding the cows, and this is a preemptive move by the SSP to establish a long term breeding herd, without the need for any outgoing cow transfers or incoming bull transfers for the next 20+ years. This system actually works extremely well (look at Koln Zoo in Germany, with two breeding bulls, for instance), as the bulls are able to breed back to each others offspring.

Of course assuming the worst, and Louie is currently a behavioral non-breeder, like his sire, perhaps the addition of the slightly older and very confident Callee will help stimulate the breeding instinct in Louie. Or perhaps (although I truly hope this doesn't happen), Louie may be one of the bulls due to arrive at Birmingham.
 
Hyak_II said:
An interesting move, to say the least. I'll assume in this case, that Louie has thus far failed to breed the cows there naturally (sadly not surprising, given his upbringing). However there is the off chance that Louie has indeed been breeding the cows, and this is a preemptive move by the SSP to establish a long term breeding herd, without the need for any outgoing cow transfers or incoming bull transfers for the next 20+ years. This system actually works extremely well (look at Koln Zoo in Germany, with two breeding bulls, for instance), as the bulls are able to breed back to each others offspring.

Of course assuming the worst, and Louie is currently a behavioral non-breeder, like his sire, perhaps the addition of the slightly older and very confident Callee will help stimulate the breeding instinct in Louie. Or perhaps (although I truly hope this doesn't happen), Louie may be one of the bulls due to arrive at Birmingham.
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Seems Louie is not breeding, according to an article in the Omaha paper:
Zoo Director Dennis Pate stressed Tuesday that it’s urgent for Callee to breed. Three of the zoo’s five female elephants have been “in and out of heat,” he said.

“This isn’t something where we can just be patient with them,” he said. “We need to get these cows bred.”

The zoo added Louie, a male elephant, to its herd in 2017.

Despite Louie’s fertility at the time of his move, Pate said he hasn’t been “up to the task” of breeding.

The zoo decided that Callee was the best option for Omaha in regards to bringing in a new male elephant.


Zoo's elephant herd will grow by one — and hopefully more later
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
What are Louie's stats like? How old and how Manu previous successful breeding instances exactly?
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16 year old bull. Fairly tall and leggy, very nice tusks. I don't know exactly how large he is, but he's noticeably the largest elephant there.

Never bred before. Concieved via AI at Toledo zoo. His only companion was his mother from 2003 to 2010, they were the only 2 elephants at the zoo. In 2010 a new female (circus animal, 25 years old, never bred) came to the zoo. A year later Louie's mother had her second calf. At this point Louie was no longer allowed in with his mother, and was kept either alone or with the new cow. From 2011 to 2017 he was only allowed physical access to the new cow, Twiggy. He did start attempting to mount her, but who knows how far that actually went.

Mid 2017 he was transferred to Omaha. Almost immediately allowed access to the cows. He's a nice bull, confident, socially amiable, and likes to train, but socially stunted and never grew up with similar age cows or an older male role model to help guide him into proper sexual behaviors. I hope he figures things out with Callee to show him the ropes, but he might end up becoming a behavioral non-breeding like his sire (although given he is young and in a good social setting, I could easily see him breeding the cows naturally with time and experience).
 
Thanks for the elaborate explanatory notes! A clearcut case it seems and hopefully the AZA Elephant breeding program may learn from his example!

I hope experienced and older bull Callee will help him on a learning curve to become a future breeder!

BTW: In the wild bulls do not start breeding properly before ages 22-25!
 
If Mac and Emanti are at Caldwell, who are the candidates to join Bulwagi at Birmingham?

Which I feel still isn't getting enough credit nationally for graduating it's "first class" of young bulls in Callee, Ajani, and Tamani. Hell more ink has been spilled over Caldwell in the past week nationally than seven years with Birmingham. Which Caldwell is pretty on brand for the state of Texas. Copy something another Southern state does then pretend like you originated the idea.
 
I know Milwaukee County Zoo is looking for additional African elephant(s). Where might possible elephants come from. The zoo currently has Brittany and Ruth in their upper 30s
 
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