By the way, there is surrisingly high number of young female african elephants in US zoos that have reached sexual maturity, but have not had a calf yet and no hope for (natural) breeding in the near future... Pittsburgh, San Diego Safari, Indianapolis, Disney`s WAP, Salt Lake City...Something needs to happen ASAP or the next generation of young female elephants is too old!!
North American African Elephant Reproduction
- Thread starter Elephant Enthusiast
- Start date
I believe Pittsburgh is using AI on Victoria, San Diego's girls can breed with Msholo, though Msholo hasn't proved he is fertile, Indianapolis's Zahara can breed with Kedar, Disney's girls can breed with Maclean, and SLC's Zuri has a few years until she is ready for breeding and by then they will probably attempt AI.
Is it not time to have Msholo reproductively evaluated? 
With the transfer of 0.1 Nolwazi and 0.1 Amahle from the Dallas Zoo to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, that'll enable the Fresno Chaffee Zoo to establish a breeding herd of African elephants.
While elated that the Fresno Chaffee Zoo is participating in the reproduction of African elephants, it should have acquired elephants from institutions that need their elephants to breed. For example, the North Carolina Zoo has failed to produce a calf despite the acquisition of breeding aged elephants. Unfortunately, most of the female elephants are now post reproductive due to lack of breeding. However, there is one female who is still reproductively viable. 0.1 Batir is 16 years old which is the ideal breeding age. Since 1.0 C'sar and 1.0 Artie have been unsuccessful in breeding, Batir and her mother Tonga should be transferred to another zoo.
The Fresno Chaffee Zoo would be the ideal facility for Batir and Tonga. Batir and Miss Bets share the same father Willie so breeding them to Vusmusi would simplify family relations. In addition, Vusmusi, Batir, and Miss Bets are genetically valuable and their potential offspring would have little relation among other elephants within the population. Further, Tonga would serve as the matriarch, providing guidance and leadership to Batir and Miss Bets. Ultimately, Tonga and Batir should be transferred to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo for improved breeding opportunities and the development of a matriarchal herd.
While elated that the Fresno Chaffee Zoo is participating in the reproduction of African elephants, it should have acquired elephants from institutions that need their elephants to breed. For example, the North Carolina Zoo has failed to produce a calf despite the acquisition of breeding aged elephants. Unfortunately, most of the female elephants are now post reproductive due to lack of breeding. However, there is one female who is still reproductively viable. 0.1 Batir is 16 years old which is the ideal breeding age. Since 1.0 C'sar and 1.0 Artie have been unsuccessful in breeding, Batir and her mother Tonga should be transferred to another zoo.
The Fresno Chaffee Zoo would be the ideal facility for Batir and Tonga. Batir and Miss Bets share the same father Willie so breeding them to Vusmusi would simplify family relations. In addition, Vusmusi, Batir, and Miss Bets are genetically valuable and their potential offspring would have little relation among other elephants within the population. Further, Tonga would serve as the matriarch, providing guidance and leadership to Batir and Miss Bets. Ultimately, Tonga and Batir should be transferred to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo for improved breeding opportunities and the development of a matriarchal herd.
I think they might here soon. I talked to zoo keeper Rick Schwartz and he said that there gonna try and see if Khosi and Phakamile will breed with Msholo
Couldn’t any of the parks male juvenile elephants like Ingadze breed with any of these females?
Ingadze and Khosi are full siblings, and Phakamile and Ingadze are half-siblings. All of the calves at the park are half-siblings or siblings.
I met at other zoos around the US for the parks male elephants to breed at. Mabu hasn’t had any grandchildren yet and I was just wondering if any of the juveniles like Ingadze could breed with any females in the US like Batir and Tonga in North Carolina.
Sorry in that last post i thought you were intending he breed with his sisters. It is very possible for him to breed with Batir or Tonga(or other females around the us) but i think that we would have to wait a few years. Ingadze still isn’t fully mature.
I guess that’s true. But do u know of any other male African elephants that would be good candidates for Tonga and Batir to breed with?
Litsemba at the Reid Park Zoo is Pregnant! This is her fourth calf! She is due in the Spring of 2020.
Big News! Semba the elephant is pregnant
Big News! Semba the elephant is pregnant
Wow, great, *another* Mabu calf. I'm sssoooooo happy that the most genetically over-represented animal in the entire US region is having another calf. Absolutely thrilling. Considering that he is a good natured and very experienced breeding bull, I'm very happy that he keeps on breeding with the same females he already has multiple offspring with. Moving him from facility to facility every 1-2 years to breed with aging cows that desperately need to have a calf to maintain their reproductive health who might not do so well with an inexperienced bull or don't have pregnancies take with AI would be an absolutely rediculous notion. Completely silly.
Even better is that there definitely aren't 8+ bulls who have little or no representation in the United States who are just wasting away in non breeding situations, who could desperately stand to go to a breeding facility with experienced, proven cows, like San Diego and Reid Park where Mabu is just breeding away.
Absolutely thrilling.
Even better is that there definitely aren't 8+ bulls who have little or no representation in the United States who are just wasting away in non breeding situations, who could desperately stand to go to a breeding facility with experienced, proven cows, like San Diego and Reid Park where Mabu is just breeding away.
Absolutely thrilling.
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Yi Qi
Well-Known Member
Not sure if sarcasm or not.
Of course it is.
Perhaps the genetic over representation issue could be solved if some of Mabu’s offspring were sent to Europe or some other region that’s having trouble with African elephant breeding?
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Its simply not a viable solution. Australia does not have any African elephant program, nor should it. It has a limited number of facilities that are dedicated to actually housing proper herds, and with a founder group of 3.6, they are well set to slowly expand their population to holding capacity over the next 20-30 years, without worrying about new imports into the region or the establishment of the African species.
In terms of sending a Mabu bull to Europe, and perhaps getting a bull froM Europe in exchange, there's simply no point in doing so at this point in time. Both populations have a decent number of founder males that are either poorly or non represented, so they priority should be placed on breeding these bulls before any exports are done. (Fwiw, there actually are two captive bred European bulls in North America right now, and surprise surprise, neither of them are actually in breeding situations).
In terms of sending a Mabu bull to Europe, and perhaps getting a bull froM Europe in exchange, there's simply no point in doing so at this point in time. Both populations have a decent number of founder males that are either poorly or non represented, so they priority should be placed on breeding these bulls before any exports are done. (Fwiw, there actually are two captive bred European bulls in North America right now, and surprise surprise, neither of them are actually in breeding situations).
So what to be done about the over representation of Mabu's genes? The only other solution I can think of is culling, but that would never fly in an American zoo for multiple reasons.
Alright, so I just spent the past little while here tallying some things up for everyone here. Listed below are all the founding bulls, their total living descendants, and their male descendants currently contributing to the NA and European populations. As you can see, there is a rather distinct divide, between bulls who are pumping out copious amounts of offspring, and bulls who are merely providing a small trickle of new genetics, or none at all (especially in North America). Animals with a "*" behind their name are currently in breeding situations where they have a realistic hope of siring offspring via natural breeding.
There would be no point in sending a Mabu offspring to Europe, as they currently have six bulls with absolutely no representation whatsoever, and they should be prioritized over an imported bull. Happily, however, the majority of their genetically valuable bulls are indeed in breeding situations, and those that aren't (sans Carl) stand a good chance of entering a breeding situation, via either AI or natural methods, within the next 2-5 years.
However, in North America, our founder representation is absolutely ABYSMAL. Two males together have sired over twice as many offspring as all the other males combined. Absolutely pathetic. There are TEN bulls who are completely unrepresented, who are wasting away at facilities where they have no realistic chance of breeding naturally.
In regards to the issue of mabu's genes, there's absolutely ZERO need to cull any of his offspring, all that's needed is to pull Mabu from major production. For the time being, I would simply put his male offspring into bachelor situations as they come of age, and that would solve the issue of all his male offspring. Birmingham could easily house 2-3 of his calves alone.
In terms of Mabu himself, as I insinuated, I actually would NOT like to see mMabu stopped from breeding. Instead I would like to see him jumping from facility to facility every few years, breeding with cows that desperately need to be bred. Asali at Memphis, Christi and Zuri at Hogle, Tonga and Batir at North Carolina, Makena and Tanya at Montgomery, Felix at Atlanta, Victoria, Angelina, Zuri, and Savannah at Pittsburgh, Moja at Wildlife Safari, these are all older cows that are in desperate need of producing a calf to ensure their continued reproductive health, or young cows at ideal ages for a first calf. While it would obviously be preferable to breed these cows with more valuable bulls, some of them have never been with a bull in their lives, and others may not accept the advances of a less experienced bull. Mabu is in an ideal place (30 years old, has successfully bred many times with 6 different cows, gentle yet assertive, good with calves, well trained, used to transfers, etc...) to keep these cows breeding and setting them up well for future interactions with other bulls, or even just "resetting their timers" to give the zoos more time to try and get them pregnant via AI.
Mabu*-12 offspring with 1 more on the way
Bulwagi-3 offspring
Junot-no offspring
Tutume-no offspring
Tuffy-no offspring (might be AI only)
Tonka-no offspring
Artie-no offspring (might be AI only)
Osh-no offspring (might be AI only)
Vus'musi*-no offspring
Tendaji*-no offspring
Titan*-no offspring
Non breeders
C'zar (seminal duct issues)
Willy (non fertile/possibly castrated)
M'sholo (might be viable via AI)
Europe
Yossi-12 offspring, 7 grandoffspring, 3 (confirmed) great grand offspring
Jums*-12 offspring, 3 grandoffspring (plus two more that are either his calves or grandcalves)
Jack*-2 offspring
Carl-no offspring
Ben-no offspring
Shaka-no offspring
Tooth*-no offspring
Sutton-no offspring (only 4 years old)
There would be no point in sending a Mabu offspring to Europe, as they currently have six bulls with absolutely no representation whatsoever, and they should be prioritized over an imported bull. Happily, however, the majority of their genetically valuable bulls are indeed in breeding situations, and those that aren't (sans Carl) stand a good chance of entering a breeding situation, via either AI or natural methods, within the next 2-5 years.
However, in North America, our founder representation is absolutely ABYSMAL. Two males together have sired over twice as many offspring as all the other males combined. Absolutely pathetic. There are TEN bulls who are completely unrepresented, who are wasting away at facilities where they have no realistic chance of breeding naturally.
In regards to the issue of mabu's genes, there's absolutely ZERO need to cull any of his offspring, all that's needed is to pull Mabu from major production. For the time being, I would simply put his male offspring into bachelor situations as they come of age, and that would solve the issue of all his male offspring. Birmingham could easily house 2-3 of his calves alone.
In terms of Mabu himself, as I insinuated, I actually would NOT like to see mMabu stopped from breeding. Instead I would like to see him jumping from facility to facility every few years, breeding with cows that desperately need to be bred. Asali at Memphis, Christi and Zuri at Hogle, Tonga and Batir at North Carolina, Makena and Tanya at Montgomery, Felix at Atlanta, Victoria, Angelina, Zuri, and Savannah at Pittsburgh, Moja at Wildlife Safari, these are all older cows that are in desperate need of producing a calf to ensure their continued reproductive health, or young cows at ideal ages for a first calf. While it would obviously be preferable to breed these cows with more valuable bulls, some of them have never been with a bull in their lives, and others may not accept the advances of a less experienced bull. Mabu is in an ideal place (30 years old, has successfully bred many times with 6 different cows, gentle yet assertive, good with calves, well trained, used to transfers, etc...) to keep these cows breeding and setting them up well for future interactions with other bulls, or even just "resetting their timers" to give the zoos more time to try and get them pregnant via AI.
Mabu*-12 offspring with 1 more on the way
- Ingadze
- Lutsandvo
- eMacembe
- Emanti
- Tsandzikle
- Neepo
- Zuli
- Callee
- Tsavo*
- Lucas
Bulwagi-3 offspring
- Louie*
- Kedar*
- Tamani
- Ajani*
- Jabali*
Junot-no offspring
Tutume-no offspring
Tuffy-no offspring (might be AI only)
Tonka-no offspring
Artie-no offspring (might be AI only)
Osh-no offspring (might be AI only)
Vus'musi*-no offspring
Tendaji*-no offspring
Titan*-no offspring
Non breeders
C'zar (seminal duct issues)
Willy (non fertile/possibly castrated)
M'sholo (might be viable via AI)
Europe
Yossi-12 offspring, 7 grandoffspring, 3 (confirmed) great grand offspring
- Osh
- Niko
- Nino
- Leon*
- Pembe*
- Akili
- Izik
- Noah
- Boten
- Laci*
- Junmar*
- Toranzo
- Toribio
- Junmar*
Jums*-12 offspring, 3 grandoffspring (plus two more that are either his calves or grandcalves)
- Junmar*
- Toranzo
- Toribio
- Jassa*
- Janu
- Mchumba
- Impy
- Kibo*
- Tamo
- Tuluba
- Uli
- Shawu
- Jogi
- Coco*
- Nusu
- Yambo
- Martin
- Toranzo
- Tutume
- Kando
- Ayo
- M'Changa
- Jabu
- Kito
- Kimani
- Abu*
- Ayo
- Jambo*
- Bou Bou
Jack*-2 offspring
- Kito
- Kimani
Carl-no offspring
Ben-no offspring
Shaka-no offspring
Tooth*-no offspring
Sutton-no offspring (only 4 years old)
Elephantelephant
Well-Known Member
I think it would be wrong to send Sdudla to San Diego. Msholo doesn't cover, and Mabu's daughters would have a chance to breed. Mabu could arrive at Lowry Park a year later. The elephants in the Lowry Park still do not have other baby elephants, which Mabu would certainly very soon repair and could also treat their two young daughters. Sdudla would also be successful in San Diego, staying there for about two years, and then returning to Reid Park. I think the elephants in the Lowry Park need some excitement. And the new bull would do that. And in San Diego and Reid Park Sdudla would take Mabu's place.