Wisp O' Mist
Well-Known Member
This is beyond awesome! It could be game changing!
North American Asian Elephant Population 2024
- Thread starter E Maximus
- Start date
This is beyond awesome! It could be game changing!
The best news for this population in a long time! I've said for a while that an effective treatment or vaccine for EEHV is the number one thing needed to improve the US Asian elephant population. EEHV has taken a lot of younger elephants' lives in recent years. The herds at places such as ABQ BioPark Zoo and Rosamond Gifford Zoo, both of which suffered multiple EEHV-related deaths, would be in a much better position had this vaccine been in existence.
Frankie_number_1_fan
Well-Known Member
100%. We've lost over a dozen elephants to EEHV in the past decade alone, and that's just in the Asian Elephant department. Looking at herds who lost female calves especially, like Oregon and ABQ for instance, it's so evident that these losses have had impact. We've continued to have births, but with rhe amount of deaths we've practically made zero progress. This vaccine might genuinely be what ensures that the NA population can finally begin to really grow.
and in 2024 in the United States we’ve already had an elephant die from EEHV. Granted it was an African elephant and not an Asian elephant but still. This vaccine I think is a very good step in the right direction.
Frankie_number_1_fan
Well-Known Member
Also lovely news from Cincinnati, Jati appears to have been successfully integrated into the Dublin herd and is now spending time with them in Elephant Trek! Fingers crossed the intros to the other girls go just as smoothly!
This is a major break-through and certainly worth further investigation and usage within the zoo community. I do hope this information and vaccine advances are shared with other regions and that the captive community learn from knowledge transfer, open source exchange and equal sharing of vaccine research and data.
This is some of the greatest news for elephants in a long time. Thankful for everyone who put in their time and expertise to make this happen
Connie and Hank at Columbus will be headed to Tulsa Zoo later this summer!
Wisp O' Mist
Well-Known Member
I didn't expect this, but it's a pleasant surprise!
Hm, interesting news. But overall a fairly reasonable move as well. This will push Tulsa up to five elephants, and realistically, four of those five will likely be deceased within the next 10 years, leaving them with just Hank of the original five. Not that having five non-breeders on top of a breeding herd would be a big deal for Tulsa, their facility when fully finished will more than be able to accommodate that many animals.
While I would initially be somewhat reticent to be bringing in a breeding herd as well as taking on older non-breeders due to herpes and social concerns, realistically by the time Tulsa starts to have calves on the ground, which is likely still a minimum of three years away, hopefully the herpes vaccine will be well in place by then. And of course the facility is so expansive with enough yards that separating different social groups will be no problem.
This move also has the added bonus of bringing Hank in as a mentor bull. He will likely live for at least another 20 to 30 years, and has already proven himself to be socially affable and excellent with cows of all ages, adolescent males, and calves. A bull with all those qualities is always pleasant to have around! And while he is indeed a dud for breeding naturally, he is still fertile, and trained for semen collection. So absolutely an option for Tulsa to utilize down the road as well, should they so desire.
While I would initially be somewhat reticent to be bringing in a breeding herd as well as taking on older non-breeders due to herpes and social concerns, realistically by the time Tulsa starts to have calves on the ground, which is likely still a minimum of three years away, hopefully the herpes vaccine will be well in place by then. And of course the facility is so expansive with enough yards that separating different social groups will be no problem.
This move also has the added bonus of bringing Hank in as a mentor bull. He will likely live for at least another 20 to 30 years, and has already proven himself to be socially affable and excellent with cows of all ages, adolescent males, and calves. A bull with all those qualities is always pleasant to have around! And while he is indeed a dud for breeding naturally, he is still fertile, and trained for semen collection. So absolutely an option for Tulsa to utilize down the road as well, should they so desire.
Frankie_number_1_fan
Well-Known Member
Definitely surprised at this choice! Granted, Tulsa was the most likely candidate just in terms of space alone, but I have to say I am a bit shocked that they're bringing in more elephants before their entire facility is completed AND that said elephants are additional non-breeding individuals. Everything they've been saying social media-wise has pointed to the arrival of individuals to grow a multigenerational herd.
Tulsa does have the advantage of space however, and it's fairly obvious to me that Columbus simply couldn't handle Connie's socially difficult needs in their current facility and Tulsa was simply the only facility willing to take them on as a pair, especially given Hank's status as a nonbreeder. Tulsa could still easily welcome several breeding cows and a breeding bull without being anywhere near capacity, which I'm sure was considered here.
As pointed out by others though, having Hank does put Tulsa in a great position in the near future once they do have calves on the ground. He will not only be a great companion to future breeding bulls when they're not with females, but he easily allows Tulsa to have a bachelor grouping onsite. Honestly I think this role will be great for Hank, and Tulsa's facility allows him to continue being a companion for Connie until she passes.
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I wouldn’t be that sure about Tulsa not being anywhere near capacity with their new facility. Fact is, many zoos drastically overstate their capacity before and during construction, and once a new elephant facility is in use, they discover that keeping THAT many elephants is not possible/ practical. 2 big bulls is a lot for any zoo, and I severely doubt that can ‚easily‘ accommodate ANOTHER big bull (big bulls often can’t even share a fence!) AND another group of females. By the way, a group of breeding females is not available in the US anyway… Charlie Grey in Canada should have serveral to send away but it seems he is not cooperating with the SSP.
Wisp O' Mist
Well-Known Member
One would think that he'd be clamoring to get ALS's breeding-age female elephants out of Canada, given how uncertain the future of elephant captivity looks to be in that country.
Wisp O' Mist
Well-Known Member
I mean, I realize that, but why refuse to cooperate with the SSP? If he had any sense at all, he'd be cold calling every zoo in the US with Asian elephants just to gauge the likelihood of them being interested in ALS's herd.
Wisp O' Mist
Well-Known Member
Then he is a fool and in the zoo industry for all the wrong reasons.
Nile Hippo Expert
Well-Known Member
I think that Tulsa's four 50 year old elephants actually have a good chance at lasting another 10-20 years because they have excellent geriatric elephant care there, which was proven with their care for Gunda, who lived to be 68 years old, during her later years (she died in 2018).
Frankie_number_1_fan
Well-Known Member
It's genuinely impossible to guess how long Tulsa's herd will live. Some issues can only be treated so long and that has very little to do with the overall quality of care.
Nile Hippo Expert
Well-Known Member
According to this article, two other young elephants will also soon receive the vaccine in the next few weeks. The first-ever elephant herpesvirus vaccine injected in Houston Zoo | Houston Public Media