North American Asian Elephant Population 2024

Jambo said:
Rozie at ABQ has now entered her '24 hour birth watch' period, where she'll be observed for any signs of labor.

Although she could be due as far as January, keepers are confident she will birth around early December.

Update reported on socials.
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So I suppose we can check her off from the options for the cow that went into labor yesterday ;)! That leaves Shanti and Jade for known pregnancies and potentially an unannounced facility.
 
Frankie_number_1_fan said:
So I suppose we can check her off from the options for the cow that went into labor yesterday ;)! That leaves Shanti and Jade for known pregnancies and potentially an unannounced facility.
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Could also be a facility that hasn’t announced their pregnancy yet. Than again though something like this should go in the speculation thread.
 
Frankie_number_1_fan said:
So I suppose we can check her off from the options for the cow that went into labor yesterday ;)! That leaves Shanti and Jade for known pregnancies and potentially an unannounced facility.
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I don't believe it's Jade too, they only posted an update on her pregnancy yesterday on their socials.

That leaves Shanti, who's exact due date hasn't been confirmed (other than late 2024).
 
King of Komodo Dragons said:
Male calf named Jet was born at St. Louis Zoo to Jade. The father was Jake via artificial insemination

Saint Louis Zoo
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Was hoping for a J name for this little one :p

2024-25 is looking to be amazing for both populations, but especially the Asian population since we haven't seen too many births from them yearly. Now they've nearly tied with the African population this year! (If you don't count Asha's miscarriage)
 
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I have only just realized that Asian Elephants calves born in the U.S tend to be less uniquely named than African Elephants. Most zoos with African Elephant calves born in the past few years name the calves something meaningful in an African language in their natural area where they live in the wild, and have a deeper meaning, but that is not the case for Asian Elephants, as most calves have been named simple, easy to pronounce English names, I am surprised that more zoos with them don't do what zoo's with Africans do. It's not a bad thing, but it is something that I wanted to put out there.
 
Nile Hippo Expert said:
I have only just realized that Asian Elephants calves born in the U.S tend to be less uniquely named than African Elephants. Most zoos with African Elephant calves born in the past few years name the calves something meaningful in an African language in their natural area where they live in the wild, and have a deeper meaning, but that is not the case for Asian Elephants, as most calves have been named simple, easy to pronounce English names, I am surprised that more zoos with them don't do what zoo's with Africans do. It's not a bad thing, but it is something that I wanted to put out there.
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I think it depends a lot on how they got their animals imo. Zoos like Omaha, San Diego Safai Park and Fresno all have directly African-born animals and so having African names is an obvious choice. Meanwhile there aren't any wild-born Asian elephant cows breeding, so there's a generations-wide disconnect there.
It also is zoo preference, likely keeper staff. Houston hasn't named a calf with an asian name in over 20 years, Fort Worth names their calves after Texan icons, Columbus lets donors name their calves, etc. Saint Louis did name their calves asian names up until Jet, but I guess with parents named "Jake and Jade" they felt a simpler name would be more fitting and I agree. I think Syracuse is the only zoo that has committed to Asian names for their calves iirc. It is interesting to notice however!
 
King of Komodo Dragons said:
Male calf named Jet was born at St. Louis Zoo to Jade. The father was Jake via artificial insemination

Saint Louis Zoo
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Absolutely awesome news! Any calf from Jade is also great considering her age and genetic value.

I have noticed as the years have gone on that a lot of elephants tend to birth in the final months of the year; so it's no surprise we've had two in one week with another due very very soon.

I also appreciate the name; not only is it a 'J' name aligning with his mother's, but also holds significant meaning being a gemstone; which is also a reflection of his maternal side with several individuals given gemstone inspired names.
 
Frankie_number_1_fan said:
According to comments from Saint Louis, Raja will likely be heading to Columbus next year rather than this year.
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With the new habitat at Columbus recently completed, there should be the space for him now.

I do note he was initially supposed to travel in Winter of 2024-25, so as with this new update it appears he will now be transferred at the end of that time frame.
 
Jambo said:
With the new habitat at Columbus recently completed, there should be the space for him now.

I do note he was initially supposed to travel in Winter of 2024-25, so as with this new update it appears he will now be transferred at the end of that time frame.
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I think this was likely a case of Columbus being ambitious with their timing and things just aren't prepared yet. They claimed the new yard would be ready by the beginning of October, but it wasn't done until November. I spoke to Columbus' CEO and he was "confident" Raja would be here before the new year...while the keepers stated there wasn't a set timeline.
Columbus has technically had space for him, even before Johnson's arrival, so it's likely now a mix of crate training logistics, behavior of both herds (with a calf freshly on the ground Saint Louis might not want to risk sending a stressor through the group, How introductions between Johnson and Columbus' girls are going, etc.) and weather.
 
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