Thats wonderful news they do so well with them not bad for a cold climate zoo. For you guys that are really up with the elephant breeding side has there been any AI bred birth any where with FROZEN semen, Not chilled or fresh but from thawed frozen?
North American Asian Elephant Reproduction
- Thread starter Elephant Enthusiast
- Start date
Well with Africans in Europe, yes. Any of the calves sired from wild bulls are from frozen semen. This includes Sutton at West Midlands, and Kibali and Iqhwa at Vienna. I believe Kali's calf at Zlin is from a wild sire as well. I *think* those are the only four living calves from frozen semen at the moment, but there might be another one or two kicking around that I can't remember right now.
In North America, no, all successful AI births have been from fresh or chilled semen.
You'll also find that AI from frozen semen is strictly limited to Africans. For whatever reason, Asian Elephant semen does not have the durability the Africans enjoy, and is unable to tolerate being frozen. Even with chilled, while advances are being made in extending viability, you'll still find most AI's are from samples collected the same day.
That tallies with what I had heard. The Asian elephant semen is difficult to freeze for some reason. I knew about it working for the African species. More work needs to be done here. I seem to remember Whipsnade zoos bull Emitt had sired a calf via Chilled semen in Israel
Seeing as the park hasn't made an official announcement regarding this, you learned this in confidence. I don't know why you'd post about it.
Regardless if this is accurate or not, I'm sure they wouldn't want this sensitive data spread around, much less on a public forum. If true, they will make it publicly known when they see fit.
With all of this talk with AI, why can't zoos shift to natural breeding versus AI? What if the calf is born male? They will have to build a male enclosure anyway. I understand it is even difficult and expensive to move bull elephants.
But on a positive note, I am happy Bodi is the father of Winnie (the Motek vs Werda genetics must be strong! LOL!) and there are new calves in Canada and in Ohio. Technology is amazing, but sometimes I must wonder about the preparedness if the calf is a male.
But on a positive note, I am happy Bodi is the father of Winnie (the Motek vs Werda genetics must be strong! LOL!) and there are new calves in Canada and in Ohio. Technology is amazing, but sometimes I must wonder about the preparedness if the calf is a male.
Oh trust me, I'm the last person to post something on here that isn't publicly available knowledge, nor would I say something that isn't true
The calves are on public display, and if you call the park, they are more than happy to tell you they have a number of calves born recently. Rockton has enough births they don't go blasting every single one on social media, I suppose.Also re: AI, sometimes its just the most practical option! For instance, Houston already has four bulls housed in their bachelor herd and has had severe issues with herpes in the past. Why risk messing up what has now become an *extremely* successful herd, when you can just AI Tupelo instead? Other times, like Columbus and Melbourne, you have fertile bulls who are behavioral non-breeders but still fertile. In those situations, AI can be cheaper than bringing in a new bull since they can do semen collections on site. Or you'll have cows like Bluebonnet at Fort Worth, you could put them in with the most experienced, fertile bull in the world, and they still won't conceive, since they won't stand for the bulls to breed them. In this case, AI is the ONLY option to get them breeding!
Ultimately, natural breeding is and should be the ideal, but AI 100% has its uses and needs to be done regularly, to help improve the ongoing knowledge and effectiveness of it. It's simply a management tool like any other, the same as foot care, tusk trims, and blood draws.
This is true, Rockton often takes months to reveal any Elephant births despite them being on public display. When Onyx and Luna were born they didn't reveal anything for a little over a month. When Sunita was born, it took them nearly three months to reveal anything. I'm not sure what determines the length between birth and announcement, but it tends to be a little different with each calf, but usually over a month. In addition to that, many of us who frequent these Elephant Population threads on ZooChat had been suspecting there may be calves on the ground in Rockton for months now. I honestly would have been surprised if Rockton hadn't had any calves by now.Oh trust me, I'm the last person to post something on here that isn't publicly available knowledge, nor would I say something that isn't true
I hate to be a downer, but reality-wise, I'm not getting my hopes up. I remember December 2018. It could die of EEHV sooner or later. It's great that the calf was born healthy, but as we've seen before things can go downhill so fast. I hope it will survive though! Best of luck to the keepers and care staff at Columbus.
Thank you for your thoughts. Please know I am not trying to attack or be overly critical. I just wanted play devil's advocate in a polite way.
The point about the EEHV does make sense. It is true that we do have some non behavioral breeders such as Hank.
I guess I was trying to think a holistic way, but since some elephants can not reproduce "naturally."
I mean any calf born could die of EEHV. They can be just a year or even past a decade. Its a risk but most calves survive past the age of risk. Should we not get happy about any elephants getting born in captivity?
That's very exciting! I'm willing to bet that female is Bluebonnet and she was probably AI'd. Hopefully she has a healthy (female) calf soon! The zoo also announced (through their social medias) that they have been mixing Romeo in with the girls lately so I wouldn't be too surprised if Belle falls pregnant soon as well!
Negatives aside, given that Phoebe is a larger cow and the calf's sire is Bodhi from Denver if no problems arise this calf could grow to be a HUGE bull when finished growing! Bodhi has long legs and Phoebe has the mass so I really hope this calf will survive! He could really be something 25 years from now. What do you think @Hyak_II?
Well actually the calf's sire is Hank, though he is a rather large bull as well. Bodhi is one of
Phoebe's other sons and he is the sire of Winnie at Houston, I believe you got the two calves confused. Nevertheless, Phoebe's calf has the potential to be a very large and impressive bull since both Hank and Phoebe are quite large animals.
Yep got them confused!
Mai Thai
Well-Known Member
Beat me to it!
Mr.Ivory
Well-Known Member
Umm... you do realize that Bodhi is the son of Pheobe, so
I forgot about that!
Mr.Ivory
Well-Known Member
It's alrightI forgot about that!