Oregon Zoo's Newborn Elephant

[Yassa]

... and before that, they sold almost all surviving calves to circusses, circus trainers and other zoos. Most died young and none ever bred outside Portland. The numbers of birth is impressive, but the rest of the story is not.

 

[snowleopard]

... and before that, they sold almost all surviving calves to circusses, circus trainers and other zoos. Most died young and none ever bred outside Portland. The numbers of birth is impressive, but the rest of the story is not.

The hidden story is indeed grim, but on a side note this is an interesting book that I recently purchased: Packy and Me

Google Image Result for http://media.oregonlive.com/books_impact/photo/9418152-large.jpg

Amazon link:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Packy-Me-Incredible-Maberry-Elephant/dp/0982640137/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354811773&sr=8-1&keywords=packy+and+me"]Packy and Me: The Incredible Tale of Doc Maberry and the Baby Elephant Who Made History: Matthew Maberry, Patricia Maberry, Michelle Trappen: 9780982640135: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]

 

[Pertinax]

... and before that, they sold almost all surviving calves to circusses, circus trainers and other zoos. Most died young and none ever bred outside Portland. The numbers of birth is impressive, but the rest of the story is not.

I had heard something like this in the past, but wasn't sure how true it was. It is surprising that a Zoo with such a long track record of breeding Asian elephants should have such a poor record with their management of them in other respects.

 

[gerenuk]

You could probably say the same of most zoos in the 1960s and 1970s regarding most species management.