Taronga Zoo Pak Boon's Calf

Axl said:
A webcam would be good, I really hope things go well for Pak Boon in November. I'll never forget the morning I read the headline on the news: "Taronga Zoo elephant born alive after being pronounced dead two days ago" Before I was hoping that Porntip would have a female calf, but after that I was just happy he'd been born alive.

It's always amazing to see the progress these elephants have made since coming to the zoo four years ago. They got some specialists in to do an analysis on their behiavour and they confirmed they had developed into a social, well adjusted herd.

There is just one thing I don't understand: Gung's name. The females have names that have meanings such as "Blessed from Heaven" and "Golden" while Gung means "Prawn"!
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I think they called him Gung because he is small like a prawn?
 
Axl said:
That's a good question, I would imagine it would have a higher place than Luk Chai because as you mentioned, Pak Boon and Porntip are close friends. In addition, Pak Boon is currently the largest elephant at the zoo and is well respected as second in command to Porntip.

While the herd accomadates the needs and protects the calves, the adult members are first in the hierachy so it would probably go like this when the calf is born: Porntip, Pak Boon, Thong Dee, Tang Mo, Pathi Harn, Pak Boon's

While Luk Chai is bigger and stronger than Pathi Harn, it is evident he has a lot of respect for the younger elephant.
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I think having respect is different to having a place in social hierarchy. Elephants care primarily for their own calf first, but all elephants will come to the aid of a calf in danger. As the young bulls mature it will eventually come down to size. Social structure and respect would mean very little to luk chai when he's in musth. Male calves will not stay with the herd and I think at their current age they are equals in the hierarchy.
 
UrMumzAGoat said:
I think they called him Gung because he is small like a prawn?
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Makes sense I guess, he was only six when they brought him over.

I will be very interested to see the size of Pak Boon's calf (especially if it is a male) in relation to the other two. It would make sense for the size to relate to the mother. Thong Dee is small for her age and Pathi Harn has so far been bigger than Luk Chai at every stage of his development. The younger calf is fast catching up and will probably overtake Luk Chai in size before he turns three.

Pak Boon is large for her age and will probably produce a larger calf if she has a boy than the other two. If her calf is female then it will probably be lighter.

The size of the father would also have an effect but since Luk Chai and Pak Boon's calf were both fathered by Gung, the mother will ultimately determine the calf's size in their case.
 
Axl said:
Makes sense I guess, he was only six when they brought him over.

I will be very interested to see the size of Pak Boon's calf (especially if it is a male) in relation to the other two. It would make sense for the size to relate to the mother. Thong Dee is small for her age and Pathi Harn has so far been bigger than Luk Chai at every stage of his development. The younger calf is fast catching up and will probably overtake Luk Chai in size before he turns three.

Pak Boon is large for her age and will probably produce a larger calf if she has a boy than the other two. If her calf is female then it will probably be lighter.

The size of the father would also have an effect but since Luk Chai and Pak Boon's calf were both fathered by Gung, the mother will ultimately determine the calf's size in their case.
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Quite possibly this might be true.......

BTW, is Tang Mo the smallest female?
 
I can't understand why Gung was named after a prawn or a rock lobster either. If I had any influence over naming Gung, I would have call him Tobias. Don't you think he looks like a Tobias (Toby)? It's a name sort of in keeping with the way the door opened for he and the girls to win their "green cards" to immigrate to Taronga and Melbourne Zoo.
 
cherieann said:
I can't understand why Gung was named after a prawn or a rock lobster either. If I had any influence over naming Gung, I would have call him Tobias. Don't you think he looks like a Tobias (Toby)? It's a name sort of in keeping with the way the door opened for he and the girls to win their "green cards" to immigrate to Taronga and Melbourne Zoo.
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I guess he does :) He has been a pioneer for his species in the sense he began the breeding programme with Luk Chai's birth. He was also very young at the time and will mature into a large bull over the next 10-15 years, hopefully fathering many more calves.

Tang Mo is currently the second smallest female (Thong Dee is the smallest). This is mostly due to her age, at 11 years old she is the youngest female elephant at Taronga Zoo but she is growing fast. Tang Mo is tall for her age and very slender. She is almost as tall as Porntip and Pak Boon (both aged 18 years old) and will almost certaintly reach their height in the next few years.

It was only a couple of years ago Taronga Zoo relasied Tang Mo was their youngest female. For a while they thought Thong Dee was at least a year younger than Tang Mo becasue of her small size. A specialist has since estimated her to be 13 years old (born in 1997), the estimate took her reproductive status and maturation of tushes into consideration among other factors.
 
cherieann said:
I can't understand why Gung was named after a prawn or a rock lobster either. If I had any influence over naming Gung, I would have call him Tobias. Don't you think he looks like a Tobias (Toby)? It's a name sort of in keeping with the way the door opened for he and the girls to win their "green cards" to immigrate to Taronga and Melbourne Zoo.
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Taronga try to give their animals the traditional names of their respective countries, so calling a Thai elephant Toby wouldn't really suit the 'theme'. I like the way Taronga respects where their animals come from by naming their animals traditional names, but this is nothing bad about zoos who dont call their animals traditional names, I just personally like it.

Also, dont you agree Tang Mo (watermelon) and Gung (prawn) sound a bit better than Jessica and Toby?
 
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for my comments on Gung’s name to be in any way a criticism of the Taronga Zoo's naming policy of their animals. It was purely a personal preference that I could see Gung with another/extra name. I have much respect for Taronga Zoo and their international diplomacy and friendship with the Thai people.
 
I think Tang Mo has a great name, it really suits her. Luk Chai and Pathi Harn are also very good names, the meaning behind Pathi Harn's name is very good.

I wonder what name they will come up with for Pak Boon's calf. If it is a female they may choose something that reflects her being a girl.
 
Axl said:
I think Tang Mo has a great name, it really suits her. Luk Chai and Pathi Harn are also very good names, the meaning behind Pathi Harn's name is very good.

I wonder what name they will come up with for Pak Boon's calf. If it is a female they may choose something that reflects her being a girl.
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I think these names in Thai might be good:

First Girl
Lucky Girl
Little Sister
 
cherieann said:
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for my comments on Gung’s name to be in any way a criticism of the Taronga Zoo's naming policy of their animals. It was purely a personal preference that I could see Gung with another/extra name. I have much respect for Taronga Zoo and their international diplomacy and friendship with the Thai people.
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Thats ok, now that we know.
 
Also, I wonder what Pak Boon's how protective Pak Boon will be of the calf. Thong Dee has always been much more reliant on the herd as babysitters than Porntip who has always been the main caregiver of Pathi Harn.

This may be due to their age however as Thong Dee was relatively young and inexperienced when Luk Chai was born as opposed to Porntip and Pak Boon who are older and both have had expereince with caring for Luk Chai.
 
Axl said:
Also, I wonder what Pak Boon's how protective Pak Boon will be of the calf. Thong Dee has always been much more reliant on the herd as babysitters than Porntip who has always been the main caregiver of Pathi Harn.

This may be due to their age however as Thong Dee was relatively young and inexperienced when Luk Chai was born as opposed to Porntip and Pak Boon who are older and both have had expereince with caring for Luk Chai.
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I think Pak Boon will be open with the calf and let everyone in the herd near here, as Thong Dee did with Luk Chai.
 
Bua is believe is the thai name for flower, however I feel it's too overused.
 
dragon(ele)nerd said:
Bua is believe is the thai name for flower, however I feel it's too overused.
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I could be completely wrong here but I think I remember Taronga Zoo saying before Luk Chai was born that female calves would include the mother's prefix in their name (eg. Thong, Pak etc.), is anyone able to confirm this?

If this is how they plan to do things then a possible suggestion might be Pak Bua?

Continue to let me know your suggestions on names, Petal is a good one. :)
 
Here are some translations:

KANYA Girl
KULAP Rose
LAWAN Beautiful
MALAI Garland of Flowers
PAKPAO Kite
RATREE Jasmine Flower
SUCHART Born into a Good Life
SUKHON Pleasant Smell

Kulap and Malai may be too similar to Kulab and Mali at the Melbourne Zoo but I especially like Pak Pao, it has a playful meaning behind it and goes very well with Pak Boon. :D
 
Axl said:
Here are some translations:

KANYA Girl
KULAP Rose
LAWAN Beautiful
MALAI Garland of Flowers
PAKPAO Kite
RATREE Jasmine Flower
SUCHART Born into a Good Life
SUKHON Pleasant Smell

Kulap and Malai may be too similar to Kulab and Mali at the Melbourne Zoo but I especially like Pak Pao, it has a playful meaning behind it and goes very well with Pak Boon. :D
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Pak Pao for my vote as well :D
 
UrMumzAGoat said:
Pak Pao for my vote as well :D
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Awesome! We should put forward our suggestions to Taronga Zoo, they might include it when they draw up a naming list in November :)

The name's meaning of kite could also represent the way the zoo is 'flying' in terms of breeding at the moment when you consider up to 2009, no elephant had ever given birth in Australia and now Taronga Zoo will soon have three calves in just over a year. They're doing great. :)

I also believe Taronga Zoo has a very special herd in the fact it is a young herd, yet they have been so successful to date, with none of the deathes that seem to affect other zoos. The females are all very good mothers, many elephants reject their first born calf if they are unsure about it but there hasn't been any issues so far. Hopefully things will progress well for Pak Boon and her calf in November. :)
 
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