Can the SSP not find another Elephant for Dickerson Park to replace both Indy and Khun Chorn ? Hence freeing up Indy to go to NZP when the 3rd Elephant arrives.... Or is that too simple??
It's pretty complicated, but not unheard of. If one zoo with 2 decides to close its exhibit, both can go to zoos with a shortage. Ringling has sent retired females to Little Rock so they could keep their exhibit, as well as sending both a retired female and breeding female to Tulsa. A female would meet the rule, but breeding Moola would then be harder. At age 35 she had her last calf in 2006, so she is just on the cusp of not being able to breed again. Khun Chorn was apparently bred many times, but was never successful; he was considered very valuable genetically, because his father was the infamous Packy of Portland who started the breeding movement of the modern era. AI sounds perfect, but it's notoriously difficult and not at all guaranteed, because there are literally many feet of winding loops to go through to even reach a female's uterus.
There are not many "spare males" aside from the 12-13 zoos that have breeding-age females. Complicating this is the fact that Oregon Zoo is also in need of a breeding male, as theirs, Tusko, died in the fall. Denver's new facility is partially devoted to being a "male holding" facility, where males can live until needed somewhere else. They currently have Groucho who is an aging proven stud, along with 2 calves, Columbus's Bodhi (11) and a European import Billy (8). Groucho is 46 and was replaced in Fort Worth by Ringling's Romeo, so he might be shooting blanks. The calves are too young to be bred any time soon. The only zoos with an "extra" male are OK City, which has Kandula now because their male Rex is aging, and Albuquerque, which has a pair of young 17-year-old proven half-brothers. I don't know if keeping them together was a stipulation of their donation from ALS in Canada.
To put things in perspective, the only Asian calves I know of born in the last year have been the 3 at African Lion Safari in Canada. At the same time not only are older elephants dying--including Tova, the recent gift to Tulsa--but EEHV claimed another calf, 4-year-old Malee in OK City, in the fall. There are only 16-20 breeding-age females in US zoos. Maharani is one of those, and valuable time is passing; she's had two stillbirths, the last 9 years ago. EEHV is still a real threat, but so is the loss of this entire species in the US. Indy is 44, so he's no spring chicken; if only NZP would accept a male from Ringling, we could a breeding male viable for the next 30 years the way Syracuse and Fort Worth now do.
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