Taronga Zoo The next elephant birth

  • Thread starter Thread starter jay
  • Start date Start date
jay said:
Mark we get a bit of a break now, which after all the excitement of Mr Shuffles birth we probably need. Kulab at Melbourne is the next due, in August or September of this year. Pak Boon at taronga is then due earlt 2011.
I would like to know if there are any plans to get tang Mo and Num-Oi pregnant soon.
Click to expand...

no, but i imagine that tang mo would be a priority - she is one of the older girls is she not?

num oi is just approaching the right age so i assume the zoo might try to breed her too soon. maybe next time the good doctor is in town?

on the topic of the thai elephants, has anyone else noticed how much they have grown?! when i went to the zoo the other day i really noticed the difference! they are really big elephants now. when they arrived people were referring to them as "babies"! just a few years and they are now elephant mums. big enormous sized adult elephants.

and lastly, i one other thing - in my mind the most amazing thing that has come out of this elephant import is in melbourne. and i am talking about the relationship between mek kapah, an elephant who was raised at melbourne and lived without female company for much of her life - and dokkoon. at first i thought the zoo was playing up the friendship for publicity. they wern't. i was there the day the new elephants were first introduced to kapah through the fence and i can tell you now, that since day one - those two loooooove eachother. they are inseparable. kapah, despite being considered relatively "unsocialised" is just the most protective, perfect elephant matriarch you could hope for. i have seen her rush to push herself between the younger girls and bong su, if she feels he's being too rough and now be the perfect aunt to mali. the other day as her and dokkoon played with the calf the two entwined trunks in a gesture that even makes a big grown man like me feel a little bit... well... "awwwwwwwwwwww"!

to me the best thing about the import is not babies. but that. its how much its improved mek kapah's life.

and didn't she deserve it.
 
jay said:
Mark we get a bit of a break now, which after all the excitement of Mr Shuffles birth we probably need. Kulab at Melbourne is the next due, in August or September of this year. Pak Boon at taronga is then due earlt 2011.
I would like to know if there are any plans to get tang Mo and Num-Oi pregnant soon.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jay, My BIG hope is that we get something from the Perth girl at some stage and she is not lossed to the program, Fingers crossed for her.

Not to go off track Jay, But I feel your biggest scoop is yet to come when Australia's first Indian rhino baby hits the ground :D, I know at least one Melbourne guy on the forum who MAY go to make a trip to Western plains zoo when that happens. ;)
 
They must be fairly confident for him now if they have started the 'name game'. I imagine a lot of people will go for the first one-Pathi Harn- as although not the easiest, its got that important 'miracle' tie in.
 
Good to see the little guy outside the barn for the first time things are looking up for him
 
Pathi Harn is apparently winning by a long shot at the moment according to ten news.

Thats what I voted for not particularly easy to pronounce in comparision but meaning is fitting.
 
I've been in goulburn doing a course for the past week. I got a message from my wife telling me that the calf was dead. The next day I was watching the news and it was alive. What a **** week to be away from zoo chat. I needed the updates!!!
 
Looks like the new baby has been introduced to the other herd members with the other young calf taking a real interest in the new born. they said he's drinking around 5 litres of milk a day at this time.
 
It looked like the keepers might ge squashed by the adults also trying to get the calf out.
 
just goes to show the poor exhibit design on taronga's behalf.

unlike melbourne they no shallow pools and have no outdoor space that does not include a deep moat. this is despite the fact that elephant calves (as well as all sorts of other animals from rhino to mandrills to gorillas) have drowned as a result of such design flaws. i understand that it allows for the public to get closer to the animals since it removes the many meters required for a gradual slope, but the fact that they included such features in both their two outdoor paddocks is just plain stupid.

as you can see even when the keepers are present (and they are not at night) they struggle to offer much help to a 100+kg calf in the deep water.

fortunately the other elephants were there.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top