1. With the pandemic and brexit most definitely. It would cost too much however a breeding male. They told me with Sutton having no real genetic connections he's a perfect bull for breeding.
Thank you for these interesting accounts. I’ve not posted before, but felt strongly that I wanted to add to to comments already made.
It’s understandable that people would think there is an urgent need for a mature bull, but the chances of either cow being reproductively viable are likely to be remote. Yes, Five gave birth to her calf within a normal window that one might expect an elephant to be able to conceive again, but virtually no African cow that has produced a bull calf via artificial insemination has ever become pregnant a second time. Whether this is to do with complications from higher birth weight or some other factor, I don’t know. As for Latabe – she’s around 28 now - almost all cows who become pregnant at this age for the first time have a stillbirth and don’t go on to conceive again. In both cases, the sample size is small, so there’s not zero chance of a further pregnancy, but it would absolutely be bucking the trend. It would make sense as to why the park might not feel the urgent need to bring in an adult bull if the information on this thread is accurate.
I didn’t realise there were UK government standards since 2017 specifically for elephant holders, and can see why this development was therefore prioritised when the park changed hands. The standards require a minimum of four compatible cows over the age of two ‘if herds are kept’, which is cited in the Design and Access statement in the planning documents for the new facility. I’m pretty sure the TAG and EEP don’t recommend bringing unrelated cows into a breeding group, I and think it’s a shame this is a hoop the park has to jump through. Now that matrilines are no longer split up, there are almost no available cows of breeding age in the EEP now, let alone by the time Sutton is mature. Maybe in a decade there will be a breeding herd that has outgrown it’s facility and must move in order to remain together, but the odds are low. Of course, this raises the spectre of imports of the kind recently done by the US, which I dearly hope won’t happen in the EEP. For now, almost certainly any additional cows will be post-reproductive, and not necessarily compatible with the existing group. Of course, new bonds may be made, but it’s risky and captive cows do kill each other in dominance battles. It’s fortunate there will be two cow paddocks.
There would still be value in the calf being around a mature bull, even the Defra standards suggest this. If transport costs are a factor there are several mature bulls in the UK and so it would be a shame if this didn’t happen. There is potential here though for a less experienced or unconfident bull to have a series of unsuccessful interactions with two cows that may not be receptive and may try to dominate him, so there are two sides to this coin.
It must be frustrating for the team working with this group that the old facility meant they not only couldn’t bring in an unfamiliar, mature bull, but that they had to also send away their two founder bulls when they reached a certain age. Ultimately it’s great that there is another modern facility opening for this species in the UK and if nothing else will cement the park’s future as a holder of either bachelors or retired females for years to come. There are likely to be 20+ growing matrilineal herds in Europe in the next couple of decades which will require quality bachelor holdings.
The Defra SSSMZP standards for elephant holders is
here.
The Design & Access Statement for the new facility is in the list of planning documents
here.
The only thing really given to me was a tour of the new elephant and cheetahs site and some access behind the scenes while its closed !
