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ZooNooz Article - JUNE 2008
E(lephant) News
Zoo communications manager LISA KEEN keeps us up-to-date on what's
happening with the zoos' elephants.
Photographs Leonie Saville and Jo Nevin
Early signs positive for golden elephant
Thong Dee with Gung |
On a rainy morning in February this year, Taronga's elephant manager Gary Miller
worked with vets Larry Vogelnest and Frances Hulst to perform an ultrasound on
Thong Dee (meaning Golden), one of the Asian Elephants that arrived in Australia
from Thailand 15 months ago.
As part of the planned breeding program for the elephant group, the team had
been closely monitoring the results of regular analysis of the elephants' hormone
levels which had been undertaken by Taronga Western Plains Zoo's Reproductive
Biologist, Tamara Keeley.
Over preceding months, Thong Dee had been mounted several times by the male,
Gung, who continued to show a close association with her.
The cycle of her hormone levels had changed compared with the other females
and showed an elevated progesterone level, suggesting the possibility of some
great news for the breeding program, but no-one knew for sure.
Thong Dee's involvement in the ultrasound in February was voluntary and she
was rewarded for her patience with tasty morsels of pineapple and carrot. Suddenly
the vets and Gary experienced a moment of revelation when an image of a 9.4-centimetre
foetus appeared on the screen of the ultrasound machine. It was no mean feat to
locate something so tiny within Thong Dee's 2.8-metre, 2.4-tonne body. Thong Dee
was pregnant, a first for any elephant in Australasian zoos.
In preparation for the breeding program, back in April 2007, Taronga had invited
Dr Thomas Hildebrandt of the Berlin-based Institute of Zoo Biology and Wildlife
Research to do a reproductive assessment of its elephants. Dr Hildebrandt, as
the world's pre-eminent elephant reproductive expert, confirmed that all the females
were sexually mature and available to take part in the zoo breeding program. In
particular, he recommended that Thong Dee should be bred as soon as possible due
to her specific physiology and to avoid any potential future complications. Dr
Hildebrandt also predicted that Thong Dee could be slightly older than the age
originally estimated by her Thai camp owners when they first registered their
juvenile elephant.
The news of her pregnancy was greeted with great excitement around the zoos
as a significant first step in the regional cooperative breeding program for the
species. Caution was also required, however, as first-time elephant mothers very
often do not carry a foetus to full term.
If all goes well, the pregnancy will follow a known development cycle which
starts as a tiny fluidfilled sac called an embryonic vesicle. From weeks 10 to
18, there will be rapid growth including the emergence of a trunk. From this point
onwards the foetus will grow very slowly but steadily up to about 12 months of
age, when it will be 30-35 cm long and around 30 kg. The final 10 months of the
pregnancy will produce much faster growth. At birth, calves weigh a staggering
100-150 kilograms and are around 80-90 centimetres high.
Gary Miller said Thong Dee is eating and sleeping normally and very relaxed.
"The whole group is doing well and Thong Dee is her normal laidback self.
Although we can't get our hopes too high just yet, this has been great news for
the overall regional breeding program and shows that the elephants are behaving
completely naturally in their new home," he said.
Circus elephants settling in
Burma |
There's been some jockeying for position in Dubbo as ex-circus elephants Arna
and Gigi have been settling into their new home at Taronga Western Plains Zoo
and getting to know resident Asian Elephant, Burma.
Arna and Gigi came from the Stardust Circus but were retired to the zoo in
January after an accident involving a circus handler. It was an emotional goodbye
for the circus workers, Glen and Joel Lennon, who had grown up with Arna and cared
for Gigi over the past few years.
Zoo keepers kept a close watch on the two new arrivals and made sure they felt
welcome with treats of sugar cane and fruit. They were initially separated from
Burma to gauge how the three, all in their 50s, would react.
Arna and Gigi were a well-bonded pair and it was hoped that Burma would be
able to join them in a social grouping.
Eventually the three were given the option of socialising in a large paddock.
Burma, who had spent her early life in a circus, initially tried to assert
her homeground authority, but when she challenged Gigi, Arna stepped in to establish
her dominant role. Asian Elephants in the wild live in close social groups with
an alpha female in the role of matriarch. After some initial negotiation, it seems
that Arna has assumed that role with Gigi and Burma as followers.
All three have been swimming together over late summer and they socialise and
touch each other in natural elephant interactions. Arna in particular has taken
an interest in the two older African Elephants in an adjacent exhibit and exchanged
vocalisations with them.
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