Taronga elephant herd set for baby boom
Taronga Zoo is looking forward to a baby boom among its Asian elephants following the announcement of a third pregnancy among the herd’s four cows.
Pak Boon, whose name means Morning Glory Flower, is due to give birth in early 2011 — at around 22 months elephants have the longest gestation period of any land animal — after falling naturally pregnant to the herd’s male elephant, Gung.
Taronga’s Thong Dee is expected to deliver the first calf ever born in Australasia in the middle of 2009.
Porntip, the matriarch of the herd, is then expecting a calf in early 2010, after being impregnated by artificial insemination as part of a breeding programme to raise the numbers of the endangered elephant in both the wild and captivity.
Several elephants at Melbourne Zoo are also pregnant as part of the same programme, implemented with advice from experts from the Berlin Institute of Wildlife Research.
“This is further promising news for our regional zoo-based Conservation Management Plan for Asian Elephants with three of the four cows at Taronga Zoo now pregnant,” said Zoo Director Guy Cooper.
Cooper also paid tribute to the efforts of Gung the bull elephant.
“We’re very delighted with the success of Gung. He has matured into an outstanding and proven bull in the care of our remarkable elephant keepers. They’ve established strong bonds of trust and an environment in which the elephants feel safe and enjoy excellent health. All of which are major factors in the elephants feeling comfortable to breed.”
The zoo still faces a major challenge delivering the babies however with survival rates for first calves estimated at around 50-50.
“Our next challenge is the safe delivery of Thong Dee’s calf and while global statistics show a 50 percent survival rate for first calves, we are as well prepared as we can be,” said Cooper. “An extensive birth plan is already in place and a veterinary team and specialists from the Berlin Institute are ready to support our elephants and their keepers.”
Click here to read more about Taronga Zoo’s elephants.
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