Call me old fashioned....
Here in Thailand certain local politicians made the news on St Valentine's night for ordering special squads of motel Police to patrol known love nests in order to protect Thai youth from themselves; They are worried that the nasty propaganda of pink cards and fluffy toys has been corrupting the flower of the nation by encouraging urges that ought to be suppressed.
My amusement at the mother hen nature of Thai politicians was exposed as pure hypocrisy when reading of an eight year-old Thai elephant living in Australia (exported last year in a storm of controversy) who has recently had her pregnancy announced to great fanfare - How could they do this? What were they thinking? I had carefully stood outside the ropes on the debate of should they go, shouldn't they go; I had leaned into the Zoo's corner from time to time on the grounds that the welfare and care they would receive in Taronga Zoo would be guaranteed...
...and now this, what a silly thing to let happen.
Before I flew off the handle, though, I thought I'd think about it a bit and talk to those that know, in fact, being the coward that I am I was going to sit back and watch with interest - this blog is not about polemic or controversy, but no news story has generated so many guest e-mails asking me what I thought so, here we go...
All the old books I have give 15 as a safe breeding age, the Zoo's own policy gives 11 (looking back to Shana Alexander's book about Circuses and Zoos I remember being shocked at them considering an elephant fully grown by 9 or 10 when I think of them in human years) so eight would seem almost certainly too young.
I went to talk with K. Lord who said that he'd heard of an eight year old in good condition carrying to term and safely giving birth - one thing we can be sure of is that the Zoo will give young Tong Dee the best care and nutrition money can buy - he also said, interestingly since it seems not even the Zoo can work this out for sure, that Tong Dee is definitely nine years old by now, she was born in Ban Satuk in Buriram (Kam Mool - the Four Seasons elephant's home village) and that she was a healthy baby!
So, my concerns slightly settled, I had a look at out mothers and our ten year old, Pleum, who would count as fat and well cared for. It is the size I'm worried about - human moral issues aside, taking as read that herd instinct and the Zoo will take care of raising the baby properly - physically the reason we don't encourage young human children to breed as soon as they become fertile are, as I understand them, the stress on an immature growing body of having another growing body within (and potential long term problems for the mother caused by nutrition that should help her grow going to her baby) and the physical difficulties with giving birth to a full size baby from an ungrown body, though this would be less of a problem with eles due to the relative sizes of mother and baby - yes, the baby's big but the mother's usually huge.
I'll let you decide for yourselves (mainly since I can't make up my mind)...
...stand Pleum next to relatively small Poon Larb, Lynchee's Mum, even though Pleum is a year older than Tong Dee we can assume she's as well fed, definitely smaller but not that much...
...but put her next to our really healthy, well balanced, Mum Makam and she's obviously still a child. I'd like to see a photo of Tong Dee next to an adult elephant, maybe she is full grown at ten?
In conclusion, according to Lung Lord - who really does know his stuff - it can be safe (if not to be recommended) if Tong Dee is large enough to carry an extra 90kg, well fed and cared for (which we can take as a given) but with no real knowledge on the long term effects on her carrying a baby through her formative years. We can note, though, that this elephant man of elephant men wants to wait at least one more year before breeding Pleum despite her size, care and condition.
From a strategic point of view I would ask why risk such an already controversial project, one that has been justified and fought for, by not waiting two (or ideally five) more years? Whatever this is it is not best practice, yes the elephants were bought across for breeding and to widen the gene pool in order to prevent extinction but breeding is taking place throughout the range states, there is no emergency on these grounds to produce babies, and the world is watching - the majority wishing well but some waiting for a fall.
From a personal point of view I wish them well and hope for the best but, and you can call me old fashioned when I say,...
....no daughter of mine.
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LOVE is in the air at Taronga Zoo - or at least it was five months ago.
More than fifteen months after arriving under a cloud of controversy from Thailand, Sydney's Asian elephants have conspired to grow their number by one.
An ultrasound image has confirmed that eight-year-old Thong Dee has made history and is now 20 weeks pregnant.
A successful birth, expected sometime in mid-2009, would mark the first captive elephant breeding success in Australasia.
Tests conducted last week revealed a healthy foetus about 10cm long.
Keepers claimed that it was "very active, like its father" the younger male elephant Gung - which in Thai means prawn.
Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Water Phil Koperberg said the pregnancy, which will last 22 months, had always been planned.
The animals were brought to Taronga in 2006 on an epic voyage via the Cocos Keeling Islands and are now housed in a $15 million specialised enclosure.
"From day one, it had always been our intention to have them breed," Zoo director Guy Cooper said.
He disputed claims by Greens MP Lee Rhiannon - a critic of the animals being brought to Australia - who said Thong Dee was underaged and that the pregnancy was a mistake resulting from poor management by the keepers.
Ms Rhiannon also claimed the captive management plan adopted by Taronga Zoo specified that female elephants should be at least 11 years old before becoming pregnant.
But Mr Cooper said tests last year confirmed that the female animals were all of reproductive maturity and ready to breed.
The elephants at Taronga have matured rapidly due to their high standards of diet, exercise and care, he said.
"From the start, the male Gung, 7, began doing what he was supposed to do in an elephant herd, mating with the females," Mr Cooper said.
"Over months, his relationship with them changed from being a playful younger brother to being a desirable young male. It was always our plan to breed Gung with the younger females Thong Dee and Tang Mo.
"In the wild, first-time mothers can lose up to 50 per cent of their calves either during pregnancy or as neo-natal deaths.
"This exciting news is a tremendous success for Taronga's regional Conservation Breeding Program and for the future of our largest living land animals."
Five of the eight elephants brought to Australia - Pornthip, Pak Boon, Tang Mo, Thong Dee and Gung - are living at Taronga Zoo.
The remainder are in Melbourne zoos.
Thong dee, not so dee
February 15th, 2008 by Andrew Walker · Add a Comment
Australia has been caught up in Thailand’s Valentine’s Day moral panic about adolescant sexuality. The Sydney Morning Herald reports on disturbing developments at Sydney’s Taronga Park Zoo:
Taronga Zoo’s Thong Dee, the Thai elephant cow found to be five months pregnant this week, seemed a good deal calmer yesterday than the humans fiercely debating her welfare. Environmental groups say Thong Dee, who is aged either eight or nine, is too young to be breeding and her pregnancy points to serious mismanagement by zoo staff. The NSW Greens are urging the federal Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, to put the case before the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, saying the zoo has breached its guidelines. A spokeswoman for Mr Garrett said the Department of Environment had asked the zoo for information about Thong Dee. The zoo maintains that expert zoological advice, sought early last year, found her perfectly ready to have babies, and believes she is already nine, regarded by many sources as the minimum breeding age. An international elephant tracking website says Thong Dee was born in 2000, making her eight this year. A 2004 report produced by the Proboscid and Perissodactyl Taxon Advisory Group said: “Elephants for breeding must be at least nine years old (12 years is ideal)”. The management plan adopted by the zoo says 11 is the best breeding age. But advice from the reproductive biologist Dr Thomas Hildebrandt, received early last year, supersedes the original breeding instructions accepted by the zoo, said a spokesman for Taronga, Mark Williams.
Thank god for the Greens. And all strength to the arm of the Proboscid and Perissodactyl Taxon Advisory Group. New Mandala will be following this closely, until the randy bull responsible is bought to justice! The following identikit image has been prepared to assist in investigations.
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And we all know how much a baby dramatically increases the profits of a zoo.........
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...well there is that but I don't think they would risk all the negative PR if this fails by deliberately breeding an obviously underage baby.
My guess is that the keepers were indulgent and loved to see what looked like young kids messing around, cute and the eles are having fun - what could be the harm? Both are theoretically too young to concieve.
It is why wild young bulls are kicked out of the herd to live a bachelor life the minute they start bothering their sisters - the matriarchs know best.
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While I totally understand all the contraversy, above all I trust the TPZ vets. Despite any pressures from the powers that be the vets are the best in the business & will give their all to every mum & bub in their care.
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Three elephants are pregnant at Taronga and Melbourne Zoos
John Stapleton | August 28, 2008
THE eight Asian elephants brought in amidst considerable controversy from tourist and work camps in Thailand in late 2006 have settled in so well that three of them are now pregnant.
Animal activists wore elephant masks and striped prison uniforms at various protests, as well as launching a string of legal actions designed to block their importation.
The activists claimed the elephants were tortured and beaten in Thailand and would face a lonely life in Australia away from their natural habitat and families.
But the protests died off after the animals appeared to settle in to their new surroundings at Melbourne Zoo and Taronga in Sydney without incident. The pampered animals are washed each day, have their own pool and plenty of room.
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One of the elephants, Thong Dee, was impregnated naturally by the randy young male, eight year old Gung, but the other two elephants, Porntip in Sydney and Dokkoon in Melbourne, were artificially inseminated.
The successful impregnations are the first two successful AI treatments of elephants in Australia.
Experts were flown out from Germany for the operation.
Elephant keeper at Taronga Brad Johnston said the impregnation of Porntip only took about ten minutes and she had been entirely calm and relaxed during the procedure. “Our relationships with the elephants allow us to do these things,” he said. “There was no drama at all.
The foetus is now approximately 3 millimetres long. It will ultimately grow to between 80 and 90 kilograms when it is born, probably early in 2010. Elephants have a 21 and a half month gestation period.
Porntip used to give rides to tourists in Pataya and spent much of her life on a chain. “She doesn't have to give rides anymore, she can just be an elephant,” he said.
Porntip is the dominant female and leader of her group, and already shows concern for the others in her clan. “The others can be dominant personalities, but if anything happens they all look up to her to know what to do,” Mr Johnston said. “She will make an excellent mother. She is very nurturing. She was especially selected for her personality.”
Porntip has impregnated with the semen of the bull in the Melbourne Zoo, Bong Su.
In Sydney her friend Thong Dee has been impregnated naturally by the Gung, who at eight years old is young by elephant standards. In the wild his hormones would be suppressed by his proximity to other dominant males; and around this age he would be forced out of the herd to go and live either a solitary life or to roam with other batchelors until he was more than 30 years old, when he would attempt to make a claim for female attention.
But Gung, as the only male with four other females, is in elephant paradise. “He practises every day,” Johnston says with a smile. “He's a very happy elephant.”
Porntip's pregnancy was only confirmed several days ago by international reproduction specialists from the Berlin-based Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Reserach. The Institute's Dr Thomas Hildebrandt discovered the procedure in May this year had been successful on the first attempt. Melbourne Zoo's artificial insemination was also successful first off.
Taronga Zoo Director Guy Cooper said three planned pregnancies in less than two years was an outstanding result for the Australasian Conservation Management Program for Asian Elephants.
“While all pregnancies are yet to run full term, this result clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of the first-ever regional conservation program for Asian Elephants.”
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OH MY so many babies, so little time! I need to graduate already! ;o)
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Ha, wait 'til it is birthday present time!
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