Origin of Perth's elephants » Perth Zoo

Origin of Perth's elephants
25-01-2008

Hello,

I looked at these pictures:
Asian elephants at the Perth Zoo

Long tails and hairy head recall rare Bornean dwarf elephants. Do you know where Perth elephants come from?

25-01-2008

when I saw Perth's elephants some years ago, I did notice they were the hairiest elephants I'd ever seen- and I've seen a few.....

25-01-2008

very attractive, the one with the beatles cut reminds me of the little elephant in disney's "the jungle book"...

of the 10-15 bornean elephants i saw, none were particularly hairy animals and the tails appeared longer than that of the bull in the photographs you linked to jurek. all the borneo animals i saw had tails (ignoring bristles/hairs) who's tips literally sat maybe three or four centimeters off the ground. the bushy hairs actually did "sweep" the ground.

i was under the belief that perth's younger elephants all came from peninsular malaysia, like bong-su and mek kapah at melbourne, making them true mainland elephants.

25-01-2008

They somehow looked rather 'different' to me from all the other Asiatics I've seen over the years. Smaller, hairier, darker, a slightly different shape perhaps- I don't know... but then I've seen very few Malaysian elephants and so I'm not familiar with their apperance-maybe all young Malaysian elephants look like that?

31-01-2008

its interesting that you say perth's elephants are hairier than most. one of the not-so-recognised subspecies of elephant is Elephas maximus hirsutus of peninsular malaysia.

obviously its long been recognised that elephants from this small region have a full head of hair!

mek kapah and bong su are peninsular malayan in origin. kapah is a dark skinned, hairy elephant. check out the photos of her on the melbourne zoo website or in the gallery forum. i'de be interested if you think she bears a resemblance to the elephants at perth.

15-02-2008

Is there any news of Perths zoos elephant breeding program?

15-02-2008

no - but i think its getting desperate.

their younger female is well into breeding age now and still not falling pregnant. she both mates with the bull and has been AI'd to no avail...

15-02-2008

Not good news Pat, Maybe they import another cow or two, any ideas?

15-02-2008

breeding loans, my friend. the bull at perth is very important to the breeding program so no doubt a few thai elephants will be heading over there eventually.

15-02-2008

It's a conncern that the cow is not becoming pregnant, especially as social and biologically she and the bull are doing everything right. I assume that the zoo has checked her out and all is ok with her reproductive system. If I remember rightly the bull has been checked out and is viable.

16-02-2008

jay,

Indeed a cause for concern here. I wish that someone could fill us in on the reproductive viability of Permai (19).

Regarding the entire Perth herd: 1.2 individuals with Putra Mas (19) and an elderly female in Tricia (51). Sadly, Teduh died earlier in May 2007 (history of medical issues). I feel that the herd structure needs to be improved. I would add on 1-2 more reproductive age females. How does that hold up in terms of enclosure space at Perth?

What is the current role for Tricia, is she the herd matriarch and does she act like one or ....?

16-02-2008

As Glyn said on another thread the elephant area has expanded quite a bit in resent years, I agree bringing in another 1-2 more young females could be the best thing for Perths program and indeed the National herd

16-02-2008

Coming back to the original question, I have seen the Borneo elephants in Hannover Zoo (Germany), Manari and Sayang, and Manari`s daugther whose father is of Sri Lanka origin but looks like her mother. While the Perth elephants certainly have a lot of hair, they don`t resemble the Borneo dwarf elephants in Hannover. Manari and Sayang are not that hairy (actually, of the Hannover herd, female Indra who originates from mainland Asia is the one with most hair!). Their tail is extremely long, they are of small size, and their head and ears are of different shape then all other elephants I have seen so far, including the Perth eles (which I only know from pictures, certainly). There is one other female from the Borneo subspecies in Oregon Zoo, USA, and from the pics I have seen, she looks 100% like Manari and Sayang. Same head and ear shape.

18-02-2008

Yassa. Do you have any pictures of these Hanover Bornean elephants? I've never seen photographs of this subspecies and in fact know very little about them.
Also; How long have Hanover had them and are they both females?

18-02-2008

yassa - the bornean elephants i saw in borneo were not particularly hairy. however, it seems its been suggested elephants from peninsular malaysia are.

i'm not a fan of hybridising elephants in zoos. with the vast majority being of sri lankan/mainland origin, and the two forms considered by many to be one and the same, i would like zoos to avoid "polluting" mainland genetics with those of sumatran and bornean ancestry.