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.”
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.
THIS STORY CONTINUES BELOW THE VIDEO PLAYER
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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