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Rydges North SydneyNews and What's on |
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Taronga’s Elephants & Gorillas Breeding Success
Posted: Tuesday, 7 October 2008
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Female Asian Elephant, Thong Dee, has already conceived naturally with the zoo's bull elephant, Gung, and is expected to deliver her calf in mid-2009.
Mouila's baby Gorilla was born in the early morning of 18 August and was discovered by keepers arriving at 6:30am who found Mouila in her night nest with her new baby clinging tightly to her.
"With Gorillas under intense pressure from jungle clearance and the bush meat and pet trades, as well as diseases like Ebola, this is a great result from one of the world's most respected breeding groups. It is a tribute to our keepers' great husbandry skills, and provides a level of insurance and understanding of the species which will be invaluable in global efforts for these remarkable apes."
Porntip's pregnancy was confirmed on August 22 by international reproduction specialists from the Berlin-based Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research. The Institute's Dr Thomas Hildebrandt confirmed that the procedure in May this year had been successful on the first attempt, following Melbourne Zoo's successful insemination of one of their Asian Elephants earlier this year. Dr Hildebrandt's team is regarded the world's best elephant reproductive biology team having been involved in over 20 successful AI pregnancies with elephants.
Mr Cooper, said: "These are outstanding results for the Australasian Conservation Management Program for Asian Elephants, with three successful planned pregnancies in less than two years. 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 expertise in our zoos is rapidly delivering great results for wildlife.
Taronga and Taronga Western Plains Zoos care for 4,000 animals from over 350 species, provide conservation messages to over 1.5 million visitors and conservation education to over 100,000 school students annually. The best time to see Mahale is at the feeding sessions (11.30 am and 2:00pm).
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