Where do visiting elephant cows come from?

Visiting cows generally come to a zoo to be mated when their own zoo or circus cannot or will not keep a stud bull. Since oestrus in an elephant cow only takes place every three to four months, such a trip to visit a bull must be planned carefully to avoid a lengthy stay at the host zoo.

Is it easy to use elephants from external sources for breeding?

The project of mating an elephant cow with a bull from another zoo requires exact knowledge of the cow's hormonal cycle which is normally determined by means of regular blood samples. Thus it becomes possible to predict with a fair amount of accuracy when ovulation will next occur.

The problem with zoo elephants is that they are not used to travelling. The excitement of the trip and the impact of the new environment on arrival can upset the normal hormonal cycle. This is why it tends to be rather difficult for a breeding programme to be successful using the method of visiting cows.

Which elephant cow has become pregnant?

Of the five elephant cows who have visited Zurich Zoo since 1983, only Claudy of Circus KNIE has so far managed to become pregnant and actually had two successful pregnancies: After visiting Zurich Zoo for six months in 1983, and again for about half a year in 1990, she gave birth to Lohimi (in 1985) and to Boy (in 1992), respectively.

Sadly, all the other mating visits were unsuccessful. The two zoo elephants from Stuttgart Zoo, Pama and Zella, integrated well into the Zurich Zoo herd and Maxie did in fact mate with them. Alas, they did not become pregnant.

Can all elephant cows be integrated into another herd?

In 1991, Zurich Zoo was visited by Jothie, an elephant cow from Woburn Safari Park in the UK. She was unfortunately unable to integrate into the herd and was pushed into a ditch by Chhukha. Although Maxie did mate with her, she did not become pregnant, either.

Siri of Circus KNIE had the misfortune to meet Maxie at a time when his musth period was not completely over yet. After mating with him successfully on the first day, Siri became scared of Maxie on the second day and tried to flee from him. He resented her very much for this and hit her so hard that it became pointless to try and bring the two elephants together again.