Friday, January 23, 2009

Sacha Houcks horse and elephant act on Ringling Bros. Circus

13 comments:

Wade G. Burck said...

European Readers:
I have seen pictures of an elephant in I believe a German Zoo that has a star branded on it's hip as the last two elephants in this picture have. It is a narrower star, not as thick as these one's. Has anybody seen that elephant, or know what zoo I am referencing?
Thank you.
Wade

Guillaume.R said...

Dear Wade,
The elephant your are referencing is probably the one from Koln, who died few years age, I didn't check the database, but she was the mother of Marla. She had also a number : 5116. There is an other one in England, at Twycross Zoo, with a star on her back right hip, with the number 5387 on the left hip.
And probably few more in other zoos.
Greetings

Guillaume

Wade G. Burck said...

Guillaume,
Thank you, It was Koln, and was a skinner star. I was not aware of the one at Twycross. What is the star like. Is it a "broad" star like the Ringling elephants, or a "narrow" star like the Koln elephants.
I really don't think are are any others in the United States in zoos. The two Axel had, of which these are, caused quite a stir with zoo folks when they came to visit.
What have you heard is the origin of the brands. A lot of it seems to be urban legend. The most common being a logging company bred/owned them. If one company did, I don't know why there would be different brands.
Wade

Ryan Easley said...

The Ringling stars are brands? Wow, I never knew that.

Wade G. Burck said...

Ryan,
What in the world did you think they were, breeding defects????
Wade

Guillaume.R said...

Wade,

The only thing I know about these elephants, is that they have been shipped over from a Burmese Camp years ago.
And I don't know about the origin if they come from the same camp, but quite sure that they came at the same time.
And about the stars, probably acid...
Guillaume R

Ryan Easley said...

Haha no, I thought they were chalk. Ok, ok I'm a dumbass. So what is the history of this? Which elephants have them, and why? Where did they come from?

Wade G. Burck said...

Ryan,
All you will learn is basically what Guillaume just said. I have always stated that if they were a brand for identification as a cattle brand, there would be a lot more of them and not just the 3 or 4 known. Plus the stars are different, and there are ones with a number in addition to the star. The two that Axel had, which are the two in this picture had a brand on both hips, and one only had star on one hip.
Guillaume, acid or freeze branded?
Wade

Ryan Easley said...

Pay attention, Wade. He said probably acid. lol Just giving you a hard time.
Who are the two elephants then?

Wade G. Burck said...

Ryan,
Listen Punk, I wasn't disputing acid, I was offering freeze brand, which is a relatively new invention. I don't know if it was around when they were branded.
I don't remember the names, maybe one was Alana. They were part of the group of youngsters that were brought in at the same time. I think GGW got one that also had a one star brand, and Axel had 2. There may have been 3 branded in a group of 7 or 8.
Wade

Wade G. Burck said...

Ryan,
I don't think she is grabbing all that is available, I think the USDA is giving them to her. She didn't really want Ned, but took him as an alternative.
What about someone who condone/helps with the seizure of an elephant yet keeps elephants in a zoo situation? Or is he just against elephants that he can't do with as he wants? What about that persons morals/ethics?
Wade

Guillaume.R said...

Wade, Ryan,
the information about the "acid" is from Dan Koehl's database, on the page of Yhetoo (now in Belfast Zoo).
Guillaume R

Ryan Easley said...

I recently was taught more regarding this subject by Dan Koehl.
The Burmese brand with acid, not freeze brand (probably because of the freeze technique was not as optimal in the 90s in Burma). The animal dealer van den Brink imported over 40 elephants from Burma, some of them (captive born) were branded, like Yhetoo in Belfast and some in Tierpark Berlin. Only some were branded. Apparently some captive born were branded with a studbook number. The sames fits Axel's elephants as well. I don't remember the names, maybe one was Alana. They were part of the group of youngsters that were brought in at the same time. Can anyone fill in the blanks or share more?
http://elephant.se/location2.php?location_id=322