Friday, April 29, 2011
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A Blog designed for discussion of topics related to, but not limited to, Circus, Zoos, Animal Training, and Animal Welfare/Husbandry. Sometimes opening up the dialog is the best starting point of all. And if for nothing else when people who agree and don't agree, get together and start discussing it, it will open up a lot of peoples minds. Debate and discussion even amongst themselves opens a window where there wasn't one before.
4 comments:
The Asians are Sabu and Punch. We just visited the zoo today and were given a very nice tour of the facilities by Dave Campbell and staff.
Radar,
Sabu looks a bit "drawn in at the spine area," in the top photo and speaking of "spine areas" what's up with his back, elephant on the left, in the bottom photo? Is that an injury, or conformation?
Wade
I don't know Wade. I think that is how she is built. She is a large elephant in height with a large head but more narrow in the body.
Radar,
Are you listening? He, Sabu is a he. That's him, not her on the left in the bottom picture. Correct me if I am wrong, please. In 1988, Sabu came from Malaysia, where the data base list's 47 living and 26 dead(over half). Who imported him? He has sired 2 offspring, a male and a female, both of whom died from EEVH.
There are pathologically consistent reports of at least 15 lethal haemorrhagic disease cases recently attributed to EEHV also in wild orphans and range calves within several Asian countries. Several of these have been confirmed by DNA PCR tests to be EEHV1 strains and a laboratory for collecting and testing suspected samples has been set up in India.
Have there been any studies done on whether a "look" can be attributed to a fatal genetic flaw, which is common in domestic agricultural animals, which have been inbreed for many generations in a closed population, in an effort to capitalize on a dominant production characteristic, color, horn growth. If you want some fun, look into the longevity/health of pin headed sunken templed elephants with thin pencil trunks. When you are finished with that look into male's with deformed, either roached or elongated backs with thin weak tusks. Don't bias yourself with who owns them or where they are now. Concentrate on a specific area they may have came from, who sold them and who bought them from their point of origin.
Wade
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