Elephants need at least 3 in family

May 6, 2009

Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Experts meeting here call big group at Pittsburgh Zoo a model

Two dozen elephant experts from across North America were in Pittsburgh this week to discuss ways to ensure a sustainable captive and wild population of the endangered animals.

When the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Taxon Advisory Group for elephants met Pittsburgh's pachyderms -- Tasha, Moja, Savannah, Callee, Victoria, Angeline and Zuri -- they had at least part of their answer.

The seven-member, mixed age herd is taken for granted by Pittsburgh zoo visitors but is the kind of family-style unit that zoos and other wild animal parks aspire to, said John Lehnhardt, vice chair of the group and animal operations director at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Thirty of the 78 zoos and wild animal parks that have elephants in North America have only one or two. The Taxon Advisory Group has recommended a three elephant minimum.

"This is what's new, the social groups. We're starting to provide the kind of social context you see in the wild and that you can't see without babies," Mr. Lehnhardt said Monday, referring to Angelina and Zuri, who won't be 1 year old until July.

"We want to invest in the future of elephants, and this social context is what they live for and how they evolved," he said. "It's the right direction for the program and the right direction for elephants."

Yesterday, when TAG members visited the zoo's 724-acre International Conservation Center in Somerset County, where Jackson, one of the nation's most prolific breeding bulls, roams a facility that can accommodate up to 20 elephants, they saw another part of the future. The conservation center is one of only two in the United States.

"Pittsburgh started this, and it gives us an important tool we haven't had in the past," said Michael Keele, of the Portland, Ore., zoo and head of the African elephant Species Survival Plan group within the Taxon Advisory Group.

"We're hoping to learn from Pittsburgh's experience." The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium hosted the mid-year meeting of the TAG and its African and Asian SSPs, two of many SSPs organized to address issues of birthing, breeding, new research, health and enrichment for threatened and endangered species in zoos and in the wild. New elephant management guidelines are under review.

"These meetings are important to advancing elephant care and conservation efforts worldwide," said Barbara Baker, president and chief executive officer of the Pittsburgh Zoo. "There's a need for research and a need to be able to tell people what we're doing to help the population of elephants."

During its meetings Monday, the group was sensitive to criticism of zoos and animal captivity, but Mr. Keele said zoos are playing a positive role in helping species survive.

"In 1971 there were 1.3 million African elephants in the wild. There are 400,000 now and it's clear there won't be any in the wild soon unless we can learn about how humans impact on their survival," Mr. Keele said. "Human-elephant conflicts are a huge problem and we think we can help."