pregnant elephant in zoo negara

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Ultrasound scan for zoo jumbo - New Straits Times 21st April 2002.

By Theresa Manavalan theresam

 

KUALA LUMPUR, April 20. - Sibol, the 23-year-old

elephant at Zoo Negara which is pregnant, has become the first

elephant in the country to have an ultrasound scan.

 

Performed on Tuesday morning, the scan dated her pregnancy at

about 11 months which is mid-term in the 21-month gestation

period for Asian elephants.

 

If she carries this pregnancy through, a baby is expected late

January or early February. The ultrasound could not determine if

the foetus is male or female. The expectant father is Triang, the

zoo's 23year-old bull elephant.

 

Excitement is already rippling through the veterinary community in

Malaysia. Captive pachyderms rarely get pregnant, births are

even rarer which is the rule for most wildlife in captivity.

 

In the case of elephants, few zoos worldwide even keep bulls as

they are tricky to manage due to their tendency to must - a kind

of hormonal imbalance which makes male elephants very cranky

at best or worse, go amok. This is why most zoos attempt

breeding programmes with artificial inseminations.

 

Zoo Negara chief veterinarian Dr S. Vellayan has already

enhanced Sibol's diet with extra fibre and protein. She also gets a

calcium supplement, cod liver oil and two kilogrammes of fresh

limes daily just for the Vitamin C.

 

Her " mother-to-be " treat at the moment is a rich confection of

cooked lentils and molasses, which looks something like a sticky

halva. (Doesn't all this sound humanly familiar?) " You cannot

imagine how happy we are, " said Dr Vellayan who, together with

Dr Abdul Wahid Haron of Universiti Putra Malaysia's Veterinary

Hospital, supervised the ultrasound scan. Dr Abdul Wahid, a

theriogenologist (an animal gynae and obstetrician), devised the

ultrasound scanning device.

 

Jumbo-sized scanners are awfully expensive. Only a few

custom-made ones exist in veterinary hospitals in the United

States. Inspired by those, Dr Abdul Wahid modified a standard

ultrasound machine (like those in human clinics) with the scanner

eye attached to a 1.5 metrelong probe and a mighty long cable.

An abdominal scan cannot work because elephant skin is simply

too thick.

 

" Not so perfect, but it works, " said Dr Abdul Wahid. " When we

return in about two months, we will have further modifications. "

Sibol was mostly calm during the two hours of scanning, bribed

with ripe bananas and papayas and the pacifying voices of her

trainers.

 

Also there were Dr Rosnina Yusoff of UPM's Veterinary Hospital

and Zoo Negara vets Dr Abraham Mathew, Dr Vijaya Jayam and

Dr Reza Singham. A group of students from UPM assisted. The

scanning procedure was videotaped by zoo staffers.

 

There is already a high level of interest in Sibol's pregnancy. The

opportunity to study elephants is rare, what more a pregnant one.

Although captive elephants become sexually mature somewhat

earlier than their counterparts in the wild, their reproduction rates

are poor. Miscarriages are common. So are pseudo-pregnancies

in which they display all the external signs, including hormonal

changes but carry no foetus.

 

Sibol came to the zoo in 1982 at age three. She was found

wandering in the Temerloh area forest by wildlife rangers, minus

her tail tip, and apparently separated from her mother and the rest

of the herd. She is sponsored by Carlsberg.

 

Sibol began showing signs of pregnancy early this year. Her

trainers noticed that she had put on weight, her breasts had

enlarged, the shape of her girth had changed and she was hungrier

than ever. Urine analyses for progesterone levels, done fortnightly

since last June, are consistent with a pregnancy.

 

Sibol is already on maternity leave. She has been exempted from

daily shows at the zoo's elephant enclosure - which have

entertained children and adults for two decades - until she gives

birth and has suitably recovered, after which she will be a

" working mom " . (Elephant performances are actually exercises in

which they stretch all their muscles.) For the duration of her

pregnancy, Sibol will spend nights in an enclosed section of the

elephant pen to prevent accidents. Her days will be spent in the

open area watched carefully by her keepers and by visitors who

are expected to monitor her with much interest. And, for those

who must ask: No, the storks at the zoo's lake have no inkling

about what's going on at the elephant house.

 

Triang has always been Sibol's paramour, preferring her to Siti,

the other young female. But for many years, their courtship had

been " supervised " by Minah, the dominant matriach pachyderm at

Zoo Negara. Minah, who died last year, was always a bit of a

stuffy old makcik (aunty) who kept Triang's libido very much under her

control.