3 Japanese Zoos to Swap Female Elephants for Breeding

September 24, 2018

Tokyo- Three zoos in northeastern Japan will launch a project on Tuesday to swap their female African elephants in a bid to form new pairs for breeding, in the first such attempt in the country.

The three are Selcohome Zoo Paradise Yagiyama in Miyagi Prefecture, Akita City Omoriyama Zoo in Akita Prefecture and Morioka Zoological Park in Iwate Prefecture.

Japan has been seeing a sharp drop in the number of African elephants in the country partly because imports of the animal are strictly restricted under the Washington Convention, formally called the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES.

According to the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the number of African elephants in Japan peaked at 80 in 1986, but fell to 34 at the end of 2017. Breeding has not been successful since 2014.

Each of the three zoos has a pair of male and female African elephants of breeding age. The six elephants are aged 16-29.

But the pair at the Yagiyama zoo have not shown signs of breeding behavior. The pairs at the other two zoos have mated, but no pregnancy has been confirmed.

The three pairs may have failed to go into heat as they have been together for too long a period, experts said.

As the first step under the program, Hanako, the 29-year-old female elephant at the Omoriyama zoo, is scheduled to be transported to the Yagiyama zoo on a truck on Tuesday.

Two weeks later, Lily, also 29, at the Yagiyama zoo will be moved to the Omoriyama zoo.

For about three years, the two new pairs will be carefully monitored whether they will show breeding behavior. Then, a study will be made on whether to add 16-year-old Mao at the Morioka zoo to the program.

As the three prefectures are located adjacent to one another, the elephants' stress from travel is believed to be limited.

"We'll fully prepare to make sure that Hanako will be safely transferred" to the Yagiyama zoo, Masaya Miura, 46, an official at the Omoriyama zoo, said. Takayuki Kanatsumi, the 53-year-old head of the Yagiyama zoo, said, "We'll create an environment to help Hanako feel at ease soon at our zoo and mate with Ben, our 29-year-old male African elephant." Jiji Press