Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from ShowMe Elephants. The first image features Have Trunk Will Travel, owned and operated by the most respected animal handlers and trainers in the country. The second two images were taken at the Kelly Miller Circus during our tour of the Natural State.

Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mother's Day to my mother, Karen. Featured below are a few pictures of her four children throughout the years.

San Antonio Zoo, July 1994

Museum of Osteology I

Several months ago I visited America's only skeleton museum, the Museum of Osteology in Oklahoma City. A friend and Oklahoma City Zoo elephant handler was kind enough to take me to the location during my visit to the zoo. After touring the location's two-level showroom, we met the owner and were given a special behind-the-scenes tour of the facility.

Felidae Family, Museum of Osteology"
Courtesy of R Easley

Happy Memorial Day!

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus
Courtesy of T Hawk

Mystery Photo - Belle Isle Zoo

Inquiry
"G’day Dan and Ryan, I picked the attached postcard at a post card show recently, any idea on date and name? Happy Days." //Wayne Jackson, Retired Wanderin’ Elephant Man

History
"Belle Isle was Detroit's first zoo, a menagerie. In the modern era it was an aquarium and children's zoo. I believe it was managed by the Detroit Zoo. Probably had baby elephants at Belle Isle and moved them to the Zoo in Royal Oak as they grew up if they didn't get moved elsewhere sooner." //Jim Alexander

Happy Mother's Day - Rotterdam Zoo

"I believe the top left cow is Yasmin with her mother Irma next to her. Front left: Anak, Sibu and Trong Nhi. Anak is Yasmins daughter and Sibu is the youngest calf of Irma. Trong Nhi is the daughter of Douanita. Father of Anak, Sibu and Trong Nhi is Alexander. //Lillian Berthung

Family photo from Blijdorp Zoo in Rotterdam, 08/2004
Courtesy of Lillian Berthung

Happy St Patrick's Day

"An elephant from the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus waves the Irish flag to celebrate St Patrick's Day during their customary parade through Washington to announce the arrival of the circus in the city, March 17, 2009."

Photo by Jonathan Ernst, Reuters

Shared by "May All Your Days Be Circus Days" on Facebook
Photo by Yuri Gripas / AFP/Getty Images

Candy Hitchcock Collection - Dixie

Ms. Hitchcock has graciously shared rare insight into the beginnings of the elephant program of Zoo Miami (or the Crandon Park Zoo, as it was originally known prior to relocation).

Dixie was the zoo's first elephant and about 20 when I knew her. I used to walk her out to the shade area behind the elephant barn and scratch her back with a rake. She had a huge rubber tire she carried around and we called it her 'baby'. Sadly, she developed arthritis in her front foot/leg from all the years walking on the concrete floor of the barn and was operated on. The surgery was a success but she later died of pneumonia. //Candy Hitchcock

"Hi Ryan, Here is a picture of me with Dixie. I am holding here ‘baby’. Candy"
Courtesy of C Hitchcock

Mystery Elephant Photo

Anne Hutton with elephant at zoo, circa 1925
Photo Courtesy of Robin Hutton, Flickr.com

Inquiry and Response
"G'day Robin, I was wondering if you knew which Zoo this Asian female lived in and what her name was? I am one of several Elephant people around the world that collect info and photos of elephants in captivity. Looking forward to hearing from you! Happy Days." //Wayne The Retired Wanderin Elephant Man

"These were found among a great pile of my mums photos. Nothing written on them but at that age she lived in Dublin." //Robin Hutton

Possible solution
If this picture were taken at the Dublin Zoo in Ireland, the EAZA-EEP Asian Elephant Studbook only lists one possible elephant residing at the zoo during this time frame. Listed without a name, the female arrived in February 1912 from London. No further information is given and she is listed as "Lost to Follow-up."

Unknown, Female Asian, EEP 1100
Unk - Birth, Asia
Jan 1911 - PUBLIC
06 Nov 1911 - LONDON RP
27 Feb 1912 - DUBLIN
- Lost to Follow-up

Jonas Livet's AsianElephant.net states a female elephant named Sandari resided at the zoo alone from 1912 to 1927. In 1927, she was joined by an unnamed elephant that died the same year. A replacement was acquired in 1929, named Dangiri Amma. Sandari died the following year in 1930.

Request for Information
The estimate regarding the EEP studbook's unnamed elephant and Livet's 'Sandari' are solely based on the photograph owner's statement of her mother residing in Dublin at the time.

Any information that could lead to the positive identification of this animal (in addition to further information regarding the lost Dublin elephant) would be greatly appreciated to complete elephant records and to satisfy the inquiries of Peter Dickinson, Wayne Jackson and ShowMe Elephants.

First Elephant Born in Turkey

The Izmir Sasali Wildlife Park celebrated the birth of Turkey's first elephant on February 5. The 242 pound calf was the first for its nine year old father and 17 year old mother, raising the park's herd of Asian elephants to three.

New calf and mother "Begumcan" at Izmir Wildlife Park
Photo Courtesy of DHA.com.tr

Pak Bahadur
The Izmir Zoo acquired their first elephant in 1955 when he was offered as a gift from the government of Pakistan. Pak Bahadur was born there eight years prior and kept as a single elephant in Turkey for 41 years until the arrival of Begumcan in 1996. The 59 year old elephant died in July 2007 during an operation on his foot and leg; he was considered Europe's oldest male elephant.

Pak Bahadur at the Izmir Zoo, 2000s
Photo Courtesy of AsianElephant.net

Begumcan
The Izmir Zoo acquired a two year old Asian elephant in 1996 as a gift from India's president, Kocheril Raman Narayanan. Named Begumcan, the animal became a companion for the zoo's lone 50 year old bull, Pak Bahadur. After Bahadir's death in 2007, the following year the zoo acquired another male, a young captive born animal from Israel, for Begumcan's companionship.

Winner and Begumcan at Izmir Wildlife Park, 09/2009
Photo Courtesy of Güneş Er, Guneser Photography

Winner
Winner was born at the Ramat Gan Zoo in Israel in August 2002, the number 12 of 13 born to his sire Motek and dam Warda. In July 2008, the six year old animal was transferred to the Izmir Zoo to begin a breeding program with the insititution's single female elephant Beguman. Three months later, the pair was transferred to a larger and more natural exhibit at the Izmir Sasali Wildlife Park. The 15,000 square meter exhibit and 550 square meter indoor housing boasts only one of two locations housing elephants in the country.

Winner at Izmir Wildlife Park, 09/2009
Photo Courtesy of Sinan Yuzakli

Records
Pak Bahadur (Bahadir), Asian Male, SB 5010
1948 - Birth, Pakistan
1955 - Izmir Zoo, Turkey
22 Jul 2007 - Death, Izmir Zoo, Turkey

Winner, Asian Male, SB 200208
18 Aug 2002 - Birth, Ramat Gan Zoo, Tel Aviv, Israel
26 Jul 2008 - Izmir Zoo, Izmir, Turkey
25 Oct 2008 - Izmir Sasali Wildlife Park, Izmir, Turkey
>> Winner at Elefanten-Fotolexikon.eu

Begumcan, Asian Female, SB 9410
1996 - Birth, Pakistan
04 Oct 1998 - Izmir Zoo, Izmir, Turkey
28 Oct 2008 - Izmir Sasali Wildlife Park, Izmir, Turkey

Izmir, Asian Female
05 Feb 2011 - Birth, Izmir Sasali Wildlife Park, Izmir, Turkey

For Additional Information
>> "Europes oldest elephant bull, Pak Bahadýr is dead," Elephant-News.com, 07/23/2007

>> "Winner and Begümcan look happy," Elephant-News.com, 08/08/2008

>> "First elephant to be born in Turkey," DHA.com.tr, 02/10/2011

>> Izmir Zoo, Turkey at AsianElephant.net

>> Izmir Wildlife Park

Happy Easter!

From ZooBorns:

April 5, 2010
Elephant Easter Egg Hunt
A young elephant calf and mom examine a paper mache Easter egg in their habitat at the North Carolina Zoo Saturday. Although the paper eggs, filled with food treats, have become a yearly Easter-time enrichment item for many of the park's animals, Saturday marked the first time that the elephants have received them.
Photo credits: North Carolina Zoo

Happy New Year