Baby Elephant @ AK

[Sarangel]

Visitors to Disney's Animal Kingdom on Wednesday were greeted with a sign on the elephant building -- "It's a girl!"

But Tuesday night's birth of a 230-pound female named Kianga will give the company more than just another tourist magnet.

Kianga, whose name means "sunshine" in Swahili, is another success in the park's efforts to help maintain the world's elephant population. The park was successful last year in breeding to produce a baby boy elephant, Tufani.John Lehnhardt, animal operations director for Animal Kingdom, said Kianga's birth will help the theme park establish itself as an important leader in African elephant breeding and a contributor to animal conservation.

"It's a critical contribution to the conservation of animals," he said "The more successful we are, the more we're looked at as more than just an entertainment company."

Animal Kingdom's breeding of its elephants is part of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association's species-survival plan. Under this plan, association members work together to breed 125 species to maintain their population. That way, zoos won't have to take as many animals out of the wild, said Karen Goodrowe, general curator for the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, Wash., and co-chair of the association's reproductive sciences advisory group.

Walt Disney Co. has been a member of the group since it opened Animal Kingdom in 1998.

Kianga and her 18-year-old mother Vasha, who is on loan from the Dallas Zoo, are in isolation for now. Once the pair establishes a bond, Kianga will be introduced to the rest of the herd, and finally the public. The process could take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months.

In the case of Tufani, the baby boy elephant, it took two months before he was seen by the public.

Lehnhardt expects Kianga's introduction to go more smoothly because the other elephants are now acquainted with baby elephants.

Dennis Speigel, president and owner of International Theme Park Services, a Cincinnati-based tourism service company, said the successful elephant birth will provide a morale boost. Employees will not feel like theme-park workers, but rather caretakers doing something to ensure the "protection and evaluation of the animals."

"It brings a lot of credibility to their program that they're not just a sideshow, or a carnival, but that they're really working in the animal world, in animal husbandry," he said.

Speigel said baby animals are also often popular draws for tourist attractions and may give locals a reason to revisit the park.

A new baby elephant will not cause a sudden increase of visitors, but it will certainly give Animal Kingdom something new to talk about with its customers, said Steve Baker, president of the Baker Leisure Group.

"Every kid in town will ask their parents to go see it," he said.

Baby Elephants are very cute. If you have a chance, go see her.

Sarangel

 

[DukeStreetKing]

That's great news!

Now, if they can just keep "Little Red" from getting captured all the time.

 

[KNWVIKING]

****"Animal Kingdom's breeding of its elephants is part of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association's species-survival plan............... That way, zoos won't have to take as many animals out of the wild, said Karen Goodrowe, general curator for the Point Defiance Zoo......
Walt Disney Co. has been a member of the group since it opened Animal Kingdom in 1998."*****

Hmmmm......... Nahtazoo ????