Thread: Mr Shuffles

Miracle elephant makes nervous debut
BRITT SMITH
March 14, 2010

Sydney's miracle baby elephant has made a nervous and wobbly debut appearance at Taronga Zoo.

Nicknamed Mr Shuffles, the male calf began exploring his enclosure with his mum, 18-year-old Thai elephant Porntip, on Sunday.

It is the first time he has left the barn where he was born on Wednesday after a difficult, nine-day labour that had experts believing he had died in the womb.

Zoo staff have been working around the clock to care for the calf since his eventful beginnings.

Early on Sunday, he began showing signs he was ready for his first foray into the outside world.

Dwarfed by the size of his mother, the baby unsteadily shuffled through the enclosure, occasionally venturing out from underneath her belly to check out the surroundings.

Peering out from behind her thick legs, he waved his tiny trunk and flapped an ear before again disappearing into her shadow.

In a show of curiosity, he tried to follow Porntip up a slope but retreated when he nearly took a tumble as his legs started to give way.

"He's excited to be alive," the zoo's Elephant Manager Gary Miller said.

"He's looking around and seeing the world.

"It's a little bit unnerving for him ... if anything I would say he's probably a little more nervous, tentative than (cousin) Luk Chai."

Mr Miller said the milestone is another sign the calf will grow into a healthy elephant.

"Because of his compromised position as he came out and was born, we didn't know if he had brain damage from lack of oxygen from such a prolonged birth," he told reporters.

"I'd say he's going to be 100 per cent."

Mr Miller says Porntip has also proved to be an excellent mother who has bonded extremely well with her newborn - perhaps as a result of their ordeal.

"She's going to be very protective, she's very maternal and she's going to continue to be that," he said.

"She's going through the highs and lows ... (but) you can see she is happy."

As the pair hovered on the edge of their watering hole, onlookers admired the scene.

"He's such cute little thing," said Leah Jacobs who went with her two young children.

"It's really amazing to see him out and about, walking around after such a traumatic start to life."

The zoo has put forward seven Thai names for the calf, which will be decided by public vote.

They include Pathi Harn, which means miracle, Tay Wan (boy in heaven), Ming Khwan (good internal strength and attitude), Nam Chok (brings with him good fortune), Mongkon (auspicious), Boon Thung (merit has led to reaching this life), and Chok Dee (very good luck).

Visit Home - Taronga Conservation Society Australia to cast your vote.

news.smh.com.au

Shuffles to be named after public vote
MILES GODFREY
March 24, 2010

Taronga Zoo's "miracle" elephant calf will be given a traditional Thai name and receive a blessing during a short ceremony on Thursday.

Thousands of people have voted online to name the calf, which confounded experts by being born alive on March 10.

Two days before his birth, Taronga experts had announced the calf had died during a long and difficult labour for his mother, Porntip.

The calf was nicknamed `Mr Shuffles' because of his early walking attempts.

Porntip was artificially inseminated in May 2008, and her calf became the second elephant born at Taronga, following Luk Chai, also a male, born in July 2009.

Reverend Bill Crews from the Exodus Foundation, a Christian welfare organisation based in Sydney that helps disadvantaged Australians, will bless the animal before his name is announced.

A spokesman for the zoo told AAP on Wednesday the calf is in high spirits, describing him as a "real rascal".

The elephant will receive one of the following Thai names:

Pathi Harn (miracle),

Tay Wan (boy in heaven),

Ming Khwan (good internal strength, good attitude),

Nam Chok (brings with him good fortune),

Mongkon (auspicious),

Boon Thung (merit has led to reaching this life),

Chok Dee (very good luck).

watoday.com.au

"Chok Dee" is at short odds, as is "Nam Chok"

Game is over before it began ,

Mr Shuffles ..................

Originally Posted by Mid

we didn't know if he had brain damage

The little fellas parents are Thai so it can't be ruled out.

Wait and see!

LINK: Baby Elephants

25 March 2010

Minister for Climate Change and the Environment, Frank Sartor, today announced that Taronga’s new elephant calf will be named Pathi Harn (pronounced ‘par tea harn’).

“The people of NSW and zoo keepers have chosen Pathi Harn - the Thai word for miracle - as the new name for Mr Shuffles,” Mr Sartor said.

“The calf was formally blessed in a naming ceremony today by Buddhist Monks and Reverend Bill Crews of the Exodus Foundation.

“Pathi Harn’s story has really captured the public’s imagination and they have chosen a name that reflects this,” Mr Sartor said.

good luck

10 will get you 1 Mr Shuffles sticks

Originally Posted by Mid

good luck

10 will get you 1 Mr Shuffles sticks

As indeed it should! A far more memorable appellation for the little chap.

Birthday boy gets into the swing of an elephant's life
MIA BURNS
July 4, 2010


Playtime... Luk Chai frolics at Taronga Zoo.
Photo: Simon Alekna

AUSTRALIA's first born baby Asian elephant, Luk Chai, will mark his first birthday today with sweet treats and playtime with his littlest mate, Pathi Harn.

Staff at Taronga Zoo will serve bananas and other elephant delicacies wrapped in palm fronds for Luk Chai, who has grown from 96 kilograms to more than 400 kilograms in his first year.

And sharing the fun will be Pathi Harn - nicknamed Mr Shuffles - the ''miracle'' calf born on March 10, two days after distressed zoo staff announced that he had died in his mother's womb.

A zoo spokesman said Luk Chai spent his days playing on dirt mounds, wallowing in mud, balancing on logs and being ''tolerant'' of Pathi Harn.

''Where you would think that the older calf would be the one to hassle and play rough, in this case it seems to be the other way around …'' elephant keeper Kat Theodore said during a public show.

''Luk Chai goes about his business, with Pathi Harn in tow making sure he doesn't miss out on anything.''

Even though Luk Chai is larger than his younger counterpart, the birthday boy is still cute enough to draw gasps of excitement from the crowd as one of ''the babies''.

His birth was an important step in the conservation of the endangered Asian elephant, as was the surprise birth of Pathi Harn.

Taronga Zoo is awaiting the birth of a third elephant in November

smh.com.au

youtube.com

aww baby elephants are so cute

Luk chai

my frikkin' arse!!!!

It's name will always be Mr.Shuffles to me!!!!

Nice of course at the ned of his life the Morning Herald has the ready made obituary
'Shuffles of this Mortal coil"

Originally Posted by Spin

Originally Posted by Mid

we didn't know if he had brain damage

The little fellas parents are Thai so it can't be ruled out.

Wait and see!

Lol



So when does the 24 hour elephant channel start on Fox cable?

Originally Posted by Poo and Pee

Luk chai

my frikkin' arse!!!!

It's name will always be Mr.Shuffles to me!!!!

wrong 'helephant

Tough and strong, Taronga Zoo's new baby elephant is a girl in a hurry
November 02, 2010


This baby elephant, born in Sydney early today, is Taronga Zoo's first female calf.
Picture: Getty Images

SYDNEY'S Taronga Zoo is celebrating the arrival of its first female elephant calf, born in record-breaking time.

The female was born early today and was suckling within an hour and a half of being born.

“She's a tough girl and she's obviously very strong and knows what she wants,” said Taronga Zoo's exotic fauna manager, Mandy Everett.

The 120kg calf arrived after just 30 minutes of active labour for her mother, Pak Boon, about 1.12am (AEDT).

She is the third elephant calf to be born at Taronga Zoo.

Her half-brother Luk Chai was born in July 2009 while Pathi Harn - nicknamed Mr Shuffles - was born in March this year after a long and difficult labour. Experts had mistakenly assumed he had died in his mother's womb.

Dr Thomas Hildebrandt, from the Berlin Institute of Zoo and Wildlife Research was present at the birth of the latest calf, along with the Taronga veterinary team and elephant keepers.

“Dr Hildebrandt said this was a record-breaking birth in terms of the speed, with the calf nursing within 90 minutes of birth and standing unassisted within three hours,” zoo director Cameron Kerr said.

Zoo staff are “on an absolute high” at the birth, which comes on the fourth anniversary of the arrival of the elephant herd from Thailand in 2006.

Aged 18, Pak Boon is the eldest female elephant in the zoo and this was her first pregnancy, which resulted from a natural mating with the zoo's Asian elephant bull, Gung.

“As it was her first pregnancy and birth, we were a little bit anxious, but she did really well,” Ms Everett, who was present at the birth, said.
Staff had no idea of the calf's sex until she was born.

“Obviously our number one priority is the health of our calves so we can continue the breeding program, but we did have our fingers crossed it would be a girl,” Ms Everett said.

Less than 12 hours after her birth, the calf is walking around independently and meeting other members of the elephant herd.

“They are reaching out to her and touching trunks and generally saying hi,” Ms Everett said.

“Her mum is very calm and accepting of her, which is great.”

A Thai name for the calf will be chosen in the next few weeks by zookeepers.

theaustralian.com.au

Zoo keeper crushed by elephant she raised
Lauren Turner
October 19, 2012

WHEN "miracle" elephant Mr Shuffles was born against the odds two years ago at Taronga Zoo, keeper Lucy Melo played an integral role in raising him.

But, just before 11.30am (AEDT) on Friday in the elephant barn at the Sydney harbourside zoo, the Asian elephant calf "challenged" Ms Melo and pinned her against a bollard.

Ms Melo, the zoo's 40-year-old senior elephant keeper, was crushed and is fighting for her life in Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital.

"I am very, very concerned about the staff member that has been hurt, as are all of the team at the zoo," Taronga Zoo director and chief executive Cameron Kerr told reporters.

Ms Melo is in a critical but stable condition.

The elephant, who weighed more than 500kg at his first birthday, earned the nickname Mr Shuffles because his early attempts at walking resembled the shuffle of an elderly man.

On Friday Ms Melo was engaged in a routine training session to teach the elephants how to wash.

Two other keepers heard her cries and moved the elephant away.

Ms Melo was still conscious and talking when paramedics arrived but lapsed into unconsciousness and had a cardiac arrest for about five minutes.

A second crew of paramedics managed to get her heart beating again before rushing her to Royal North Shore Hospital in a critical condition.

The zoo said it didn't know why the two-year-old elephant challenged Ms Melo, who was part of the team that went to Thailand to bring Taronga's five Asian elephants to Sydney.

"Since the herd arrived in 2006, three calves have been born and Lucy has been part of raising the calves and looking after the extended family," the zoo's website says.

Both the zoo and Workcover NSW are investigating the incident.

Mr Kerr said the public were not at risk during the incident, which happened as part of a "normal animal washing routine".

It is not the first time in Australia that an elephant has turned on its handler.

In 2007, Stardust Circus worker Ray Williams, 57, was found dead in the elephant Arna's enclosure at Yamba, in northern NSW.

An interim post-mortem examination found Mr Williams suffered a broken back and a ruptured aorta and died from "severe blunt trauma".

A year later after undergoing health and behavioural assessments, Arna found a permanent home at Taronga Western Plains Zoo.

According to Taronga's website, Ms Melo has worked at the zoo since 2004, following stints in the United States at Houston Zoo, Rio Grande Zoo and Disney's Animal Kingdom.

In a article on its website Ms Melo said: "Every day I work with animals is amazing, but the highlights are definitely the births of our elephant calves.

"I enjoy the one-on-one relationships that I have with the elephants ... They truly give you unconditional love."

heraldsun.com.au

Taronga's male elephants forced to pack trunks for Dubbo after new safety rules
Saffron Howden
January 19, 2013


Dubbo bound … Taronga Zoo's Pathi Harn.
Photo: Jacky Ghossein

NSW'S two main zoos will restrict contact with elephants following the near-fatal crushing of a Taronga keeper last year, preventing the city zoo from fulfilling one of the conditions of importing endangered Asian elephants from Thailand - to walk them.

As Taronga confirmed it will send all its male Asian elephants to Dubbo soon, splitting the family and social group of eight, senior management expressed ''disappointment'' that at least one staff member publicly criticised the move to ''protected contact'' with the pachyderms by mid-next year.

''I'm glad I'm not an elephant as their world has now become as small as their enclosures,'' Gajah69 posted on the online forum, ZooChat.

''If as much effort had gone into improving the standard of management as there has to reduce it to [protected contact] then it would have proven to be a success.''

Taronga's acting general manager of life sciences, Rebecca Spindler, would not discuss any internal investigation into the forum post, but said: ''It's a bit disappointing that staff have decided to go out that route.''

Dr Spindler said restricted contact, now becoming standard practice in the US where most zoos call it ''protected contact'', meant keepers stayed out of the elephant enclosures unless there was a specific need.

In those cases, physical space between animal and human was maintained, or the elephants were restrained either by drugs or tethering to a bollard.

Pathi Harn, a young male, pinned senior keeper Lucy Melo to a pole during a training session last October and nearly killed her. She returned to work this week and an internal investigation cleared the zoo of any wrong-doing, blaming high levels of testosterone in the elephant.

Some experts say moving part of the group to Dubbo, is cruel. ''To arbitrarily chop a group in two and send some of them off to another place is a very disturbing and frankly cruel thing to do,'' said a former zoo director, David Hancocks.

theage.com.au