Skip to content
Main Navigation
  • Deutsch
  • Español
  • Japan

Upali.ch

Elephant encyclopedia

Main Navigation
  • Elephant encyclopedia
  • Author and Designer of the Elephant encyclopedia

Elephantbulls and bulls managements

By Georges Frei  On 11. October 201616. September 2018 In Keeping Tagged accidents, african, asian, attack, big, blood, bull, circus, danger, elephant, elephant keepers, elephantbaby, elephantbull, free contact, Frei, Georges, hierarchical, hook, Maxie, musth, power, protected contact, Schenka, trunk, Tusko, whip, wounds, zoo, zooelephant Leave a comment 
Are bulls a big challenge?

The male elephants represent a special challenge within the keeping of elephants. As is the case for most mammals, also with the elephants the male animal is stronger and more massive than the females. Even the owners of horses declare to have problems with stallions and farmers, who keep an own bull, are the exception to the rule.

What is different with elephant bulls?

With the elephant bull, there is still the additional phenomenon of the musth apart from its size and strength.
The musth has the effect that elephant bulls cannot be kept like female elephants.

"Maxie" the elephant bull zoo Zurich
“Maxie” the elephant bull zoo Zurich

Elephant bulls, which are tied up in the stable for hygiene, are a thing of the past. Where this is still done, a heavy accident is pre-programmed.

Do they require a great effort?

The efforts a zoo has to do for its bull keeping are huge. Besides a separate stable and external enclosure, the bull also needs most qualified bull keepers.

What should a bull’s stable look like?

The bull’s stable has to be constructed by the principle of Protected Contact with an exchange stable. This means that the stable can be divided into two halves by a sliding gate. When the gate is closed, in one half the stable can be cleaned and the feed can be prepared, while in the other half the elephant bull is eating or waiting. With this keeping principle the elephant keeper and the bull don’t get into direct contact and so accidents can be avoided on the whole.

How are bulls treated?

In order to the hygiene of the bull being ensured, the stable barrier has to consist of solid iron bars, which have spaces big enough to wash the elephant but not so big that the elephant can reach the keeper by its trunk.

alternating bullstable
alternating bullstable
Why are there so few zoos with elephant bulls?

Because of these structural expenditures, elephant bulls are quite rare in zoos. However this has to change in the near future. Since every zoo with a breeding bull wants to and has to breed, statistically every second elephant birth is a bull calf. All these bull calves need a new and good place. Because already at young age the elephant bulls can become dangerous for the keepers and therefore should be kept in an exchange stable at the age of approximately 4 – 5 years. Unfortunately at present very few zoos are prepared for the keeping of two or – still better – several bulls.

Elephant bulls in circuses?

In the circus it is still more impossible nowadays to keep an elephant bull – at least to some extent – in a way which is appropriate for the animal. Until a few years ago, the people from the circus, but also the audience, had a different opinion. And even today there are small circuses, which have elephant bulls with them.

Schenka an Stefan Frank in Germany
Schenka and Stefan Frank in Germany

There are still some circuses that hold elephant bulls even these days, however. Asian elephant bull Shenka (dead 23.12.2007) of Circus Alberti with Stefan Frank was famous. But the duo is an absolutely positive exception to the rule. At more than 40 years of age Shenka seems to have adapted fully to a solitary existence in the circus.

Until a few years ago, circuses still brought elephant bulls. The castrated elephant bull “Colonel Joe” toured until his death, 2012, with the Circus Krone on tour

castrated elephant bull "Colonel Joe"
Elephant bull “Colonel Joe”
How were things in days gone by?

A circus which took a pride in itself, hat at least one elephant bull in its stable. Again and again it came to bad accidents for which both the trainer and the bull paid with their lives.

Tusko 1929 most famous elephant of America
Tusko 1929 most famous elephant of America

When a bull had its musth, it could no longer work in the circus ring and was degraded to an exhibit. A sad example is the bull Tusko, which in the 30’s lived in America. Because it was a feared “mankiller”, it was – tied up and bound in chains – presented to the audience as a sad beast.

  • facebook
  • tweet
  • google+

Related Posts

  • Elephants in the Zoo Basel
  • sunrise
    Daily Routine for the elephants in zoos and circus
  • Zoo born elephants

Post navigation

Bottle fed elephantbaby – Upali
Elephants in Chains

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Comments

  • Haley Rader on Anatomy of the elephants
  • Georges Frei on Musth of the elephant bulls
  • Emily Gray on Musth of the elephant bulls
  • How Much Does a Baby Elephant Weigh? – Exploration Squared on Bigness and weight of the elephants
  • Heather Parsons on Anatomy of the elephants

Recent Posts

  • Wanted: Translator English – French
    April 19, 2019, No Comment

    Wanted: Translator English – French Dear readers of upali.ch It …

  • Elephants of the zoo Zurich
    June 6, 2017, No Comment

    0.1 Ceyla Born 1971 in Sri Lanka Gender: female Since 1976 …

  • Elephants in the Zoo Basel
    June 6, 2017, No Comment

    Born: 1976 in Krüger National Park in South Africa Gender: female Since 1984 …

  • The Elephants of Circus KNIE Switzerland
    June 6, 2017, One Comment

    0.1 Sabu Born: 1984 in Burma Gender: female 01.01.1984 to 01.01.1989 – …

  • Daily Routine for the elephants in zoos and circus
    December 5, 2016, No Comment

    What does a day in the life of a zoo …

Copyright Georges Frei
  • Deutsch
  • Español
  • Japan