SLIDE 4
(Thomas Hildebrandt)
We tested our system after several
tries in German zoos and in South Africa in immobilized and culled
elephants. In South Africa the situation is such that they have
too many elephants in protected areas and they must cull some
of them every year. We use these culled elephants to test our
designs and to improve our knowledge about the reproductive organs
in elephants. One thing which is very interesting here is an
open uterus. You see these stripes - they are scars from the
birth. The elephant placenta is very invasive, and it destroys
the tissue in which the embryo is attached to the uterus, causing
this scarring, which you can see in ultrasound. And we were able
to see such scarring in Shanthi. With ultrasound you are able
in live animals to count the births several years prior to the
performance of the ultrasound. This is a very interesting phenomenon
which we hope we can use in viable programs in countries which
have elephants.