Laws bar the importation of Asian elephants except under special circumstances. Without imports or better breeding programs, their numbers will fall so dramatically that, within 50 years, they will be virtually gone here, according to a study by Robert Wiese, assistant animal-programs director at the Fort Worth Zoo in Texas. To sustain a captive population without imports, Asian elephants in North America would need to produce about 14 calves a year, Wiese said. But breeding in captivity has proven difficult, with low birth weights and high calf-mortality rates. There were only three live births in 1999.
Some researchers say a captive U.S. population is essential.
That knowledge comes at a price. Daphne Sheldrick has worked with elephants for more than 40 years and hand-rears orphans in Kenya's Nai robi National Park. A chorus of rumbles and trumpet blasts ricocheted off the concrete and steel barn like cannonball fire. Trunk tips twined between the stall pipes like fingers testing the wind. It was time for breakfast, and Shirley and Jenny are eager to eat.