Hi there, my name is Steve and I first met Dokkoon, Kulab and Num oi in Thailand in 2005, and haven’t left their sides since.

My life since meeting these three elephants has been filled with amazing experiences and amazing people. I look forward to sharing more of this story with you all.

Below you can read the latest update, otherwise you can read posts in the archives or view  video updates.

Great News! 

After many introductions with Bong su, over several ovulation cycles (roughly every 16 weeks), it became obvious that Dokkoon wasn’t going to stand still enough for Bong su to mate her naturally. It was then decided to train Dokkoon for artificial insemination.

Over three days in late March, 2008, Melbourne Zoo veterinarians, elephant keepers and a reproductive specialist team from Germany (lead by Thomas Hildebrandt) carried out three inseminations on Dokkoon, using samples collected from Bong su. We then had to wait nine long weeks before we could find out if Dokkoon was pregnant or not.

Thomas and his team returned from Germany to carry out this procedure using an ultrasound machine. I was standing with them as they were looking for the embryo. There was a lot of head shaking and their body language suggested that things weren’t looking promising. We then got Dokkoon to lie on her side, as this would give them a better view. Once again there were serious faces. We were all getting prepared for the bad news. Suddenly Thomas, while lying on his side behind Dokkoon, punched his free hand in the air and let out a cheer (apparently he’s never been so excited!). He had just seen a small black shape on the monitor … a three centimetre amnionic sac, containing Dokkoon’s baby! A cheer erupted from behind us as staff members couldn’t contain their emotions. As I looked around the room I could just see the enormity of our achievement. Everyone was hugging, had huge smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes. I have never felt such pride and exhilaration in 15 years of being a zookeeper.

Currently, Dokkoon is doing really well. Her pregnancy will last between 20-22 months and it is important that we keep her fit and active during this time. We cannot see any physical changes yet, but I do think her head is up in the clouds somewhere, but then again, with this huge event in our lives, whose isn’t?!

By the way, you can see the video of Dokkoon's first ultrasound here.