Sydney Zoo $36 million zoo with roaming African animals planned for Blacktown

Zorro said:
another species which I believe is wanted are Hippos which are in very short supply in the region.
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As has been said several times in the thread already, hippos were discarded ages ago and replaced with Water Buffalo.

nczoofan said:
Hippos have been dropped as of now, yet the exhibit that was designed for them is still appearing on the plans, so likely they want them in the future (although considering the Australian population, that will be hard).
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As above, the enclosure will be used for Water Buffalo. Currently hippos cannot be imported, but that is being/will be addressed by the ZAA in the future
 
The zoo has updated the plans online. A few notable changes and new species. Definitely seems to be more reasonable, considering they plan on opening in early 2019.
  • The hippo/water buffalo exhibit now appears to be for capybara.
  • No longer are orangutan or sun bear on the plans in the Asian section. Now their are gibbon, otter, red panda, tiger and elephant.
  • The African section now features hyena, cheetah, wild dog and lion (rather than 2 lion exhibits in some plans).
  • The primate section now has meerkat, baboon, gorilla, chimp and what appears to be a tamarin.
  • The Australia section is much more defined. It has a dingo exhibit, kangaroo/emu walkthrough, nocturnal/reptile building, crocodile exhibit, shark tank, penguin exhibit and more.
  • A few smaller notes. The elephant exhibit is much larger in this plan, absorbing the land previously slated for a show/education area. Rhinos are no longer mixed with the other Savannah animals in this plan.
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I suspect the hippo exhibit will house capybara (in expansive surrounds!) as an interim species until they are able to source hippos.

The loss of sun bears is a shame. Combined with their departure from Adelaide, and Melbourne demolishing their former bear exhibit, it seems the outlook for the species here is grim. I’d be ok with that if the plan were my preferred bear option - rehousing rescued moon bears from bile farms - but it seems more likely there will simply be no bear program in Australia at all. Typical ZAA myopia.

Edit: looking again at the map, surely it can’t be fully to scale. Are meerkats really going to have a paddock approaching the gorilla exhibit in size?
 
CGSwans said:
I suspect the hippo exhibit will house capybara (in expansive surrounds!) as an interim species until they are able to source hippos.

The loss of sun bears is a shame. Combined with their departure from Adelaide, and Melbourne demolishing their former bear exhibit, it seems the outlook for the species here is grim. I’d be ok with that if the plan were my preferred bear option - rehousing rescued moon bears from bile farms - but it seems more likely there will simply be no bear program in Australia at all. Typical ZAA myopia.
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I imagine sunbears were barely breeding in Australia as they were in US prior to the 2013 phase out recommendation? It does suck that their will likely be no program in Australia for any bear species though.

The map is to scale according to the site photos I have seen. The exhibits and building placement look correct. The gorilla and chimp exhibits are rather tiny. It would be better tbh to just pick one. Although most of the exhibits at this zoo are not large by international standards, like that small rhino exhibit and the dingos. The meerkat exhibit looks massive for them though. At least the elephants now have more room.
 
I expect the Gorillas will be spare males - like Orana Park just has three males - so they won't "need" the room for a proper group. I am thinking a lot of their animals will just be surplus male holdings (Gorilla, Capybara, Spotted Hyaena, African Hunting Dog, Giraffe, etc etc)

For "the most advanced zoo in Australia" the enclosures mostly seem rather on the small side. Will be interesting to see the finished product though.
 
Chlidonias said:
I expect the Gorillas will be spare males - like Orana Park just has three males - so they won't "need" the room for a proper group. I am thinking a lot of their animals will just be surplus male holdings (Gorilla, Capybara, Spotted Hyaena, African Hunting Dog, Giraffe, etc etc)

For "the most advanced zoo in Australia" the enclosures mostly seem rather on the small side. Will be interesting to see the finished product though.
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What are you thinking about the elephants? Do you think they will be holding a family group or maybe some juvenile bulls?

Also on facebook they were claiming they were going to import some animals as well as getting animals already in the country, yet I imagine the vast majority will be from other Australian zoos.
 
nczoofan said:
What are you thinking about the elephants? Do you think they will be holding a family group or maybe some juvenile bulls?

Also on facebook they were claiming they were going to import some animals as well as getting animals already in the country, yet I imagine the vast majority will be from other Australian zoos.
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I have been told about their elephants but I'd need to find it again (and I wouldn't repeat it on here anyway because it was confidential).

For imports vs local-origin, the impression I had from their press was more general "publicity-speak" than anything firm on sources. Some species would be easiest to get within Australia for sure (as surplus animals, in most cases). However, of all the exotic species on that map above, the only ones which can't be imported directly are the Giraffe and Ostrich.
 
nczoofan said:
I imagine sunbears were barely breeding in Australia as they were in US prior to the 2013 phase out recommendation? It does suck that their will likely be no program in Australia for any bear species though.

The map is to scale according to the site photos I have seen. The exhibits and building placement look correct. The gorilla and chimp exhibits are rather tiny. It would be better tbh to just pick one. Although most of the exhibits at this zoo are not large by international standards, like that small rhino exhibit and the dingos. The meerkat exhibit looks massive for them though. At least the elephants now have more room.
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All a had underwhelming
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
All a had underwhelming
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True, Perhaps a case of trying to cram to much into a small area if the area had of been twice this size maybe a different story also some of the species wanted as some would know was not going to happen at least in the short term
 
nczoofan said:
The zoo has updated the plans online. A few notable changes and new species. Definitely seems to be more reasonable, considering they plan on opening in early 2019.
  • The hippo/water buffalo exhibit now appears to be for capybara.
  • No longer are orangutan or sun bear on the plans in the Asian section. Now their are gibbon, otter, red panda, tiger and elephant.
  • The African section now features hyena, cheetah, wild dog and lion (rather than 2 lion exhibits in some plans).
  • The primate section now has meerkat, baboon, gorilla, chimp and what appears to be a tamarin.
  • The Australia section is much more defined. It has a dingo exhibit, kangaroo/emu walkthrough, nocturnal/reptile building, crocodile exhibit, shark tank, penguin exhibit and more.
  • A few smaller notes. The elephant exhibit is much larger in this plan, absorbing the land previously slated for a show/education area. Rhinos are no longer mixed with the other Savannah animals in this plan.
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So give or take a few species, the collection will resemble all the major zoos in Australia. Predictable. Would have made sense if Sydney didn't already have a zoo...
 
A couple updates:
  • The zoo has updated it's website and now has a new logo which is a big improvement over the previous one in my opinion
sydney-zoo-map-min (2).jpg
  • There is now an exhibit next to the capybara for bison
  • The cheetah and wild dogs have swapped exhibits
  • There is a second narrow exhibit for meerkats to the left of the restaurant
That's all the changes on the map I can notice from quickly looking at the previous version posted by @nczoofan above, there may be more.
I am currently planning a trip to Sydney and hope to visit this new zoo when it opens next year. Will be interesting to see how it turns out.
 
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Also - just seen that the zoo is running a competition where five "mini zookeepers" can win an all expenses paid trip to somewhere in the world to bring home a new animal for Sydney Zoo (?)
This prize also includes an invitation to the grand opening of the zoo which is confirmed to be March 2019.
Works out well for my trip to Sydney planned for April! :D
 
ZooBoyNZ said:
Also - just seen that the zoo is running a competition where five "mini zookeepers" can win an all expenses paid trip to somewhere in the world to bring home a new animal for Sydney Zoo (?)
This prize also includes an invitation to the grand opening of the zoo which is confirmed to be March 2019.
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That's here, for anyone who wants to read it: Sydney Zoo Mini Zookeeper | Sydney Zoo

The terms and conditions hedge it with travelling "domestically and / or internationally" to the zoos which are providing animals.
 
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Hi everyone

You will notice on the map that there is a monkey species next to the baboons, and opposite the chimpanzees (with the bats and koalas behind it).

I was curious as to which species it would be, so I emailed the zoo, and they have got back to me very promptly. They have said that it will be a New World Primate, but they haven't determined which exact species it will be yet.

Based on this, and based on which species are common in Australian zoos, I will assume that it will be one of the following (and this is only my assumption):

Black Capped Capuchin
Squirrel Monkey
Cotton Top Tamarin
Emperor Tamarin
Golden Lion Tamarin
Common Marmoset
Pygmy Marmoset
Spider Monkey

If I hear anything more, I will let you know.
 
Any idea or information regarding dimensions of individual exhibits???
(It all seems a tad bit on the small side to me, ... but maybe I am wrong here....)
 
Chlidonias said:
That's here, for anyone who wants to read it: Sydney Zoo Mini Zookeeper | Sydney Zoo

The terms and conditions hedge it with travelling "domestically and / or internationally" to the zoos which are providing animals.
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I wonder which zoos ARE providing animals for transfer to this zoological establishment?

Still not clear with me:
A) Are they accredited by the ZAA / ARAZPA or not?
B) Any legislation on private zoological collection holdings and checks and balances?
C) Who are the senior staff behind this endeavour? Experience in the zoo community?
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
Any idea or information regarding dimensions of individual exhibits???
(It all seems a tad bit on the small side to me, ... but maybe I am wrong here....)
Click to expand...

The whole zoo appears to be to small with the type of animals they want to keep
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
I wonder which zoos ARE providing animals for transfer to this zoological establishment?

Still not clear with me:
A) Are they accredited by the ZAA / ARAZPA or not?
B) Any legislation on private zoological collection holdings and checks and balances?
C) Who are the senior staff behind this endeavour? Experience in the zoo community?
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In reply:
A. They cannot be accredited with ZAA until operating.
B. They need to be licienced under the NSW Exhibited Animals Act. All exhibits must be approved at the design stage and inspected prior to occupancy. Of course these are minimum standards.
C. All senior staff I have met are experienced in the zoo community. A couple I have known personally for up to two decades.
None of the above should be taken as an endorsement of the project, I know very little about the details.
 
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