Felids in Australasian Zoos – News, History and Discussion

Lion updates:

Auckland received Zulu and Malik (2004) back from Wellington this week. They will fill the enclosure until Auckland can source a new, younger pride. Timescale for the 1st imports is currently within 2 years

Dubbo/Perth - Females, Zuri and Makeba (2015) are off to Perth in October. Two male Lions will likely join them from the United States to form a potential breeding pride
 
Nisha said:
Lion updates:

Auckland received Zulu and Malik (2004) back from Wellington this week. They will fill the enclosure until Auckland can source a new, younger pride. Timescale for the 1st imports is currently within 2 years

Dubbo/Perth - Females, Zuri and Makeba (2015) are off to Perth in October. Two male Lions will likely join them from the United States to form a potential breeding pride
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It was an ingenius idea to bring Zulu and Malik up from Wellington Zoo. Aside from the obvious, that it means a decent lion enclosure is not going to waste for the 1-2 years it will take to acquire new lions from overseas; it means that Wellington Zoo now have the space to allow their female lions outside access whenever they want. Fights between the two prides (Zulu and Malik) vs (Djane, Djembe and Zhara) meant one group always had to be in the cages, while the other was on exhibit. I'm sure the Auckland Zoo keepers appreciate this 'homecoming' of the two boys, especially considering they're the sons of Kura and Amira.

I was very surprised however to hear of Zuri and Makeba's move to Perth Zoo. I'd assumed the plan would have been to keep them with their young mother and import a new young male for breeding, once the head of the pride, Lazerus (2002), passes on. Apparently not. Maybe with such a huge exhibit, the plan will be to retire Lazerus and Maya to another zoo, and import females to breed with their four young sons (born 2016), who will head up a super pride.
 
Whilst browsing some US zoo forums recently - I noted a mention that two young female Lions had apparently been donated to Taronga from a large American zoo in early 2018. I'm assuming that (if the information is true) that they're likely to be offshow at Dubbo currently? Possibly earmarked for transfer to Taronga when the African area is ready in late 2019...?
 
Adelaide Zoo Sumatran Tigers - Kembali has Arrived

New cat on the block at Adelaide Zoo - Adelaide Zoo

Three-year-old Sumatran Tiger Kembali reached his new home in winter after making the journey from Hamilton Zoo in New Zealand.

Upon arrival, the handsome boy spent 30 days in an off-limits quarantine facility to relax and adjust to his new surroundings, while also building relationships with his keepers.

Adelaide Zoo Carnivore Keeper Arliah Hayward said Kembali, who weighs in at a whopping 130kg, is now settling in to his home well.

‘Kembali took a little bit of time to get settled after the long journey, but now he’s doing well and is chuffing at his keepers in greeting each morning,” Arliah said.

“We have put a lot of effort into building relationships with him so it’s excellent to see he’s now ready to come out and explore.”

Kembali’s arrival is an exciting prospect for both Adelaide Zoo and the Sumatran Tiger international breeding program.

Earlier this year, 11-year-old female Sumatran Tiger Rhani joined the Adelaide Zoo family after travelling from Canberra.

Once both new tigers are comfortable and settled, keepers hope to begin introductions for breeding.

“It’s an exciting time for large carnivores here at Adelaide Zoo, we are hopeful that Rhani and Kembali get along so we can contribute to the insurance population and support genetic diversity of Sumatran Tigers in the region,”Arliah said.
 
Taronga Western Plains Zoo African Lions - Imports and Exports

Makeeba and Zuri heading west

In late October, African Lions Makeeba and Zuri will be heading west to Perth Zoo where they will take up residency with the aim to commence a breeding program there in the future. Makeeba and Zuri are now three years old and were the first Lion cubs to be born at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in 2015. Visitors would know Makeeba and Zuri as the pair that is always separate from the main Lion pride. They like spending time together and a separate from the pride due to the fact they are related to the males in this group. Makeeba is the more dominant of the two and according to her keepers has a little bit of attitude. She likes to act like the tough kid on the block. Whereas Zuri is more sensitive and is more approachable often interacting with keepers when they are around. Keepers will very much miss Makeeba and Zuri but look forward to hearing the news in the future about the commencement of a breeding program at Perth Zoo and hopefully the birth of Lion cubs!

Taronga Western Plains Zoo will also welcome three new Lions to the Pride lands precinct early next year.
 
It's really hard to tell where TWPZ are heading with their lion pride. Shipping out the two young females indicates they're not establishing a female pride based on Maya and her daughters. The obvious assumption is that Lazerus (now post reproductive) will be retired (possibly with Maya) and that the three new lions (females) will form a new pride with some of the four young males (born 2016), with one or two being exported (maybe to Auckland Zoo)? It seems strange to me that Maya isn't going to Perth Zoo with her daughters (even as a non breeding animal). She's only 6 years old and upon the demise of Lazerus (who's 16 years old), her only options would be to be paired with another single male.
 
Mogo - A female Lion has arrived as a potential mate for Baako. She is 7 year old, Jahzara from Monarto
 
Nisha said:
Mogo - A female Lion has arrived as a potential mate for Baako. She is 7 year old, Jahzara from Monarto
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That's a strange move. You'd think they would have been better off sending Kiamba's younger daughter (born 2013) AND one of Tiombe's daughters (born 2013) rather than forming a 1.1 pair at Mogo. Or better yet, they should have sent Baako to Monarto Zoo to sustain the pride there (now that the four older females are post reproductive); which has room to expand in their large exhibit.
 
Hey @Nisha

I'm sure you've heard of this unusual news from the Indianapolis Zoo:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...-attack/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.866e3165244c

Do you know if the lioness, Zuri (born approx 2006), is related to Kura?

Aside from the fact Indianapolis Zoo was Kura's home zoo; Kura has a very dominant personality, even towards the males like and ultimately led to Auckland's male, Ngala, being euthanised after he was injured by Kura.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Hey @Nisha

I'm sure you've heard of this unusual news from the Indianapolis Zoo:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...-attack/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.866e3165244c

Do you know if the lioness, Zuri (born approx 2006), is related to Kura?

Aside from the fact Indianapolis Zoo was Kura's home zoo; Kura has a very dominant personality, even towards the males like and ultimately led to Auckland's male, Ngala, being euthanised after he was injured by Kura.
Click to expand...

Zuri was born at Denver Zoo in 2006. Both parents were wild born and imported from South Africa to Riverbanks in the late 1990s. She isn't related to Kura
 
Taronga Zoo to Receive a New Pair of Sumatran Tigers from Ragunan Zoo

Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Taronga and Ragunan signed MoU, Sumatran Tigers to arrive in Sydney in 2018

Under the blazing sun, the CFO of Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Mr. Cameron Kerr and the Director of Ragunan Zoological Park in Jakarta, Mrs. Dina Himawati met at Taronga Zoo (18/12/17), to sign an amendment to the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ragunan Zoological Park (RZP) and the Zoological Parks Board of New South Wales (ZPB), concerning Animal Breeding Loan Program, signed on 20 April 2015 (MOU 2015), to incorporate the breeding loan of Sumatran Tigers.

“The Indonesian Consulate General welcomes with appreciation this signing of the amended MoU, and stands ready to assist, within its capacity, for the implementation of the MoU" said Mrs. Silvia Malau, Consul for Economy from the Indonesian Consulate General in Sydney who was present for the signing. The Consul for Information, Social and Culture and several staff from the Consulate General were also present, as well as officials from the Provisional Government of Jakarta, highlighting the importance of this MoU to the two countries business to business relations.

The amended MoU states that “both Parties shall conduct a collaborative program of Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) for conservation of the species." To commence the breeding loan and conservation of Sumatran Tigers in NSW, Taronga Zoo expects to receive one male and one female Sumatran Tiger from Ragunan Park in 2018, for a period of 5 years.

Taronga and Ragunan Parks have been in collaboration for many years under the sister-zoo cooperation, which is part of a wider State and Province cooperation between NSW and Jakarta. In the first step of realizing the sister-zoo cooperation, as outlined in the MoU 2015, Taronga Zoo sent one male and one female Giraffe to Ragunan Zoo in 2015 for the implementation of the breeding loan cooperation.
 
That's interesting... Few questions spring to mind though.

I assume they'll be housed at Dubbo? Surely they're isn't room for them at Taronga unless they do some transfers?

Also why is the loan for only 5 years and not permanent? Do any cubs born in Australia during that period have to go back to Jakarta or do Taronga have ownership of them?

More questions than answers currently... Hope it works out for them though. New blood is always welcome
 
Nisha said:
That's interesting... Few questions spring to mind though.

I assume they'll be housed at Dubbo? Surely they're isn't room for them at Taronga unless they do some transfers?

Also why is the loan for only 5 years and not permanent? Do any cubs born in Australia during that period have to go back to Jakarta or do Taronga have ownership of them?

More questions than answers currently... Hope it works out for them though. New blood is always welcome
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I'd assumed they would be held at Taronga as Taronga Zoo's new Sumatran tiger exhibit can hold 8-12 adult tigers, and they currently have two groups of 1.2 (mother and two offspring) and 1.0 (single male).

I believe it's very difficult to get Sumatran tigers out of Indonesia; so maybe a loan is a compromise they have reached. The last Sumatran tigers the region got from Indonesia (in 2007) have only been merged with the existing main blood line in Australasia (Nico/Meta line) so it's exciting to be receiving an unrelated pair (as oppose to siblings, who can only be bred with our exisiting tigers).

My guess is Australasia will be allowed to keep any cubs born (otherwise what's the purpose of the loan?), and that they will breed at least two litters from this pair. Then Taronga Zoo could form a new breeding pair with Kembali (2011) and one of the female cubs from the Indonesian pair, to continue their dynasty; and the other cubs could be supplied to zoos around the region as required.

Note: I'm suggesting pairing a female cub with Kembali (2011), as opposed to pairing a male cub with Kartika (2011); as if cubs are born from the Indonesian pair next year (the earliest we could expect cubs), then Kembali and Kartika will be at least 11-12 years old by the time the cubs are mature enough to breed. It is usually the desire of breeding programmes to extend the distance (years) between generations, so presumably they'd rather breed with Kembali when he is 15-16, than breed with Karika asap when she is 11-12 (due to females ceasing to reproduce past 12-13 years).
 
Zoofan15 said:
The last Sumatran tigers the region got from Indonesia (in 2007) have only been merged with the existing main blood line in Australasia (Nico/Meta line) so it's exciting to be receiving an unrelated pair (as oppose to siblings, who can only be bred with our exisiting tigers).
.
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Hey Zoofan, Surely there is no point importing two new bloodlines if your intention is to simply breed them together, for that only serves prematurely merging the two bloodlines into one! I would imagine it be far better is to split this new "unrelated pair" and breed each animal separately back to the main pool. Remember its all about preserving genetic diversity, not making more tigers, so you want to slow the rate of genetic mixing as long as you can by only injecting the bare minimum amount of fresh genetics for health with each generation.
 
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toothlessjaws said:
Hey Zoofan, Surely there is no point importing two new bloodlines if your intention is to simply breed them together, for that only serves prematurely merging the two bloodlines into one! I would imagine it be far better is to split this new "unrelated pair" and breed each animal separately back to the main pool. Remember its all about preserving genetic diversity, not making more tigers, so you want to slow the rate of genetic mixing as long as you can by only injecting the bare minimum amount of fresh genetics for health with each generation.
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Especially considering the two tigers are on loan for only 5 years, I think breeding them together is the best way to go.

Think of it this way, the majority of the Sumatran tigers in Australasia are direct descendants of Nico (1976-1992) and Meta (1975-1992) and are all closely related. We also have a few tigers that are distantly related to this line (but not direct descendants) such as Soraya (2002), Raja (2003) and Oz (2004); and three very valuable unrelated tigers from Indonesia.

Last time we got unrelated tigers (the three from Indonesia), we just bred the females to males from the unrelated but overrepresented Nico-Meta line. The offspring of these pairings now have limited possibilities for reproductive pairings.

If 7 cubs (for example) are produced from this pair during their 5 year stay, that’s 7 tigers we have to work with (for the duration of their lifespan, not just 5 years). The most valuable matches would be from pairing female cubs with the male from Indonesia (his sisters will be too old to breed by then); followed by pairing female cubs with males like Raja or Oz, or male cubs with the female offspring of Soraya and Oz. These pairings would all produce offspring which could then potentially be paired with members of the Nico-Meta line.

If these two unrelated tigers were simply paired with members of the Nico-Meta line (the current tigers at Taronga) then within a single generation, we’d be back to square one.
 
Perth Zoo emailed me back today telling me the two female 'generic' Tigers they had were named Anitraz who died in 1992 and Delores who died in 1998. They apparently came from Blackpool Zoo in 1978 (wondering if they were born in 1977 as litter mates) so would have been living in the old Gibbon/Macaque rows for at least 6 years before the current Tiger enclosures were opened in late 1984. It was stated to me me that Anitraz was 14 when she died and Delores was over 20 so if Anitraz was 14 turning 15 perhaps then they would have been about a year old when shipped from Blackpool to Perth. Anyway I finally got a name to the Tiger/s which until today I thought was one female. My memory of these exhibits (Great Cats until 2001/2002) was in 1991 seeing the Lions in the far right hand enclosure, Tiger/s in the far left enclosure and in the two enclosures (one on right to Tigers in left viewing bay and two on left of Lions in right viewing bay) seeing Persian Leopards (father Fury in one and other daughters Ishtar and Tiamat). Then in 1992 I believe this changed to Calang on left, Delores (i'm guessing on her own) on right, Persian Leopards (enclosure revolved between father and daughters) and African Lions in the same enclosure until September 1998 (thanks Tetrapod for filling in info for me 2 years ago). Then in 1995/1996 for a while Chester the White Tiger from Taronga stayed in the far left enclosure. I;m just assuming Anitraz and Delores shared an enclosure before Anitraz died.

Is it true all captive Sumatran Tigers descend from just 37 wild caught individuals?

If I was in Perth Zoo director's shoes in 1978 I would have been trying to obtain a pair of Sumatrans (1m/1f) from zoos in Europe and not generic Tigers considering Taronga imported Meta and Nico from Rotterdam only a year later.
 
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steveroberts said:
Perth Zoo emailed me back today telling me the two female 'generic' Tigers they had were named Anitraz who died in 1992 and Delores who died in 1998. They apparently came from Blackpool Zoo in 1978 (wondering if they were born in 1977 as litter mates) so would have been living in the old Gibbon/Macaque rows for at least 6 years before the current Tiger enclosures were opened in late 1984. It was stated to me me that Anitraz was 14 when she died and Delores was over 20 so if Anitraz was 14 turning 15 perhaps then they would have been about a year old when shipped from Blackpool to Perth. Anyway I finally got a name to the Tiger/s which until today I thought was one female. My memory of these exhibits (Great Cats until 2001/2002) was in 1991 seeing the Lions in the far right hand enclosure, Tiger/s in the far left enclosure and in the two enclosures (one on right to Tigers in left viewing bay and two on left of Lions in right viewing bay) seeing Persian Leopards (father Fury in one and other daughters Ishtar and Tiamat). Then in 1992 I believe this changed to Calang on left, Delores (i'm guessing on her own) on right, Persian Leopards (enclosure revolved between father and daughters) and African Lions in the same enclosure until September 1998 (thanks Tetrapod for filling in info for me 2 years ago). Then in 1995/1996 for a while Chester the White Tiger from Taronga stayed in the far left enclosure. I;m just assuming Anitraz and Delores shared an enclosure before Anitraz died.

Is it true all captive Sumatran Tigers descend from just 37 wild caught individuals?

If I was in Perth Zoo director's shoes in 1978 I would have been trying to obtain a pair of Sumatrans (1m/1f) from zoos in Europe and not generic Tigers considering Taronga imported Meta and Nico from Rotterdam only a year later.
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Yes, at least 99% of the captive population descend from 37 founders. The triplets imported by Australia Zoo (born to wild born parents) are obviously the exception, and thus highly valauble.

As recently as the 1970s, there was still a lot of confusion regarding tiger species. Newspaper articles around this time describe Taronga breeding Sumatran tigers, including Quintis (later indentified as a hybrid). Nico and Meta are believed to be Taronga's first Sumatran tigers.

I think at this time, Taronga Zoo was considered quite cutting edge compared to other zoos due to the influence and innovation of Sir Edward Hallstrom. His knowledge and fianancial support gave Taronga a focus (and one hell of a species list).
 
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