Adelaide Zoo Adelaide Zoo News 2020

Assiqua the 20-year-old Sumatran Tiger was put to sleep today. She was born in 1999 and moved to Adelaide Zoo in 2007. She was the oldest Sumatran Tiger in the region.
Adelaide Zoo
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
Adelaide Zoo has announced the arrival of three Asian Small-clawed Otter pups to parents Bao and Kalaya. The pups were born on 24th March.
Adelaide Zoo’s otter family grows by three with the birth of adorable triplets
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Adelaide Zoo's Asian Small-clawed Otter:

1.0 Bao (born July 2012 at Perth Zoo)
0.1 Kanlaya (born March 2015 at Auckland Zoo)
1.0 Rama (born March 2019 at Adelaide Zoo) Bao x Kanlaya
0.1 Mali (born March 2019 at Adelaide Zoo) Bao x Kanlaya
0.0.3 Unnamed (born 24/03/2020 at Adelaide Zoo) Bao x Kanlaya

It's interesting to note that these pups (and the litter born last year) were the first litters born at the zoo since 2003; yet Adelaide Zoo has bred over 70 Asian small-clawed otters since their breeding programme began. They must have bred a lot of otters in the early years.

The maternal grandfather of these pups (Juno) was in that 2003 litter; while their maternal great great grandmother (Jaya) was also born at Adelaide Zoo in 1990.
 
Very sad news from Adelaide today with the announcement that common hippo Brutus has been put to sleep.

Friends, it is with a very heavy heart that we announce the passing of Brutus, Adelaide Zoo's much-loved Hippopotamus.
At 54, Brutus was the oldest hippo in Australia and had lived at Adelaide Zoo for 45 years. Due to his advanced years, and concerns that age-related conditions were likely to cause him further discomfort over the winter period, veterinary staff and keepers made the extremely difficult but kind decision to euthanise.
We will miss Brutus greatly. However, the good news is that Brutus’ legacy lives on. Brutus is survived by two hippos, his granddaughter Brindabella and great grandaughter Pansy, both of whom reside at Werribee Open Range Zoo in Victoria.
Throughout his life, Brutus has been a true ambassador animal for his vulnerable species. Visits to see the gentle giant resulted in educating millions of visitors about the plight of his wild cousins and the vital conservation work that will hopefully save Hippopotamus from extinction. ❤️
While this is undoubtedly sad news, we really want to celebrate Brutus’ life and all that he achieved. So, to commemorate his 54 years and all the smiles he gave us, we would love it if you could indulge in some of his favourite foods – watermelon or an apple, banana and pear fruit salad – and post a picture in the comments along with any messages about Brutus and for his keepers.
Vale dear Brutus. We hope you're resting with Susie now.
Remembering Brutus - Zoos SA
: Natalia Barszczowska
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Adelaide Zoo has announced this morning that Kimya, their giraffe will remain at Adelaide Zoo for the forseeable future with another giraffe to join her from Monarto Safari Park. Their exhibit will be expanded in stages to an eventual size of 5000m2.

Announcement from Zoo Website - Update on plans for Kimya

Many of you will know that we have been working tirelessly to train our giraffe Kimya to enter and feel comfortable in the transport trailer that would deliver her to her proposed new home at our sister site, Monarto Safari Park.

To make sure Kimya was comfortable over the summer period, we paused her training to allow her the choice of staying cool however she pleased – whether that was in the shade of the Giraffe House or feeling the breeze in her outside yard.

After many discussions exploring several scenarios, we’ve made the decision to keep Kimya at Adelaide Zoo and work to immediately double the size of her exhibit is currently underway and nearing completion.

Now we’re sure you’re thinking this is the opposite of our previous announcements – and you’re right.

But, just as was the case at the beginning of the training process, Kimya’s welfare is our number one priority and her choices are driving this decision.

It’s clear that while Kimya isn’t distressed by the training process, she isn’t interested in progressing any further and we have to listen to this signal.

Adelaide Zoo has been Kimya’s home for 14 years so she’s used to the space and her daily routine here.

Giraffe are a social species, however, so even though Kimya has a great relationship with her keepers and eagerly takes part in our Giraffe Feed which lets her meet members of the public regularly, the plan was always to make sure she was around other members of her species.

That’s why we’ve made the decision to bring a giraffe from Monarto Safari Park to Adelaide to join Kimya in her newly-upgraded exhibit.

While we’re still confirming which giraffe will make the move, 14-year-old female Thula is certainly a candidate, as is hand-raised calf Nolean.

Down the track, Kimya and the Monarto Safari Park giraffe will also be joined by other African savannah species, such as Nyala and Ostriches, providing a natural setting for the animals involved as well as more opportunities to learn about these species for our visitors.

Plans to upgrade the giraffe exhibit will see the size of the existing area doubled by the middle of the year, using space from our behind-the-scenes areas and old elephant yard. This work is nearing completion already.

In the future, facilities including our Works and Maintenance buildings and Food Store (currently situated behind the Giraffe exhibit) will be relocated to our old Children’s Zoo area freeing up that space, providing approximately 2,500m² for our giraffes.

Further into the future, the Nocturnal House and lemur areas will also be utilised, providing our giraffes with a total of over 5000m², making this the largest inner-metropolitan giraffe exhibit in the country. At this stage, we may also look at additional giraffe joining the herd at Adelaide Zoo.
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Sunbear12 said:
Adelaide Zoo has announced this morning that Kimya, their giraffe will remain at Adelaide Zoo for the forseeable future with another giraffe to join her from Monarto Safari Park. Their exhibit will be expanded in stages to an eventual size of 5000m2.
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An interesting and unexpected development. Well it seems like the big four zoos will all be holding on to giraffe for the foreseeable future with Taronga opening a renovated exhibit this year, Melbourne recently bringing in a male, Perth holding a breeding herd and Adelaide's recent developments. Adelaide Zoo went from having plans to send Kimya first to Sydney Zoo, which then changed to Monarto Safari Park, to now expanding the giraffe exhibit with plans to introduce more Giraffe and a nice Nyala/Ostrich mix.
 
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Sunbear12 said:
Adelaide Zoo has announced this morning that Kimya, their giraffe will remain at Adelaide Zoo for the forseeable future with another giraffe to join her from Monarto Safari Park. Their exhibit will be expanded in stages to an eventual size of 5000m2.

Announcement from Zoo Website - Update on plans for Kimya
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That's certainly unexpected. are they gonna have to change their 20 year master plan?
 
Patrick Keegan said:
That's certainly unexpected. are they gonna have to change their 20 year master plan?
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Zorro said:
I would say no zoo master plan is 100% set in stone but of a guide a head which can be adapted when suits!
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This part of the article describes the affected areas:

“Plans to upgrade the giraffe exhibit will see the size of the existing area doubled by the middle of the year, using space from our behind-the-scenes areas and old elephant yard. This work is nearing completion already.

In the future, facilities including our Works and Maintenance buildings and Food Store (currently situated behind the Giraffe exhibit) will be relocated to our old Children’s Zoo area freeing up that space, providing approximately 2,500m² for our giraffes.

Further into the future, the Nocturnal House and lemur areas will also be utilised, providing our giraffes with a total of over 5000m², making this the largest inner-metropolitan giraffe exhibit in the country. At this stage, we may also look at additional giraffe joining the herd at Adelaide Zoo.”

The death of Albert the Common hippopotamus will of course free up his exhibit; though his death was to be expected given his age - so no doubt plans for this area are already in place. It appears the Australian sea lions are still set to be phased out from Adelaide Zoo; but his exhibit may be the site of the planned Tropical North precinct outlined on the website - as his pool (and the Pygmy hippopotamus pool) are adjacent to the Australian precinct:

“As part of our Master Plan, a new proposed Tropical North precinct will be built which will include an underwater viewing area for crocodiles and fish, an amphitheatre for interactive animal presentations and a tree kangaroo and cassowary habitat.”
 
Disappointing, as I was hoping Adelaide would set the trend here in phasing out giraffes from urban zoos (not that anyone else appears to be heading that way).
 
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