Hello there ... ZAA, the EAZA region is clamouring for male sun bears for its breeding program! Send one each M/F overseas and repair the other two.
Taronga Zoo Taronga Zoo News 2021
- Thread starter WhistlingKite24
- Start date
Its Ironic, phasing out all brown bears to have sun bears only to be phase these out as well, I see a pattern here.
Its Ironic, phasing out all brown bears to have sun bears only to be phase these out as well, I see a pattern here.
At least Taronga tried a little to breed Mr Hobbs and Mary. It’s a tragic loss, but to be honest, I don’t see Taronga importing another companion for Mary. Imports from overseas are needed to boost the breeding program, and there needs to be a Zoo willing to do it.
I agree with you help another zoo out rather than just keep it there. I have thought also as to why they gave up with the Silvery Gibbons after having only the one pair, more holders are needed in the region!
Just amending a beloved Christmas song:
The news had come out in the First World War
The bloody Red Baron was flying once more
The Allied command ignored all of its men
And called on Snoopy to do it again
To:
The news had come out in the Covid World War
The threat of phase outs was flying once more
The ZAA ignored all mainstream zoos
And called on Darling Downs to do it again
There are a number of good regional zoos willing to take the initiative in bringing in much needed new bloodlines something a lot of our major zoos do not appear to be to interested or willing to do but I believe at some point this is going to get embarrassing for them.
I used to think things would get embarrassing for the major zoos till I realised that your average zoo goer doesn’t know the difference between a hybrid giraffe/ hybrid zebra / hybrid chimpanzee / inbred hippo ...There are a number of good regional zoos willing to take the initiative in bringing in much needed new bloodlines something a lot of our major zoos do not appear to be to interested or willing to do but I believe at some point this is going to get embarrassing for them.
your average joe public go to the zoo to entertain the kids and think that they are doing something worthwhile for conversation (and for native species in australasia zoos do a good job) but for exotics zoos In australasia don’t live up to their own hype.
Will the average Australasian zoo goer be concerned ? I am not sure that they understand the extinction crisis before us
Well said. I just wonder how on Earth Australian zoo going public do not know about the biodiversity and habitat crisis at home. The government record on environment remains rather underwhelming.
In New Zealand, it is in my perception just that little better organised!
BTW: no pun intended even though I am an All Blacks fan ha ha.
I keep saying sun bears are easy to come by in S.E. Asia with all the rescue centers full up as well as a good zoo population. But if and when ZAA is not serious about sun bear population management they would do well to send all of them overseas. I do hope I get it wrong and they sees the error of their ways.
While I do agree with your comment, As one well known member pointed out on the forum a couple of years ago while walking out of Taronga zoo after a visit behind a group of the public he heard them say "Theres not much to see in there", Even joe public do expect to see some animal species and bang for there buck, and he agreed with their comment, also when people believe its not worth their time or money to visit they are not going to visit again so the zoo will lose.
I think overall the New Zealand zoos show a good balance between maintaining species diversity and conforming to the species homogeneity required to maintain a decent cooperative breeding programme.
To use Auckland Zoo as an example, they coordinate with the three other mainstream zoos in the country on breeding programmes for Southern white rhinoceros, Sumatran tiger, Nepalese red panda, Asian small-clawed otter, Slender-tailed meerkat, Capybara and Ring-tailed lemur to name a few examples; but they’re also not afraid to show initiative and hold species no other zoo has (nationally and regionally).
The most notable example is the Greater flamingo import of 2001 (now the only flock in the region); which if their current breeding success continues, will have all New Zealand zoos begging for transfers.
In 1983-1984, they established the first Bornean orangutan colony in the region (when all other zoos held Sumatran). They have continued their commitment to this species to this day, which is great to see.
Like all zoos, Auckland Zoo has made phase outs, but these have usually been well reasoned. The elephants being a sad, but inevitable example as perceptions of elephants in captivity change with the times.
New Zealand has the benefit of being one political jurisdiction. As a result is it simpler to implement a nationwide agenda and one minister in the government is ultimately responsible for any failures. Australia with its state system means each state has, and sets, its own priorities. A state minister is only responsible for his own patch.
I agree that there is not much to see at Taronga, and after my last visit several years ago when my neice was in her pushchair, I vowed that I would never return. Now that she is nearly 7, if she said she wanted to go to the Zoo I would probably take her (and not point out all the failings in the collection), so that she would have a happy childhood memory.
Taronga are aware of the growing perception that "there is not much to see". Their media watchers will tally up the trip advisor, zoochat and Google reviews. Will it change their collection policy and lead to the importation of new genetic stock? I am not so sure
I agree that there is not much to see at Taronga, and after my last visit several years ago when my neice was in her pushchair, I vowed that I would never return. Now that she is nearly 7, if she said she wanted to go to the Zoo I would probably take her (and not point out all the failings in the collection), so that she would have a happy childhood memory.
Taronga are aware of the growing perception that "there is not much to see". Their media watchers will tally up the trip advisor, zoochat and Google reviews. Will it change their collection policy and lead to the importation of new genetic stock? I am not so sure[/QUOTE]
I wish I knew the real reason they have taken this path of down sizing the collection and phasing out so many species, Its so disappointing from my point of view when for many years I held Taronga zoo up as the king of Australian zoos for all others to follow. One can only market something for so long before it becomes known if people are getting their moneys worth, Sure some of Joe Public will go regardless of what the do or dont have but with the rise of the many smaller regional zoos it will become obvious its could be a whole lot better. Now for me after more than 50 years of visiting zoos I see that Zoos South Australia as leading the way forward of all the major zoos in the region, The developments at Monarto are something special and I am excited at its prospects and will be following this with much interest.
Taronga are aware of the growing perception that "there is not much to see". Their media watchers will tally up the trip advisor, zoochat and Google reviews. Will it change their collection policy and lead to the importation of new genetic stock? I am not so sure[/QUOTE]
I wish I knew the real reason they have taken this path of down sizing the collection and phasing out so many species, Its so disappointing from my point of view when for many years I held Taronga zoo up as the king of Australian zoos for all others to follow. One can only market something for so long before it becomes known if people are getting their moneys worth, Sure some of Joe Public will go regardless of what the do or dont have but with the rise of the many smaller regional zoos it will become obvious its could be a whole lot better. Now for me after more than 50 years of visiting zoos I see that Zoos South Australia as leading the way forward of all the major zoos in the region, The developments at Monarto are something special and I am excited at its prospects and will be following this with much interest.
I spent sometime reviewing the latest annual report For Taronga this morning. With over 30 million in grants from the NSW government and visitation of nearly 2 million the board probably think they are doing ok.
Looking at google reviews the were about ten 5 Star reviews for every 1 Star review. So even though we think Taronga of 2021 is a pale imitation of the zoo from times past, joe public keeps visiting.
I can only hope that some of the state funding is contestable and is available for other institutions to improve their collections.
@kiwimuzz
Perhaps one of the reasons that Taronga has had a lot of visitors over the years is because many international visitors that head for Sydney, as the best known and the gateway to Australia picking up a lot of tourists who visit the city. I know when I have sat in the Australia zoo (another tourist hot spot) stadium the visitors were asked to rise their hands if they were from overseas and I would say I saw about 75% of the hands go up!
Perhaps one of the reasons that Taronga has had a lot of visitors over the years is because many international visitors that head for Sydney, as the best known and the gateway to Australia picking up a lot of tourists who visit the city. I know when I have sat in the Australia zoo (another tourist hot spot) stadium the visitors were asked to rise their hands if they were from overseas and I would say I saw about 75% of the hands go up!
Taronga Zoo’s map looks very busy, but when you consider the glut of Australian fauna (that Australian visitors don’t find very interesting); Sydney Zoo is almost starting to look appealing.
Sydney Zoo has fewer species - but are heavy on mega fauna. They match Taronga on everything except sun bears, bongo, seals and gorillas - and the former are on the way out at Taronga; and the latter are coming to Sydney Zoo.
Sydney Zoo also have Hamadryas baboon, Sumatran orangutan, Cheetah, African wild dog and Spotted hyena - none of which are at Taronga. Factor in the high chance Taronga will soon phase out their elephants and the visitation tide may start to turn.
Sydney Zoo has fewer species - but are heavy on mega fauna. They match Taronga on everything except sun bears, bongo, seals and gorillas - and the former are on the way out at Taronga; and the latter are coming to Sydney Zoo.
Sydney Zoo also have Hamadryas baboon, Sumatran orangutan, Cheetah, African wild dog and Spotted hyena - none of which are at Taronga. Factor in the high chance Taronga will soon phase out their elephants and the visitation tide may start to turn.
Would have to agree with you!
I have pondered this question of Tarongas direction for sometime over the years they have had some top outstanding directors in the past and some not so good ones at other times. Some of the best had a real passion and interest in the animal kingdom which leads me to the question that perhaps in more resent times people have been hired because of the business qualifications as the main criteria perhaps without any real animal knowledge?
Taronga and Zoos Victoria both suffer from no one being ultimately responsible and advocating for the zoo collection. With many different departments and income streams (general admissions, friends, memberships, overnight accommodation, food and beverages, retail sales, events, weddings and functions) All will take a lot of management time and energy. 50 years ago most of these operational areas Either didn’t exist or would have been completed by one person. The complexity of the management of these zoos has probably resulted in more board members being selected from the business world and the zoologists around the board table are probably rarer than Bongos on display.
Having a State minister in the mix as well and the poor curatorial team probably have to complete “best practice” business cases just to get preliminary approval to proceed with drawing up plans for a redevelopment.
In short I think the business has become overly complicated and the board has lost focus that it is a zoo they are running.
The benefit of being a smaller private collection allows management to focus on the core business Of running a zoo, and many private zoos in Australia are showing the big boys how it should be done.
Apologies for the random capitals - my phone is misbehaving
I believe you are quite correct. Its a shame to see this loss of focus and the zoos collections are suffering from it, Perhaps there should be a manager for all animal related affairs and another business officer so they can stay on track, From I I have seen myself some of the big oversea zoos do not appear to be suffering to much of the same problems as ours!