Adelaide Zoo Adelaide Zoo News 2022

Zoofan15

Zoofan15

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
Adelaide Zoo are importing a male Fennec fox from the USA:

Some exciting news to start the year! As noted in the Los Angeles Zoo thread, Adelaide Zoo will be importing a male Fennec fox from Niabi Zoo in Illinois:

https://s36593.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/01.2022-Animal-Transactions.pdf

Loan to Adelaide Zoo in South Australia of 1.0 Fennec fox. This animal is currently at Niabi Zoo located in Coal Valley, Illinois. This transaction is an SSP breeding recommendation.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Adelaide Zoo are importing a male Fennec fox from the USA:

Some exciting news to start the year! As noted in the Los Angeles Zoo thread, Adelaide Zoo will be importing a male Fennec fox from Niabi Zoo in Illinois:

https://s36593.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/01.2022-Animal-Transactions.pdf

Loan to Adelaide Zoo in South Australia of 1.0 Fennec fox. This animal is currently at Niabi Zoo located in Coal Valley, Illinois. This transaction is an SSP breeding recommendation.
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Great news for the regional breeding program for them!

Adelaide has imported Fennec’s from LA in the past (they imported three in 2011), so its nothing new.

The male will probably be paired with their female, Zahra as she’s related to their current male.
 
Jambo said:
The male will probably be paired with their female, Zahra as she’s related to their current male.
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Zahra is from a valuable bloodline (parents were imported from Europe), so despite her age (19/12/2012), this would make for a valuable pairing.

The mother of the male coming from Niabi Zoo was aged nine years old upon the birth of her first litter of 4.0 (08/01/2020) and ten years old upon the birth of her second litter of 3.0 (04/02/2021), so there’s no reason to believe she’s post reproductive.

If this pairing is unsuccessful, the new male will still be young upon Zahra’s passing, leaving them time to source a new female. The import of a female from overseas would be an exciting addition to the breeding programme.
 
Sumatran tigress now on display:

Delilah, the zoo’s new Sumatran tigress, is now on display.

Delilah arrived last month as a mate for Kembali and the zoo are hopeful for cubs this year. Hopefully a young pair will give them the best chance of finally breeding this species, as they’ve previously had three unsuccessful breeding pairs.

1.0 Kembali (16/11/2014) Oz x Sali
0.1 Delilah (08/02/2016) Juma x Kaitlyn
 
Zoofan15 said:
Sumatran tigress now on display:

Delilah, the zoo’s new Sumatran tigress, is now on display.

Delilah arrived last month as a mate for Kembali and the zoo are hopeful for cubs this year. Hopefully a young pair will give them the best chance of finally breeding this species, as they’ve previously had three unsuccessful breeding pairs.

1.0 Kembali (16/11/2014) Oz x Sali
0.1 Delilah (08/02/2016) Juma x Kaitlyn
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Any idea of the age of the last 3 pairs
 
Zorro said:
Any idea of the age of the last 3 pairs
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1.0 Tiger Boy (1990) and 0.1 Kemiri (1994) were together from 1997 until 2008, when Tiger Boy died.

1.0 Tuan (1998) and 0.1 Assiqua (1999) were together from 2007 until 2017, when Tuan died.

1.0 Kembali (2014) and 0.1 Rahni (2007) were together from 2018 until 2020, when Rahni died.

In the case of the first pair, Kemiri was a behavioural non breeder due to being handraised.

With the second pair, Assiqua had reproductive issues which required her to be speyed. She previously bred at Taronga Zoo in 2003, so I initially thought Adelaide stood a good chance with this pair.

The female of the third pair was 11 years old when they were introduced and had never bred before. Her sisters have similarly been unsuccessful in breeding.
 
I always found it a great sham Tuan never sired any offspring; I assume as a European import he was unrelated to the entire regional population?
 
marmolady said:
I always found it a great sham Tuan never sired any offspring; I assume as a European import he was unrelated to the entire regional population?
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Tuan sired 2.0 cubs prior to export on 15/05/2005. One of these was Satu, who was imported by Taronga Zoo.

Tuan therefore has eight living descendants in the region:

1.0 Satu (15/05/2005) Imported 2006

1.0 Kembali (20/08/2011) Satu x Jumilah
1.0 Sakti (20/08/2011) Satu x Jumilah
0.1 Kartika (20/08/2011) Satu x Jumilah
1.0 Reggie (31/03/2016) Satu x Maneki

1.0 Pemanah (17/01/2019) Clarence x Kartika
0.1 Mawar (17/01/2019) Clarence x Kartika
0.1 Tengah Malam (17/01/2019) Clarence x Kartika
 
Zoofan15 said:
Tuan sired 2.0 cubs prior to export on 15/05/2005. One of these was Satu, who was imported by Taronga Zoo.

Tuan therefore has eight living descendants in the region:

1.0 Satu (15/05/2005) Imported 2006

1.0 Kembali (20/08/2011) Satu x Jumilah
1.0 Sakti (20/08/2011) Satu x Jumilah
0.1 Kartika (20/08/2011) Satu x Jumilah
1.0 Reggie (31/03/2016) Satu x Maneki

1.0 Pemanah (17/01/2019) Clarence x Kartika
0.1 Mawar (17/01/2019) Clarence x Kartika
0.1 Tengah Malam (17/01/2019) Clarence x Kartika
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Perhaps time to import some new bloodlines from the EEP and SSP
 
Zorro said:
Perhaps time to import some new bloodlines from the EEP and SSP
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Auckland Zoo’s imminent import of 1.1 will be the first import from outside the region in 14 years. They’ll be a valuable addition to the breeding programme and like the offspring of Raja and Soraya (imported early 2000’s), we can expect to see most of their cubs paired for breeding.

Further imports would be beneficial to sustain the genetic diversity of the region. There’s recently been several pairings of cousins e.g. Clarence and Kartika at Taronga Zoo.

I would identify the other priority here as breeding from Bashi, an unrepresented founder from Indonesia.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Auckland Zoo’s imminent import of 1.1 will be the first import from outside the region in 14 years. They’ll be a valuable addition to the breeding programme and like the offspring of Raja and Soraya (imported early 2000’s), we can expect to see most of their cubs paired for breeding.

Further imports would be beneficial to sustain the genetic diversity of the region. There’s recently been several pairings of cousins e.g. Clarence and Kartika at Taronga Zoo.

I would identify the other priority here as breeding from Bashi, an unrepresented founder from Indonesia.
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Considering its a managed species within the region I am surprised there have not been more imports in that time
 
Zorro said:
Considering its a managed species within the region I am surprised there have not been more imports in that time
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Probably a consequence of the overcrowding in our zoos of this species, which has only starting to clear in recent years. The surge in births 10-15 years ago meant several of these tigers have never bred.

Breeding recommendations have increased in recent years. There should be several births in the next 12-18 months including Auckland Zoo and Adelaide Zoo.
 
Adelaide zoo has announced the deaths of two animals.

15 year old red panda Imandari was euthanised after having a fall on Friday evening. it is noted that her health had been deteriorating including her balance and she had been receiving care for degenerative joint disease but it was decided that she be euthanised.

Maji the 11 year old serval who had also been suffering from progressive degenerative joint disease. The veterinary team and keepers had been monitoring his condition however with his condition deteriorating it was decided that they put him to sleep.

Note: the post incorrectly refers to him as an 18 year old but as jambo said below he was nearly 12

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Patrick Keegan said:
Adelaide zoo has announced the deaths of two animals.

15 year old red panda Imandari was euthanised after having a fall on Friday evening. it is noted that her health had been deteriorating including her balance and she had been receiving care for degenerative joint disease but it was decided that she be euthanised.

Maji the 18 year old serval who had also been suffering from progressive degenerative joint disease. The veterinary team and keepers had been monitoring his condition however with his condition deteriorating it was decided that they put him to sleep.

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Maji was part of the last Serval litter born at Melbourne back in 2011. This makes him almost 12; so the article stating him to be 18 must be a media mistake.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Probably a consequence of the overcrowding in our zoos of this species, which has only starting to clear in recent years. The surge in births 10-15 years ago meant several of these tigers have never bred.

Breeding recommendations have increased in recent years. There should be several births in the next 12-18 months including Auckland Zoo and Adelaide Zoo.
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One wonders if and when this comes to pass and thinking out of the box: Why are we not taking the option of seriously looking at the subject of reintroduction or managed release programs for in situ augmenting wild populations (I know this is ambitious but there are already several high profile large carnivore programs doing this for leopards along with a few other big cat species and the science has progressed to a point there is a compendium guideline book on the subject available)?

BTW: I have worked in reintroduction and know the complexity of the issues, so bear with me ..., yet still one wonders!
 
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Kifaru Bwana said:
One wonders if and when this comes to pass and thinking out of the box: Why are we not taking the option of seriously looking at the subject of reintroduction or managed release programs for in situ augmenting wild populations (I know this is ambitious but there are already several high profile large carnivore programs doing this for leopards along with a few other big cat species and the science has progressed to a point there is a compendium guideline book on the subject available)?

BTW: I have worked in reintroduction and know the complexity of the issues, so bear with me ..., yet still one wonders!
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Speaking specifically on Sumatran tigers, I don’t know how much of a favour we’d be doing the species by releasing our captive bred tigers into the wild. The captive population descends from a relatively small number of founders and there’s already been several genetic flaws show up - both in Australasia and overseas. We could potentially be introducing deleterious genes into an otherwise healthy population that’s doing just fine on it’s own.

The wild population of Sumatran tigers has increased from around 400 to just under 600 tigers in the space of two decades. In Selatan National Park alone, the population doubled between 2002 and 2016. This was primarily achieved through protection of their habitat. Any release efforts would unlikely have any long term impact on this rate of increase.

Other factors such as the risk humanised tigers would pose to people they might encounter; the expense of facilitating the release programme; and lack of contingency if it was unsuccessful would sadly make this unviable imo. I think it’s a great shame as like the orangutan release programme, it inspires a sense of optimism in the general public, who see direct conversation in action.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Speaking specifically on Sumatran tigers, I don’t know how much of a favour we’d be doing the species by releasing our captive bred tigers into the wild. The captive population descends from a relatively small number of founders and there’s already been several genetic flaws show up - both in Australasia and overseas. We could potentially be introducing deleterious genes into an otherwise healthy population that’s doing just fine on it’s own.

The wild population of Sumatran tigers has increased from around 400 to just under 600 tigers in the space of two decades. In Selatan National Park alone, the population doubled between 2002 and 2016. This was primarily achieved through protection of their habitat. Any release efforts would unlikely have any long term impact on this rate of increase.

Other factors such as the risk humanised tigers would pose to people they might encounter; the expense of facilitating the release programme; and lack of contingency if it was unsuccessful would sadly make this unviable imo. I think it’s a great shame as like the orangutan release programme, it inspires a sense of optimism in the general public, who see direct conversation in action.
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Hey what genetic flaws have been identified?
 
steveroberts said:
Hey what genetic flaws have been identified?
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In Australasia, some of our tigers have suffered from Congenital Vestibular Disease (CVD):

Fourteen cases of CVD in 13 Sumatran tiger cubs and one hybrid cub (Panthera tigris ssp. sumatrae × Panthera tigris) were identified. Vestibular signs including head tilt, circling, ataxia, strabismus and nystagmus were observed between birth and 2 months of age.

Pedigree analysis revealed that all affected tigers were closely related and shared a single common ancestor in the last four generations. A genetic cause for the disease is suspected and, based on pedigree and segregation analysis, an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance is likely. Further investigations to determine the world-wide prevalence and underlying pathology of this disorder are warranted.

Congenital vestibular disease in captive Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris ssp. sumatrae) in Australasia - PubMed
 
Zoofan15 said:
Speaking specifically on Sumatran tigers, I don’t know how much of a favour we’d be doing the species by releasing our captive bred tigers into the wild. The captive population descends from a relatively small number of founders and there’s already been several genetic flaws show up - both in Australasia and overseas. We could potentially be introducing deleterious genes into an otherwise healthy population that’s doing just fine on it’s own.

The wild population of Sumatran tigers has increased from around 400 to just under 600 tigers in the space of two decades. In Selatan National Park alone, the population doubled between 2002 and 2016. This was primarily achieved through protection of their habitat. Any release efforts would unlikely have any long term impact on this rate of increase.

Other factors such as the risk humanised tigers would pose to people they might encounter; the expense of facilitating the release programme; and lack of contingency if it was unsuccessful would sadly make this unviable imo. I think it’s a great shame as like the orangutan release programme, it inspires a sense of optimism in the general public, who see direct conversation in action.
Click to expand...
I never claimed we should, just it is an interesting proposition going forward with successful ex situ breeding. Your points about genetic flaws in the Australasian population would possibly disqualify a proportion of the population from being bred going forward.

In this respect, I would have favoured new imports to have had a much wider genetic base. Something that might yet be rectified with the Australia Zoo imports perhaps (even though they are getting on a bit).

What I heard about Sumatera now is that poaching in parts of the Island is rife and unstoppable. Interesting that the Selatan park has seen good increases by well placed and stringent law enforcement. I would appreciate a source though ....!

BTW: the full article on the genetic flat in the population.
Congenital vestibular disease in captive Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris ssp. sumatrae) in Australasia
 
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