The calf has been named Matata meaning cheeky/trouble in Swahili.
Taronga Western Plains Zoo Taronga Western Plains Zoo News 2022
- Thread starter WhistlingKite24
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Great name! Ntombi’s elder brother was named Ndale (meaning prankster), so this is a nice family link.
I’ll tag @WhistlingKite24 (author of the giraffe population thread), so he can update it with this information.
17 Chuditch/Western Quolls have been born at Taronga Western Plains Zoo across three litters (two litters of six and one litter of five joeys). These joeys descend from 4.4 founders with two from Ikara-Flinders Ranges in South Australia and six from Western Australia. The offspring will be released into rewilding sites, fenced areas in national parks, early next year: High hopes for vulnerable quolls' 17 joeys
Great news! I reckon it’s about time Dubbo added a nocturnal house. Bilby, Plains-wanderer, Tassie Devil and Chuditch would be a great start. Let people see what they are trying to conserve. They could add some Murray Darling Carpet Pythons in there too for something fun and different
Great news! I reckon it’s about time Dubbo added a nocturnal house. Bilby, Plains-wanderer, Tassie Devil and Chuditch would be a great start. Let people see what they are trying to conserve. They could add some Murray Darling Carpet Pythons in there too for something fun and different
I’d love to see Tasmanian devil in a nocturnal house. Perth Zoo have a phenomenal nocturnal house and I understand the one at Alice Springs is even better. There’s the space at Dubbo to build something incredible dedicated to breeding multiple species as well as displaying them.
A second giraffe calf has been born at Taronga Western Plains Zoo over the weekend. The calf has been confirmed as a male. He has been named Wayo -reported on ABC News.
Three African lion cubs have gone on display:
Lion cub triplets and wobbly newborn giraffe step out after zoo's baby boom
The three female lion cubs were born in April but have been kept away from the public until now, to bond with their parents and be vaccinated.
It’s interesting to note the absence of the other lioness (Evelyn), when these cubs made their debut. Given that the male lion is typically introduced last to cubs and they’re now 16 months old, allowing for more than enough time to be introduced to Evelyn, I’m wondering if she’s been taken out the pride ahead of the birth of her own litter.
Lion cub triplets and wobbly newborn giraffe step out after zoo's baby boom
The three female lion cubs were born in April but have been kept away from the public until now, to bond with their parents and be vaccinated.
It’s interesting to note the absence of the other lioness (Evelyn), when these cubs made their debut. Given that the male lion is typically introduced last to cubs and they’re now 16 months old, allowing for more than enough time to be introduced to Evelyn, I’m wondering if she’s been taken out the pride ahead of the birth of her own litter.
Evelyn the lioness appears to be pregnant:
Following the debut of the three female lion cubs, along with their parents, Lwazi and Marion; their aunt, Evelyn has been successfully introduced to the cubs.
Interestingly, photos of Evelyn on social media show her with prominent teats and a distended stomach, suggesting she’s heavily pregnant. As noted above, I suspected she would be welcoming cubs soon given the zoo has the room to breed from both lionesses and doing so would mirror the natural social order.
Following the debut of the three female lion cubs, along with their parents, Lwazi and Marion; their aunt, Evelyn has been successfully introduced to the cubs.
Interestingly, photos of Evelyn on social media show her with prominent teats and a distended stomach, suggesting she’s heavily pregnant. As noted above, I suspected she would be welcoming cubs soon given the zoo has the room to breed from both lionesses and doing so would mirror the natural social order.
Marion and Lwazi's cubs have received their names: Amali (Hope), Imani (Faith) and Mara (after the Masai Mara National Park).
Triple treat of Taronga's lion cubs named
Triple treat of Taronga's lion cubs named
That's devastating news. The region's Southern white rhinoceros population has suffered several losses of young rhinos in recent years.
I also hadn't realised how low on breeding cows the Dubbo herd had become. Two of New Zealand's holders are in desperate need of a shake up but it seems no changes will happen until the imminent import from South Africa - which will supply Dubbo, Monarto and Orana.
Yes, it’s a bad situation. Satara was transferred to Dubbo to breed with Kamari and Meeka, but they have both died now. I’d be doing some serious investigation at Dubbo before I sent any more white rhinos there. Something is obviously quite wrong, whether that’s a persistent pathogen in the paddock, bad feed or another factor, who knows, but they need to find out and rectify it.
It does seem like white rhinos are particularly susceptible to bacterial contaminants in the soil, due in part to being a grazing species.
Given the time of year, the pneumonia may well have been a secondary infection that set in and proved fatal under a weakened immune system, but this in itself would be a concern - especially if a link was established.
Dubbo's new rhinos are at least a year away. 15 rhino are due to arrive at Orana soon, where they'll be quarantined for a year before being sent on to Australia.
Dubbo have a huge amount of space, and the current white rhino paddock is pretty ordinary for viewing anyway. Maybe they need to start again on a new patch of dirt, and repurpose that paddock for a different species.
The best solution could be a feed pad, a concrete pad which can be easily hosed down/disinfected and upon where their feed is placed.Many zoos used grass as a substrate for the paddock, which although looks naturalistic, can be a source of bacteria. Hamilton by comparison have compacted ground (no grass) and have never had any issue in the 23 years they've kept this species.
Dubbo now hold 5 (3.2) white rhino:
0.1 Likwezi (Thomas x Tessie) 20-12-1985 at Taronga Western Plains Zoo
1.0 Satara (Wild x Wild) ~1992 at Kruger National Park, South Africa
0.1 Mopani (Wild x Wild) ~1996 in Kruger National Park, South Africa
1.0 Winston (DJ x Caballe) 04-05-2013 at Australia Zoo
1.0 Humphrey (DJ x Caballe) 11-10-2015 at Australia Zoo
On my last visit in August, the 2 older females were on exhibit, Kamari and Satara were behind the scenes, and the two younger males were on the savannah.
0.1 Likwezi (Thomas x Tessie) 20-12-1985 at Taronga Western Plains Zoo
1.0 Satara (Wild x Wild) ~1992 at Kruger National Park, South Africa
0.1 Mopani (Wild x Wild) ~1996 in Kruger National Park, South Africa
1.0 Winston (DJ x Caballe) 04-05-2013 at Australia Zoo
1.0 Humphrey (DJ x Caballe) 11-10-2015 at Australia Zoo
On my last visit in August, the 2 older females were on exhibit, Kamari and Satara were behind the scenes, and the two younger males were on the savannah.
Regionally speaking, the two younger bulls aren't genetically valuable so it appears Dubbo are holding them purely as a non breeding bachelor herd. Although this has been done with bulls of this age across multiple facilities, each in turn has had to seperate them as they approach maturity, so Dubbo will soon need to look at doing similar - especially with cows on site.
To my knowledge not beyond an individual level I.e. specific to that incident.
I'd be intetstead in an investigation exploring links and common factors - with another phenomenon we've seen being the death of calves with trauma type injuries around the age of weaning - which I'd speculate to be caused by either the bull wanting access to their mother for breeding; or the cow becoming frustrated with their suckling attempts.
As @Zoofan15 said, only individual investigations. The RSPCA has also carried out investigations and ruled out misconduct, saying that the issues are ‘veterinary’ and there has been no wrongdoing.