They're Taronga's former stock aren't they? So I'd imagine they'd just be a non breeding group due to being heavily inbred.
Halls Gap Zoo Halls Gap Zoo
- Thread starter LOU
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If I was to take a guess; maybe Melbourne's young four pups. Perth and the National Zoo also have similar aged pups who are also chances too.
PaddyRickMFZ
Well-Known Member
And I heard MZs pups would be headed to Kyabram, but I could be wrong
Perth Zoo’s young otters are the most likely candidates. Their mother is unlikely to breed again due to her age, so remaining in their natal group won’t give the young otters the chance to participate in the raising of siblings. Melbourne Zoo’s otters are in the same boat, but Kyabram are a likely destination - being under the Zoos Victoria umbrella.
The National Zoo and Adelaide Zoo have younger breeding females, who will likely breed again. The single female in the National Zoo’s litter may well remain at the zoo until she has a younger sister/sisters to transfer out with (if not needed for breeding).
That was just an assumption of mine if you heard that on here. It would make the most sense as Kyabram's now a sister zoo of Melbourne; but I don't know how long it's going to be until Kyabram actually implements their masterplan, so Otters could still be years away.
Halls Gap's also within Victoria, so would also be close for Melbourne's pups, but I acknowledge Melbourne may also choose to retain their pups long-term as they have a very active, cohesive group
PaddyRickMFZ
Well-Known Member
I actually hope the pups stay at MZ for a while. In my lasts visit, it was truly amazing seeing all the pups swim around together. I rarely even saw the otters until the pups were born, let alone being active
Yes, I can also agree on that. The unit seems very sociable and active, and the otters seem definitely more interesting to watch following their births. It would be a shame to see them go, and I wouldn't be surprised if Melbourne didn't have plans to send them away.
dylan downward
Well-Known Member
The main issue I had with halls gap is the lack of water area in there exhibitfrom when I was last there seemed to be a very tiny pound or pool and a lot of land and a log or 2
A new species has arrived. Four female Asian Small-clawed Otters have gone on display this week: Log into Facebook | Facebook
PaddyRickMFZ
Well-Known Member
Where is the source of these otters?
That’s what I’m struggling to figure out as no Australian facility has more than three female otters.
It may have been possible to introduce unrelated females if they were young enough - so one from Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra and Perth is a possibility if it’s not too much faffing around logistically to source from four facilities:
0.1 Mani (2020) Bao x Kalaya - ADELAIDE
0.1 Squid (2020) Odie x Paula - MELBOURNE
0.1 Josey (2020) Bal x Pai - CANBERRA
0.1 Botum (2020) Cerdik x Paddy - PERTH
Melbourne still has all six of their otters, so Squid can't be one of them.
I think it's likely these four have probably came from overseas; not sure where though.
I’ll admit when I compiled the population of 70 otters last month, I struggled to see where the population could go long term without inbreeding or imports. Of those 70 otters, 29 are direct descendants of Auckland Zoo’s former breeding pair, Wono and Jaya, who were themselves full siblings. Only three facilities currently have viable breeding pairs - two of which contain an otter from the Wono/Jaya line.
Some new imports from overseas would be beneficial, though I hope it’ll be followed by the imports of some males, so we’re not immediately pairing these otters with our existing, well represented otters.
Was at the zoo today and was able to confirm these individuals have come from Perth Zoo.
Also construction is underway on the new Saltwater crocodile habitat with the former nocturnal house now gutted and ready to be converted in to the expanded crocodile exhibit.
PaddyRickMFZ
Well-Known Member
Thanks. How many otters remain at Perth?
Thanks for confirming @Sunbear12.
Perth Zoo should have four male otters remaining.
The new females will include Paddy (2010) and her daughter, Botum (2020). The other two must be daughters of Cerdik and Paddy that went unreported in the media. To my knowledge Cerdik and Paddy only had three litters - 3.1 in April 2018, 2.1 in December 2018 and 3.1 in April 2020 (and the two 2018 daughters are accounted for elsewhere).
I will make further enquiries.
I was correct in that Cerdik and Paddy had another litter that I was unaware of. This litter considered of 1.2 pups and was born August 2019 at Perth Zoo. The pups were named Sawatdi, Bibi and Bulan.
Sawatdi remains at Perth Zoo, so they have 5.0 otters.
Halls Gap Zoo’s new otters are therefore:
0.1 Paddy (2010) Imported 2010
0.1 Bibi (2019) Cerdik x Paddy
0.1 Bulan (2019) Cerdik x Paddy
0.1 Botum (2020) Cerdik x Paddy
As mentioned in the DDZ thread, Halls Gap have received two male Himalayan Tahr from Darling Downs.
Hopefully this indicates potential breeding. I’m not sure on the current numbers or sex ratio of Halls Gap’s group, but I believe they’re Taronga’s former breeding group which obviously means there must be some females in the mix.
Hopefully this indicates potential breeding. I’m not sure on the current numbers or sex ratio of Halls Gap’s group, but I believe they’re Taronga’s former breeding group which obviously means there must be some females in the mix.
I could be wrong, but from what I can tell HGZ has only held a bachelor herd of Himalayan tahr. They held 2.0 in 2009, with a further pair of males loaned from Taronga in 2010. In the interim between then and the arrival of these two males, no births have been reported - and if the intension was to breed now, a single male would suffice.
Taronga’s tahr were transferred to Hunter Valley in 2016, but they’ve since phased the species out. I would assume any females were sent to Altina, who have bred in recent years.
This has already been mentioned in this thread on the previous page. The two males came from Altina Wildlife Park not Darling Downs Zoo.