Melbourne Zoo Melbourne Zoo News 2023

Status
Not open for further replies.
Mightyroo said:
Just left Melbourne Zoo, Zillie the Cassowary has been moved back into the Great Flight Aviary.
Click to expand...
Not surprising news imo. She was always a 'temporary' replacement following the death of the Mandrills, but I did expect her to be around a little longer as the enclosure was heavily renovated to accommodate her.
Zoofan15 said:
The old Mandrill/Southern cassowary exhibit could potentially be redeveloped as a Binturong exhibit. No exhibit for them has been announced yet, but there’s more than enough space here to develop an immersive walk through.
Click to expand...
I agree they're the most likely candidates. They suit the rainforest theme, and the enclosure is more than large enough to accommodate a pair of brothers. Obviously more arboreal space would need to be provided, which is something exciting what they do in that case.
 
Jambo said:
Not surprising news imo. She was always a 'temporary' replacement following the death of the Mandrills, but I did expect her to be around a little longer as the enclosure was heavily renovated to accommodate her.

I agree they're the most likely candidates. They suit the rainforest theme, and the enclosure is more than large enough to accommodate a pair of brothers. Obviously more arboreal space would need to be provided, which is something exciting what they do in that case.
Click to expand...
Seems like it's a bit huge for binturong - I am curious what other candidates there are for the enclosure given the existing primate holding space.
 
StoppableSan said:
Seems like it's a bit huge for binturong - I am curious what other candidates there are for the enclosure given the existing primate holding space.
Click to expand...

The Mandrill/Southern cassowary exhibit is 620 m2. It is on the large size for Binturong, but Melbourne will be considering constantly evolving exhibit standards and future proofing to accomodate changing perceptions. It had a capacity of five Mandrill when it opened in 1992, but would look cramped holding these numbers now.

As mentioned in my previous post, an immersive walk through exhibit could be built in this area that would accomodate two or more Binturong exhibits. With breeding pairs of Javan Binturong recently imported, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Melbourne acquire and breed them long term (with the existing generics being placeholders).

Another option (with intensive modifications) would be an additional Pygmy hippopotamus exhibit. When the Hippopotamus IRA is finally approved, Melbourne will surely have an interest in importing breeding animals and would benefit from an additional exhibit to facilitate this.

Black and white colobus are also a potential candidate imo. They’d benefit from upgraded accomodation to support the generation of a larger troop. I’ve long assumed a transfer of this species to Werribee, but I shouldn’t discount Melbourne.
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
That’s great. Hopefully an African species will take its place
Click to expand...
My hope is for Black and White Colobus, especially as Melbourne plan to breed and expand the troop going forward.

With the recent arrival of the bintuorng though, it does seem more than a coincidence that Zilly’s moved out of her enclosure around the same time. Although Binturong wouldn’t fit the theming, it does seem Melbourne are working towards establishing a general ‘rainforest theme’ rather than diversifying into specific regions.
 
Jambo said:
My hope is for Black and White Colobus, especially as Melbourne plan to breed and expand the troop going forward.

With the recent arrival of the bintuorng though, it does seem more than a coincidence that Zilly’s moved out of her enclosure around the same time. Although Binturong wouldn’t fit the theming, it does seem Melbourne are working towards establishing a general ‘rainforest theme’ rather than diversifying into specific regions.
Click to expand...
Is the old coati exhibit still there? Is it possible that MZ are moving them to their old exhibit and replacing them with the binturong in the carnivore trail?
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
Is the old coati exhibit still there? Is it possible that MZ are moving them to their old exhibit and replacing them with the binturong in the carnivore trail?
Click to expand...

The coati are elderly, so I can’t see them moving to a new on display exhibit. It’d be an inefficient use of funds and potentially stressful. It’s more likely they’d be taken off display to live out their remaining years and the Binturong take their place in the Carnivores precinct; or that a large area e.g. the cassowary exhibit is going to be dedicated to multiple Binturong exhibits and a walkthrough imo.
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
Is the old coati exhibit still there? Is it possible that MZ are moving them to their old exhibit and replacing them with the binturong in the carnivore trail?
Click to expand...

Zoofan15 said:
The coati are elderly, so I can’t see them moving to a new on display exhibit. It’d be an inefficient use of funds and potentially stressful. It’s more likely they’d be taken off display to live out their remaining years and the Binturong take their place in the Carnivores precinct; or that a large area e.g. the cassowary exhibit is going to be dedicated to multiple Binturong exhibits and a walkthrough imo.
Click to expand...
The former Coati exhibit is still there but I doubt they’d move the remaining females back there. It’s also down a closed off path; so they would be pretty much off display even if they were to move there.

I’ve actually been under the impression Melbourne intends to continue with Coati at this stage; obviously them receiving an enclosure in the recent Carnivores trial being one of the main reasons why.

At this point it’s more likely to me that the Binturong move into the former Cassowary enclosure with some renovations. Or, they could easily move into the Treetop trail (replacing Colobus who would move down there). Either option would be highly likely imo.
 
Jambo said:
I’ve actually been under the impression Melbourne intends to continue with Coati at this stage; obviously them receiving an enclosure in the recent Carnivores trial being one of the main reasons why.
Click to expand...
Osedax said:
I really hope that's true
Click to expand...

I’m pessimistic about our chances of retaining this species in the region. A breeding ban has been in place in European zoos since 2016, leading to widespread phase outs. Europe is where we last sourced breeding stock.

Tasmania only allow castrated males and it wouldn’t surprise me to see other Australian states implement a breeding ban (in line with Europe and Tasmania) considering the emphasis on biosecurity.
 
Zoofan15 said:
I’m pessimistic about our chances of retaining this species in the region. A breeding ban has been in place in European zoos since 2016, leading to widespread phase outs. Europe is where we last sourced breeding stock.

Tasmania only allow castrated males and it wouldn’t surprise me to see other Australian states implement a breeding ban (in line with Europe and Tasmania) considering the emphasis on biosecurity.
Click to expand...
That means we can only get them from Singapore now, right?
 
Would think by now maybe the government(s) having some faith in our zoos that can keep a potential feral population from occurring in the country. A handful of Coatis imported...yeah worst case scenario they get out and breed in the wild...but thats one in a million or higher...wish the government wasnt so jumpy. Heck they imported Coatis in the recent past (White-Nosed for a while) and the Brown-Nosed 12 years ago and everything was ok, every individual remained in the zoos safe 'n sound. Case in point, the Five-lined Palm Squirrels got out at Perth Zoo etc and bred...and are now wiped out from the area and didnt become a feral 'plague' on a European Rabbit or Red Fox scale.
 
Zoofan15 said:
I’m pessimistic about our chances of retaining this species in the region. A breeding ban has been in place in European zoos since 2016, leading to widespread phase outs. Europe is where we last sourced breeding stock.

Tasmania only allow castrated males and it wouldn’t surprise me to see other Australian states implement a breeding ban (in line with Europe and Tasmania) considering the emphasis on biosecurity.
Click to expand...
The import of the Singapore females was following this breeding ban and coincided with the opening of the new exhibit too. From keepers that I've talked too, Zoos Vic does still seem keen on Coati. Whether that's breeding, or more likely just holding non breeding surplus.
 
@Jambo

Yeah they're a very loveable and charismatic species. Melbourne has (know you guys know this very very well, just ruminating out loud) been a long term Coati holding zoo for our region with the White-nosed and then a few short years later the Brown-nosed, they would be sorely missed if once the remaining individuals died out we never had any more in our region.
 
Jambo said:
I believe so. The region does seem to have a unique partnership with Singapore; more evident with the recent Binturong import!
Click to expand...

We’ve also sourced Spotted hyena, Temminck’s golden cat and Eastern bongo from Singapore within the past 20 years. Historically, there’s been several orangutan exchanges too.

Singapore is an approved country in several IRA’s e.g. the Bovid IRA - joining multiple European countries, so it’s effectively a gateway to Asia with regards to receiving animals from that continent.
 
steveroberts said:
Would think by now maybe the government(s) having some faith in our zoos that can keep a potential feral population from occurring in the country. A handful of Coatis imported...yeah worst case scenario they get out and breed in the wild...but thats one in a million or higher...wish the government wasnt so jumpy. Heck they imported Coatis in the recent past (White-Nosed for a while) and the Brown-Nosed 12 years ago and everything was ok, every individual remained in the zoos safe 'n sound. Case in point, the Five-lined Palm Squirrels got out at Perth Zoo etc and bred...and are now wiped out from the area and didnt become a feral 'plague' on a European Rabbit or Red Fox scale.
Click to expand...

Agreed. At the end of the day, either a male and female (or a female pregnant with male offspring) would have to escape; fail to be recaptured; establish and breed in the same area; and then those offspring survive to breed subsequent generations. Is it possible? Yes. Is it likely? No.

Zoos have decades of experience in the husbandry of these animals (which includes containment) and I’m unaware of any such containment issues with coati in the region. Nepalese red pandas and otters however…
 
Osedax said:
Does anyone have any idea how many are coatis are currently in Singapore (i.e. what would be the maximum number we could import)?
Click to expand...

From what I can find, they have a social grouping of five males that participate in shows. I’m not sure if they have a female/breeding group in addition to these males. I’m hoping the females they exported to Melbourne Zoo a few years ago wasn’t them shifting to holding a single sex group. :confused:

Tapei Zoo hold them, but don’t appear to have bred since 2013.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top