Australasian Hippo Population

[Zoofan15]

So in terms of animals, how many would Dubbo and WORZ be able to hold? 9-12?

It depends how many hippopotami can be held in a cohesive group. The simplest formula is to retain daughters from the breeding female in their natal pod. This works especially when the previous offspring are not full grown themselves when the introduction of their younger sibling takes place.

Though hippos as young as two have killed their newborn siblings, the mother is usually able to protect her calf from any aggression from older siblings. Using this method, Dubbo have achieved a pod size of four - with the youngest calf (a bull) transferring out shortly.

Like I say, it’s difficult to put a number on what they would achieve, but one example is:

Werribee: Group One: Primrose (1990) and Tulip (2003); Group Two: Breeding bull; Group Three: Lotus (2008) and up to two offspring.

Dubbo: Group One: Cuddles (2002), Kibibi (2014) and Kendi (2017); Group Two: Nile (1999); Group Three: Breeding bull - with either Cuddles or Nile breeding.

 

[Zoofan15]

Taronga Western Plains Zoo Update

Kani (2020) has been separated from his natal pod of Cuddles (2002), Kibibi (2014) and Kendi (2017) due to an injury.

A date hasn’t been set for his transfer to Monarto at this stage. Obviously it will depend on when their facilities are up and running.

Kani will not be bred to any of the females at Dubbo prior to his departure. The plan is to import an unrelated bull once the Hippopotamus IRA is complete. Assuming there’s reasonable confidence in this being completed in the near future, this is preferable to further inbreeding Dubbo’s hippopotami.

 

[Zoofan15]

Taronga Zoo - Update on Kambiri

In November last year, Taronga Zoo reported their female Pygmy hippopotamus had begun gaining weight following a successful mating - which gave them hope for a successful pregnancy.

Since eight months have passed (pregnancy is of 184-204 days), we can conclude that mating was unsuccessful; but excitingly @Osedax reported today that Kambiri appears to be heavily pregnant - suggesting a follow up mating led to a successful pregnancy. We await news of the what we hope will be the first successful birth since 2017!

@steveroberts took this photo last week, which appears to show a heavily pregnant female; however there was debate over whether this was in fact a well fed Fergus due to this photo being taken in what is his usual exhibit.

 

[Zoofan15]

Taronga Zoo - Kambiri Update

My friend visited today and reported Fergus was in the exhibit adjacent to the Binturong and Kambiri was in the exhibit adjacent to the otters.

Apparently Fergus and Kambiri have switched exhibits as per previous reports of them being housed in the contrary exhibit.

Kambiri looked huge and appears to be heavily pregnant as per previous reports - fingers crossed for a successful calf!

 

[Jambo]

Taronga Zoo - Kambiri Update

My friend visited today and reported Fergus was in the exhibit adjacent to the Binturong and Kambiri was in the exhibit adjacent to the otters.

Apparently Fergus and Kambiri have switched exhibits as per previous reports of them being housed in the contrary exhibit.

Kambiri looked huge and appears to be heavily pregnant as per previous reports - fingers crossed for a successful calf!

Awesome news; fingers crossed this calf is born healthy and well! Another female would probably be good to pair either with Obi at Adelaide or Felix at Melbourne.

I believe that said enclosure is the usual enclosure Mum and calf go initially so if Taronga were expecting Kambiri to give birth, this would make sense.

 

[Zoofan15]

Awesome news; fingers crossed this calf is born healthy and well! Another female would probably be good to pair either with Obi at Adelaide or Felix at Melbourne.

I believe that said enclosure is the usual enclosure Mum and calf go initially so if Taronga were expecting Kambiri to give birth, this would make sense.

Another female calf would definitely be advantageous as a male calf would have no application to the breeding programme in the current state (the two unpaired males being better matches for the females than a son of Fergus and Kambiri).

Historically, Taronga and Melbourne even housed 1.2 Pygmy hippopotami in the early years (with both females breeding at Melbourne), so if there was the facilities to house them and the demand for offspring (either regionally or overseas), we could make use of several more females.

 

[Swanson02]

Any news on when Werribee's mother-daughter pair are moving to Monarto? Probably has been overshadowed by the elephant news

 

[Zoofan15]

Any news on when Werribee's mother-daughter pair are moving to Monarto? Probably has been overshadowed by the elephant news

I think Zoos SA fundraising for elephants drive has had a number of us wondering what’s happened to the hippos we fundraised for in 2021/2022. The exhibit surely must be complete by now.

Articles at the beginning of the campaign stated they’d be transferring the hippopotami in mid-2023, so hopefully the cows from Werribee and bull from Dubbo are imminent. The elephant complex is exciting, but it’d be good to see this project wrapped up soon.

 

[Swanson02]

I think Zoos SA fundraising for elephants drive has had a number of us wondering what’s happened to the hippos we fundraised for in 2021/2022. The exhibit surely must be complete by now.

Articles at the beginning of the campaign stated they’d be transferring the hippopotami in mid-2023, so hopefully the cows from Werribee and bull from Dubbo are imminent. The elephant complex is exciting, but it’d be good to see this project wrapped up soon.

Exactly I do worry that with this new campaign Monarto maybe over extending themselves and neglecting species and commitments which still require attention.

For example their two black rhino bulls will most likely move into the behind scenes semi completed complex built to support the planned 30 white rhinos from South Africa. Atleast until another on display exhibit is constructed for them (not likely until atleast 2026), does this mean plans for a black rhino cow have been scrapped? It will be sad not seeing them for a minimum of a few years.

This en mass diversion of funds could also impact Monartos stated plans for more white rhinos, more hyenas, new antelope species, a Maned wolf exhibit, a baboon exhibit etc and ultimately Wild Africa.

Saying all this Monarto has an amazing ability to breed species in large quantity, as exhibited in recent times by their Cheetahs, Lions, Zebras and Giraffe, hopefully some of this success extends to their incoming species

 

[Jambo]

Any news on when Werribee's mother-daughter pair are moving to Monarto? Probably has been overshadowed by the elephant news

I think Zoos SA fundraising for elephants drive has had a number of us wondering what’s happened to the hippos we fundraised for in 2021/2022. The exhibit surely must be complete by now.

Articles at the beginning of the campaign stated they’d be transferring the hippopotami in mid-2023, so hopefully the cows from Werribee and bull from Dubbo are imminent. The elephant complex is exciting, but it’d be good to see this project wrapped up soon.

Not sure, I'd had assumed we would've recieved an update by now, and perhaps by Werribee too so it's a little interesting that they haven't considering it's been a while now (about a year since the news first broke). I really hope this move hasn't been canned, which has lead to them focusing on other projects eg. the elephants.

 

[Tiger91]

Any news on if their is actually a baby or third pygmy hippo at Taronga?. After the death of the last baby it wouldn't surprise me if they are being more reserved with news if a new one has been born.

 

[Zoofan15]

Any news on if their is actually a baby or third pygmy hippo at Taronga?. After the death of the last baby it wouldn't surprise me if they are being more reserved with news if a new one has been born.

As I reported above, my friend observed two adult sized hippos in the house (Fergus and Kambiri).

Kambiri appears to be heavily pregnant and will surely deliver this month (if she hasn’t already). I agree it’s likely they’ll delay the announcement - possibly for up to a month, though visitors will see the calf on exhibit.

 

[Zoofan15]

I believe it would just be plain common sence for any of our zoos to be looking around for any wanted hippos before hand to save time, If the IRA green light was given tomorrow why start looking then, I could save a heck of time putting the feelers out now rather than wait even more time than they have too.

Agreed. The list of approved countries for import will likely be European based (like the bovids), which will be less arduous to import from than North America; but at the bare minimum, candidates for export could be identified. If this hasn’t been done, I’d assume they don’t have the confidence the IRA is anywhere near completion to be able to enter into those discussions. Europe may be willing to identify candidates for export, but asking them to keep them on hold for what could be several years is an unreasonable request.

At a minimum, we would benefit from two new bulls and at least two cows with regards to Common hippopotamus (three of each would be better). The same again for Pygmy hippopotamus, depending on how many the region aims to accomodate.

 

[Zorro]

Agreed. The list of approved countries for import will likely be European based (like the bovids), which will be less arduous to import from than North America; but at the bare minimum, candidates for export could be identified. If this hasn’t been done, I’d assume they don’t have the confidence the IRA is anywhere near completion to be able to enter into those discussions. Europe may be willing to identify candidates for export, but asking them to keep them on hold for what could be several years is an unreasonable request.

At a minimum, we would benefit from two new bulls and at least two cows with regards to Common hippopotamus (three of each would be better). The same again for Pygmy hippopotamus, depending on how many the region aims to accomodate.

Just making a few enquires would be common sense seeing the IRA is now under the microscope,No one is saying anything about putting in firm orders on anything unless one wants to burn up even more time than necessary, another possibility could perhaps be some asian zoos I believe one Thailand zoo holds 10 river hippos and 6-8 pygmys, could be worth a look OR go to Columbia to catch your own.

 

[Zoofan15]

Just making a few enquires would be common sense seeing the IRA is now under the microscope,No one is saying anything about putting in firm orders on anything unless one wants to burn up even more time than necessary, another possibility could perhaps be some asian zoos I believe one Thailand zoo holds 10 river hippos and 6-8 pygmys, could be worth a look OR go to Columbia to catch your own.

Depending on whether Indonesia is an approved country for import, Taman Safari might even be a possible source, which would be ironic considering we sent them two common hippopotamus and a pygmy hippopotamus back in 2013. They have a large number of common hippopotamus, so it wouldn’t be difficult to source individuals that are either unrelated or distantly related to our existing population.

As mentioned by @akasha, Altina potentially have a good set up, so I’m hopeful more holders will come onboard in the future. Pygmy hippopotamus are significantly less of an investment than common hippopotamus; so at a minimum I’d expect to see renewed interest in them.

 

[Zoofan15]

Monaro will receive two common hippopotamus next month:

Thanks to @marmolady, we have the exciting news that Monarto Safari Park will receive two common hippopotamus next month. All going well with their crate training, this should be the mother-daughter pair from Werribee:

0.1 Brindabella (09/12/1990) Harold x Unknown
0.1 Pansy (18/11/2013) Harold x Brindabella

I look forward to seeing Monarto establish a thriving population in the coming years, with Kani from Dubbo to hopefully follow soon.

 

[Jambo]

Monaro will receive two common hippopotamus next month:

Thanks to @marmolady, we have the exciting news that Monarto Safari Park will receive two common hippopotamus next month. All going well with their crate training, this should be the mother-daughter pair from Werribee:

0.1 Brindabella (09/12/1990) Harold x Unknown
0.1 Pansy (18/11/2013) Harold x Brindabella

I look forward to seeing Monarto establish a thriving population in the coming years, with Kani from Dubbo to hopefully follow soon.

Will be interesting to see what Werribee does now, as the safari exhibit will now be empty following the departures of Brindabella and Pansy. I wonder whether they choose to separate one of the two younger girls now and house them here. This would prepare that female for future breeding from any sons born to Kani at Monarto, but this would still be another five years away at the very least.

Either that, or they leave the exhibit empty; which again wouldn't surprise me as Zoos Vic are notorious for doing this.

 

[Zoofan15]

Will be interesting to see what Werribee does now, as the safari exhibit will now be empty following the departures of Brindabella and Pansy. I wonder whether they choose to separate one of the two younger girls now and house them here. This would prepare that female for future breeding from any sons born to Kani at Monarto, but this would still be another five years away at the very least.

Either that, or they leave the exhibit empty; which again wouldn't surprise me as Zoos Vic are notorious for doing this.

Although I hate to see an empty exhibit as much as the next ZooChatter, I’d assume they’ll be leaving the hippopotamus together as a trio. They’re a cohesive pod and although the plan is probably to pair the younger female, Lotus (2008) with the new breeding bull; if they’re waiting on Monarto to breed one, that would still be at least five years away like you say.

Primrose (1990) and Tulip (2003) will likely remain together as a retired pod; but if one of them dies and the IRA is finalised in the next couple of years, then all three could be redundant from the breeding programme and if separated, the option to combine them again is removed.

 

[Zoofan15]

Taronga Zoo - Kambiri Update

My friend visited today and reported Fergus was in the exhibit adjacent to the Binturong and Kambiri was in the exhibit adjacent to the otters.

Apparently Fergus and Kambiri have switched exhibits as per previous reports of them being housed in the contrary exhibit.

Kambiri looked huge and appears to be heavily pregnant as per previous reports - fingers crossed for a successful calf!

Taronga Zoo - Kambiri is off display:

Thanks to @Osedax for the update that Kambiri is now off display. Fingers crossed she’s given birth to healthy calf as per above!

 

[PaddyRickMFZ]

Will be interesting to see what Werribee does now, as the safari exhibit will now be empty following the departures of Brindabella and Pansy. I wonder whether they choose to separate one of the two younger girls now and house them here. This would prepare that female for future breeding from any sons born to Kani at Monarto, but this would still be another five years away at the very least.

Either that, or they leave the exhibit empty; which again wouldn't surprise me as Zoos Vic are notorious for doing this.

If something exciting is coming soon it’s definitely gonna be cape barren geese