Australasian Exotic Mammal Species in Decline

[Zoofan15]

Because I hoped that a decline in exotic mammals in Australasian zoos could lead to an increase in Australasian mammals, especially those not kept outside Australasia

As much as I’d love to see more rare native animal representation, if there’s one thing our zoos are doing fine, it’s native animals. If they were to switch something out for a rare native, I’d hope it’d be a common native, not a rare exotic.

There are some fantastic specialised facilities in Australia and New Zealand that focus solely on native species. I’ve heard a lot of great things about Moonlit for example. However, exotics will always have a place in our region’s main zoos.

International tourism accounts for approximately 10% of visitation to Melbourne Zoo and I’d anticipate similar for Taronga Zoo. While both have a handful of native species, many are common and there for the purpose of satisfying those who come to Australia’s main zoos expecting to see kangaroos and koalas. Auckland Zoo similarly exhibits kiwi. Australian locals see a lot of these species in their day to day lives, so exotics understandably have more appeal and therefore a place in our zoos.

Both Taronga and Zoos Victoria do fantastic rehabilitation and release and breed and release work of native species, but much of this is done off display at their open range sites.

 

[Jambo]

It’s certainly possible they’re cautious of introducing new females to Otana. While I was willing to dismiss his intolerance of socially abnormal females as something that wouldn’t affect his reaction to socially normal females joining the troop, I recall you mentioning the distance between him and Kimya. It’s far from the typical relationship you’d expect to see from a silverback and his favourite female, who sticks to him like glue.

After seeing Taronga's troop, I would tend to agree. It's not unusual to see Kimya at the opposite end of the exhibit by herself; whereas at Taronga the females (especially Mbeli) stay quite close to Kibali.

You'd assume Kimya and Otana would have a close relationship especially as she has been his favourite female for a while now, but it seems to me like Kimya (and the other females) do all they can to avoid him.

Otana still remains quite protective of Kimya and often chased Yuska and Kimya away from her, so perhaps this another cause of concern re. any new females being introduced.

 

[Zoofan15]

After seeing Taronga's troop, I would tend to agree. It's not unusual to see Kimya at the opposite end of the exhibit by herself; whereas at Taronga the females (especially Mbeli) stay quite close to Kibali.

You'd assume Kimya and Otana would have a close relationship especially as she has been his favourite female for a while now, but it seems to me like Kimya (and the other females) do all they can to avoid him.

Otana still remains quite protective of Kimya and often chased Yuska and Kimya away from her, so perhaps this another cause of concern re. any new females being introduced.

Kibale, Frala and Mbeli function extremely well as a troop and when you throw in Johari’s mutual tolerance of Kibale, it makes a strong argument for keeping them together.

I had previously thought there was a lot of sense in transferring Frala and Mbeli to Melbourne (if Taronga wanted to disband their troop); but from what you’ve said about Otana, I don’t believe it would be advisable. While Frala is more socially savy than Yuska; in the event she doesn’t breed again, she’d still be a female without offspring in the troop. Mbeli would likely make the adjustment, but bringing her in only merges her well represented bloodline with Otana’s well represented bloodline. Plus it’s a double up considering Mbeli and Kimya are from the same line.

Personally, I hope Taronga continue with their current troop as no single female would be better off transferring out (and two of the three would be worse off). As for Melbourne, bringing in adolescent females seems the way to go. I believe Kimya would be happier with a larger number of females and transferring them in at the dispersal age should enable a smooth integration (they’ll come in accepting they’re low ranking).