Myself and @Jambo didn’t come across a date of death for Ollie in our research, but since he also sired Nile in 1999, we believe he died sometime between 1999-2005. Otherwise all we have on him was that he was born 09/09/1988 to Toby and Suzie
Australasian Hippo Population
- Thread starter Zoofan15
- Start date
Myself and @Jambo didn’t come across a date of death for Ollie in our research, but since he also sired Nile in 1999, we believe he died sometime between 1999-2005. Otherwise all we have on him was that he was born 09/09/1988 to Toby and Suzie
It's probably likely he died soon after the birth or Nile as we can logically assume Suzie would've had another calf afterwards.
Considering we haven't managed to find any reference of him online here makes me think he died sometime around 1999/2000 too. He was certainly deceased as of 2004 though.
Swanson02
Well-Known Member
Do we have a concrete figure on Monarto's capacity? I was told max 6, but nothing regarding groupings or the gender break down of that number
From the video, it appeared there were two submersible pools indicating there’s two separation yards. This suggests there’s the capacity to bring in a bull on the assumption the bull can be housed with one cow; while the other is housed with her newborn calf until the cows (and calf) can be reintegrated.
The BOH pools were noted to be useful for keeping them warm during winter; so season dependent, they could arguably manage a third grouping on exhibit (with the other two groupings housed out back). This represents an alternative to housing the bull with the other cow outside of breeding; and theoretically would allow both cows to breed simultaneously.
All going well, the above would indeed allow them to house a bull and a cohesive herd of up to five cows/calves long term.
Update on Kani (2020-2023)
https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/t...al Parks Board) Annual Report 2022-23 (1).PDF
First of all, thank you to @WhistlingKite24 for posting the above link in the Dubbo thread. It contains details on the death of Kani, which are as follows:
While there were many highlights throughout the year, Taronga Western Plains Zoo and its community also farewelled several iconic and well-known animals. This included the loss of elderly Siamang pair 'Saudara' and 'Puteri', and 'Kani', a male Common Hippopotamus who was euthanised due to significant health issues in May 2023. 'Kani' had been receiving ongoing treatment for a leg injury, with a post-mortem revealing a complex break from which he would not have been able to recover.
https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/t...al Parks Board) Annual Report 2022-23 (1).PDF
First of all, thank you to @WhistlingKite24 for posting the above link in the Dubbo thread. It contains details on the death of Kani, which are as follows:
While there were many highlights throughout the year, Taronga Western Plains Zoo and its community also farewelled several iconic and well-known animals. This included the loss of elderly Siamang pair 'Saudara' and 'Puteri', and 'Kani', a male Common Hippopotamus who was euthanised due to significant health issues in May 2023. 'Kani' had been receiving ongoing treatment for a leg injury, with a post-mortem revealing a complex break from which he would not have been able to recover.
I pray that the Hippo IRA is completed next year for the sake of both species of Hippo within the country. I never thought I would ever see the population of both species hanging on the brink as they currently are. The Pygmys slipped down between the cracks years ago with certain males alone while females were also kept alone in different city zoos just counting down the days, before someone finally had the bright idea of actually bring together what was left of them in the region.
Both species I believe have been poorly managed over the years which appears to be just sheer lack of interest/bad management. The biggest blow was the export of both Mareeba's nile hippos and the pygmy hippos to Indonesia. With not being able to import ether into the country should never have happened, the only one saving grace was Seaworlds buying of a female nile hippo which ended up at TWPZ in Dubbo and breeding, a saving grace if I had ever had seen one.
Having followed our regions populations for some 50 years now it becomes obvious that larger numbers should be kept with perhaps some spare numbers kept in some of the regional zoos.
Having some spare back up bulls of species such as Rhinos, hippos and elephants is a sure advantage, as we have seen with Mogo zoos loss of their White rhino male as an example.
Having Auckland Zoo phase out hippos was another blow to the regions hippo population as many a hippo were bred there.
Another blow was the escape of a female Pygmy hippos from a NT collection which roamed around the NT swamps for 6-7 years avoiding the local crocodiles only to end up being shot by a local pig shooter, A big loss in a small population to be sure.
The big positive now is the Monarto zoos brand new Hippo exhibit/complex which if their rhino complex is anything to go by should be able to become perhaps the country's main centre for the species, hopefully our zoo managers are scouting around for some bull hippos right now and fingers crossed the Hippo IRA is completed sooner rather than later.
Both species I believe have been poorly managed over the years which appears to be just sheer lack of interest/bad management. The biggest blow was the export of both Mareeba's nile hippos and the pygmy hippos to Indonesia. With not being able to import ether into the country should never have happened, the only one saving grace was Seaworlds buying of a female nile hippo which ended up at TWPZ in Dubbo and breeding, a saving grace if I had ever had seen one.
Having followed our regions populations for some 50 years now it becomes obvious that larger numbers should be kept with perhaps some spare numbers kept in some of the regional zoos.
Having some spare back up bulls of species such as Rhinos, hippos and elephants is a sure advantage, as we have seen with Mogo zoos loss of their White rhino male as an example.
Having Auckland Zoo phase out hippos was another blow to the regions hippo population as many a hippo were bred there.
Another blow was the escape of a female Pygmy hippos from a NT collection which roamed around the NT swamps for 6-7 years avoiding the local crocodiles only to end up being shot by a local pig shooter, A big loss in a small population to be sure.
The big positive now is the Monarto zoos brand new Hippo exhibit/complex which if their rhino complex is anything to go by should be able to become perhaps the country's main centre for the species, hopefully our zoo managers are scouting around for some bull hippos right now and fingers crossed the Hippo IRA is completed sooner rather than later.
The Common hippopotamus population has certainly been subject to some bad luck in recent years. I had often wondered why Harry at Werribee was never replaced by a bull from Taronga Western Plains Zoo and so it was interesting to hear from @Patrick Keegan that this was due to one of their bulls being non-breeding in his final years (necessitating the retention of the younger bull).
Until the completion of the Hippopotamus IRA, Kani was viewed as the saviour of the regional population and had he transferred to Werribee as planned, I can only imagine the rejuvenation their population would have seen. I previously speculated he would have bred with Lotus (2008); with Primrose (1990) and Tulip (2003) being retired, but potentially he could have sired calves to any of these cows.
Tippi (2004) was exported in 2012. Presumably they didn’t want to export an older bull (and indeed Harry died two years later); but if we’re to accept there wasn’t the capacity for an additional bull across the holders at the time, then replacing Harry with Tippi would have been beneficial to our breeding programme.
By dividing their exhibit, Auckland Zoo managed two pods of 1.1 and 0.1 in the 1982 exhibit in the final six years before the 1999 exhibit opened in Pridelands. Potentially breeding a final calf from Snorkel, who lived alone from the early 1990’s onwards could have given us an additional hippopotamus to work with; though I imagine a bull calf would have been castrated as Fudge was, so I mention this only as a hypothetical.
Might be a stupid question, but are we sure Kani has died ? Have we had confirmation from the zoo that he is dead?.
From the searches I have done, nothing is coming up in google. When Mana died there were news articles and social media releases. Same with when young rhino or elephants have died. They released when the young pygmy hippo died, He was on par with them. So it is a bit odd that he has passed and no mention of it has been released. At least publicly.
From the searches I have done, nothing is coming up in google. When Mana died there were news articles and social media releases. Same with when young rhino or elephants have died. They released when the young pygmy hippo died, He was on par with them. So it is a bit odd that he has passed and no mention of it has been released. At least publicly.
100%. I was passed on this information by a reliable source and it’s also detailed in Taronga’s annual report (see my post above) with further information about the cause of death.
I’m sure we all wish it wasn’t true, but sadly it is.
Not sure why it wasn't mentioned, but am not really surprised. Werribee didn't announce the departure of their two cows to Monarto recently!
Monarto did a media release, maybe because of that they didn't feel the need to.
He was one of the more high profile animals at the zoo with social media posts etc made about him. So it would be odd if he had died and they don't mention it.
I see, I didn't see that before!.
Still a bit odd they have been so quiet. I wonder if that was why he was separated from the others?
A complex break sounds more like an injury that was inflicted on him rather then self made.
There’s understandably a reluctance to mention news which has the potential to attract negative publicity. In the case of the Pygmy hippopotamus calf, the birth had been announced and there would have been crowds of people coming to the zoo with the expectation of seeing it. The death had to be addressed.
Kani by contrast was a popular attraction during his first year, but I’d be surprised if the average visitor knew the names of the individuals once they reached the age of 2-3. While we don’t have regular visits from ZooChatters to Dubbo, his absence went unnoticed until earlier this month by all of us.
I did previously hear he’d been separated from his natal pod due to an injury, but anything on how he received that injury would be speculation on my part.
Australasian Hippopotamus Population (2024)
2023 brought the exciting news of a new holder for Common hippopotamus (Monarto Safari Park); which followed the unfortunate loss of Kani, the region’s only bull.
————————————————————
Common Hippopotamus
Taronga Western Plains Zoo:
0.1 Nile (15/05/1999) Ollie x Suzie
0.1 Cuddles (00/09/2002) Fonzie x Solucky
0.1 Kibibi (11/09/2014) Mana x Cuddles
0.1 Kendi (25/05/2017) Mana x Cuddles
Werribee Open Range Zoo:
0.1 Primrose (01/12/1990) Harold x Unknown
0.1 Tulip (01/01/2003) Harold x Primrose
0.1 Lotus (28/03/2008) Harold x Primrose
Monarto Safari Park:
0.1 Brindabella (09/12/1990) Harold x Unknown
0.1 Pansy (18/11/2013) Harold x Brindabella
Total regional population: 0.9
————————————————————
Pygmy Hippopotamus
Taronga Zoo:
1.0 Fergus (06/08/2009) Frank x Fluffy
0.1 Kambiri (26/06/2010) Timmy x Petre
Melbourne Zoo:
1.0 Felix (17/11/2006) Frank x Fluffy
Adelaide Zoo:
1.0 Obi (25/05/2015) Felix x Petre
Darling Downs Zoo:
0.1 Kamina (21/02/2017) Fergus x Kambiri
Total regional population: 3.2
————————————————————
2023 brought the exciting news of a new holder for Common hippopotamus (Monarto Safari Park); which followed the unfortunate loss of Kani, the region’s only bull.
————————————————————
Common Hippopotamus
Taronga Western Plains Zoo:
0.1 Nile (15/05/1999) Ollie x Suzie
0.1 Cuddles (00/09/2002) Fonzie x Solucky
0.1 Kibibi (11/09/2014) Mana x Cuddles
0.1 Kendi (25/05/2017) Mana x Cuddles
Werribee Open Range Zoo:
0.1 Primrose (01/12/1990) Harold x Unknown
0.1 Tulip (01/01/2003) Harold x Primrose
0.1 Lotus (28/03/2008) Harold x Primrose
Monarto Safari Park:
0.1 Brindabella (09/12/1990) Harold x Unknown
0.1 Pansy (18/11/2013) Harold x Brindabella
Total regional population: 0.9
————————————————————
Pygmy Hippopotamus
Taronga Zoo:
1.0 Fergus (06/08/2009) Frank x Fluffy
0.1 Kambiri (26/06/2010) Timmy x Petre
Melbourne Zoo:
1.0 Felix (17/11/2006) Frank x Fluffy
Adelaide Zoo:
1.0 Obi (25/05/2015) Felix x Petre
Darling Downs Zoo:
0.1 Kamina (21/02/2017) Fergus x Kambiri
Total regional population: 3.2
————————————————————
Kamina is closely related to all three bulls; so especially with her being young (seven years old), it makes sense to wait for the Hippopotamus IRA to be completed.
It’s long awaited, but it’s the current IRA being processed and will happen eventually. We’re entirely dependent on it for the long term future of the Common hippopotamus population, so I’m sure the zoos involved are just as keen as us for imports to happen.
Birth Announcement - Taronga Zoo
Kambiri the Pygmy hippopotamus went on display today with her new calf, which was born three weeks ago.
A valuable addition to the breeding programme, considering prior to this birth, the regional population numbered just 3.2 adults.
Seen by my friend and other visitors, including this photographer:
Matthew Holm (@matthew.holm_photography) • Instagram photos and videos
Kambiri the Pygmy hippopotamus went on display today with her new calf, which was born three weeks ago.
A valuable addition to the breeding programme, considering prior to this birth, the regional population numbered just 3.2 adults.
Seen by my friend and other visitors, including this photographer:
Matthew Holm (@matthew.holm_photography) • Instagram photos and videos
This is wonderful news!
Fingers crossed for a female calf, but a healthy calf is great news either way after the loss of Amara.
I suspect an announcement of the gender will come next week on World Hippo Day (February 15).
Amazing news to hear.
I would also hope that this calf is a female for the sake of the regional population; although I do have a feeling we have a little boy in our hands.
If the calf is a female, Melbourne Zoo presents the most obvious option for transfer as they do have a male (her uncle) and the facilities to breed. Whilst this will still be a few years away, it'll be very exciting as there hasn't been a Pygmy Hippo born outside of Taronga since Obi at Melbourne back in 2015.