Australasian Zebra Population

Taupo Zoofan said:
He is still magnificent, but was gelded before retirement
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Taupo Zoofan said:
No so

No Sorry I dont know her name, there was a young colt that came with them, he went to Orana Park
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That’s a shame he’s gelded. I believe him and Bakari are the last male Grant’s zebras in New Zealand. Machano was his last male offspring, but not sure if he went from Hamilton (his birth place) via Taupo and Orana. Given the timeframes of seven years or so, it’s possible.
 
Zoofan15 said:
That’s a shame he’s gelded. I believe him and Bakari are the last male Grant’s zebras in New Zealand. Machano was his last male offspring, but not sure if he went from Hamilton (his birth place) via Taupo and Orana. Given the timeframes of seven years or so, it’s possible.
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Machano apparently arrived to Auckland in 2007, so I don't believe he was the young colt that was sent to the farm too.

Do you have any ideas for the mare that was sent with them from Hamilton?
 
Jambo said:
Machano apparently arrived to Auckland in 2007, so I don't believe he was the young colt that was sent to the farm too.

Do you have any ideas for the mare that was sent with them from Hamilton?
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According to this article, the colt was Magnum. He was four years old in 2003, meaning he was born either 1998 or 1999 at Hamilton Zoo:

At home on the Central Plateau veldt - NZ Herald

I will see if I can find anything on the mare.
 
Taupo Zoofan said:
I will ask Murray (his owner)
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I spoke to Murray last night, and he said he only got the 2 Zebra (sorry for misinformation) the Stallion went to Orana Park, and the gelding stayed in Taupo. Murray says the Gelding's name was Shane, but he will check his papers over the weekend, maybe the names were mixed up and Shane was the stallion that went to Orana (He passed away at Orana) So the Gelding must be Magnum??? and has been called Shane all his life.
 
Taupo Zoofan said:
I spoke to Murray last night, and he said he only got the 2 Zebra (sorry for misinformation) the Stallion went to Orana Park, and the gelding stayed in Taupo. Murray says the Gelding's name was Shane, but he will check his papers over the weekend, maybe the names were mixed up and Shane was the stallion that went to Orana (He passed away at Orana) So the Gelding must be Magnum??? and has been called Shane all his life.
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Thanks for checking. It definitely makes sense that Shane was the stallion and Magnum was the gelding. Shane sired numerous foals at Hamilton right up until his transfer to Kitenui. His then four year old son (Magnum) would have been clashing with him if he’d remained in his natal herd, so gelding Magnum to maintain a cohesive herd at Hamilton makes sense. Male zebras were clearly in low demand at that time across the country/region.

This would also mean that Kitenui Farm now has a zebra in his mid-20’s, which seems more likely than a 38 year old zebra (an astonishing age).
 
Abbey said:
I appreciate the floral connection with Waridi's mother's name, a beautiful choice.
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It’s a nice alternative to naming individuals with their mother’s initial, which remains my favourite naming convention; but one I’ll admit can become overwhelming when you have two or females already in the group with that initial. Poppy is the only mare with a P name, so they have the option of continuing with the botanical theme or naming her next foal ‘Pili’ (Swahili for second born).
 
Zoofan15 said:
It’s a nice alternative to naming individuals with their mother’s initial, which remains my favourite naming convention; but one I’ll admit can become overwhelming when you have two or females already in the group with that initial. Poppy is the only mare with a P name, so they have the option of continuing with the botanical theme or naming her next foal ‘Pili’ (Swahili for second born).
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I love those name ideas!
 
New zebra mare for Orana:

As reported on Orana’s socials, Eve has been transferred from her birth place of Auckland Zoo to Orana Wildlife Park.

It’s mentioned she’ll be housed with Malawi and Asale; with Malawi’s sons presumably housed separately in a bachelor herd:

1.0 Malawi (12/03/2012) Zambezi x Zahra
0.1 Asale (2009) Bwana x Marble
0.1 Eve (2018) Carlo x Layla

1.0 Okavango (2019) Malawi x Marbles
1.0 Zambia (2019) Malawi x Zalika
 
Zoofan15 said:
New zebra mare for Orana:

As reported on Orana’s socials, Eve has been transferred from her birth place of Auckland Zoo to Orana Wildlife Park.

It’s mentioned she’ll be housed with Malawi and Asale; with Malawi’s sons presumably housed separately in a bachelor herd:

1.0 Malawi (12/03/2012) Zambezi x Zahra
0.1 Asale (2009) Bwana x Marble
0.1 Eve (2018) Carlo x Layla

1.0 Okavango (2019) Malawi x Marbles
1.0 Zambia (2019) Malawi x Zalika
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Interesting to hear, I'm surprised to see Orana planning to breed! Obviously makes sense with both Auckland and Hamilton stagnating in that aspect. It's also exciting as I don't believe Orana have ever bred Zebra, so a foal would be a first.

In saying that, Orana did acquire Kaabo (Malawi's son) for breeding purposes a while back but he never successfully mated the mares.

It's also interesting to see no mention of Zelda (the regions oldest zebra). Fingers crossed she's still alive and doing well.
 
Jambo said:
Interesting to hear, I'm surprised to see Orana planning to breed! Obviously makes sense with both Auckland and Hamilton stagnating in that aspect. It's also exciting as I don't believe Orana have ever bred Zebra, so a foal would be a first.

In saying that, Orana did acquire Kaabo (Malawi's son) for breeding purposes a while back but he never successfully mated the mares.

It's also interesting to see no mention of Zelda (the regions oldest zebra). Fingers crossed she's still alive and doing well.
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Orana were attempting to breed zebra back in 2002, but I believe this was unsuccessful too. Mares suffer sterility following long periods of non-breeding, so it’s possible they were trying to breed with infertile animals, as they’re otherwise not difficult to breed.

Auckland Zoo hold a non-breeding herd and Hamilton Zoo are taking a break from breeding, so it’s appears the plan is for Orana to take over. It makes sense for them to house a large breeding herd (and a bachelor herd on site) given the size of their facility.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Orana were attempting to breed zebra back in 2002, but I believe this was unsuccessful too. Mares suffer sterility following long periods of non-breeding, so it’s possible they were trying to breed with infertile animals, as they’re otherwise not difficult to breed.

Auckland Zoo hold a non-breeding herd and Hamilton Zoo are taking a break from breeding, so it’s appears the plan is for Orana to take over. It makes sense for them to house a large breeding herd (and a bachelor herd on site) given the size of their facility.
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Hopefully the plan is to bring additional females in then aside from Eve being the proposed only breeding female. They would have to come from Australia though; as it appears Auckland are now content with their three mares and non breeding stallion as they are.

Eve and Malawi are also one of the very few unrelated zebra pairs in the region at the moment which is also good to see.
 
Jambo said:
Hopefully the plan is to bring additional females in then aside from Eve being the proposed only breeding female. They would have to come from Australia though; as it appears Auckland are now content with their three mares and non breeding stallion as they are.

Eve and Malawi are also one of the very few unrelated zebra pairs in the region at the moment which is also good to see.
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I’ll be interested to see Hamilton Zoo’s plans for transferring out their colts as Marbles’ sons are approaching reproductive age and one was already showing stallion behaviour (directing the fillies etc). on my last visit. Separation is usually used over contraception (and Hamilton have the space to manage this), so I’m guessing they’ll either be seperate into an off display paddock soon (or transferred to Orana).
 
Is there a reason why there are no Grevy’s zebras in Australian zoos? Or are there some that I don’t know about?
 
JessKimber said:
Is there a reason why there are no Grevy’s zebras in Australian zoos? Or are there some that I don’t know about?
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Historically, the Plain’s zebra has been favoured by Australasian zoos. Plain’s zebra are smaller (especially the Grant’s subspecies, which is the smallest) and less temperamental than the Grevy’s zebra. Unlike the Plain’s zebra, which lives in harems, the Grevy’s zebra has an unusual social structure where the stallions live alone and only meet the mare for breeding (making housing more difficult).

Plain’s zebra can live amicably in large breeding herds; and can cohabit with a variety of ungulates in an integrated Savannah setting. It’s smaller size would reduce food costs and the majority of zoo visitors would neither know or care if the zebra they were seeing was a Plain’s zebra; or their endangered counterpart.

Pearl Coast Zoo imported 2.4 from Marwell in 1988, but this herd has long died out.
 
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