Sydney Zoo Sydney Zoo News 2024

loganjmuir said:
Thanks, they have also bred Capybara and plan to breed the Lions once they find a suitable female/s. I thought Taronga had also sent them Capuchins, KI Kangaroos, Red, Grey etc, hence the 'lesser known species' comment. Is the litter of Lions Marion's previous one? Or has she only bred twice in 6-odd years?
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Yes, that’s correct regarding the lesser known species.

Regarding African lions:

Sydney Zoo received the second litter of Lazarus and Maya, which contained four males (one has since transferred to Werribee). The remaining three are:

1.0 Bakari (19/11/2016) Lazarus x Maya
1.0 Karoo (19/11/2016) Lazarus x Maya
1.0 Virunga (19/11/2016) Lazarus x Maya

Zoos typically aim for female lions to either match or outnumber males; so if Sydney Zoo want to breed, I’d expect to see 1-2 males transferred out first. It’s a well represented line (with two full siblings and two half siblings having bred; as well as their mother producing a litter of five at Taronga), so it wouldn’t surprise me to see them remain a non-breeding pride.

Marion has produced two litters at Dubbo with her mate, Lwazi. She had 0.3 cubs in April 2022 and 2.1 cubs in October 2023. They remain in a pride at Dubbo. Her sister, Evelyn, has recently produced 2.0 cubs at Mogo (with the older brother of Sydney’s males, Baako).
 
Zoofan15 said:
Yes, that’s correct regarding the lesser known species.

Regarding African lions:

Sydney Zoo received the second litter of Lazarus and Maya, which contained four males (one has since transferred to Werribee). The remaining three are:

1.0 Bakari (19/11/2016) Lazarus x Maya
1.0 Karoo (19/11/2016) Lazarus x Maya
1.0 Virunga (19/11/2016) Lazarus x Maya

Zoos typically aim for female lions to either match or outnumber males; so if Sydney Zoo want to breed, I’d expect to see 1-2 males transferred out first. It’s a well represented line (with two full siblings and two half siblings having bred), so it wouldn’t surprise me to see them remain a non-breeding pride.

Marion has produced two litters at Dubbo with her mate, Lwazi. She had 0.3 cubs in April 2022 and 2.1 cubs in October 2023. They remain in a pride at Dubbo. Her sister, Evelyn, has recently produced 2.0 cubs at Mogo (with the older brother of Sydney’s males, Baako).
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Thanks, I went on a tour in January 2021, and I was told the zoo was searching for females, and use the same method Taronga did, with introducing females to the males, and see who the females choose, before transferring out the surplus males. I wouldn't be surprised to see them remain a non-breeding pride either, as it is getting to the end of their prime breeding period. I was correct with Marion's two litters, just wildly off with the timing:D Is the Maya you mentioned currently at Taronga?
 
loganjmuir said:
Thanks, I went on a tour in January 2021, and I was told the zoo was searching for females, and use the same method Taronga did, with introducing females to the males, and see who the females choose, before transferring out the surplus males. I wouldn't be surprised to see them remain a non-breeding pride either, as it is getting to the end of their prime breeding period. I was correct with Marion's two litters, just wildly off with the timing:D Is the Maya you mentioned currently at Taronga?
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That’s interesting! There’s actually quite a few unrelated females in the region the Sydney males could be paired with. They include the four young lionesses at Dubbo; the three lionesses at Auckland Zoo and the three lionesses at Billabong. If Mlinzi and Nairibi at the National Zoo breed, that could potentially offer a fourth source.

Since it’s unlikely they’d recall the cubs sent to Auckland Zoo back to Australia; and Billabong’s lions don’t seem to be going anywhere, I’d assess the four young females at Dubbo as the best option. Lionesses go through a rebellious stage at around 2-3 years, so they might wait and see which females (if any) become a challenge to retain in their pride; which could mutually benefit both facilities if one or two were sent to Sydney Zoo.

Yes, Maya lives at Taronga Zoo. The Sydney males were her second litter; her litter at Taronga are her third litter and will be her final litter given her age (and representation):

0.1 Maya (26/02/2011) Imported 2014 (South Africa)
1.0 Ato (12/08/2017) Johari x Nilo
1.0 Khari (12/08/2021) Ato x Maya
1.0 Luzoko (12/08/2021) Ato x Maya
0.1 Ayanna (12/08/2021) Ato x Maya
0.1 Malika (12/08/2021) Ato x Maya
0.1 Zuri (12/08/2021) Ato x Maya
 
Zoofan15 said:
That’s interesting! There’s actually quite a few unrelated females in the region the Sydney males could be paired with. They include the four young lionesses at Dubbo; the three lionesses at Auckland Zoo and the three lionesses at Billabong. If Mlinzi and Nairibi at the National Zoo breed, that could potentially offer a fourth source.

Since it’s unlikely they’d recall the cubs sent to Auckland Zoo back to Australia; and Billabong’s lions don’t seem to be going anywhere, I’d assess the four young females at Dubbo as the best option. Lionesses go through a rebellious stage at around 2-3 years, so they might wait and see which females (if any) become a challenge to retain in their pride; which could mutually benefit both facilities if one or two were sent to Sydney Zoo.

Yes, Maya lives at Taronga Zoo. The Sydney males were her second litter; her litter at Taronga are her third litter and will be her final litter given her age (and representation):

0.1 Maya (26/02/2011) Imported 2014 (South Africa)
1.0 Ato (12/08/2017) Johari x Nilo
1.0 Khari (12/08/2021) Ato x Maya
1.0 Luzoko (12/08/2021) Ato x Maya
0.1 Ayanna (12/08/2021) Ato x Maya
0.1 Malika (12/08/2021) Ato x Maya
0.1 Zuri (12/08/2021) Ato x Maya
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Thanks, I suspect Dubbo will look to export regionally, most likely Sydney, as Dubbo's expansive pride will prove difficult to manage in the coming years, especially if they plan to continue breeding at the site. Most likely Maya won't breed again, but as Taronga like to withhold information like that we probably won't ever have definitive proof. I do wonder though whether Auckland will choose to import however, as it was speculated Pemanah would look for a mate from their litter. But as that hasn't happened, it's all up in the air as to what happens, but I expect Auckland to stay away from imports in the near future. Interesting to hear about the other breeding pairs in the region though, is Monarto or Melbourne in the picture?
 
loganjmuir said:
Thanks, I suspect Dubbo will look to export regionally, most likely Sydney, as Dubbo's expansive pride will prove difficult to manage in the coming years, especially if they plan to continue breeding at the site. Most likely Maya won't breed again, but as Taronga like to withhold information like that we probably won't ever have definitive proof. I do wonder though whether Auckland will choose to import however, as it was speculated Pemanah would look for a mate from their litter. But as that hasn't happened, it's all up in the air as to what happens, but I expect Auckland to stay away from imports in the near future. Interesting to hear about the other breeding pairs in the region though, is Monarto or Melbourne in the picture?
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I’ve just replied to this in the African lion and Sumatran tiger population threads to avoid de-railing the Sydney Zoo news thread:

Australasian African Lion Population

Australasian Sumatran Tiger Population
 
I did the Hyena experience today at Sydney Zoo, they confirmed the cub is female and her name is (phonetically) Zoo-War-Tee. Unfortunately the cub is still learning to come to her name so she didn’t participate, but it was fantastic to see the back of house and feed Mahali.
 
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Tigergal said:
I did the Hyena experience today at Sydney Zoo, they confirmed the cub is female and her name is (phonetically) Zoo-War-Tee. Unfortunately the cub is still learning to come to her name so she didn’t participate, but it was fantastic to see the back of house and feed Mahali.
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Thanks for sharing. It sounds like her name is Zawati, which means gift in Swahili. :)
 
Tigergal said:
Sydney Zoo have announced via email that there’s a ‘baby boom’ - including the known hyena cub, but also meerkat pups and a baby cabybara too.
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That’s good to see the Capybara continuing to breed well, following phase outs at a couple of facilities recently.

The mother is Alina, who arrived at the zoo in December 2019 and produced her first offspring with her mate Steve the following year; followed by quads in 2021. She was noted to be pregnant again last month, following an ultrasound.
 
I had time for a quick visit to Sydney Zoo today, here’s some notes from my trip:
  • Kavi and Ashoka, the Asian elephants, were roughhousing quite a bit in their exhibit today. I watched for about 15 minutes as they chased each other around and lightly tusked and head butted each other. I believe @Abbey mentioned on a previous visit that one of the boys had started going through musth, so I wonder how much longer they’ll be kept in together
  • Got to see both the capybara and meerkat pups. The meerkat pups are in the enclosure across and back from the chimps. All very cute!
  • Also saw Zawati, the hyena cub out and about. She’s growing into quite the little hyena! She has begun to respond to her name, engaging with keepers alongside her parents at the fence today which was great to see.
  • Following up from @Osedax ’s visit, the otters were also not on display today. Thinking on it further, I haven’t seen them on display on my last few visits. They’ve had a sprinkler feeder installed so I assume they’re still at the zoo, so it might be my luck being unable to spot them, or they may be spending more time off exhibit

A side note - someone called the painted dogs cheetah babies today - not sure I’ve ever heard that one before!
 
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Tigergal said:
I had time for a quick visit to Sydney Zoo today, here’s some notes from my trip:
  • Kavi and Ashoka, the Asian elephants, were roughhousing quite a bit in their exhibit today. I watched for about 15 minutes as they chased each other around and lightly tusked and head butted each other. I believe @Abbey mentioned on a previous visit that one of the boys had started going through musth, so I wonder how much longer they’ll be kept in together
  • Got to see both the capybara and meerkat pups. The meerkat pups are in the enclosure across and back from the chimps. All very cute!
  • Also saw Zawati, the hyena cub out and about. She’s growing into quite the little hyena! She has begun to respond to her name, engaging with keepers alongside her parents at the fence today which was great to see.

A side note - someone called the painted dogs cheetah babies today - not sure I’ve ever heard that one before!
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Thanks for the update!

I noticed signs of musth in Luk Chai (Melbourne Zoo), who’s five years older than these bulls and was told it’s called moda musth, an adolescent musth cycle that precedes the full musth cycle of the adult bulls. With that in mind, I imagine these bulls are going through something similar and agree it’s likely they’ll be separated for the majority of the time going forward. Luk Chai and Pathi Harn had only 2-3 contact sessions a week in Luk Chai’s final year at Dubbo.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Thanks for the update!

I noticed signs of musth in Luk Chai (Melbourne Zoo), who’s five years older than these bulls and was told it’s called moda musth, an adolescent musth cycle that precedes the full musth cycle of the adult bulls. With that in mind, I imagine these bulls are going through something similar and agree it’s likely they’ll be separated for the majority of the time going forward. Luk Chai and Pathi Harn had only 2-3 contact sessions a week in Luk Chai’s final year at Dubbo.
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That’s so interesting, I’ll have to look into it more!
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
A new litter of Capybaras have been born to female Zoey. The triplets have been named Iapa, Iago and Iguazu and the zoo now have seven capybara: https://www.skynews.com.au/australi...a-pups/video/4506b428512996db4c7210e17e6cc0ab
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Further information. The breeding male Sanchez is interestingly from Taronga Zoo. He was imported initially from Wellington Zoo and their initial breeding stock involves unrelated animals from France (though still related to Australian capybara through Wellington's breeding male at the time). Hence any pups produced at Sydney Zoo provide the first opportunity for wider genetics for inbred Aussie capybaras since the Adelaide import in 2013: Sydney Zoo - Trio of Adorable Capybara Triplets Join The Herd
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
Further information. The breeding male Sanchez is interestingly from Taronga Zoo. He was imported initially from Wellington Zoo and their initial breeding stock involves unrelated animals from France (though still related to Australian capybara through Wellington's breeding male at the time). Hence any pups produced at Sydney Zoo provide the first opportunity for wider genetics for inbred Aussie capybaras since the Adelaide import in 2013: Sydney Zoo - Trio of Adorable Capybara Triplets Join The Herd
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That’s interesting. Sanchez was part of the first litter born at Wellington Zoo in October 2018. Their founder females were imported from France; with the replacement founder male (Pepe) part of the first litter born at Auckland Zoo in 2015.

Auckland’s founder male was imported (from Chester Zoo), but after merging his genes with the Adelaide line (via females Rosetta and Conseuela), this family line has become widespread with Willowbank’s breeding population derived from Auckland stock; and now Sydney Zoo breeding.
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
Further information. The breeding male Sanchez is interestingly from Taronga Zoo. He was imported initially from Wellington Zoo and their initial breeding stock involves unrelated animals from France (though still related to Australian capybara through Wellington's breeding male at the time). Hence any pups produced at Sydney Zoo provide the first opportunity for wider genetics for inbred Aussie capybaras since the Adelaide import in 2013: Sydney Zoo - Trio of Adorable Capybara Triplets Join The Herd
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That is indeed very interesting. I'm guessing Sanchez may have moved to Sydney Zoo after the attack on Rodney at Taronga last year, to resolve the conflict? Sydney Zoo's previous breeding male (who I believe sired all litters prior to this one) was called Steve.
 
Osedax said:
That is indeed very interesting. I'm guessing Sanchez may have moved to Sydney Zoo after the attack on Rodney at Taronga last year, to resolve the conflict? Sydney Zoo's previous breeding male (who I believe sired all litters prior to this one) was called Steve.
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I believe there have now been five litters of Capybara born at Sydney Zoo:

September 2020 (Peanut) First litter at Sydney Zoo
October 2021 (four pups)
September 2022 (including Zoe)
March 2024 (Salvador) - Sanchez x Alina
May 2024 (Iapa, Iagu and Iguazu) - Sanchez x Zoe
 
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