Do we know the ages of Induna ? im wondering if he being younger then sentwali played a role in this decision. As in if they breed first to sentwali then to induna. However, with his unrepresented mother's genetics. The person playing match maker may have noted that while there is some relation, getting his mother genes into the breeding pool is worth it.
Australasian Rhino Population
- Thread starter WhistlingKite24
- Start date
Induna (05/04/2003) is 18 months older than Sentwali (02/10/2004). As with all population threads, you can find this info on the first page.
Chikundo is deceased, so like @Abbey says, that leaves Induna as the sole surviving descendant of his mother Pepe Kalle. Sentwali is the half-brother of Bakhita via their sire (Siabuwa); while Induna and Kufara share a sire (Ibala).
Given Dubbo’s capacity (thanks for that info @Osedax), it would be great to see them import additional founders longer term (acknowledging the elephants are priority; along with the Southern white rhinoceros import via the Australian Rhino Project).
There's no reason they can't import founders into the region. Im curious as to why they haven't. American zoos are still breeding them and some are moving away from the subspecies we have for the nationally managed one they are focusing on. While I understand American imports are harder and take longer. The money they have spent on recent tree top exhibits for children or the 70million waste of money for the new sky safari. Which is now underfire for the money it's going to cost. Let's be real, 70 million would have faired rhino, and elephants better. Then replacing a sky safari that didn't need to be rerouted when they are using Indian rhino to replace the elephants.
It's also interesting they aren't using induna when the zoo is apparently against inbreeding to the detriment of certain other species, like there hippo.
Very well said, It always amazes me how much some zoos can waste mega bucks on child play grounds and other such ideas but then say they don't have the money for animal projects and importing new bloodlines that are badly inbred!
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I'm not completely disagreeing, but I believe one of the key intentions behind the Sky Safari upgrade is making it fully accessible, and I suspect money would be available for that cause which may not be the same budget which is available for importing animals (although I would welcome perspectives with more information on this issue).
I'm certainly of the same opinion - the people in charge are the ones making these decisions, and as we've seen lately (especially on zoo boards and the like), not all of them seem to be in it for the animal side of things.
In the case of the Skyfari, it reached the end of its lifespan so the upgrade was bound to occur. A lot of visitors have also brought up the accessibility of the zoo's site as a whole, so this upgrade will also hopefully rectify those issues.
The thing that is being picked up especially by the public criticism, accessibility is to do with the stations themselves. Which didn't require the whole thing to be torn down and rebuilt. For a zoo that is facing backlash for being a concrete jungle I have seen it questioned why they arnt focussing on animals. Sydney zoo is starting to nip at tarongas heels. You see what feels like more species, it's easier to access and get around.
The budget for imports wouldn't be to much different to the one for the sky safari as they would all be down as zoo upgrades/development.
To clarify a few things regarding the Sky Safari construction;
The Sky Safari itself was at the end of it's working lifespan, so conducting major renovations on it were inevitable at this point in time. Taking into account the costs of doing this, why not construct a whole new one and develop a new route that enables the whole site to be more accessible.
Also, the plan was also to make the Sky Safari more accessible itself, ie. allowing those in wheelchairs to utilise the service, of which they couldn't previously do.
It would be interesting to see what the costs are when comparing. There was something in the news in passing the other day, where I got the impression people were calling for the new construction to not be built due to the price tag. I should have stopped and actually read it though.
It will be interesting to see how they make it wheel chair accessible. Im not sure a new route will be more accessible, it may go over less of the exhibits. But I may be biased, I did quite like where it went before.
I was under the impression a similar route will be incorporated (from the bay up to the entrance). There was talk of an additional station but it seems like this has since been scrapped.
Re. accessibility, the previous cars could not accommodate wheelchairs, so this new designs aims to rectify this.
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From Taronga's TV series it appears they're planning to breed from Sabi soon, presumably with the recently arrived Sentwali. She's being trained for a rectal ultrasound and it was mentioned she would be sexually mature in a years time.
Kufara and Mesi recently birthed calves (meaning they're out of breeding action for the next few years) and Bakhita miscarried. Bakhita's also Sentwali's half brother so I doubt there will be any breeding with this pair.
Kufara and Mesi recently birthed calves (meaning they're out of breeding action for the next few years) and Bakhita miscarried. Bakhita's also Sentwali's half brother so I doubt there will be any breeding with this pair.
It's really good to see Taronga getting back on track with breeding this species following some ups and downs in the last decade or so. Two calves in two years is great and lets all hope Sabi conceives when she reaches maturity too
If Bakhita no longer has application at Dubbo, why not send her to Monarto..
Patience is key! @Zoofan15 updates his threads at the beginning of every year with an updated population list. Of course we can't expect him to drop it exactly on new years day, but sometime early January will be the period we'll see one posted.@Zoofan15 Could you do an update on the current rhino populations within our regions zoos please? Or are you saving that for January 1st in the new year like last time?
I only ask because I've completely lost count of where all of them are and how many at each zoo lol
It's been mentioned on here that Bakhita and Induna are our only unrelated pair left in the region, so this move would make the most sense from a genetic stand point.
However with the elephant construction, it's likely Monarto are planning to hold off on any additional acquisitions in the meantime until further facilities can be built to accommodate an additional cow plus a potential calf.
Luke899
Well-Known Member
Patience is key! @Zoofan15 updates his threads at the beginning of every year with an updated population list. Of course we can't expect him to drop it exactly on new years day, but sometime early January will be the period we'll see one posted.
Ah, sounds about right.
I wonder if bro just rings up every zoo asking, or if he's just that witty and aware that he can just sense them... with his magic zoo mind
@Zoofan15 Could you do an update on the current rhino populations within our regions zoos please? Or are you saving that for January 1st in the new year like last time?
I only ask because I've completely lost count of where all of them are and how many at each zoo lol
Patience is key! @Zoofan15 updates his threads at the beginning of every year with an updated population list. Of course we can't expect him to drop it exactly on new years day, but sometime early January will be the period we'll see one posted.
@WhistlingKite24 is the author of this the Rhino Population thread, so unless he chooses to pass responsibility of the thread to someone, he will be doing the annual update (if he sees fit).
I oversee the following population threads - and aim to get a revised population thread up for each of them in the first week of January (assuming there’s been sufficient updates to warrant one). Like @Jambo says, I won’t be doing it all on January 1!
African lion
Sumatran tiger
Sri Lankan leopard
Asian elephant
Hippopotamus
Western lowland gorilla
Orangutan
Common chimpanzee
Mandrill
Spotted hyena
African wild dog
Porcupine
Asian small-clawed otter
Galapagos giant tortoise
And to answer your question @Luke899, 99% of the updates I remember from events throughout the year; but do a sweep through more detailed threads such as lions to see if I’ve missed anything. Otters are about the only one I have to follow up with zoos because their deaths (and even transfers are less frequently reported).
Monarto have outlined plans to breed black rhinoceros in their masterplan (with a breeding introduction fence etc).
I don’t believe it will happen imminently (with the elephant complex still under construction); but long term, I’d expect to see Bakhita transferred over. Aside from being unrelated to Induna, she’s a proven breeding cow and would stand Monarto (a comparatively inexperienced facility in breeding this species compared to Dubbo) in good stead for reproductive success.
This was planned to have been developed sooner but obviously the unexpected elephant construction has meant this project has been thrown on the back burner.
In the wild, some female Black Rhinos have stopped cycling in their late 20's, whilst others still cycled into their mid 30's (however with some pregnancy hiccups). Considering Bakhita's age (she'll be 23 in a few months time), it's probably preferable she breeds again sooner rather than later perhaps with Mpenzi again considering Monarto's Black Rhino extension could still be a few years away.
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Absolutely correct