Possible Species for Monarto Safari Park ( Speculation )

Also, anyone can feel free to post this in the Monarto News forum as I’m not sure if this is quite news or if someone had already mentioned this but..

Monarto have a new experience called “ Premium Safari Adventure Tour “ and it’s a behind the scene tour of Wild Africa before it opens to the public and in the highlight section of the description it says you will visit a female group of Cheetahs in Amboseli ( an area of the Wild Africa precinct ) which means Monarto now have multiple cheetah exhibits in various parts of the zoo.
 
GiraffeJett said:
A flock of flamingoes that you could look at from the lawn infront of the visitor centre oh my! ZooSA take notes..! ;)

And imagine Secretary Birds in the tall grass plains of the Wild Africa precinct. In the original 2015 master plan Monarto did have a plan to have an African Aviary near the waterhole exhibit, I wonder if this has been scrapped or what birds would be in it? Would love to see different kinds of African lovebirds, weavers, starling and a small ground dwelling bird like a Harlequin Quail or spur fowl.
Click to expand...

Slimbridge in the UK once had a large Greater flamingo flock, which numbered at least 281 birds (in the 2010’s). They supplied Auckland Zoo with the founders of their flock (the only flock in the region) in 2001. If Monarto had the ability to import the species, they could certainly aspire to similar numbers.

Studies suggest breeding in Greater flamingo takes off exponentially when the flock size reaches 40+ birds. Auckland’s flock began in the late teens and made steady progress over the past decade; after more than a decade of no breeding activity from the maturation of the founders to the hatching of the first chicks in 2014.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Slimbridge in the UK once had a large Greater flamingo flock, which numbered at least 281 birds (in the 2010’s). They supplied Auckland Zoo with the founders of their flock (the only flock in the region) in 2001. If Monarto had the ability to import the species, they could certainly aspire to similar numbers.

Studies suggest breeding in Greater flamingo takes off exponentially when the flock size reaches 40+ birds. Auckland’s flock began in the late teens and made steady progress over the past decade; after more than a decade of no breeding activity from the maturation of the founders to the hatching of the first chicks in 2014.
Click to expand...

That is quite a number!

If only Australia allowed the import of exotic birds which are so desperately needed, if one zoo for say has a exotic species of bird it’s likely there the last holders of them in the region, like the crowned pigeons at Taronga and flamingoes at Adelaide.
 
GiraffeJett said:
That is quite a number!

If only Australia allowed the import of exotic birds which are so desperately needed, if one zoo for say has a exotic species of bird it’s likely there the last holders of them in the region, like the crowned pigeons at Taronga and flamingoes at Adelaide.
Click to expand...
As much as I would love to see all these species imported we still have a number of current species that really need urgent attention before its to late for them who badly need to import new animals like our River Hippos (no males in the country) Pygmy Hippos down to 5 all related and the list goes on. A lot of species have been badly managed Bongos are another example most of the mistakes comes down to poor management!
 
Zorro said:
As much as I would love to see all these species imported we still have a number of current species that really need urgent attention before its to late for them who badly need to import new animals like our River Hippos (no males in the country) Pygmy Hippos down to 5 all related and the list goes on. A lot of species have been badly managed Bongos are another example most of the mistakes comes down to poor management!
Click to expand...

I too would be in favour of importing species like Common hippopotamus and Eastern bongo to bolster existing populations; as opposed to prioritising the import of additional species not already in the region.

To be fair, the lack of action of late can be attributed to the lack of a IRA’s for the respective species. Common hippopotamus being in the works; and the Bovid IRA only being recently approved. Hopefully the Giraffe IRA will follow on from the Hippopotamus IRA as the population is relatively inbred at this point.
 
Oh yeah definitely agree, speaking of bongos is Monarto's bongo 'Isaac' still around, I think last time I saw him was around end of 2022 when I was doing the giraffe safari experience, he seemed to be in a paddock heavily covered off-show from the general public. Does Monarto have any interest in bongos?
 
GiraffeJett said:
Oh yeah definitely agree, speaking of bongos is Monarto's bongo 'Isaac' still around, I think last time I saw him was around end of 2022 when I was doing the giraffe safari experience, he seemed to be in a paddock heavily covered off-show from the general public. Does Monarto have any interest in bongos?
Click to expand...
There appears to be a very slow response by our zoos since the Bovid IRA was approved but somehow that does not surprise me much.
 
GiraffeJett said:
Oh yeah definitely agree, speaking of bongos is Monarto's bongo 'Isaac' still around, I think last time I saw him was around end of 2022 when I was doing the giraffe safari experience, he seemed to be in a paddock heavily covered off-show from the general public. Does Monarto have any interest in bongos?
Click to expand...
Isaac was still alive and kicking when I contacted Monarto regarding him some months back. He prefers his off display exhibit more than his previous exhibit that was intended for him within the Wild Africa section. Apparently he didn't show much liking towards the buses.
 
Jambo said:
Isaac was still alive and kicking when I contacted Monarto regarding him some months back. He prefers his off display exhibit more than his previous exhibit that was intended for him within the Wild Africa section. Apparently he didn't show much liking towards the buses.
Click to expand...
It was mentioned (last year) on a live feed media platform ask the keeper any questions and some one did ask via the live link if the zoo was going to get any Bongo females for him and the reply was yes we will want "a" female!
 
Zorro said:
It was mentioned (last year) on a live feed media platform ask the keeper any questions and some one did ask via the live link if the zoo was going to get any Bongo females for him and the reply was yes we will want "a" female!
Click to expand...
I remember watching that same live and hearing the same thing. With that in mind, I do wonder whether Monarto's stance on this has since changed. Dubbo's herd is down to just a trio, with the only female in the region presumably non breeding.

I'd hope both Dubbo and Monarto could organise an import of a few females, instead of being phased out like the vast array of other species our region has had in the past.
 
Jambo said:
I remember watching that same live and hearing the same thing. With that in mind, I do wonder whether Monarto's stance on this has since changed. Dubbo's herd is down to just a trio, with the only female in the region presumably non breeding.

I'd hope both Dubbo and Monarto could organise an import of a few females, instead of being phased out like the vast array of other species our region has had in the past.
Click to expand...
It amazes me the lack of interest within the major zoos with some species within its collections its like ok we might do the bare minimum, The Bongos in Australia could of been much better handled it just comes across as if they can't be bothered to make any real effort. From what I recall the first calf born in oz was a female and then exported (a mistake) from there as I recall only males were born and placed within other collections. Then when it appeared they were really going nowhere with them imported a female (that allegedly had a health problem) that never bred.Additional imports should of happened and not trying to maintain any species starting from just one pair.
 
Jambo said:
I remember watching that same live and hearing the same thing. With that in mind, I do wonder whether Monarto's stance on this has since changed. Dubbo's herd is down to just a trio, with the only female in the region presumably non breeding.

I'd hope both Dubbo and Monarto could organise an import of a few females, instead of being phased out like the vast array of other species our region has had in the past.
Click to expand...

What the region really needs is breeding herds of one bull and at least three females. Aside from the 1.1 pairs we’ve had previously in the region not being reflective of the natural social order, they don’t offer good odds of succession via production of first generation females.

Historically, a large number of male calves have been born in Australian zoos; with one of the few females exported overseas (on hindsight, a regrettable loss).
 
Zoofan15 said:
What the region really needs is breeding herds of one bull and at least three females. Aside from the 1.1 pairs we’ve had previously in the region not being reflective of the natural social order, they don’t offer good odds of succession via production of first generation females.

Historically, a large number of male calves have been born in Australian zoos; with one of the few females exported overseas (on hindsight, a regrettable loss).
Click to expand...
At least the three current males we have (not including the elderly Ekundu at Taronga), provide a sufficient base for a founding group within the region.

As has been mentioned, all we need is females. I wouldn't mind seeing a large import to begin with (ie. three or so females for both Monarto and Dubbo) to regenerate the regional breeding program.

The obvious problem here is global numbers though. I'm unsure as to what shape the global population is in and whether this amount of stock could be provided.
 
Jambo said:
At least the three current males we have (not including the elderly Ekundu at Taronga), provide a sufficient base for a founding group within the region.

As has been mentioned, all we need is females. I wouldn't mind seeing a large import to begin with (ie. three or so females for both Monarto and Dubbo) to regenerate the regional breeding program.

The obvious problem here is global numbers though. I'm unsure as to what shape the global population is in and whether this amount of stock could be provided.
Click to expand...
Stock are available it was not long ago that one Asian Safari park had an import of ten from the USA in one go the problem is our end!
 
Zorro said:
I believe Adelaide Zoo made a big mistake dropping the planned Gorilla exhibit they could of had a very good West African rainforest exhibit shared with other species from the same habitat that would have been a major drawcard and a point of difference between it and the Monarto zoo.
Click to expand...

Gorilla and colobus integrated together would be a fantastic exhibit, that would probably rival the popularity of giraffe.
Taronga is severely missing the 8 ball by not undertaking a new gorilla complex and mixing colobus with them.
 
Jambo said:
At least the three current males we have (not including the elderly Ekundu at Taronga), provide a sufficient base for a founding group within the region.

As has been mentioned, all we need is females. I wouldn't mind seeing a large import to begin with (ie. three or so females for both Monarto and Dubbo) to regenerate the regional breeding program.

The obvious problem here is global numbers though. I'm unsure as to what shape the global population is in and whether this amount of stock could be provided.
Click to expand...

Doing a quick read of wiki, it has the North American population at around 400 Eastern Bongo.
Surely we could get/they could breed a few females to bring over and start things up.
 
Tiger91 said:
Doing a quick read of wiki, it has the North American population at around 400 Eastern Bongo.
Surely we could get/they could breed a few females to bring over and start things up.
Click to expand...

That’s encouraging as the United States and Canada are two countries Australia can import Eastern bongo from.

The full list being:

Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States and New Zealand.

If North America has that number (most of which would be in the United States, they’d surely be breeding a reasonable number given cows can produce a calf at least every 18-24 months.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top