Hippopotamus IRA completed

The list of approved countries is rather short. It might be a little hard finding a zoo willing to undergo paper battle to prepair an oversea export to Australia. Good luck to whoever volunteers.
 
The list of approved countries is rather short. It might be a little hard finding a zoo willing to undergo paper battle to prepair an oversea export to Australia. Good luck to whoever volunteers.
Twenty countries is an adequate list imo (although one of them doesn't even have hippos at the moment). Especially when you consider some like the US have over thirty facilities with hippos, I'm sure there will be a few facilities at the very least willing to offer something..
 
The list of approved countries is rather short. It might be a little hard finding a zoo willing to undergo paper battle to prepair an oversea export to Australia. Good luck to whoever volunteers.

The list is reasonably extensive when you consider how many holders are in the United States alone. There’s also a multitude of European countries:

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.
 
Twenty countries is an adequate list imo (although one of them doesn't even have hippos at the moment). Especially when you consider some like the US have over thirty facilities with hippos, I'm sure there will be a few facilities at the very least willing to offer something..
I am willing to get corrected by Japanese users such as @Toki or @Veno but I don’t even think Japan has enough surplus hippopotamuses to send abroad.
 
I am willing to get corrected by Japanese users such as @Toki or @Veno but I don’t even think Japan has enough surplus hippopotamuses to send abroad.

I’d imagine Australia will be looking to Europe first and foremost due to the comparative ease of importing versus North America.

The fortunate thing here is that we’ll be looking to import bulls of Common hippopotamus, which are always in abundant surplus compared to cows, which can often live communally (if related).
 
Twenty countries is an adequate list imo (although one of them doesn't even have hippos at the moment). Especially when you consider some like the US have over thirty facilities with hippos, I'm sure there will be a few facilities at the very least willing to offer something..
Its a real shame Hippos can't be imported from some of the many south East Asian zoos who have quite a few holders and are breeding them well.
 
Japan might be able to send some males, but not a lot. For me, Southeast Asian zoos will be more realistic, since they're breeding well there.

Singapore is the only South East Asian country on the approved list.

Interestingly, all of the Common hippopotami exported outside the region from the 1990’s onwards have been to South East Asian countries:

0.1 Kibu (1991) - Malaysia
0.1 Solucky (1987) - Bali
1.0 Tippi (2004) - Bali

It’d be interesting to know how well represented their lines are now.
 
Singapore and Japan are the only Asian countries in the list if approved countries, so the hippopotamuses in Southeast Asia definitely aren’t going to Australia.
In that case it's unlikely Asia will be a continent whereby we'll import from. Singapore is another country without Common Hippos. In saying that, the Singapore Zoo has bred the Pygmy Hippo relatively well in recent years so may be able to send across a male and/or female.
 
Visiting Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia in August allowed me to tour 18 zoos with Common Hippos and 12 zoos with Pygmy Hippos. It would be fantastic if more Southeast Asian zoos besides Singapore became possibilities for Australian imports, as some of the zoos I visited had 2, 3, 4 or even 5 hippo enclosures and seemingly hippos were everywhere in that part of the world. The close proximity to Australia makes it seem more viable than some of the European zoos on the approved list.

I even visited 10 zoos with both hippo species in the space of 3 weeks. Khao Kheow Zoo (Thailand), Chiang Mai Zoo (Thailand), Chiang Mai Night Safari (Thailand), Taman Safari III Bali (Indonesia), Surabaya Zoo (Indonesia), Taman Safari II Prigen (Indonesia), Solo Safari (Indonesia), Gembira Loka Zoo (Indonesia), Taman Safari I Bogor (Indonesia) and Ragunan Zoo (Indonesia).
 
@snowleopard Wowee South-East Asia really does have a lot of Hippos indeed. Had seen the social media fame of baby Moo Deng the Pygmy Hippo at Khao Kheow and saw the Common Hippos at Taman Safari Bali in 2013 (cool they have Pygmy Hippos too now) that were Hippos who came from Australia (didnt know at the time) and had heard there were some other zoos, but 18 zoos with Common Hippos and 12 with Pygmy Hippos is heaps (is Singapore Zoo one of the zoos with Pygmy Hippos but not Common Hippos yeah, they used to have Common Hippos before think or Night Zoo did or both).
 
@snowleopard Wowee South-East Asia really does have a lot of Hippos indeed. Had seen the social media fame of baby Moo Deng the Pygmy Hippo at Khao Kheow and saw the Common Hippos at Taman Safari Bali in 2013 (cool they have Pygmy Hippos too now) that were Hippos who came from Australia (didnt know at the time) and had heard there were some other zoos, but 18 zoos with Common Hippos and 12 with Pygmy Hippos is heaps (is Singapore Zoo one of the zoos with Pygmy Hippos but not Common Hippos yeah, they used to have Common Hippos before think or Night Zoo did or both).

The loss of the Tipperary/Cairns Common hippopotami from the region via export to Bali was very unfortunate:

0.1 Solucky (1987) Kabete x Snorkel
1.0 Tippi (2004) Fonzee x Solucky

Following their export, all three mature bulls in the region have died (Harold, Mana and Happy); as well as the adolescent bull (Kani). Tippi’s value to the region right now would be obvious; though at least with the IRA now approved we can import.

Solucky and her offspring (Tippi and Cuddles) were genetically valuable as descendants of wild born founders, Dizzie and Fatima. At least Cuddles was retained (and has two surviving female calves), preserving this lineage within Australasia.

Common hippopotamus - regional founders:

1.0 Dizzie (1898)
1.0 William (1908)
0.1 Rosamund (1909)
1.0 Chaka (1920)
0.1 Fatima (1928)
0.1 Lindy (1948)
0.1 Mumsy (1950)
1.0 Billy (1950)
1.0 Kabete (1953)
 
Visiting Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia in August allowed me to tour 18 zoos with Common Hippos and 12 zoos with Pygmy Hippos. It would be fantastic if more Southeast Asian zoos besides Singapore became possibilities for Australian imports, as some of the zoos I visited had 2, 3, 4 or even 5 hippo enclosures and seemingly hippos were everywhere in that part of the world. The close proximity to Australia makes it seem more viable than some of the European zoos on the approved list.

I even visited 10 zoos with both hippo species in the space of 3 weeks. Khao Kheow Zoo (Thailand), Chiang Mai Zoo (Thailand), Chiang Mai Night Safari (Thailand), Taman Safari III Bali (Indonesia), Surabaya Zoo (Indonesia), Taman Safari II Prigen (Indonesia), Solo Safari (Indonesia), Gembira Loka Zoo (Indonesia), Taman Safari I Bogor (Indonesia) and Ragunan Zoo (Indonesia).
It's unfortunate that there are so many both River Hippos and Pygmy Hippos so close to Australia but unable to import any of them. I am not expecting a quick response from our Hippo holders (apart from the odd exseption) if the recently completed Bovid IRA slow response is anything to go by. ;)
 
I am not expecting a quick response from our Hippo holders (apart from the odd exseption) if the recently completed Bovid IRA slow response is anything to go by. ;)

Imports can take years to arrange. The Bovid IRA was only approved three years ago, so it’s entirely possible plans are being made to import that have not been made public at this stage. We need to have patience. :)

Also, bear in mind that with the exception of species like Eastern bongo; some of the Bovids we can now import already have populations in reasonably good shape - the Lowland nyala are the best example (a rapidly expanding population, which is genetically diverse owing to a spate of imports prior to the IRA). Another is the Scimitar-horned oryx, which is held in large numbers across zoos - with additional held privately (Mary River).

Compare the above to the region’s hippopotamus populations - five Pygmy hippopotamus (all closely related) and nine Common hippopotamus (all of which are female). Hippopotamus imports are ESSENTIAL.
 
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