dylan downward
Well-Known Member
Does anyone have photos of the hippo exhibit?
Monarto Safari Park Monarto Safari Park News 2024
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These photos were taken by @Sunbear12 of the lake and holding yards:
There’s a video showing the holding yards here (watch from 0.25 as first 0.16 is Werribee Open Range Zoo):
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Great news South Australians will be able to see an elephant on exhibit for the first time in 30 years!
Perth Zoo have also made a news release on Burma’s transfer:
https://perthzoo.wa.gov.au/article/update-on-perth-zoo’s-asian-elephants
I know it's been a long time coming for South Australians, I have a few friends down there who are very excited to pay her a visit. We should be seeing a flurry of visitors piling into Monarto in the coming weeks; great for the park overall.
Burma should really boost visitor numbers which is huge for the park getting a fair amount in return for the investment in working to display the elephants.I know it's been a long time coming for South Australians, I have a few friends down there who are very excited to pay her a visit. We should be seeing a flurry of visitors piling into Monarto in the coming weeks; great for the park overall.
The information hasn't yet been on socials, so obviously they're giving members a few days to get in and check her out first before everyone decides to visit. Should be a huge summer for Monarto and the elephants, with Permai arriving in only six weeks too!
I know it's been a long time coming for South Australians, I have a few friends down there who are very excited to pay her a visit. We should be seeing a flurry of visitors piling into Monarto in the coming weeks; great for the park overall.
Monarto have certianly kept the momentum going over the past decade with a number of high profile births (Common chimpanzee, African lion, Cheetah, Spotted hyena, African wild dog, Giraffe and Southern white rhinoceros); as well as many lower profile births (Ring-tailed lemur, Cape porcupine, Plaisn zebra); in addition to the exponential growth of the site via new species such as Common hippopotamus and Asian elephant.
Unlike Adelaide Zoo’s masterplan, I feel very excitied about what the future holds for Monarto - especially the development of what could well be the region’s largest Hamadryas baboon exhibit. Troops are held in the hundreds in overseas zoos, so it would be fantastic to see that replicated here.
Luke899
Well-Known Member
ZooSA was on the brink of collapse in 2021, so this will be a much much needed sigh of relief with these visitors and revenues for the elephants.
Elaine bedstead revealed only a year or two ago on radio that the organization literally had a $0.12 bank balance at one point during the pandemic and was nearly unable to pay zookeepers. Would have either needed a bailout or an international buyer.
thankfully that’s no longer the case
Covid was an extremely challenging time for the region’s zoos - especially those that weren’t government run. It impresses me Zoos SA and so many of the smaller privately owned facilties have recovered from this tumultuous period of time. Amongst the soft news stories of social distancing the length of a lion and primates missing human audience; jobs were on the line and numerous facilities under financial strain.
Zoos SA work wonders in sourcing donations from benefactors and public donations. Their elephant complex fundraising reached it’s target in a fraction of the projected time, which was particularly inspirational.
Monarto Elephant Update
From socials:
South Australia's favourite elephant, Burma, has completed her quarantine period and is now ready for visitors - and a new friend from Perth Zoo, Permai!
Having settled in beautifully to her new home, Burma took her first tentative steps out into the wider elephant habitat yesterday and began exploring. It will take her a couple of days to get completely comfortable out there but visitors will be able to see her roaming the cloverleaf area, which provides over 3 acres of varied terrain complete with waterhole.
And if that isn't exciting enough, we're also thrilled to share that Burma will have the first of her new family, Permai from Perth Zoo, joining her in late January!
Given Burma has settled in really well here at Monarto Safari Park, and Permai is hitting all the key milestones in the training and preparation for her travel, it makes sense that we're able to bring these two girls together earlier than anticipated to start what we hope to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
The herd will continue to grow throughout the new year, with the girls Pak Boon and Tang Mo set to travel from Taronga Zoo, and male Putra Mas also making the journey from Perth Zoo once he is finished musth.
From socials:
South Australia's favourite elephant, Burma, has completed her quarantine period and is now ready for visitors - and a new friend from Perth Zoo, Permai!
Having settled in beautifully to her new home, Burma took her first tentative steps out into the wider elephant habitat yesterday and began exploring. It will take her a couple of days to get completely comfortable out there but visitors will be able to see her roaming the cloverleaf area, which provides over 3 acres of varied terrain complete with waterhole.
And if that isn't exciting enough, we're also thrilled to share that Burma will have the first of her new family, Permai from Perth Zoo, joining her in late January!
Given Burma has settled in really well here at Monarto Safari Park, and Permai is hitting all the key milestones in the training and preparation for her travel, it makes sense that we're able to bring these two girls together earlier than anticipated to start what we hope to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
The herd will continue to grow throughout the new year, with the girls Pak Boon and Tang Mo set to travel from Taronga Zoo, and male Putra Mas also making the journey from Perth Zoo once he is finished musth.
The SA Gov does partially fund the zoo. So it wouldn't surprise me if they bailed the zoo out.
Let's be real for a minute though, the zoo can't afford the pandas. As nice as they are they are a terrible financial decision, they don't attract the visitation they once did and it's $1 mil a year to keep them. Repurposing the exhibit area for a gorilla troop would serve Adelaide so much better, and I dare say its why they revised there master plan to be more generic. Because generic brings in more general guests. That they may loose if people don't want to travel the 45min out to monarto to see lions and giraffes.
If they didn't have the financial constraint of the pandas, we would probably see lions and giraffes moved to monarto and a new more complimentary species brought in.
Even though it isn't a great financial decision for the zoo itself - the government is fully supportive of getting pandas again, so I imagine they'd be taking care of a decent amount of the funds to get them across.
It was mentioned on here that funding for the Giant panda at Adelaide Zoo comes from the Conservation Fund, not Zoos SA.
Yes, I am aware, but that's also 1mil from the conservation fund that the zoo now no longer has access to. The zoo also has to pay large amounts of money to grow bamboo in one of the driest states for feed. Which incurs quite large costs. Both through actual costs of labour and land/water/associated growing costs. Of memory there was also another cost associated with them that the zoo had to pay.
A large herd of elephants at Adelaide would cost the zoo less, and probably bring in more visitors.
@Tiger91
Adelaide Zoo does not have the space for Elephants (the exhibits at Monarto and Werribee are/will be bigger than the entire grounds of Adelaide Zoo). Giant Pandas are a good species for the zoo for the next 20 or so years (and unique in the region so gives Adelaide Zoo that on top of being only/last holder of Mandrills too now and last Malayan Tapir and Maras). The zoo probably will look at Gorillas in a few decades, but think for now they'll concentrate their ape focus on Sumatran Orangutans, Siamangs and Nth WC Gibbons. Yi Lan & Xing Qiu the Giant Pandas (any any possible offspring) are good large mammals for Zoos SA to have at their original zoo/small site city zoo at Adelaide, as Monarto is top tier for open landscape large megafauna species like ungulates especially.
Adelaide Zoo does not have the space for Elephants (the exhibits at Monarto and Werribee are/will be bigger than the entire grounds of Adelaide Zoo). Giant Pandas are a good species for the zoo for the next 20 or so years (and unique in the region so gives Adelaide Zoo that on top of being only/last holder of Mandrills too now and last Malayan Tapir and Maras). The zoo probably will look at Gorillas in a few decades, but think for now they'll concentrate their ape focus on Sumatran Orangutans, Siamangs and Nth WC Gibbons. Yi Lan & Xing Qiu the Giant Pandas (any any possible offspring) are good large mammals for Zoos SA to have at their original zoo/small site city zoo at Adelaide, as Monarto is top tier for open landscape large megafauna species like ungulates especially.
A baby panda would be a huge draw, not only for Adelaide and South Australians but the whole of Australia (and surrounding countries like New Zealand). It would be the first panda cub in the Southern Hemisphere so would be huge news and crowds of unseen scale will pile into Adelaide to get a glimpse of this phenomenon. Think back to when the first elephant calves were born in the region; the crowds were huge and I imagine a giant panda cub would be even more popular.
Adelaide Zoo is only 20 acres, so only half the size of Werribee's complex as a whole and roughly the same size as Monarto's complex at the moment. The previous complexes at Taronga and Melbourne (which are now considered on the smaller side) are both a couple acres each so nowadays the standard seems to be at least five or so acres of land dedicated to elephants depending on group size. If Adelaide were to undertake this; that would be a quarter of the whole zoo dedicated to just elephants.
I’ve known people in both New Zealand and other states of Australia who have made the trip to Adelaide to see their Giant pandas. The excitement over this pair has been high, so I’m optimistic the novelty hasn’t yet worn off. It would undoubtedly hit fever pitch were a cub to be born - easily comparable to Mzuri (1984) and Luk Chai (2009). Giant panda cubs are international news and Zoos SA are among the best in Australia in terms of media engagement.
Elephant phase outs at Adelaide and Wellington were driven by space (they’re both small zoos); with Taronga, Melbourne and Auckland all investing in what were then world class complexes. Now even these are deemed inadequate when welfare dictates herds should ideally be multigenerational (not the long accepted single elephants or pairs of the 20th century).
I wasn't suggesting Adelaide get elephants, I was saying in context of expense. A large herd of elephants would be cheaper for the zoo to have then the two giant panda.
While it would be hugely popular, very few zoos have had any luck with breeding from just a pair of panda and our last pair were a prime example of the typical situation that occurs. While I would travel to Adelaide to see a baby panda. At this point in time the expenses of having them, may very well not be recuperated even if a baby eventuates.
The food bill for a herd of elephants would be immense. Elephants are one of the most expensive animals held in zoos, requiring not just food; but medical care and fulfilment of complex welfare needs - filtered pools, heated barns during winter, regular EEHV testing for young elephants etc. The AI attempts (involving specialists from Germany) came at significant cost.
Whether Adelaide’s new pair will breed is the great unknown. Acquiring two unproven (and pre-reproductive) is a gamble; but zoos like Zoo Atlanta and the Smithsonian National Zoo have enjoyed great success. From what I’ve observed, the vast majority of pairs either produce multiple cubs; or never breed - there’s rarely an in between. Time will tell what fate has in store for these pandas.
Yes I know, hence why I used them as an example. Pandas are not an easy keep species, especially when you consider that even with elephants and people thinking monarto is to dry, asian elephants inhabit the dry grass and semi arid areas of India as well, like the Gir forrest. And are adapted to this. Pandas are not adapted for weeks where night time temps are above 30 degrees C and will need there complex cooled for 6 months of the year. There actual costs, plus the costs to grow and secure food, plus the 1mil to china annually to keep them. Makes them more expansive than a large herd of elephants.
This Is the issue, from the reading (limited) I have done. It seems keeping multiple males on site works better than having just one. Which seems to be the issue in zoos. You either get a dominant enough male for the female to accept or she decides no and its game over red rover. Then you Delve into using repro sciences which are not overly cheap for a species that isnt easy to use AI on. Even elephants are far easier to achieve pregnancy with AI.