Monarto Safari Park Monarto Safari Park News 2024

That Aussie Guy said:
Does anyone know what species are currently kept in Wild Africa? Specifically in Etosha? I think Amboseli is just home to cheetah, the lemur walkthrough to ring-tailed lemurs, and a separate enclosure somewhere for the hippos. Merry Christmas!
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Merry Christmas @That Aussie Guy (and all my ZooChat friends). :)

Etosha is home to Southern white rhinoceros, Giraffe, Scimitar-horned oryx and Eland.

Amboseli is indeed home to female Cheetah and Common hippopotamus.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Merry Christmas @That Aussie Guy (and all my ZooChat friends). :)

Etosha is home to Southern white rhinoceros, Giraffe, Scimitar-horned oryx and Eland.

Amboseli is indeed home to female Cheetah and Common hippopotamus.
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That Aussie Guy said:
Does anyone know what species are currently kept in Wild Africa? Specifically in Etosha? I think Amboseli is just home to cheetah, the lemur walkthrough to ring-tailed lemurs, and a separate enclosure somewhere for the hippos. Merry Christmas!
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Merry Christmas to everybody too!

Just a slight correction; the Hippos are actually in a lake in the Samburu area - across from the resort and Lemur Walkthrough.
 
steveroberts said:
Happy Christmas guys hope you have all had a good one

so while their lake is technically in the Samburu area it borders the Amboseli area of the park too?
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Thanks @steveroberts

This map gives a better indication of the location, but the hippopotamus exhibit is in the upper area of the Samburu precinct, adjoined by the off display holding yards:

https://www.zoossa.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/MSP_masterplan_addendum_2023.pdf

From videos I’ve seen of Monarto’s exhibit and yards, it doesn’t look like they can manage multiple groupings in the current state. They can certainly expand as funding allows, but other projects will surely be taking priority. There’s been no mention of them importing a bull and Kani was scheduled to go to Werribee, which makes me think they could maintain 0.2 for the foreseeable.
 
@Zoofan15 @Jambo Oh cool cheers guys

(This belongs in the Rhino thread to an extent as a post but the end is Hippo based): Yeah with Orana (re Southern White Rhino importation plan) in relation to open-range zoo co-operation, if say fsr they still can't be part of the Sth White Rhino import in six months time wonder if Monarto would look at working with Dubbo as being the import receivers directly perhaps. On a big positive with the Hippo IRA complete wonder if like as you were saying with capacity for multiple groupings not there in current setup ZooFan' (you read my mind man, was actually curious about their setup as was typing last post but didnt add it) if their IRA success will be a major motivation in sourcing the fundings to expand their holding and grouping facilities capacities for Hippos.

I gather with their Rhinoceros holdings capacity that it is possible in its current setup to look after up to a further 15 White Rhinos for a time if Dubbo could do the same with an additional 'group' of the same number of?
 
steveroberts said:
@Zoofan15 @Jambo Oh cool cheers guys

(This belongs in the Rhino thread to an extent as a post but the end is Hippo based): Yeah with Orana (re Southern White Rhino importation plan) in relation to open-range zoo co-operation, if say fsr they still can't be part of the Sth White Rhino import in six months time wonder if Monarto would look at working with Dubbo as being the import receivers directly perhaps. On a big positive with the Hippo IRA complete wonder if like as you were saying with capacity for multiple groupings not there in current setup ZooFan' (you read my mind man, was actually curious about their setup as was typing last post but didnt add it) if their IRA success will be a major motivation in sourcing the fundings to expand their holding and grouping facilities capacities for Hippos.

I gather with their Rhinoceros holdings capacity that it is possible in its current setup to look after up to a further 15 White Rhinos for a time if Dubbo could do the same with an additional 'group' of the same number of?
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To be honest, I’m not sure why one of the Australian zoos didn’t just facilitate the imports for the Australian Rhino Project in the first place - given the bulk of the rhinos were designated for Australian zoos. Both Southern white rhinoceros and Indian rhinoceros have been imported within the last decade into Australia, implying they don’t lack an IHS or anything required to use New Zealand as a third party importer.

Monarto’s masterplan outlines a rhino facility, which will presumably be used to manage cohesive groupings of cows, with multiple bulls held on site (individually).

At this point, I’m of the opinion that importing a small number of founders from Europe etc. would be the best way to go. Importing 35 rhinos was always an ambitious plan and I struggle to see how we would have made use of so many cows, when there would be an immense number of first generation calves to place.
 
Is the Australian rhino project still proceeding? I read recently the private rhino farm that had 100s of rhinos (and i thought the source of the rhinos ) had been disbanded and the animals were being released to the wild....
 
Astrobird said:
Is the Australian rhino project still proceeding? I read recently the private rhino farm that had 100s of rhinos (and i thought the source of the rhinos ) had been disbanded and the animals were being released to the wild....
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Orana advised me it was still proceeding in June this year.

As mentioned in the Orana thread, they’re unable to take imports at this point in time (for the next six months), so it could well be delayed; or take a different form (new importing source). It’s already been modified heavily over the past decade.
 
Astrobird said:
Is the Australian rhino project still proceeding? I read recently the private rhino farm that had 100s of rhinos (and i thought the source of the rhinos ) had been disbanded and the animals were being released to the wild....
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The private Rhino farm from what I can recall had over 2000 Rhinos to bad Aust zoos could not have been able to acquire a few from that source!
 
@Zoofan15

Yeah agree, think you're assesment of the approach they realistically should aim for with the project would be the most practical (yeah if the majority of the Rhinos are destined for Australia anyway and no imp restrictions with them besides the standard protocols from certain species to certain animal clades depending and Sth White Rhino have been imported several times in last few decades including recently then it would make sense for them to import a smaller number (perhaps 15 or 16 initially or maybe even less); Personally would still like to see them come from South Africa given the distance will not be as long and also hopefully generation one founders for global captive population we could contribute to the northern hemisphere and other places like South America and South-East Asia again in future. But if ends up being more practical to import from Europe like you said then think they should 'go for it'; incidentally did not realise South Africa was perhaps restricting its exports a lot more maybe like you mentioned on the other thread, interesting (problematic imo but interesting to hear about).
 
steveroberts said:
@Zoofan15

Yeah agree, think you're assesment of the approach they realistically should aim for with the project would be the most practical (yeah if the majority of the Rhinos are destined for Australia anyway and no imp restrictions with them besides the standard protocols from certain species to certain animal clades depending and Sth White Rhino have been imported several times in last few decades including recently then it would make sense for them to import a smaller number (perhaps 15 or 16 initially or maybe even less); Personally would still like to see them come from South Africa given the distance will not be as long and also hopefully generation one founders for global captive population we could contribute to the northern hemisphere and other places like South America and South-East Asia again in future. But if ends up being more practical to import from Europe like you said then think they should 'go for it'; incidentally did not realise South Africa was perhaps restricting its exports a lot more maybe like you mentioned on the other thread, interesting (problematic imo but interesting to hear about).
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The last Southern white rhinoceros import into Australia was Tatu, a then three year old female imported from Germany; so yes I would definitely consider European zoos a reliable source if the South African imports are no longer viable.

With regards to Monarto specifically, they well prefer to receive additional rhinoceros from within the region to grow their herd in the interim, while focussing on their many other projects. Realistically speaking, Monarto having 25 rhinos will be little more of a draw than 10 rhinos. Auckland’s four year old female will be transferring out soon and I’d assess Monarto and Dubbo as her most likely destinations.
 
Zoofan15 said:
To be honest, I’m not sure why one of the Australian zoos didn’t just facilitate the imports for the Australian Rhino Project in the first place - given the bulk of the rhinos were designated for Australian zoos. Both Southern white rhinoceros and Indian rhinoceros have been imported within the last decade into Australia, implying they don’t lack an IHS or anything required to use New Zealand as a third party importer.
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Australia can't import zoo perissodatyls from South Africa, and New Zealand can.
 
Zorro said:
The private Rhino farm from what I can recall had over 2000 Rhinos to bad Aust zoos could not have been able to acquire a few from that source!
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It was great for conservation but a bugger we couldn't get some


What I find ironic, is that the rhinos were just released into national parks, no need for monitoring/management of female groupings or keeping bulls separately. The same goes for private game reserves and other private rhino holders all throughout south Africa and other range countries.

Yet here we have an open range zoo, with a new African precinct with paddocks the size of some game reserves. Then there is western plains zoo which similarly has large enclosures. While we constantly worry about keeping males separate and managing female groupings. At least for monarto there is no reason they couldn't take 30 rhino and just release them into one of there new exhibits and let them live naturally. The first idea for this entire project was to bring them over and release them on a private farm to live naturally, that got canned because of fear fencing would be an issue. Yet we for some reason can't actually do that with our open range zoos were we actually have the land and ability to do it.

For a project like this, one would think that the conservation funds could help chip in for the zoos if expenses for food were an issue.
 
Burma update:

Really impressed with the innovations that have gone into this exhibit - you can tell it was designed with input from some of the region’s elephant experts (such as Andrew Coers).

From socials:

"Burma is enjoying a fun approach to keeping cool, with trunk-fulls of water and plenty of splashing around.

A highlight of her new home for Burma (and her visitors!) is the drinker she has access to. This is an in-ground, self-filling water enrichment device that allows Burma to draw cool water out of the ground using her trunk - which often ends up being thrown over her back, or sometimes if she's feeling cheeky, in the direction of her keepers!

Burma can hold up to eight litres of water in her trunk, and visitors will often see her throw water over herself followed by a dusting of sand on her back, to reflect the sun and keep her nice and cool.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Burma update:

Really impressed with the innovations that have gone into this exhibit - you can tell it was designed with input from some of the region’s elephant experts (such as Andrew Coers).

From socials:

"Burma is enjoying a fun approach to keeping cool, with trunk-fulls of water and plenty of splashing around.

A highlight of her new home for Burma (and her visitors!) is the drinker she has access to. This is an in-ground, self-filling water enrichment device that allows Burma to draw cool water out of the ground using her trunk - which often ends up being thrown over her back, or sometimes if she's feeling cheeky, in the direction of her keepers!

Burma can hold up to eight litres of water in her trunk, and visitors will often see her throw water over herself followed by a dusting of sand on her back, to reflect the sun and keep her nice and cool.
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That's actually a really clever enrichment tool. Especially as it will keep the water cooler in hot weather then shallow pools that will heat up. The facilities there are fantastic for the elephants.
 
Tiger91 said:
That's actually a really clever enrichment tool. Especially as it will keep the water cooler in hot weather then shallow pools that will heat up. The facilities there are fantastic for the elephants.
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Yeah I was really impressed by that. Monarto have done so well to not just pull an exhibit together in a short space of time; but design one from scratch that caters to every aspect of the elephant’s welfare and enrichment.

My ultimate dream is that they’ve factored in succession planning to this exhibit via breeding of Pak Boon; but in the meantime five elephants living in city zoos eager to phase out will have a great life in a world class complex.
 
Tiger91 said:
It was great for conservation but a bugger we couldn't get some


What I find ironic, is that the rhinos were just released into national parks, no need for monitoring/management of female groupings or keeping bulls separately. The same goes for private game reserves and other private rhino holders all throughout south Africa and other range countries.

Yet here we have an open range zoo, with a new African precinct with paddocks the size of some game reserves. Then there is western plains zoo which similarly has large enclosures. While we constantly worry about keeping males separate and managing female groupings. At least for monarto there is no reason they couldn't take 30 rhino and just release them into one of there new exhibits and let them live naturally. The first idea for this entire project was to bring them over and release them on a private farm to live naturally, that got canned because of fear fencing would be an issue. Yet we for some reason can't actually do that with our open range zoos were we actually have the land and ability to do it.

For a project like this, one would think that the conservation funds could help chip in for the zoos if expenses for food were an issue.
Click to expand...
Let's look back to 1970 when both the Whisnade zoo UK and the San Diego Wild animal park USA imported (by ship) 20 White rhino each from South Africa. The SD put them out into one of its 100 exhibits while Whipsnade put theres in the newly opened 30 acre rhino paddock, Both zoos also had one current adult pair when the new animals were introduced. Both herds bred well over the years!
 
Tiger91 said:
What I find ironic, is that the rhinos were just released into national parks, no need for monitoring/management of female groupings or keeping bulls separately. The same goes for private game reserves and other private rhino holders all throughout south Africa and other range countries.

Yet here we have an open range zoo, with a new African precinct with paddocks the size of some game reserves. Then there is western plains zoo which similarly has large enclosures. While we constantly worry about keeping males separate and managing female groupings. At least for monarto there is no reason they couldn't take 30 rhino and just release them into one of there new exhibits and let them live naturally. The first idea for this entire project was to bring them over and release them on a private farm to live naturally, that got canned because of fear fencing would be an issue. Yet we for some reason can't actually do that with our open range zoos were we actually have the land and ability to do it.
Click to expand...
Zorro said:
Let's look back to 1970 when both the Whisnade zoo UK and the San Diego Wild animal park USA imported (by ship) 20 White rhino each from South Africa. The SD put them out into one of its 100 exhibits while Whipsnade put theres in the newly opened 30 acre rhino paddock, Both zoos also had one current adult pair when the new animals were introduced. Both herds bred well over the years!
Click to expand...

San Diego still managed their bulls separately from the larger integrated herd of cows and calves - which is the set up Monarto will be following. There will be numerous off display yards to accomodate the bulls.

The territory size of a bull white rhinoceros is around 3km2, so theoretically multiple bulls could be coexist in Monarto’s exhibit; but I find it unlikely they’d attempt this and in any case, it’s important for record keeping to have certainty around parentage. At most I would expect to see offspring retained for longer than then usual 2-3 years (dispersal age).
 
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