Australasian Zebra Population
- Thread starter Jambo
- Start date
Mogo hold Plains zebras. Darling Downs Zoo hold all Grant’s zebra with the exception of a Plains colt and mare, which are housed with their second herd (the main herd are all Grant’s). Grant’s are also held at ZooDoo and one at Australia Zoo.
See the population list for a more detailed breakdown.
There's also Grant's stallions at a private facility that will be opening soon.
Majority of the regions Zebra population are all generics/hybrids - Darling Downs is the only facility dedicated to breeding Grant's as of now.
What happened to zoodoo, did they just give up and decide to breed generics ?
New management is a whole lot less focused on the whole idea of breeding purebreds to put it simply.
At the moment they are still breeding from their inital purebred stock but it remains to be seen whether this will continue in the long run.
I wasn't aware that they had changed hands. While its a shame, i can see there decision making for it.
And unfortunately if I am correct all from breeding one import mare!
I would have thought any of the larger zoos with the room could run a seperate pure bred Grants Zebra herd of the side it can't be that hard!
Yes, out of their two mares they acquired only one has managed to birth foals. Beyonce - and she's had five of them to date, so quite successful.
Unfortunately we'd need to import a fair amount to regenerate a regional breeding program - relying on the very founders we have as it is wouldn't be feasible in the long run. And I very much doubt any of our larger zoos would go out of their way to acquire purebred zebra!
Luckily Steve and co seem quite dedicated to their purebred group and managing them, so hopefully all goes well, they'll be able to import some more genetics soon.
The hybridising we’re starting to see of first generation Grant’s with Plains is as much around maintaining the mares in a viable state for when unrelated Grant’s stallions are available to cover them.
A Grant’s mare could have generic foals for her first 10 reproductive years; followed by 5-10 years in a breeding situation with a Grant’s stallion.
That is the plan in the meantime as a new import is now necessary with Zoodoo no longer willing to participate in the purebred program.
Considering imports take years to be organised; it's essential to ensure the fillies are able to be reproductively viable when that time comes. The eldest females are now six years of age, so it's important they breed asap. The new stallion from Altina will hopefully resolve these concerns.
Unfortunately that mare has since died.
That’s unfortunate given she was still of prime breeding age and has only one surviving daughter - six year old mare (Jupiter). The original plan was for Jupiter to transfer out; but not sure if her mother’s death will be a game-changer as she’s now their only viable female.
That would appear likely; unless ZooDoo plan to continue with a bachelor herd alongside the 1.1 founder pair.
I’ve always thought it’s a shame ZooDoo never transferred out some of their Grant’s colts to other facilities; in particular Darling Downs Zoo, who have a second herd of first generation mares and fillies that will soon be producing foals sired by a generic colt. Darling Downs Zoo have otherwise done an excellent job of producing a number of surviving foals - with a favourable ratio of fillies to colts.
Within the region, it would appears there’s no shortage of generic mares and fillies. Hamilton and have a large herd and have recently gelded their oldest male colt to prevent (in)breeding.
From the outside it is a very odd move that they didn't transfer one to darling downs zoo, however we don't know things like are they related etc and it seems that if the new management arn't fussed. The cost of transfers to QLD they may not deem something they care to undertake. The zoo may actually like having the colts as a cohesive herd. Or be waiting for numbers to build up before they want to transfer out.
It's just management - the colts will likely be transferred out but there's no guarantee they're going to DDZ (which once may have been the case).
Afaik the colts are being kept separate too.
You're pretty much on the money - as usual!
There's a long sad history here which will probably have to wait for "the book" to be fully revealed.
In short, the original owner of Zoodoo had a handshake agreement with me which is why we imported 10 unrelated animals. He is a man of integrity but he then transferred ownership of the business to a family member who reneged on the deal. She has now sold the zoo to a person who is still trying to work his way through the complexities of zoo ownership.
All is not totally lost - only time will tell if we can retain some integrity in the Grant's population in Australia. However, there is no conservation value in retaining pure Grant's - just my pride in having Zebras that are better looking than most. Well that's my opinion anyway!
Just one colt. The mare has been transferred to Altina.
At worst any Grant’s colts that go into a breeding situation in a herd that contains generics will enhance the genetic diversity of the regional population.
Auckland and Hamilton once had purebred Grant’s herds that’s were becoming increasingly inbred after the last unrelated import into the region was made in 1980. The decision to hybridise in the 2000’s was inevitable unless more Grant’s founders were to be sourced and was preferable to further inbreeding.
Since then, even the region’s generic herds are heading towards inbreeding; and so new genetics (be it Grant’s or otherwise) are a welcome addition.