The keeper I spoke to looked after them directly in quarantine before they reached Australian soil!
Taronga Western Plains Zoo Taronga Western Plains Zoo history
- Thread starter Riley
- Start date
I don’t doubt you (or your source), I was just listing the deaths of the males detailed in the documentary in addition to your info.
Apparently the plan was to breed large numbers of black rhinoceros at Dubbo for reintroduction to the wild. Sadly this was never realised. Only three of the imported cows bred - with only one of them (Kalungwizi) producing a daughter nearly a decade after they were imported in 2002 (Bakhita). Succession has therefore been slow; and the entire female population are now descended from that one female.
Its long over due to import some fresh bloodlines and as @Kifaru Bwana has already stated there are unrelated animals available in the USA, I really hope after the massive amount of work and time to getting them here in the first place and the number they have bred does not amount to them dwindling down to nothing due to bad management!
ZAA would do well to invest in the black rhino program instead of trying feverishly to get their hands on some white rhino direct from South Africa. TBH: The latter is a deal now dead in the water. However, for the southern black rhino Diceros bicornis minor it makes sense and I know in some corner of Australia there is ... most definitely a good advocate for the species.
Another source for southern black rhino would be the Peoples' Republic of China. Chimelong Safari maintains the species and has an extremely good breeding record with them ... (In fact, far better than ZAA ...
)!!!!Of course, there is still the Eswatini project that Fossil Rim/White Oak and ZAA had vested interests in.... in exchange for more southern black rhino for the program.
few pages from husbandry manual for plains zebra on the zoo's huge 'Savannah Safari' exhibits near the overnight lodges/camp & near the cheetahs and elephants too.
100 percentttttt ! I HATE how Taronga phased out the Barbary sheep and Himalayan Tahr ! There was something nostalgic about seeing those herds of ungulates in a zoo setting .
Yeah you have the zebras and giraffes ; but seeing those sheep on that fallen tree and the Tahr on the mountain radiated a feeling beyond words describe .
And don’t get me started on the Bongo . As much as I love him In all his glory ; I wish they retained the exhibit for the deer that were previously occupying the space .
The reasonably sized group in that lush setting with that leopard statue on that massive true was captivating !
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The phase outs appear to have been aligned with Zoos Victoria’s model for deciding which species to phase out/retain. Giraffe and zebra which are neither endangered or native, but are popular with visitors, made the cut; Eastern bongo, which are critically endangered, made the cut; Barbary sheep and Himalayan tahr, which are neither endangered, native or popular with the public are out.
Ultimately, which species are popular/enabling is highly subjective and heavily influenced by the quality of the exhibit, size of the group on display etc. A large troop of any monkey species (overall considers less enabling than great apes) would be more engaging as an exhibit than a solitary orangutan; while a large herd of deer would arguably be more engaging by the general public than a solitary Eastern bongo (as much as love Eastern bongo).
I am not so sure that the Bongo did make the cut with the main stream zoos, Taronga/TWPZ animals are aging and as far as I know no effort to import more appears to be happening in fact I don't know of any main stream zoo that are importing any antelopes even though they can now.
Melbourne's decision to phase them out has really cost the regional population as a whole. Now, the population essentially relies on the Dubbo herd of which have had the bad luck of importing a female that hasn't managed to conceive.
The program could be re-established if there was the desire to do so, but this would bank on new imports (thus animals being available overseas), and new holders willing to come on board.
I was hopeful that the Bovid IRA would open up the doors for some antelope imports into Australia, but it’s been four years since the IRA was approved and nothing has happened.
Compare this to the Hippopotamus IRA which was approved three years later in 2024 and there’s already plans to import hippopotami this year.
It quite disappointing that the major zoos have not taken advantage of the change in the import laws especially since some species like the bongo which they allegedly wanted to hold them, they would rather place Blackbuck in the African exhibits because its cheap and easy or perhaps some in the management positions are just not up to the task of actually doing the job to import animals. The resent wanted rhino import is a case in point where they stuffed around for years and ended up with zero!
As far as Hippos are concerned as far as we are aware only "one" private regional zoo will be importing a male Pygmy Hippo and one major zoo "looks" like importing a male River Hippo.
Call it what you want but I believe that's a pretty poor show
I understand why Major city zoos would opt for keystone species of interest such as Giraffes , Zebras and great apes; but I feel as though that in recent times ; those same zoos are virtually near identical and wouldn’t captivate my interest anymore .
I did however visit Mogo zoo ; a long awaited trip on my bucket list . Truth be told ; Mogo is now my favourite zoo that I’ve visited and would visit it more often if it wasn’t for the distance .
Even though their collection is wayyyy tinier than Taronga’s ; they possess species that Taronga doesn't have . Notable species include Caracal , Sri-Lankan leopard , Cheetah , Rhino , Black and white ruffled lemurs and Hyenas .
Taronga has the scenic views , pinnipeds, barn yard animals and all of the high-budget exhibits (tiger trek , nocturnal house , ARC and so forth ) that Mogo doesn’t have . Although; the congestion / massive crowds , steep trails and the pending arrival of the Indian rhino n water buffalo doesn’t excite me enough to rush any time soon .
I agree. I guess there’s pros and cons for both when it comes to homogenisation of the region’s zoos.
Throughout most of the 20th Century, zoos imported what they wanted and phased out certain species because they weren’t sustainable or didn’t make for interesting exhibits. There was still an element of homogeneity in that zoos that bred species in large numbers had a surplus that was dispersed to other zoos within the region e.g. Collared peccary, Barbary sheep and Indian antelope.
These days, everything is coordinated regionally and for most species, it’s an all or nothing approach (exceptions that come to mind are Auckland’s Bornean orangutan and False gharial). It ensures greater sustainability and longevity of the population in most cases, which is a positive. Personally, I prefer seeing species that are uncommon across the region; but I accept the general public neither know or care Melbourne has the only Collared peccaries; Orana has the only Springbok etc.
It makes me wonder if there is a coordinated homogeneity among our zoos why are some species are only in Taronga zoo/TWPZ collection such as Indian rhino, Francois Langurs and Persian Oragers?, why were all the other species of Langurs phased of the region for the ZAA choice of the Francois species when in all the years they have had them none (apart for 2 spare males) have managed to make it into other collections?, but TZ have exported a number of them.
Why in all the years the TWPZ has had Indian rhino that no other zoo in the region has attempted to obtain them. Why if TWPZ had lost interest in the endangered Persian Orager they never offered them to any of the smaller regional zoos?.
My thoughts exactly ! As prehistoric as they are ; I question TWPZ as to why they are the only facility to house the Indian rhinos. The funds , efforts and resources would have been better spent if they were diverted to the African species . Same can be said about the Persia Oragers .
And wasn’t TZ the only holders of New Guinea singing dogs n Dholes which were eventually phased out ? What happened there ?
And don’t get me started on the phasing out of the snow Leopards , servals and the eventual (?) phase out of the fishing cat/s .
Dubbo has all three species - White, Black and Indian. Tbh I don't think it's a matter of 'saving funds/resources' here considering the amount of space/funding they do have. But it's significant to point out the lack of any other facilities supporting their Black and Indian Rhino programs.
Taronga was apparently the only holder of the New Guinea Singing Dogs regionally but haven't held them in a long, long time. Similarly, Taronga was the only holder of Dholes but seemingly lost interest in them - perhaps due to the lack of regional support.
I have been watching this unfold for decades and to me I believe there is a big dose of Taronga jealousy guarding some species that are for "Taronga only", There is no real reason as to why no other zoo in the region that can not hold the Francois Langur especially after other zoos were phasing out other species already held to make room for the chosen ZAA species for the region,
Yes you are quite correct about the Dholes not to be seen in any other collection other than Taronga's. Another species I would expect to see in the future is Okapi and yes currently unable to import but I fully expect that Taronga will import as soon as its able too, I also would be surprised if any other zoo/s would become a holder of them in the region.
Indeed . I feel as though it’s advisable for the studbook coordinator and the Zoo committee to ACTUALLY work together to ensure Species are being Properly managed and that more than one institution will contribute to the management and longevity of any given species instead of importing animals for just one holder n to import larger groups of genetically valuable individuals so we can have our own self sustaining populations for generations.
Taronga and other zoos had straightened things out by focusing on Sumatran tigers n not generics which is admirable.
I only wish that the committee had that drive to import larger groups of genetically valuable animals to prevent the inbreeding / crossbreeding of giraffes , zebras and antelope , hippos n other ungulates .
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The problem is it's ultimately up to the facilities themselves as to whether they're interested in holding/participating in the regional breeding program.
In some cases it can end up with one specific facility importing a species with the hope of other facilities also coming on board down the line, but this doesn't always happen, and almost always unfortunately ends up with that particular species eventually dying out regionally.
Am glad they have Indian rhinos, but the region needs more holders.
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