Altina Wildlife Park Altina Wildlife Park News 2025

Maned wolf pups named:

From socials:

Introducing our Maned Wolf pups with their names for the first time….

HELIO Our Beautiful boy has really come out of his shell over the last week having lots to say - he is pictured below his sister on the left. He has a nice big fully head too which makes him look so much bigger than his sister.

GUADALUPE Our sweet little girl has a pointy nose like her mum with a cute fine face. She is shy but loves her mince already and loves to snuggle to her brother!

We are in love and so proud of first time mum Mirabel and can’t wait for these pups to start emerging from their den in the coming weeks!
 
Waterbuck update:

A male Waterbuck (Toretto) will be transferring out soon.

The female calf has been named ‘Letty’.

From socials:

Introducing our baby girl Waterbuck! This is out beautiful ”LETTY”.

LETTY is our 2nd waterbuck born at Altina from mum Tokyo! Her brother “Toretto”, though still calls Altina home, will be moving out soon to start a family of his own! How exciting!!

“Drifter”, Letty’s grandmother spends a lot of time with her granddaughter which is super cute to witness! Pictured with her (Letty) is her new best friend Neela!
 
Zoofan15 said:
Waterbuck update:

A male Waterbuck (Toretto) will be transferring out soon.

The female calf has been named ‘Letty’.

From socials:

Introducing our baby girl Waterbuck! This is out beautiful ”LETTY”.

LETTY is our 2nd waterbuck born at Altina from mum Tokyo! Her brother “Toretto”, though still calls Altina home, will be moving out soon to start a family of his own! How exciting!!

“Drifter”, Letty’s grandmother spends a lot of time with her granddaughter which is super cute to witness! Pictured with her (Letty) is her new best friend Neela!
Click to expand...
Perhaps the male will head down to Werribee - who've been trying to breed them for a while now.
 
Jambo said:
Perhaps the male will head down to Werribee - who've been trying to breed them for a while now.
Click to expand...

There’s only two other Australian holders (Werribee and Monarto), so in all likelihood he’ll be transferring to one of these.

Monarto have recently welcomed a calf and so could be looking to create a new pairing; but if Werribee have been unsuccessful in breeding from their bulls, that’s also a possibility.
Zorro said:
It time for the current holders to import a few new animals to continue into the future. it's long over due!
Click to expand...

Especially since the entire population derives from a trio of 1.2 Waterbuck.
 
Zoofan15 said:
There’s only two other Australian holders (Werribee and Monarto), so in all likelihood he’ll be transferring to one of these.

Monarto have recently welcomed a calf and so could be looking to create a new pairing; but if Werribee have been unsuccessful in breeding from their bulls, that’s also a possibility.


Especially since the entire population derives from a trio of 1.2 Waterbuck.
Click to expand...
If they are serious about continuing with this species I don't know what's stopping them importing a few between the current holders in Aust/NZ
 
So there must be a lot of inbreeding if they all came from 1 male… (and 2 females) and do we know how unrelated those 3 animals were.

Has there been any imports of Artiodactyls since the ability for Australia to do so (except from NZ)
 
scallywag2024 said:
So there must be a lot of inbreeding if they all came from 1 male… (and 2 females) and do we know how unrelated those 3 animals were.

Has there been any imports of Artiodactyls since the ability for Australia to do so (except from NZ)
Click to expand...
It took a long time to get the IRA completed for Artiodactyls and I find it very disappointing that as far as I know "nothing" in regards to the Antelope species has been imported, As we have seen before the mistakes made by importing a "tiny" founder base has been a big mistake eg Bongos were one such example. When zoos like Taronga will spend mega bucks building its new sky-fari cable car stop short at doing its real job at maintaining animal groups in a healthy state without large amounts of inbreeding,
Even with Zebras a species of which could have been imported to maintain pure bred species was pushed aside apart from a couple of private regional zoos who were left with the task of trying to breed and maintain them. I find after following the zoo scene for decades there has been some bad mistakes made there seems to be a trend among a lot of out major zoos to down size and delete a lot of species from their collections anything apparently rather than import what they need when they need it!
 
scallywag2024 said:
So there must be a lot of inbreeding if they all came from 1 male… (and 2 females) and do we know how unrelated those 3 animals were.

Has there been any imports of Artiodactyls since the ability for Australia to do so (except from NZ)
Click to expand...

The founders of Australasia’s Waterbuck population were:

1.0 Kampala - born at Honolulu Zoo 1993
0.1 Nimba - born at Denver Zoo in 1990
0.1 Entebbe - born at Honulu Zoo in 1992

Nimba transferred to Honolulu Zoo in 1992, so I’d assume at least two (possibly all three) are related.

@Zorro is correct that there’s been no Bovid imports from outside the region since Australia’s Bovid IRA was completed four years ago.
 
Zoofan15 said:
The founders of Australasia’s Waterbuck population were:

1.0 Kampala - born at Honolulu Zoo 1993
0.1 Nimba - born at Denver Zoo in 1990
0.1 Entebbe - born at Honulu Zoo in 1992

Nimba transferred to Honolulu Zoo in 1992, so I’d assume at least two (possibly all three) are related.

@Zorro is correct that there’s been no Bovid imports from outside the region since Australia’s Bovid IRA was completed four years ago.
Click to expand...
New Zealand zoos got it so right with the Nyala import a few years ago, This should be used as a blue print for other zoos in the region to use, it almost appears the word "import" is to be avoided
 
Shaka the giraffe has died:

From socials:

Shaka arrived at Altina Wildlife Park as one of the first ever giraffe in the Riverina and called Altina’s open acres home for over 18 years! Living the bachelor life for 11 yrs with his best mate “Kito”, then falling in love with the girl next door “Manzi”, he traded in the wild times to be a family man!

He had his first calf, a stunning boy “Bakari” in November 2022, who still calls Altina home and is destined for great things! He proudly fathered a second calf born only last year, who is his special daughter “Semira”, yet to celebrate her first birthday and is Riverina’s first ever female giraffe calf born at Altina!

Shaka was diagnosed with Ringbone (an irreversible form of osteoarthritis) over a year ago and was under the care of our amazing vet (Evie) who managed his welfare and proudly kept him pain free!

Unfortunately on Monday morning, keeper‘s arrived at his enclosure to find he had suddenly passed away, surrounded by his family, in the early hours of that morning. Our vet’s findings showed that he didn’t suffer and passed quickly with no signs of struggle. As sudden as this news is, we are comforted in knowing that he didn’t suffer and enjoyed life right to his last day, he has left a legacy in his 2 calves and will forever be remembered by us all!
 
Zoofan15 said:
There’s only two other Australian holders (Werribee and Monarto), so in all likelihood he’ll be transferring to one of these.

Monarto have recently welcomed a calf and so could be looking to create a new pairing; but if Werribee have been unsuccessful in breeding from their bulls, that’s also a possibility.


Especially since the entire population derives from a trio of 1.2 Waterbuck.
Click to expand...

who imported the original founders ? And have there been any subsequent imports ?
 
Zorro said:
It took a long time to get the IRA completed for Artiodactyls and I find it very disappointing that as far as I know "nothing" in regards to the Antelope species has been imported, As we have seen before the mistakes made by importing a "tiny" founder base has been a big mistake eg Bongos were one such example. When zoos like Taronga will spend mega bucks building its new sky-fari cable car stop short at doing its real job at maintaining animal groups in a healthy state without large amounts of inbreeding,
Even with Zebras a species of which could have been imported to maintain pure bred species was pushed aside apart from a couple of private regional zoos who were left with the task of trying to breed and maintain them. I find after following the zoo scene for decades there has been some bad mistakes made there seems to be a trend among a lot of out major zoos to down size and delete a lot of species from their collections anything apparently rather than import what they need when they need it!
Click to expand...
Agreed ! Still pissed about the Bongo situation and how Taronga supposedly exported their female calf
 
Zoofan15 said:
Shaka the giraffe has died:

From socials:

Shaka arrived at Altina Wildlife Park as one of the first ever giraffe in the Riverina and called Altina’s open acres home for over 18 years! Living the bachelor life for 11 yrs with his best mate “Kito”, then falling in love with the girl next door “Manzi”, he traded in the wild times to be a family man!

He had his first calf, a stunning boy “Bakari” in November 2022, who still calls Altina home and is destined for great things! He proudly fathered a second calf born only last year, who is his special daughter “Semira”, yet to celebrate her first birthday and is Riverina’s first ever female giraffe calf born at Altina!

Shaka was diagnosed with Ringbone (an irreversible form of osteoarthritis) over a year ago and was under the care of our amazing vet (Evie) who managed his welfare and proudly kept him pain free!

Unfortunately on Monday morning, keeper‘s arrived at his enclosure to find he had suddenly passed away, surrounded by his family, in the early hours of that morning. Our vet’s findings showed that he didn’t suffer and passed quickly with no signs of struggle. As sudden as this news is, we are comforted in knowing that he didn’t suffer and enjoyed life right to his last day, he has left a legacy in his 2 calves and will forever be remembered by us all!
Click to expand...
My condolences to the staff and everyone who associated with Shaka :(
 
Younesmark said:
who imported the original founders ? And have there been any subsequent imports ?
Click to expand...

Werribee Open Range Zoo imported 1.2 Waterbuck from Honolulu Zoo in 1995:

1.0 Kampala - born at Honolulu Zoo 1993
0.1 Nimba - born at Denver Zoo in 1990
0.1 Entebbe - born at Honulu Zoo in 1992

There have been no more imports since then and the entire regional population descends from them.

Presumably the inbreeding was considered minimal compared to other antelopes like Indian antelope; but unlike them, Waterbuck can now be imported, so it’d be good to see fresh genetics brought in.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Werribee Open Range Zoo imported 1.2 Waterbuck from Honolulu Zoo in 1995:

1.0 Kampala - born at Honolulu Zoo 1993
0.1 Nimba - born at Denver Zoo in 1990
0.1 Entebbe - born at Honulu Zoo in 1992

There have been no more imports since then and the entire regional population descends from them.

Presumably the inbreeding was considered minimal compared to other antelopes like Indian antelope; but unlike them, Waterbuck can now be imported, so it’d be good to see fresh genetics brought in.
Click to expand...
I would like to know why some new animals have not been imported if they want to continue with them, it sounds like the Sitatunga situation all over again, now they are long gone :rolleyes:
 
Zorro said:
I would like to know why some new animals have not been imported if they want to continue with them, it sounds like the Sitatunga situation all over again, now they are long gone :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

i wad just gonna ask this ! I feel like our big city zoos and coordinators need a mad smack from time to time .

I question their decision making a lot !

pretty soon we are gonna have zoos devoid of any exotics !
 
Younesmark said:
i wad just gonna ask this ! I feel like our big city zoos and coordinators need a mad smack from time to time .

I question their decision making a lot !

pretty soon we are gonna have zoos devoid of any exotics !
Click to expand...
I believe "some" SC are out of their depth!
 
Zoofan15 said:
The founders of Australasia’s Waterbuck population were:

1.0 Kampala - born at Honolulu Zoo 1993
0.1 Nimba - born at Denver Zoo in 1990
0.1 Entebbe - born at Honulu Zoo in 1992

Nimba transferred to Honolulu Zoo in 1992, so I’d assume at least two (possibly all three) are related.

@Zorro is correct that there’s been no Bovid imports from outside the region since Australia’s Bovid IRA was completed four years ago.
Click to expand...
Werribee currently have 2 waterbuck males and 4 females on display on their lower savannah
 
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