This bull has a bit of a history of not liking crates and I got that first hand from the elephant manager at the Perth zoo in 2000 they were trying at the time to export him to Fort Worth zoo in the USA back then, since he has grown a lot bigger than at that time!
Monarto Safari Park Monarto Safari Park News 2025
- Thread starter Luke899
- Start date
Osedax
Well-Known Member
Happy birthday Burma! What species are Kubwa kashka and Kito?
African lion:
1.0 Kashka (20/10/2015) Johari x Nilo
1.0 Kito (20/10/2015) Johari x Nilo
1.0 Kubwa (20/10/2015) Johari x Nilo
Monarto also celebrated the 10th birthday of Enzi the chimpanzee yesterday. The adolescent male is widely predicted to assume the alpha role in the future:
1.0 Enzi (19/10/2015) Sandali x Zombi
Elephant update:
Construction on the bull barn is progressing and relationships are developing between Burma and Pak Boon; and Permai and Tang Mo.
It stands to reason that Tang Mo would be perceived as the least threatening by the highly strung Permai.
From socials:
In recent weeks, Burma and Pak Boon have been showing increased interest in spending time near each other, a positive sign of developing familiarity and trust.
The relationship between Pak Boon and Tang Mo is still being carefully worked through, all part of the natural, dynamic way mature elephants work out their place in the group.
Permai continues to show positive signs with Tang Mo, an encouraging step as the elephants continue to build confidence and connection.
Meanwhile, construction is well underway on Putra Mas’s new barn, with his arrival not too far away, marking another exciting milestone in Monarto Safari Park’s journey to give these elephants the space, time, and choice to form their own herd.
Construction on the bull barn is progressing and relationships are developing between Burma and Pak Boon; and Permai and Tang Mo.
It stands to reason that Tang Mo would be perceived as the least threatening by the highly strung Permai.
From socials:
In recent weeks, Burma and Pak Boon have been showing increased interest in spending time near each other, a positive sign of developing familiarity and trust.
The relationship between Pak Boon and Tang Mo is still being carefully worked through, all part of the natural, dynamic way mature elephants work out their place in the group.
Permai continues to show positive signs with Tang Mo, an encouraging step as the elephants continue to build confidence and connection.
Meanwhile, construction is well underway on Putra Mas’s new barn, with his arrival not too far away, marking another exciting milestone in Monarto Safari Park’s journey to give these elephants the space, time, and choice to form their own herd.
That's really exciting news, especially regarding Permai who's seemingly had limited interaction with the other elephants at this point.
Considering Permai's lived with an older female for all of her life (in Tricia), I would have thought she would have sought companionship with Burma. But you do mention a very good point in that Tang Mo would be the least 'threatening' out of all three. Tang Mo has a very friendly and playful personality.
On the flip side though, I'm not surprised Pak Boon and Burma have hit it off; especially from Pak Boon's side of things. She previously had a great bond with Porntip (the matriarch during their Taronga days). Burma could very well end up being Monarto's matriarch with the way things are currently progressing.
It's also interesting to see the relationship between Pak Boon and Tang Mo mentioned. Perhaps it's an indicator of them seemingly now favouring their own new relationships with the other elephants instead. Tang Mo and Pak Boon never struck me as the 'closest' of elephants, so now they've settled in, they could be more interested in exploring new friendships rather than one another.
I read that twice too and wondered if it was a typo where the zoo meant to say Pak Boon and Permai’s relationship was being worked through; but it could equally be a case they’re taking the opportunity to explore relationships with their other herd mates.
The original Taronga friendship pairs were Porntip/Pak Boon and Thong Dee/Tang Mo and I agree Pak Boon/Tang Mo have never appeared overly close. On my visit to Taronga last November, their sole interaction was Pak Boon repeatedly displacing Tang Mo from food.
It’s an exciting opportunity for Burma to lead her largest herd to date having only lived in a pair with Anjalee; and being subordinate to the older Kashin when she came to New Zealand as an eight year old cow. Porntip apparently assumed the matriarch role early on in the formation of the Taronga herd, suggesting Pak Boon had minimal drive to undertake this role. It’s easy to imagine this began while they were in quarantine with the Melbourne trio, as two of their cows arrived as juveniles and the third (Dokkoon) is not a natural leader by any means.
Good to know. Ultimately these four cows are relics of an era where zoos grouped elephants together with minimal acknowledgment of the natural social order of this species (multigenerational herds of related females). To be clear, that’s not a criticism, merely a statement of the situation prior to elephant breeding taking off in the region from 2009 onwards.
With Werribee’s herd flourishing and the potential for the Dubbo to continue to generate succession, we can look forward to elephants herds in Australia better reflecting the natural social order. Hopefully Monarto have the opportunity to work towards the same long term via succession from Pak Boon.
Thanks for that confirmation - I had assumed that. Perhaps it's good for all elephants involved. With Tang Mo's interest in Permai, Pak Boon would have been more or less forced to do the same with Burma.
Not news, but Monarto recently posted a really nice video of Hippos, Brindabella and Pansy in their exhibit (which we haven't seen a lot of photos/videos wise).
Pansy can be seen 'porpoising', a behaviour I've personally never seen a hippo do in captivity, but something that is obviously able to achieved in this new waterhole (which looks huge).
Adelaide Zoo and Monarto Safari Park on Instagram: "Brindabella and her daughter Pansy have been making a splash lately, literally. What you’re seeing here is a behaviour called porpoising. Hippos push off the bottom in a kind of underwater “jump” to propel themselves to the surface. Since hippos do not technically swim, it is their way of moving through the water and showing a bit of playful excitement, like underwater zoomies. Watch as Brindabella gently nudges Pansy back into the lake and encourages some fun, splashy antics between mother and daughter. A huge thank you to @sawatercorp for all the help they provide maintaining our waterholes — ensuring these playful moments can happen year-round! Keeper Allison"
Pansy can be seen 'porpoising', a behaviour I've personally never seen a hippo do in captivity, but something that is obviously able to achieved in this new waterhole (which looks huge).
Adelaide Zoo and Monarto Safari Park on Instagram: "Brindabella and her daughter Pansy have been making a splash lately, literally. What you’re seeing here is a behaviour called porpoising. Hippos push off the bottom in a kind of underwater “jump” to propel themselves to the surface. Since hippos do not technically swim, it is their way of moving through the water and showing a bit of playful excitement, like underwater zoomies. Watch as Brindabella gently nudges Pansy back into the lake and encourages some fun, splashy antics between mother and daughter. A huge thank you to @sawatercorp for all the help they provide maintaining our waterholes — ensuring these playful moments can happen year-round! Keeper Allison"
It's going to be awesome to see when the new bull arrives there from France!
Two bulls are set to be imported by Werribee within the next year, but it would come as no surprise to see one transfer to Monarto Safari Park.
One possibility is the first bull would do their dash as Werribee’s breeding bull and then transfer to Monarto in 3-5 years; with the second bull then breeding with the daughters of the first bull.
Werribee have been undertaking work on their yards, which could allude to them retaining both bulls initially. Their facilities were otherwise fine as they were to retain one bull and breed.
That may well be the case, I do however believe a new import bull of a different bloodline should be sorted/imported for the Dubbo females!
I agree it would be ideal if all three open range zoos could acquire their own founder bull. We have the opportunity to import, so might as well make the most of it and set the region up for the long term.
Even if capacity af Dubbo is a concern (they already have two groupings), it’s possible a new holder could emerge, who they could offload surplus cows to. They won’t be breeding from Nile and barring a massive expansion, I doubt they’ll breed from all three of their remaining cows (Cuddles, Kibibi and Kendi).
The Dubbo cows are the most genetically valuable/diverse within the region, so an unrelated bull paired with them could produce offspring considered a suitable match for offspring of the Werribee/Monarto cows (sired by a different imported bull).
My guess is once Hippos are again breeding within the region via Werribee, Monarto or/and Dubbo that maybe will we see a couple of more holders appear, Perhaps Altina who had/has an interest in them before or at a stretch even Australia zoo since they do have the room and the ponds already there.
It's good news that the new bull elephant barn is progressing well, I assume the bull fencing has been already completed?. With this going to plan I had wondered how far along that the new concrete swimming pool is right now perhaps the last part of the whole project to be completed?
I agree that seems likely. Importing any species is never easy, so it stands to reason that other facilities will be more open to acquiring a species they can source from within Australia.
Depending on how long until they have a bull on site, Monarto may well elect to breed with both their cows; while Werribee and Dubbo will likely only be breeding with 1-2 each, leaving the remainder surplus. Until the first calves are born, they’ll surely be retained as a contingency.
The fencing is the simplest of the essential works, so that seems likely and hopefully the barn isn’t far behind, albeit being a more complicated project.
I imagine the pool (and anything to do with landscaping) will be done last; unless it was deemed simpler to undertake heavy duty construction work ahead of the remainder of the fencing going in.
Male Greater bilby emerges from the pouch:
From socials:
A tiny male Greater Bilby has just emerged from the pouch at Monarto Safari Park, and he’s not just cute — he’s critically important.
His father Lukkanu was discovered by Indigenous rangers near Tennant Creek and brings vital new genetics into the national breeding program. This little joey represents a major win for bilby conservation.
“He’s a very healthy little bilby,” says Jodi, our Species Coordinator for Greater Bilbies. “And he’s going to be one of our males in the future that continues on the breeding program.”
From socials:
A tiny male Greater Bilby has just emerged from the pouch at Monarto Safari Park, and he’s not just cute — he’s critically important.
His father Lukkanu was discovered by Indigenous rangers near Tennant Creek and brings vital new genetics into the national breeding program. This little joey represents a major win for bilby conservation.
“He’s a very healthy little bilby,” says Jodi, our Species Coordinator for Greater Bilbies. “And he’s going to be one of our males in the future that continues on the breeding program.”
The funniest thing of all is Putra Mas’ expression. While Permai looks delighted, he looks like an elephant in a cartoon who’s just seen a mouse.
Perth Zoo are encouraging anyone who wants to see Putra Mas to visit ASAP and are still working towards ‘early November’, all going well.
As per my prediction of transfer dates, I wouldn’t be amazed if he arrived next Wednesday.
Putra Mas - Prediction of Transfer Day
I thought it’d be interesting to compare the transfer days of the previous elephants that were transferred to Monarto Safari Park to see if there were any trends to predict when Perth Zoo might transfer their bull.
Burma:
Departed November 12, 2024 (Tue)
Arrived November 12, 2024 (Tue)
Permai:
Departed January 27, 2025 (Mon)
Arrived January 29, 2025 (Wed)
Pak Boon and Tang Mo:
Departed April 29, 2025 (Tue)
Arrived April 30, 2025 (Wed)
There’s a couple of trends here:
All the elephants transferred in from Australian zoos arrived on Wednesday; but more specifically, all three sending zoos avoided transferring out their elephants on weekend days (for obvious reasons).
With this in mind, my first prediction of transfer dates is that Putra Mas will depart Perth Zoo on November 3 (Monday) and arrive November 5 (Wednesday); with my second prediction being that he will depart November 10 (Monday) and arrive November 12 (Wednesday). I’d be interested to hear others predictions!
I thought it’d be interesting to compare the transfer days of the previous elephants that were transferred to Monarto Safari Park to see if there were any trends to predict when Perth Zoo might transfer their bull.
Burma:
Departed November 12, 2024 (Tue)
Arrived November 12, 2024 (Tue)
Permai:
Departed January 27, 2025 (Mon)
Arrived January 29, 2025 (Wed)
Pak Boon and Tang Mo:
Departed April 29, 2025 (Tue)
Arrived April 30, 2025 (Wed)
There’s a couple of trends here:
All the elephants transferred in from Australian zoos arrived on Wednesday; but more specifically, all three sending zoos avoided transferring out their elephants on weekend days (for obvious reasons).
With this in mind, my first prediction of transfer dates is that Putra Mas will depart Perth Zoo on November 3 (Monday) and arrive November 5 (Wednesday); with my second prediction being that he will depart November 10 (Monday) and arrive November 12 (Wednesday). I’d be interested to hear others predictions!