Auckland Zoo Auckland Zoo News 2011

zooboy28

zooboy28

Well-Known Member
There doesn't appear to be a thread dedicated to small news from Auckland, so I'm gunna start one with some notes from my most recent visit on the 24 April.

-A baby Hamadryas Baboon has been born and is on display - not sure how old it is or what sex, but that brings the number up to 6 now, guess contraception will be around the corner!

-The Carolina Wood Ducks (all males) are now on display in the pond between the alligators and the newest meerkat enclosure (the one that used to have lace monitors), after their absence following their removal from their old exhibit between Janie and the black cockatoos.

-While not new news, I saw Aucklands Pygmy Marmosets for the first time, the enclosure looks really good, probably a bit taller than the Wellington ones, and more densely vegetated, but smaller overall. The hut they are in also has room for other small exhibits, possibly emperor tamarins. The island built for the cotton-top tamarins has been disconnected from the main exhibit with the removal of the ropes (what went wrong there?), and is now empty. It would make a nice exhibit for a couple of wing-clipped macaws...

-You are no longer directed through the Old Giraffe House when you enter the Rainforest complex, instead you can enter from a path directly opposite the Tamarin complex, which takes you straight to the bonnet macaque exhibit. The two young Asian Short-clawed Otters have grown up, and are now almost the size of the parents, and all four were extremely active, putting on a great show. There appears to now be only two otters in the main otter exhibit.

-The Red Panda in the old cotton-top tamarin exhibit (old bear pit) was very active, walking and climbing around (possibly stereotypically) the whole exhibit. I assume this is the new male from India, but don't know for sure.

-The new Little Blue Penguin aviary has been opened, although the penguins were hiding in their nest boxes as they were 'new and shy' a volunteer informed me. The aviary now has a sandy beach, as well as the rocky shore area. The aviary also held a white-faced heron and a spotted shag, both of which were perched up high. I think the aviary needs more places for these birds to perch, as the high areas away from visitors are minimal.

Overall the zoo looked great, and the highlight was definitely the sneak peak at Te Wao Nui, which I highly recommend. I was the only one waiting for this (with my partner), although when the guides turned up they roped another couple in too, but we still got a guide to ourselves who managed to answer most of my questions:D Read my review here: http://www.zoochat.com/17/te-wao-nui-development-progress-211831/
 
lionboy said:
who was the baby babbon born to was it born to keto andf wasaro and when eas it brn
Click to expand...

I don't know who the parents are, but the older baby was hanging around the new baby and its mother quite a bit, so it could be the same mother (or the older baby could have been very curious). I heard a visitor say it was a week old, but I don't know how accurate that was. It did look very young.
 
zooboy28 said:
The island built for the cotton-top tamarins has been disconnected from the main exhibit with the removal of the ropes (what went wrong there?), and is now empty. It would make a nice exhibit for a couple of wing-clipped macaws...

There appears to now be only two otters in the main otter exhibit.

-The Red Panda in the old cotton-top tamarin exhibit (old bear pit) was very active, walking and climbing around (possibly stereotypically) the whole exhibit. I assume this is the new male from India, but don't know for sure.
Click to expand...

The Cotton-tops had a big territorial dispute when they first moved into the new enclosure. Being all males theyre a rocky little group and when they moved the father of the group (who's name escapes me), who is usually the dominant one, got literally pushed off the island by one or more of the younger boys.
They were fighting for dominance, as is normal but this time for both of the islands and i am guessing they ended up with one male dominating one island and another dominating the other which just doesnt work.
I spoke to guide Dave and a keeper and they said that having both islands accessible so soon was too much for the boys so they took the rope down and tried again after a 2 or 3 month long cooling session out the back.
They all seem settle now and group dynamics are sorted but I am not sure when they are going to try to put the rope back up, if they do.

I agree that the second island would be great for the Macaws should the boys not sort their problems out.


The two remaining otters are Java and Jeta, left after their mother Jade died last year and sister Jemima either left the zoo or also died. (Can anyone confirm this?)


The Red Panda in the old cotton-top enclosure is Sagar the new male. When he arrived he tended to settle about mid-way up the tree most of the time but I too have seen him much more active lately, even sleeping low in his nest box.
 
Last edited:
Oh and also to add...

- Tony the Chacma baboon who was set to return the Franklin zoo, passed away in January at approx. 12 years old.

- There are 2 new little baby Spider monkeys, not born this year but late last year (August and November). I am not sure what happened there as the troop are not supposed to be breeding and I have been told the males Basco and Hebe are castrated or something like that.

- Nikau and Kahurangi, the Kaka pair from the bottom aviary by the kiwi house have been moved up the back and have been replaced by another pair female Mia and a male who's name I cannot remember (Anyone? Its been driving me crazy). Nikau and Kahurangi will be moving into the Te Wao Nui "The Forest" aviary.

- Apparently there are also 2 Red-necked wallaby joeys in their mothers pouches at the moment. I havn't seen them but I have been told they are there.
 
Jalur_Tiger_Cub said:
Oh and also to add...

- Tony the Chacma baboon who was set to return the Franklin zoo, passed away in January at approx. 12 years old.
Click to expand...

Oh thats sad, I did like Tony. :(

I hope the Tamarins do settle down and get to use the island, it is a great way to display them. If not, would it be ethically wrong to clip the macaws wings? They would get more sun and natural weather than in that aviary.

About the kaka, will the native bird aviaries up the top stay open to the public permanently? The blue duck, and presumably the brown teal, will also be moving into Te Wao Nui, so won't those aviaries also be empty? Do you know what the future of that little area will be?

Thanks for the other updates too:D
 
Jalur_Tiger_cub said:
- Tony the Chacma baboon who was set to return the Franklin zoo, passed away in January at approx. 12 years old.
Click to expand...
That's a shame for the Franklin staff. I was wondering what was happening with Tony.
 
lionboy said:
do u have a pichtuer zoo boy
Click to expand...

I did take several photos of the new baby, but unfortunately I am having trouble getting photos off that camera atm, just because its old I think, so I have to wait until I can access a card-reader before I can upload the photos to my computer and post them online. That should happen in about two weeks. I usually take two cameras, but I forgot to this weekend.
 
zooboy28 said:
Oh thats sad, I did like Tony. :(

I hope the Tamarins do settle down and get to use the island, it is a great way to display them. If not, would it be ethically wrong to clip the macaws wings? They would get more sun and natural weather than in that aviary.

About the kaka, will the native bird aviaries up the top stay open to the public permanently? The blue duck, and presumably the brown teal, will also be moving into Te Wao Nui, so won't those aviaries also be empty? Do you know what the future of that little area will be?

Thanks for the other updates too:D
Click to expand...

I agree, wing clipping isnt neccesary. Theyre well trained birds and could easily be left out for a certain amount of time each day with keeper keeping watch.


The kaka/blue duck/brown teal aviaries are probably being demolished. Natives keeper Deb said she wasnt sure exactly what was happening with them but that demolishing was the most likely option. Of course also assuming that the other birds go with the kaka to Te Wao Nui.
 
Afar wasnt Yafeu's dad was he? Thought he was concieved before the group was joined together. Exciting about the new baby though
 
The new baby Hamadryas Baboon is a boy, named Sekani, which is Egyptian for laugh. There is a photo of him on the zoos facebook page.
 
Thanks for the update on the new female giraffe, does anyone know what her name is and how old she is? It'll be great to have a large herd again but it's a shame that male giraffes can't be transferred with ease. They have a long tenure as breeding male (unless they get killed off) and invariably female offspring as well as males have to be relocated.
 
Can somebody confirm whether Hamadryas Baboon Kito has given birth to a baby female in the last month as reported? This would be the third birth to the troop since the arrival of the two females from Wellington in 2009.

Also, does anyone have knowledge on the hierachy of the current troop?
 
I can confirm Kito has given birth. I saw her carrying her little baby 2 weeks ago. She is looking good and im sure is a welcome addition to the growing family. It is nice to have a girl after the 2 boys.
 
September Visit

I visited today, my first visit for quite a while, primarily to see Te Wao Nui, which opened on Sunday. I will review this separately. In other news:

-The Flying Foxes (Little Red & Grey-headed) were off-display, and their enclosure adjacent to the macaws was empty. Apparently they were too stressed by rats in that exhibit, and are much happier where they are now. No word on when (or where) they will be back on display.

-The Orang Utan viewing areas have been refurbished, and there is now a new pathway around some of the exhibit.

-The Meerkats in the old otter exhibit have recently given birth, while the meerkat exhibit that used to hold the Lace Monitor has been further renovated and themed.

-The Kiwi House is now closed, and presumably empty, while the Tuatara, Kaka, Brown Teal and Blue Duck enclosures next to that are now empty. No-one I asked seemed to know what was to become of this area.

-The Indian Star Tortoises and Leopard Tortoises were off-display for the winter, and there were actually signs up saying this, which is useful. The Scheltopusik was actually on-display, however a sign said that it was 'brumating' and as such was unlikely to be visible.

-Behind the 'high-country' section of Te Wao Nui, I saw a large set of rather overgrown stairs, which must have lead up to the old entrance via the bison paddocks, this alternative route back up to the top must have been installed between 1924 and 1926 I think.

-Overall, the zoo looked really good, the only negatives being Burma looking pretty lonely and the Orang exhibit looking pretty tired and in need of replacement.
 
Auckland will be receiving a new giraffe cow "Karaka" from Dubbo early next month.
 
Karaka was born in 2009 to Mutangi (f) and Unnami (m). Unnami is half Rothschild, his father Tambo is pure rothschild.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top