Altina Wildlife Park Altina Hunting Dogs

M

Monty

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I see Altina has 6 wild dog cubs. As a private zoo they are showing what can be done with less resources than the big zoos.

Altina is the first privately owned zoo to breed the African Hunting Dogs in Australian History!

Only 4 breeding packs in Australia, with other zoos having no success this year, Altina has boosted numbers by an additional 6 puppies!

This species of Wild Dog is very difficult to handle and incredibly highly strung. They are an extremely social and dangerous animal.

African Wild Dogs (African Cape Hunting Dogs) are classified as critically endangered!

Altina has been “highly commended” by the other Zoos for successfully breeding these tremendously unusual animals!
Click to expand...

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...34049508.36397.193182470717991&type=1&theater
 
..... further proof of the value of our private zoos in Australia.
They may have limited resources in comparison with the big city zoos, but thank heavens they exist to keep the animals which may have less "box office" appeal or which are being only half-heartedly maintained by the big players.

With a basic antagonism towards private zoos by governments both state and federal, Australia is probably the most difficult country in the world to set up a private zoo, and I salute anyone who successfully does so.
 
The other day when I was reading an interview with Zoos Victoria CEO I had to laugh about the reference to maned wolves not fitting in with any of their collection planning objectives, ie, an endangered species, visitor appeal etc.
Such a shame to see the big zoo players turning their back on this species, which I would argue is both threatened, (though I dont think that the CEO didnt know that) and an appealing animal when displayed properly. I always find it frustrating to see animals fall in and out of vogue in our Australian zoo collections, and thank our smaller zoos for stepping up their levels of participation and keeping some of these species viable in our country. Maned wolves and golden lion tamarins were the latin American poster creatures of Australian zoos in the 90s, it seems that coati and giant anteater will be their 2013-2023 equivalent.
 
Altina has done a wonderful job with the maned wolves. Do you think that the pressure for zoos to justify themselves as conservation/education centers and the way that many anto zoo people hold the value of entertainment (the pleasure obtained from simply viewing animals) in scorn is what is behind the chopping and cganging?
 
I think what you say is very true jay.

Zoos these days feel pressured into justifying their existence as other than recreational facilities, despite that being a legitimate reason for their existence. Consequently, they want to be seen occupying their enclosures with animals that are rare and/or endangered in the wild. Animals that are not regarded as rare or endangered are therefore not valued by the big players unless they are large and popular (box-office appeal).
A host of small and medium sized mammals and birds are therefore being no longer kept by the large mainstream zoos.

I'm an old guy - I've been keenly visiting zoos for decades now, and I can tell you that, while the enclosures are greatly improved, the animal representation (I'm avoiding the word "collection") was much better 50 years ago. I understand why - but I don't have to like it.
 
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