Orana Wildlife Park Orana Park News 2014

zooboy28

zooboy28

Well-Known Member
There must have been more news from Orana this year, but I can't remember any!

Anyway, today a cheetah escaped, so here's a new/s thread:

Story and photo here: Cheetah cub escapes Orana Park enclosure | Stuff.co.nz

A daring six-month-old cheetah cub has escaped from its enclosure at Orana Wildlife Park to roam freely in the public area.

Orana Wildlife Park's chief executive Lynn Anderson said the unprecedented rain in March and April had caused moat levels to rise forcing them to turn off the bottom electrics in the cheetah enclosure.

The adult cheetahs were moved to another enclosure, but the cubs stayed put as staff did not imagine they could swim across the moat and climb over the top electric fence.

Lion, one of the cubs, proved them wrong.

DARING ESCAPE

Visitors to the park said he had swum across the moat, climbed up a post and jumped into the public area.

Anderson believed the hand-reared cub was just being social, wanting to "talk" to people. He never posed a danger.

"There was absolutely no risk to human safety. These cheetah cubs have the personality of a house cat," she said.

A zoo keeper picked up the "bedraggled" cub to take him back to an enclosure. He was out of the enclosure for about 10 minutes.

LEFT HIS BROTHER BEHIND

Lion, who shares an enclosure with his brother Boo, will now be kept in a different enclosure until the electrics can be turned on again.

Angela Crocker, who was taking her children to the park, was on a tour when the cub made his escape.

She said it was a "bit of a surprise" to see a cheetah cub on the loose.

"[The cub] didn't seem dangerous in any way, but it was clearly terrified."

INCIDENT REPORTED

The incident has been reported to the Ministry for Primary Industries.

In 2010, three adult cheetahs escaped from their enclosure and roamed in the public area for half an hour in what Anderson described at the time as "the most serious incident we've ever had".

The cheetahs were able to be shepherded into their enclosure without incident, but all visitors were taken to safe places, and keepers were sent to catch the animals, along with a veterinarian with a tranquilliser gun.
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Kiwi born in Orana Park killed by dog :(:mad:

Story here: Beloved kiwi killed by dog - national | Stuff.co.nz

A young Kiwi whose birth shortly after the Christchurch earthquake raised morale at a Canterbury wildlife park has been mauled and killed by a dog.

Otautahi was found dead by a track by the Wainuiomata Recreation Area in Lower Hutt, a common dog walking spot.

The young male was three years old. Had he lived a full life he may have produced as many as 20 offspring.

"If the dog had been kept on a lead Otautahi would still be alive," said Rimutaka Forest Park Trust spokeswoman Melody McLaughlin.

Otautahi was released into the Rimutaka Forest Park near Wainuiomata in July 2012 after being raised by volunteers. As an egg in an incubator he was rocked by the February 2012 earthquake, but survived.

Orana Wildlife Park head keeper Alyssa Salton described him as a "really lovely bird to work with" when he was released and said his hatching had raised staffers' spirits.

He was christened with the Maori name for Christchurch.

McLaughlin said that owners need to know where their dogs are at all times and keep them contained at night.

"Most owners would never expect a kiwi to be around paths or their dog to be capable of killing one, but the reality is a kiwi's scent is irresistible to dogs, and kiwi cannot escape them."

Greater Wellington Regional Council Parks Manager Amanda Cox agreed.

"We need dog walkers to help us look after kiwis, take note of the signs and keep their dogs on leads at all times in the Wainuiomata Recreation Area. Some people don't and have been used to letting their dogs run free, but we think keeping kiwis safe is worth it."

"His death will be a loss to the region's natural environment and to the memory of the Christchurch earthquake. It's such a sad end," McLaughlin said.
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Orana's cheetah dies at Wellington zoo

Orana's cheetah dies at Wellington zoo | Stuff.co.nz

A cheetah hand-reared by Orana Wildlife Park keepers has died after being moved to Wellington Zoo.

Yesterday afternoon five-year-old brothers Cango and Shomari travelled from Orana Wildlife Park in Christchurch to the capital's zoo where Shomari was found unconscious, Wellington Zoo spokeswoman Charlotte Whitelaw said.

"Shomari was unconscious on arrival and our vets worked tirelessly through the night to save him but were unable to.''

"We are all deeply saddened by his tragic passing.''

Cango is said to be doing well and is now in his new enclosure at the zoo.

Orana Wildlife Park staff said they were "devastated".

They described Shomari as "a personable cat" who endeared himself to staff.

An autopsy would confirm the cause of death.

Whitelaw said an investigation was under way with Orana Park to establish what happened leading up to Shomari's death.

Shomari, along with siblings Cango, Kunjuka and Mazza, was rejected by their mother shortly after their birth in 2009. Orana Park keepers worked around the clock, raising them by hand, to ensure their survival.
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Yaks Arrive at Orana

From Orana Park's Facebook page today -

Five Tibetan Yaks are the latest addition to Orana Wildlife Park. The impressive shaggy animals arrived today and will be on public display tomorrow morning.

These remarkable animals are naturally found in the Himalayas; they are the ‘vehicles on the roof of the world.’ Yaks are important animals used for carting equipment. Their milk, butter and cheese is a staple diet of the Tibetan people and the butter fuels lamps for lighting!

Head Keeper of Exotic Mammals, Rob Clifford, says: “Tibetan Yaks are classified as vulnerable and their populations are declining due to poaching and habitat loss. They are really cool, unusual animals with impressive horns and a shaggy coat. Our aim in holding them is to initially raise awareness on the plight of these interesting creatures. We do hope to breed them in the future by artificial insemination since we hold a steer and four females.”
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Not sure where they are being exhibited - anyone know?
 
They are beside the lions, in the old llama paddock according to Facebook.

Any idea where they came from?
 
CGSwans said:
So these are domestic yaks?
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yup, like cows but much cooler-looking. It's a good quick way of filling some empty paddock space I guess, and for most visitors they will look very wild and exotic.
 
zooboy28 said:
So have llamas left the collection?
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I think that means "old" llama paddock, not that the yaks have replaced llamas. I haven't been for a long time but there was always one llama in the farmyard and some others over by the hunting dogs (to the right when entering the park). The lions of course are in the opposite direction.

I guess "old llama paddock" would refer to one of the moated paddocks. (I *think* all the fenced ones where the springboks etc used to be - in former times giraffes, sitatunga, addra, etc - got removed when the tiger enclosures were built. I can't quite remember the layout as it is now).
 
The Llamas are still in the collection, they have moved into a paddock in the farmyard.

Another paddock, I'm not sure which one, is being prepared for "a new arrival" which has not been named yet.
 
zooboy28 said:
Another paddock, I'm not sure which one, is being prepared for "a new arrival" which has not been named yet.
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mentioned in passing on Orana's Facebook, the new arrivals are five young American bison. I can't find any actual press release about them. They may have come from Hamilton Zoo, but more likely from a private farm.
 
Chlidonias said:
mentioned in passing on Orana's Facebook, the new arrivals are five young American bison. I can't find any actual press release about them. They may have come from Hamilton Zoo, but more likely from a private farm.
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Seems like a decent number. I do like Bison, and they can make a good exhibit, although here they are just being used as a gap filler. They are going to run out of locally-available filler species soon though...
 
I was just thinking the other day, with the addition of these bison Orana now has four species of bovid on display (albeit three of them domestics): American bison, domestic water buffalo, domestic yak, and Highland cattle.
 
Spider Monkeys Escape

Five Spider Monkeys escaped today, but have been caught and returned safely. Its not clear how far they actually got though.

Why does Orana have so many animal escapes?

Story & photo here: Five monkeys escape Orana Park - national | Stuff.co.nz

Five monkeys escaped Orana Park today but have been safely rounded up and returned.

A group of year three pupils from a Christchurch primary school had their visit to Orana Park cut short because of the escape....
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More details on the Spider Monkeys escape in this story, it appears they escaped via a broken rope, but didn't get particularly far from their enclosure.

Story here: Five monkeys escape Orana Park - national | Stuff.co.nz

Five spider monkeys let their curiosity get the better of them when a broken rope allowed them to escape their enclosure at Orana Wildlife Park.

Animal keepers discovered the five female spider monkeys were missing from their enclosure about 8.30am today.

Orana chief executive Lynn Anderson said a rope connecting two of the islands within the animals' enclosure had broken overnight, giving them an ''escape route''.

The monkeys were quickly spotted within 50 metres of their enclosure, but it took more than four hours to recapture them all.

The zoo remained open while the monkeys were on the loose, but the public were kept on the other side of the park so they did not frighten them or cause them to run further, Anderson said.

''It's not that we were in anyway trying to hide it. If there was any risk to the public we would have closed the zoo.''

Sixteen-year-old Juquila was captured within 10 minutes after she entered a nearby building, while three other monkeys - Maya, Merida and 25-year-old Belize - were ''herded'' back into their enclosure within 90 minutes.

''You don't herd them like a pack of sheep. It was very quietly, quietly, move them into this direction.''

The fifth monkey, 12-year-old Luka, took much longer to recapture as she had climbed to the top of a tall pine tree.

Staff used a cherry picker to lift a veterinarian closer to Luka after she had been sitting in the tree for about three hours.

The vet used a dart gun to shoot a sedative into her, making her ''more relaxed, but not making her unconscious.

''If it fell out of the tree from that height there would be a great risk of the monkey dying.''

Luka then climbed down the tree and was able to be captured with a net and returned to her enclosure.

Anderson said spider monkeys were not considered dangerous. They were curious animals and tended to stick together, which was why all five of them left the enclosure.

The incident had been reported to the Ministry for Primary Industries and a ''thorough'' investigation was underway.

''We have never had a rope failure that I know of and I've been here 18 years,'' Anderson said. ''We do take our job very very seriously and getting to the bottom of this is the most important thing for us.''...
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Further details of incidents at Orana Park from April 2013 - March 2014 have been revealed here: Zoo subjected to escapes galore | Stuff.co.nz

It notes the escape of the cheetah cub and siamangs, as well as an incident where two white rhino got into an adjacent enclosure (in June 2014). It also mentions an incident where a young keeper was injured by a cheetah.
 
Jabiru96 said:
Orana seems to be promoting itself as an open range zoo (according to the new website Open Range Zoo NZ | Orana Wildlife Park). Has this always been the case?
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That website is a lot better than the old one.

I don't know if Orana has promoted itself using the words "open range zoo" before, but it is certainly the NZ equivalent of Werribee, Monarto or Western Plains in Australia, being a rural zoo with larger numbers of larger mammals and fewer smaller exhibits. But all exhibits can be seen on foot. There is a shuttle bus that drives around the zoo too (not through any exhibits) and a lion exhibit that can be driven through on an additional tour. In the past the lion exhibit (and others I think) could be driven through by private vehicle. There are no massive mixed species hoofstock exhibits either, just paddocks of single species.
 
zooboy28 said:
Further details of incidents at Orana Park from April 2013 - March 2014 have been revealed here: Zoo subjected to escapes galore | Stuff.co.nz

It notes the escape of the cheetah cub and siamangs, as well as an incident where two white rhino got into an adjacent enclosure (in June 2014). It also mentions an incident where a young keeper was injured by a cheetah.
Click to expand...

What is the status of the white rhino program at Orana nowadays?
 
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