National Zoo and Aquarium National Zoo & Aquarium News 2014

zooboy28

zooboy28

Well-Known Member
The first birth of 2014 at Canberra's National Zoo & Aquarium was a Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo. Apparently these are rather difficult to breed - does anyone know when and where the last breeding occurred in Australia?

Story & Photos here: Rare Goodfellow's tree kangaroo baby makes an appearance at Canberra's National Zoo and Aquarium - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

A pair of rare tree kangaroos has started a family at the National Zoo and Aquarium in Canberra, with the arrival of little Mani.

Goodfellow's tree kangaroos are rarely bred in captivity and the new joey is an important boost for an international conservation program.

The species is critically endangered due to predators in far-north Queensland and illegal forestry in Papua New Guinea.

Senior keeper Shelley Russel says the tree-dwellers are hard to breed.

"We have been lucky to have a pair that like each other, a lot of zoos sometimes don't have that," she said.

"No one really knows what the special recipe is or what's stopping the other zoos from breeding.

"We'd like to think it's our expertise, but I'd say it's just our pairing was good."

Mother Oumak and father Kubu were paired in 2012 as part of an international breeding program.

Ms Russel says they then came up with a formula for following Oumak's oestrous pattern to increase the chances of a successful mating.

"Our male is very friendly so we could rub our hand on him and then offer our hand to the female and her reaction would tell us if she was wanting him to be around," she said.

"The reaction was quite incredible, because she's a very shy animal.

"So the only time you got to pat her was when she was rubbing herself all over the scent of him on your hand.

"We would then put them together and over the following days hope there'd be a mating."

Their second attempt was successful, and for a few months the joey's arrival was a bit of a guessing game.

"The first time around, we sought of thought something was going on, but there wasn't," Ms Russel said.

"So the second time around we were all a bit nervous about actually saying she's got something in her pouch.

"But it wasn't too long. When the baby was about two months old we started to see a bit of kicking and moving."

The joey will stay in its mother's pouch for at least 18 months.

"After that the little one is destined to go on its own little breeding program," Ms Russell said.

"We don't know if it's a male or female yet. As soon as we find that out, the coordinators for this species will be pairing it up and getting it placed at a zoo."
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zooboy28 said:
Apparently these are rather difficult to breed - does anyone know when and where the last breeding occurred in Australia?
Click to expand...

Currumbin had a joey which had left the pouch when I was there in 2010.

:p

Hix
 
National Zoo celebrates International Tiger Day.

Full article and photos here: Zoo stresses role our consumer habits have on animal habitats

It was a day like any other for Rhani and Berani, Sumatran tigers at the National Zoo.

But for conservationists and zoo supervisor Shelley Russell, Tuesday was International Tiger Day and a time to raise awareness of the critical danger facing tiger species the world over.

Ms Russell said Canberra residents could help conservation efforts by being more careful about what they buy at the supermarket, particularly by avoiding palm oil sourced unsustainably.

''It's in a lot of what we buy but there are sustainable sources,'' Ms Russell said.

''What we encourage is to buy sustainable products rather than not buying them at all, because it's nearly impossible to do that.''

Ms Russell said irresponsible harvesting of palm oil had destroyed tiger habitats and was found in a startling number of everyday products, such as toothpaste, biscuits and detergents.

The National Zoo plans to open a ''zoopermarket'' at which visitors can scan common products and learn whether their palm oil content was sourced sustainably.

Ms Russell also asked consumers to purchase Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified paper products and support wild tiger conservation programs.

Meanwhile the zoo is hoping that Rhani and Berani can be encouraged to breed within the next six months.

More information about the sustainability of palm oil in consumer products can be found at ZooperMarket | Zoos Victoria.

Read more: Zoo stresses role our consumer habits have on animal habitats
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This should have happened when the enclosure was first built nearly 14(?) years ago. The original bear enclosure was woefully undersized by modern standards for three large bears, while the two pumas were easily lost in the bigger exhibit. Dare say the surviving puma will still be hard to see in the old bear exhibit.

Are the snow leopards living in the enclosed forest next door - possible tension between cats? And who lives in the old 'walk-through' cave inside the aquarium? Sounds like the NZA need to import a few more animals as the old ones go or it will look a bit empty in some of the exhibits, particularly with the planned expansion. No more tigons or leopards.

Just how many pumas are there still in Aust collections? Melbourne, NZA and Dream World? They were the prefered Sth American spp at one stage, except few zoos took them on. Should have went for Jaguars...
 
tetrapod said:
This should have happened when the enclosure was first built nearly 14(?) years ago. The original bear enclosure was woefully undersized by modern standards for three large bears, while the two pumas were easily lost in the bigger exhibit. Dare say the surviving puma will still be hard to see in the old bear exhibit.

Are the snow leopards living in the enclosed forest next door - possible tension between cats? And who lives in the old 'walk-through' cave inside the aquarium? Sounds like the NZA need to import a few more animals as the old ones go or it will look a bit empty in some of the exhibits, particularly with the planned expansion. No more tigons or leopards.

Just how many pumas are there still in Aust collections? Melbourne, NZA and Dream World? They were the prefered Sth American spp at one stage, except few zoos took them on. Should have went for Jaguars...
Click to expand...

Just Dreamworld and NZA now, with I think some held privately (at Wild Animal Encounters).
 
From the website there appears to be 0.2 new black and white colobus named "Safi" and "Misuka". Anyone know where from (Monarto?)?

EDIT: Found out they did indeed come from Monarto.
 
From Facebook:
New arrivals on display! Hyenas are fascinating creatures which evoke quite an emotional response from people. While they are scavengers they are also skilled hunters with a complex social order.
 
The male hyenas are 'Zuberi' (b. 2013 to Forest) and 'Pinduli' (b. 2012 to Kigali) and are located in the former European brown bear enclosure.

6.0 Africa hunting dogs have also arrived (but are off display until the new area opens).
 
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