That's a shame. With the reappearance of coatis on the Australian zoo scene I was hoping I had overlooked some and they might spread around the country to add to the South American exhibit candidates.
it is indeed a shame. Both coatis and maras used to be really common in Australasian zoos (or at least that's how it seemed to me), and now they are almost gone in the case of the maras; gone and re-imported in the case of the coatis. Maybe someone will re-import maras and the cycle will start all over again.
That seems to be the way that it's done in the Australian Zoo community. Too little too late and then they realise what's been lost and have to start again. Maned wolves, pygmy hippos, and bongos are just some examples. but this has been discussed enough I think.
I can remember maras living in the (recently demolished) quokka exhibit at Melbourne Zoo but that was a long time ago.
Edit: The could have been capybara. I was about 5 at the time.
I think you can exclude maned wolves (mostly) as Altina have re-started the breeding program with two births recently and importations from overseas, but still not out of the hole yet if other zoos don't help.
I think you can exclude maned wolves (mostly) as Altina have re-started the breeding program with two births recently and importations from overseas, but still not out of the hole yet if other zoos don't help.
But if we went back five or ten years you would be able to find them at Melbourne and Dubbo zoos. If action had been taken then we wouldn't be down to one holder in the entire region. I think Altina should be congratulated for their efforts though.
