He really was incredible to behold in person man. So mighty and regal, every time one saw him it was the same impressiveness of him as the first time seeing him. But what was so cool too was all the stories by the keepers about how he was quite lovely to work with and did not give them a ferocious time of looking after him, despite the fact he was quite capable of being a fierce resident. (Well fierce with ill fated Dina and the poor lace monitor who was placed with him at one stage even though never should have been, but the fact that he was very fond of his keepers apparently was really cool reading about).
Yeah I only know about it because a member (think was Hix) mentioned it in an old post from about 15 years ago (I'll try find the post) was mentioned in addition to Dina cohabitating with Tuka several times (and the last time being at the protest of the keepers but believe the controversial director of the time was insistant on a potential clutch of Komodo eggs when Tuka was not suitable to mate with Dina, too big and too rough). Yeah I think you're right with Tuka absolutely. He had an iconic appreciation that have only seen matched reptile wise with some saltwater crocodiles and some Galapagos tortoises.
@steveroberts I can’t help but feel the small exhibit space didn’t help the introduction. It offered the female no escape route and Tuka may have felt threatened.
100% man you're right. It was always on the small side (I think reptile keepers were hoping that their new abode was gonna be maybe thrice the size it turned out to be when Serpentaria was built), the new exhibit was not much bigger than the old one (so much so that Dina was able to take over the old exhibit for close to three years; but it was the opposite of say an old exhibit still keeping good size standards for an era later, but Tuka probably only got about a 30% increase in space maybe). Yeah so true with that exhibit too, it didnt work well and think exhibits for male and female Komodo introductions should be circular so not corners to be, well..cornered in.
I remember in about 1998 they cohabitated the exhibit at front of Serpentaria with a glass wall installed to divide up the middle of the outdoor yard (I believe Tuka was one who still had access to the night den access doorway during daytime hours), would of been just before the ill fated re-introduction attempt. Never should have been re-attempted, as much as understandeable desire for eggs. A younger male should have been imported to mate with Dina..but housing was the issue, as you pointed out with the small exhibit(s).
Taronga really felt like a 'Jurrasic Park' for reptile lovers in the '90s when visiting, with Tuka and Dina, the alligators, the saltwater crocodile (imagine different one before Rin Tin Tin, equally impressive though), the Gila monsters, rhino' iguanas, tuataras, Aldabra tortoises, mata mata turtles, Japanese giant salamanders (albeit an amphibian), lace monitors, anacondas, sailfin lizards, freshwater crocs etc (felt like Taronga had almost everything except only a few, gharials only one can think of missing, marine iguanas too but lol no-one has them). The new reptile house is great..might be picky of me to say: maybe a tad underwhelming compared to how Serpentaria felt back in the '90s and '000s (but they needed bigger exhibits, albeit the new ones arent that much bigger if being brutally honest; think the alligator snapping turtle was one of the highlights of the new complex, and some others).
Think Melbourne Zoo now has an 'edge' over Taronga with their reptile collection, when think in the '90s it was the other way around (always respected Melbourne for their work with Philippine crocs though, and some other endangered reptiles).
Sorry long reply.
**do think the new veterinary wildlife hospital needed to be built; guess kinda wish a different bigger spot in the grounds had been picked for the new herptile complex maybe (albeit hard to come by free space now there, wouldnt of minded if they'd swapped spots with the Wildlife Retreat hotel and downsized the hotel lol).
@steveroberts Although I was impressed with ARC, it definitely needs either a Komodo dragon or a Phillipines crocodile as it lacks a centrepiece so to speak (at the moment it’s probably that massive alligator snapping turtle). Also, has anyone seen Taronga’s Tuatara? It feels like it’s always an no-show every time someone goes.
Yeah that's perfect description of what's missing - a centrepiece, larger reptile like one of the two you mentioned (lol the Komodo statue gets more attention than some of the reptiles I swear to god). Yeah I remember we didnt see the tuataras, so none of our zoochat amigos have seen them either yet in the new complex - that sucks.
When pushed for memory of the new ARC, the things that remember was thinking the new outside exhibits behind glass for some of the monitors and elapid snakes were cool..just wish there was another similar large outdoor area with one huge exhibit for one of the species you mentioned. The snapping turtle was super impressed by, and the water monitor on the branch, some of the showy snakes like the rattlesnake, and seeing the star tortoises in an exhibit with a boa constrictor (together at last as geography dictates lol, nah they were fine, two very handsome species) - but thats it man, no centrepiece species. Think Auckland Zoo were brilliant in their decision with Sunda gharials (know they havent got a male {yet} but those two females are very impressive from the photos you took have seen).
