Adelaide Zoo Adelaide Zoo News 2022

Sunbear12 said:
2 female hamadryas baboon have arrived and are being integrated with the troop. This has been ongoing since my last visit in February and appears to be going well.
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I’m glad the zoo has finally received more female Hamadryas baboon. This has been long overdue with the parents and adult sons living in 3.1 ratio before the death of the father.

Tomkay and Djibouti are now aged seven and five respectively, so are the perfect age to head up their own one male units/harems; though personally I would have transferred at least three females to reduce the chances of Tomkay grabbing them all.

Hamadryas baboon feature in the masterplan, so the zoo has a long term commitment with this species.
 
Zoofan15 said:
I’m glad the zoo has finally received more female Hamadryas baboon. This has been long overdue with the parents and adult sons living in 3.1 ratio before the death of the father.

Tomkay and Djibouti are now aged seven and five respectively, so are the perfect age to head up their own one male units/harems; though personally I would have transferred at least three females to reduce the chances of Tomkay grabbing them all.

Hamadryas baboon feature in the masterplan, so the zoo has a long term commitment with this species.
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Any idea where the female baboons came from
 
Zorro said:
Any idea where the female baboons came from
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The most likely sources are Sydney Zoo and Melbourne Zoo.

My money is on Melbourne Zoo as they have several adolescent and prime age females. Melbourne previously stated an intention to grow their troop with four offspring per female and achieved that; yet recently welcomed a new infant. We all assumed it was a contraception fail, but it was likely bred in the knowledge there’d be emigration from the troop.

Sydney Zoo are a more recently formed troop that have only been breeding two years. They’re not quite at the stage of being able to supply other zoos.
 
Zorro said:
Any idea where the female baboons came from
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Zoofan15 said:
The most likely sources are Sydney Zoo and Melbourne Zoo.

My money is on Melbourne Zoo as they have several adolescent and prime age females. Melbourne previously stated an intention to grow their troop with four offspring per female and achieved that; yet recently welcomed a new infant. We all assumed it was a contraception fail, but it was likely bred in the knowledge there’d be emigration from the troop.

Sydney Zoo are a more recently formed troop that have only been breeding two years. They’re not quite at the stage of being able to supply other zoos.
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Reviewing Melbourne’s troop, I’d identify 0.1 Juju (2015) and 0.1 Gana (2017) as suitable candidates. They’ve both recently reached reproductive age, but are related to all the males in Melbourne’s troop.

Moving to Adelaide Zoo would give them a chance to breed with unrelated males as well as giving Adelaide’s troop a more healthy social structure.
 
Zoofan15 said:
The most likely sources are Sydney Zoo and Melbourne Zoo.

My money is on Melbourne Zoo as they have several adolescent and prime age females. Melbourne previously stated an intention to grow their troop with four offspring per female and achieved that; yet recently welcomed a new infant. We all assumed it was a contraception fail, but it was likely bred in the knowledge there’d be emigration from the troop.

Sydney Zoo are a more recently formed troop that have only been breeding two years. They’re not quite at the stage of being able to supply other zoos.
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Actually come to think of it I did some see crates in the back area when I visited Melbourne a few months ago.

It’s finally great to see Adelaide importing these new females, hopefully this will kickstart their breeding program once again. They’ll help out the gender imbalance at Adelaide, and also finally be given the opportunity to breed. I’d imagine Melbourne would’ve definitely been glad to offload some of their younger females as the enclosures maximum holding is around 25-30 individuals and they would be approaching that right now.
 
Jambo said:
Actually come to think of it I did some see crates in the back area when I visited Melbourne a few months ago.

It’s finally great to see Adelaide importing these new females, hopefully this will kickstart their breeding program once again. They’ll help out the gender imbalance at Adelaide, and also finally be given the opportunity to breed. I’d imagine Melbourne would’ve definitely been glad to offload some of their younger females as the enclosures maximum holding is around 25-30 individuals and they would be approaching that right now.
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The transfer will be greatly beneficial to Melbourne Zoo as it’ll allow them to continue breeding and generate succession within the troop.

The previous breeding cohort ended in 2000, so when they recommenced breeding over a decade later with the import of new males; they also needed to import several females to supplement the female population, which was getting on in years.

Transferring the older females from the current cohort means they can retain the younger offspring, including those being born now to be joining by new males down the line.
 
Zoofan15 said:
The transfer will be greatly beneficial to Melbourne Zoo as it’ll allow them to continue breeding and generate succession within the troop.

The previous breeding cohort ended in 2000, so when they recommenced breeding over a decade later with the import of new males; they also needed to import several females to supplement the female population, which was getting on in years.

Transferring the older females from the current cohort means they can retain the younger offspring, including those being born now to be joining by new males down the line.
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Melbourne have done quite an amazing job with breeding their baboons over the last couple of years. The previous troop didn’t welcome any infants past 2000, and the whole troop lived in the infamous baboon cages next to the entrance up until 2011. The opening of the new Baboon Lookout (as it’s called) allowed for them to reinvigorate their troop with the addition of two males and some new females.

Due to the recent baby boom, Melbourne would have definitely had to have looked into options for the export of some of their older juveniles, especially to make space for future births. Adelaide would have been a no brainer for some of the juvenile females.
 
Jambo said:
Melbourne have done quite an amazing job with breeding their baboons over the last couple of years. The previous troop didn’t welcome any infants past 2000, and the whole troop lived in the infamous baboon cages next to the entrance up until 2011. The opening of the new Baboon Lookout (as it’s called) allowed for them to reinvigorate their troop with the addition of two males and some new females.

Due to the recent baby boom, Melbourne would have definitely had to have looked into options for the export of some of their older juveniles, especially to make space for future births. Adelaide would have been a no brainer for some of the juvenile females.
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Melbourne will still have to be mindful not to imbalance the gender ratio of their troop. The offspring born since breeding recommenced in 2015 had been a decent mixture of males and females, but some of the first males (born 2017) will soon be looking to acquire their own one male units and if there aren’t enough females to go around, could become troublesome as we’ve seen at Adelaide.

That’s no doubt why Melbourne have only transferred two females at this stage.

Sydney Zoo have been fortunate to have a succession of female births. They’d be a valuable source of new females for Melbourne and other zoos in the future given their troop was imported from Singapore.
 
Know that this isn't 2022 related by does anyone know if it was indeed in 2009 that the last three Chimpanzees left Adelaide for Monarto?
 
steveroberts said:
Know that this isn't 2022 related by does anyone know if it was indeed in 2009 that the last three Chimpanzees left Adelaide for Monarto?
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Yes, Tsotsi and Sandali transferred to Monarto Zoo in 2009. Tsotsi’s mother and sister (Fimi and Sanda) had been exported to New Zealand the previous year.

In 2010, the four females imported from Europe by Monarto were quarantined at Adelaide Zoo for a month; followed by Alon and Leakey for a similar period in 2015.
 
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steveroberts said:
Know that this isn't 2022 related by does anyone know if it was indeed in 2009 that the last three Chimpanzees left Adelaide for Monarto?
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Zoofan15 said:
Yes, Tsotsi and Sandali transferred to Monarto Zoo in 2009. Tsotsi’s mother and sister (Fimi and Sanda) had been exported to New Zealand the previous year.

In 2010, the four females imported from Europe by Monarto were quarantined at Adelaide Zoo for a month; followed by Alon and Leakey for a similar period in 2015.
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Adelaide Zoo were the fourth main zoo in the region to phase out chimpanzees in 2009 - following on from Perth Zoo in 1992 (I don’t count the 1998 loan); Melbourne Zoo in 1993; and Auckland Zoo in 2004.

Willowbank and Mogo Zoo have similarly phased out chimpanzees during this time period; while four new holders have come on board - Hamilton Zoo, Monarto Zoo, Rockhampton Zoo and Sydney Zoo. They make up four of the six current holders (along with Taronga and Wellington).
 
Historical Timeline of Zoos SA

To celebrate the Platinum Jubilee, Zoos SA have released a timeline of significant events (though they left a lot out).

Platinum Zoobilee: 70 years of conservation

An interesting note re. Monarto:

Following a feasibility study conducted in 1990, the decision was made to change Monarto from a special-purpose breeding area, closed to the public, to an international standard zoo.

Two young female bison imported from Auckland Zoo were the first to arrive at Monarto. Some 150 animals were later transferred from Adelaide Zoo as well as another 40 animals which had been held on pasture at a Penola property. The transfer of Adelaide Zoo animals helped to ease overcrowding which was being experienced at the zoo at the time, and opened up opportunities to improve landscapes for animal enclosures.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Historical Timeline of Zoos SA

To celebrate the Platinum Jubilee, Zoos SA have released a timeline of significant events (though they left a lot out).

Platinum Zoobilee: 70 years of conservation

An interesting note re. Monarto:

Following a feasibility study conducted in 1990, the decision was made to change Monarto from a special-purpose breeding area, closed to the public, to an international standard zoo.

Two young female bison imported from Auckland Zoo were the first to arrive at Monarto. Some 150 animals were later transferred from Adelaide Zoo as well as another 40 animals which had been held on pasture at a Penola property. The transfer of Adelaide Zoo animals helped to ease overcrowding which was being experienced at the zoo at the time, and opened up opportunities to improve landscapes for animal enclosures.
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Fascinating. Another one of my favourite Monarto facts (also included in the timeline) is that some of the land which was intended in the 1970s to be build as a sister city to Adelaide, to give South Australia another large city. That never eventuated, and we ended up with a stellar open-range zoo as one result.
 
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Swanson02 said:
Also I'm going visit Adelaide again soon so if anyone has any specific questions they want asked then let me know, I'll try and get the best answer :).
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First and foremost would be regarding Gorillas. Do they still have plans for them?

How is their tiger pair doing, have they mated yet?

And what's the plan with the Pandas? It'll be interesting to know if the keepers believe a new pair will be brought in; or, replaced by eg. snow leopards.
 
Naga, Taronga Zoo’s Komodo Dragon has safely arrived at Adelaide giving the zoo a 1.1 pair. He moved straight into a new exhibit. From their newsletter:

“Today we welcomed Naga, our 10-year-old male Komodo Dragon, as he walked himself into his brand-new exhibit. Book your visit to Adelaide Zoo to see why this 2.75m-long dragon has quickly clawed his way into our hearts!”
 
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