Yes, he visited today (26/09/22) according to the above post.
Darling Downs Zoo Another Review of Darling Downs Zoo
- Thread starter WhistlingKite24
- Start date
Yes, he visited today (26/09/22) according to the above post.
Cool was wondering if this was his first visit?
this was my second visit. I first visited in April last year. & it has changed quite a bit since then.
Have you considered doing a review or a few comments about the zoo?
I'm still thinking about doing this for every (or most) zoos/wildlife parks I visit. As recently I've visited a lot of zoos. But I just haven't got around to it & don't think I've got enough time on my hands. I'll 100% definitely write one up for Territory WP when I visit @ the end of the yr though. I also don't take a lot of notes on each exhibit other than the animals & wether it seemed good or bad for it's inhabitants.
So much has happened since April 2021:
New species include Sri Lankan leopard, Caracal, Serval, Binturong, Black and white ruffed lemur, Ring-tailed lemur and several reptile species.
Significant births include Sri Lankan leopard, Maned wolf, Serval, Caracal, Giraffe, Hamadryas baboon and Grant’s zebra to name a few.
New exhibits include those for the new species mentioned above, as well as Grant’s zebra; and there’s a Hamadryas baboon exhibit in progress.
Yes it's good with all the recent births & imports/new species.
they did have Serval on my visit in April 2021 though.
Also a new exhibit for addax and another for Blackbuck.
Darling Downs zoo visit. 15.10,22
I managed to visit the zoo yesterday but only could fit in 3 hours for the visit which is not enough time to see everything properly, I like to spend some time to study each exhibit and what they are doing.
The zoo is looking very green at the moment with all the resent rains with quite a lot of new plantings.
Just a few observations, Some more work is still being added to the new huge baboon house but is near completion. More logs and rocks/boulders have also been added to the outside exhibit area and I believe a lot more still has to be added yet.
I got to see one of the new Binturongs sleeping in one of the two newly added nest boxes which are fixed upon the front enclosure wall which are the same design as used for the caracals and servals.
This time I managed to see the new 20 acre Zebra exhibit close up, its great to see them in such a huge exhibit area, I saw "Ben" the male Ostrich with them I understand that few females will be joining him in the near future.
The Giraffes were quite active with the two calfs growing at a fast rate since my last visit.
All the primates were active the lemurs more so than most at the time.
It stuck me how much the giant tortoises have grown since their arrival, I would say perhaps they have tripled in size since then.
New work continues with new fencing/gates through out the zoo where needed, I must say on every visit changes and upgrades or something new is being done which makes me want to go back again to see what has been happening since my last visit.
DDZ has easily become the largest collection of exotic animals in the state.
I managed to visit the zoo yesterday but only could fit in 3 hours for the visit which is not enough time to see everything properly, I like to spend some time to study each exhibit and what they are doing.
The zoo is looking very green at the moment with all the resent rains with quite a lot of new plantings.
Just a few observations, Some more work is still being added to the new huge baboon house but is near completion. More logs and rocks/boulders have also been added to the outside exhibit area and I believe a lot more still has to be added yet.
I got to see one of the new Binturongs sleeping in one of the two newly added nest boxes which are fixed upon the front enclosure wall which are the same design as used for the caracals and servals.
This time I managed to see the new 20 acre Zebra exhibit close up, its great to see them in such a huge exhibit area, I saw "Ben" the male Ostrich with them I understand that few females will be joining him in the near future.
The Giraffes were quite active with the two calfs growing at a fast rate since my last visit.
All the primates were active the lemurs more so than most at the time.
It stuck me how much the giant tortoises have grown since their arrival, I would say perhaps they have tripled in size since then.
New work continues with new fencing/gates through out the zoo where needed, I must say on every visit changes and upgrades or something new is being done which makes me want to go back again to see what has been happening since my last visit.
DDZ has easily become the largest collection of exotic animals in the state.
The refreshing thing about Darling Downs Zoo is that their main focus in on being a zoo - as opposed to commercialising themselves or focussing on gimmicks (e.g. animatronic dinosaurs, fake supermarkets) to entertain the crowds.
While the same could be said for most, if not all of Australia’s small zoos; Darling Downs Zoo have the variety of species found at any of the region’s main zoos. They’re truly the happy medium.
I guess it must be a novel idea these days a zoo being a zoo.
I guess it must be a novel idea these days a zoo being a zoo.
That’s the weirdest thing. The origin of early zoos such as London was that of a zoological park to study wild animals in a captive setting. Entertainment came later and of course involved forms of entertainment that are long since considered unacceptable (e.g. chimp tea parties and elephant rides).
Somehow zoos have circumnavigated back to that versus where theh were at the end of the 20th century. There’s a balance to be found, but my preference is for the engagement to come from immersive exhibits and a chance to see unusual species.
An interesting fact that @Zorro forgot to mention is that new boulders and logs arrived at the zoo yesterday in the same vehicle that he did!! The same thing happened a few weeks ago.
Thanks to @Zorro and Graham for these much appreciated contributions to our evolving Hamadryas Baboon landscape. My apologies for not having much time to spend with you yesterday.
The DDZ Hamadryas Baboon population currently stands at 15 animals following the arrival of new breeding male Gyasi from Sydney Zoo. Breeding has been halted since our last birth on 10/10/2021 to allow work to take place on our new Baboon habitat. Gyasi and some females have now been introduced to each other and new youngsters will hopefully start arriving in due course.
Good work @Zorro.
It sounds like this will be the largest baboon exhibit in Australasia @Steve Robinson and an exciting attraction. What approximate troop size are you aiming for long term? It’s great you have some genetically valuable founders such as the Singapore bred male.
We have in mind that about 20 animals should be sustained in the area in good seasons and bad.
We'll just monitor that as we go along - it's not a competition.
When the enclosure vegetation matures a bit we may add a couple of Barbary Sheep to the mix.
I’m glad to hear the new exhibit will be able to accomodate a few more infants from the latest breedings and beyond. May Thoth bless your zoo with a succession of female infants!
A mixed species exhibit would be exciting and novel indeed. Zoo János Állatkert (Hungary) keep the same mix of Hamadryas baboon and Barbary sheep without incident, combined with Warthog.
@Zoofan15 Don't forget 2 of these females were imported by the zoo are from Poland a few years ago so even more unrelated founders here.
@Zoofan15 Don't forget 2 of these females were imported by the zoo are from Poland a few years ago so even more unrelated founders here.
Very true. There's sometimes a reluctance from zoos to import from outside the region due to costs, but for those who put the effort in (or who are obligated to do so because of a lack of availability within the region), the trade off is that the offspring they breed will be in higher demand.
This is especially important for species like the Hamadryas baboon, where a stable troop contains more females than males.