Auckland Zoo Auckland Zoo 2019

Jambo said:
Yes, that’s Sundar who’s still at Melbourne. I believe her public name was ‘Tashi’ whilst her private name was ‘Sundar’. But I believe Melbourne has moved away from the idea of giving the animals two names. They used to do it with the gorillas too. ;)
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I'm guessing that's to prevent members of the public from bellowing the animal's name across the exhibit to attract it's attention?

The adolescent male Sumatran orangutan has been referred to as both Malu and Menyaru over the years so I'm guessing that's the same deal. I first heard him referred to as Malu around the same time the Snow leopard's named 'changed' from Tashi to Sundar; so either Melbourne Zoo are really bad at keeping secrets or somebody in management decided to phase out the double names around this time and the animal's real names were used in media releases from then on. Having said that, the real names of the gorillas were never a closely guarded secret.
 
Zoofan15 said:
I'm guessing that's to prevent members of the public from bellowing the animal's name across the exhibit to attract it's attention?

.
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Could never figure out why Melbourne adopted the practise of giving the gorillas two names, public and private ones. They must surely have learnt to respond to both very quickly, whoever called to them...what was the point?
 
Pertinax said:
Could never figure out why Melbourne adopted the practise of giving the gorillas two names, public and private ones. They must surely have learnt to respond to both very quickly, whoever called to them...what was the point?
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The keepers probably use positive reinforcement (directly or indirectly) when using the animal's in house name, which rewards the animal for responding to it. Unless each visitor called the animal's name and then lobbed a high value food item; the animal would either never learn their public name, or quickly learn that it meant nothing (i.e. it was just a stimulus in their environment to be ignored). It's likely the majority of visitors would use the animal's name for no other means than attracting it's attention and therefore the animal would soon start to ignore it. This could cause problems for the keepers if they rely on the animal responding to it's name for training cues or to come over to the mesh when called etc.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Asian small-clawed otter pups

Three Asian small-clawed otter pups have been born:

Auckland Zoo welcomes adorable baby otters

The father (Kanan) was born at Auckland Zoo in July 2009.

Auckland Zoo is also home to Juno (Kanan’s father) and Jeta (Kanan’s aunt), who are both 16 years old.
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The otter pups have been sexed and named:

1.0 Arif
1.0 Ketut
0.1 Indah

It’ll be good to see them in their new exhibit once the South East Asian precinct is finished.

It’s a shame the Siamang pair haven’t as yet bred, it would have been nice to have seen Kera making use of the new ropes with a baby clinging to her. I know there’s time yet, but surely the best way to do it would have been to allow her to breed within the familiar environment of her current exhibit (and then move her with the baby once it was a few months old to the new exhibit) rather than confronting her with two big changes simultaneously (motherhood and a new environment) i.e. if she doesn’t give birth soon, she’ll likely remain on/be put on contraception for another year or two.
 
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Male Sumatran Tiger, Berani has been PTS following ongoing health issues. He was 11 years old and the only one of his litter to have remained in Auckland following the birth of the triplets in June 2008. Auckland are now without Tiger's (for only the second time in 22 years) following his passing

So sad and totally unexpected :( I remember reading on this forum that Molek had given birth to them, all those years ago. RIP Berani

Zoo says heartfelt haere rā to tiger Berani | Auckland Zoo
 
Nisha said:
Male Sumatran Tiger, Berani has been PTS following ongoing health issues. He was 11 years old and the only one of his litter to have remained in Auckland following the birth of the triplets in June 2008. Auckland are now without Tiger's (for only the second time in 22 years) following his passing

So sad and totally unexpected :( I remember reading on this forum that Molek had given birth to them, all those years ago. RIP Berani

Zoo says heartfelt haere rā to tiger Berani | Auckland Zoo
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That's sad. He was by no means an old tiger. Both Berani and Molek were immensely popular with visitors. I spoke to a keeper once who said Berani was a relatively nervous tiger (especially when in proximity of the other male, Jaka); and that they were unsure if he would be introduced to a new tiger (i.e. a mate) when the new complex opens next year.

It sounds like even before Berani's death, the plan was to import a new pair - an unrelated male and female (as mentioned in the article); so it'll be interesting to see who Auckland Zoo receives. My guess would be a tiger from Australia Zoo as one half of the pair. Maybe Scout (2016) or Reggie (2016), paired with Jaya (2008) from Dreamworld. None of Soroya's six daughters have bred to date (despite several being paired); and they seem to be favouring the concept of breeding females for the first time at the 11th hour - so Jaya would fit that criteria at 11 years old.

*Edit: I just re-read the article and it states two 'young' tigers will be imported; so probably not Jaya, though I would have thought she'd have been the obvious choice.
 
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From Facebook - Keeper's are travelling to Hamilton today to collect a new hoofstock species for Auckland.

I'm guessing Blackbuck potentially?
 
Nisha said:
Latest update that 4.0 Nyala are moving to Hamilton in the same journey. The mystery species returning to Auckland has yet to be revealed
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Alpacas were the ‘exciting surprise’ that replaced the cheetah, so they must be in raptures over the incoming Nyala.

Hamilton Zoo will be bringing in fresh genetics to their Bison herd (through AI), so maybe they’re looking to export their bulls. I don’t really see Bison fitting in with Auckland Zoo’s collection so I’d say Blackbuck are the most likely option.

What would be genuinely exciting would be a new male giraffe for Auckland. If only it were possible to transport a bull the size of the Hamilton lads.
 
Auckland Zoo has 0.5 Ring-tailed lemur (Bekily, Toliara, Esira, Evatra and Manakara). They have been living off-display since the South East Asia development began. They’ve now taken up residence in the former tiger area, ahead of their relocation to Australia in early 2020.

Their new male porcupine (Bruce) has been introduced to the two females and has really hit it off with one of them (Alika).
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
‘Jamila’, Auckland Zoo’s female white rhino is pregnant. She arrived last year from Hamilton Zoo.
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Last I heard they were introducing her to Zambezi, Inkosi’s son; yet Zambezi is announced as the sire, so they obviously changed plans at some point.

Very exciting news either way. I didn’t think 1.1 pairings of this species were typically successful (i.e. females did better in herds); but maybe with the oestrous suppression theory now widely accepted, this will change in the smaller zoos that don’t have space for a herd.

It will be Auckland Zoo’s first Southern white rhinoceros birth in 20 years when the calf arrives in August 2020. Their first (and to date, only) calf, Kito; who is now at Hamilton Zoo, will be welcoming her fourth calf a few months prior in April 2020.
 
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