Auckland Zoo Auckland Zoo News 2015

Chlidonias said:
from the zoo's Facebook, the two otter pups have been sexed as a male and female.
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Thank you for that update. Good to hear that one of the pups is a female, the first surviving female pup since 2003!

Any news on a name for Rukiaya's calf? It's a shame they don't follow the naming convention of using the mother's first name as the first letter.

Eg. Kinshasa - Kiri (1984), Kay (1986) etc.

With (R)ukiaya and (K)iraka, it wouldn't be overly difficult, so many 'K' names in swahili.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Thank you for that update. Good to hear that one of the pups is a female, the first surviving female pup since 2003!

Any news on a name for Rukiaya's calf? It's a shame they don't follow the naming convention of using the mother's first name as the first letter.

Eg. Kinshasa - Kiri (1984), Kay (1986) etc.

With (R)ukiaya and (K)iraka, it wouldn't be overly difficult, so many 'K' names in swahili.
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Rukiya's calf was named Zuri a few weeks ago.
 
a few days ago 945 giant weta bred at the zoo were released on Motuhorapapa Island in the Hauraki Gulf.

(From the zoo's Facebook)
 
Kiraka has given birth to the first male giraffe at Auckland Zoo since 2010.
Auckland Zoo welcomes baby giraffe | Stuff.co.nz
Auckland Zoo has a new addition: a baby giraffe born in the early hours of Friday morning.

The calf is the first male giraffe to be born at the zoo in a few years, according to team leader of the zoo's Pridelands section, Nat Sullivan.

"He took us by surprise. I have a camera at home where I can check on the giraffes when they are in labour and his mother must have gone to a part of the house where I couldn't see.
"Then there was a baby just standing. I don't know how long the labour actually took."

The calf is yet to be named, a process which usually takes a few days while zoo staff wait to see if the animal has a strong personality or something physical that lends itself to a name.

This is the second baby giraffe born this year, said Sullivan.

"We had a calf born in April and a couple of two-year-olds."

The baby giraffe and its parents (Kiraka and Zabulu) were spending time bonding.

As for the zoo staff?

"Baby giraffes are pretty big time wasters," said Sullivan.

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"Everything they do is cute, you have to remind yourself to do other work."

This is Auckland Zoo's 33rd giraffe calf and its dad is a Rothschild's giraffe, so genetically the newcomer is a valuable addition to the Australasian breeding programme.

Rothschild's giraffes are one of the most endangered giraffe subspecies and there are only a few hundred left in the wild.

- Stuff
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Orange-fronted Parakeets on Display

From the Zoo's Facebook page today:

It was a big day for our bird team this morning! Todd and Emma released a pair of orange-fronted parakeet in to the High Country aviary.

This little kākāriki was once found in many parts of the South Island but is now nationally endangered, with only 200-400 left in the wild.

See whether you can spot them the next time you're at the Zoo.
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AFAIK, this means the zoo now has four of NZ's six Cyanoramphus species.
 
a blink-and-you'd-miss-it comment by the zoo under a photo on their Facebook page has revealed that their new male capybaras (two, which will be coming from Chester Zoo in the UK) will be on show by December.

By Christmas, you'll get to see our male capybara as well as Rosita and Consuela!
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I am very glad that they are getting some unrelated animals to pair with their Australian-bred females. Makes a nice change :)
 
Here are some photos of the new Orange-fronted Kakariki; they prefer to keep their distance, the first photo is actually through the aviary mesh.
 

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Auckland Zoo's male Capybara Kosh has arrived.
https://www.facebook.com/AKLZOONZ/photos/a.212836436983.131549.57062666983/10153215346446984/?type=3
Our male capybara Kosh has now been introduced to Rosita and Consuela and they're getting along great!

In fact, it has gone so well that there is a chance that next year we may hear the pitter patter of little capybara feet.

Learn more about our capybaras from keeper Amy here:
https://www.facebook.com/AKLZOONZ/videos/10153159925941984/?l=5914443677495603532 — at Auckland Zoo.
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oh cool. I thought they were getting two males, but I must have been misinformed or mistaken.

I find it strange that even though the capybaras have proven to be very popular there has literally been nothing in the media about them getting a male for their two females, except this almost in-passing mention on Facebook. It's just like "our male has been introduced to the females..." as if "oh yeah, everybody knows we have a male capybara".
 
Auckland Zoo has anounced plans (in its newsletter) for the departure of three of its Bornean Orangutans on the 12th of November. They are heading to an unspecified Zoo in the US - does anyone know where?

The animals leaving are Isim, Madju and Gangsa (2.1). This will leave the zoo with three orangs - Borneans Charlie and Melur (Madju's mum I think), and hybrid Wanita, and will mean that now the zoo has a surplus orang enclosure.

Auckland has been trying to relocate its Orangs overseas (to the US to join that breeding programme), in order to join the Australasian programme for Sumatrans. In 2009, another trio of Orangs (Intan, 20, her mother Indra, 28, and her father Horst, 31) were sent to Busch Gardens in Florida.
 
Confirmation that all three will be going to Los Angeles initially for 30 days of quarantine: Isim and Gangsa will then remain in LA whilst Madju travels on to Busch Gardens in Florida. Work on the empty enclosure in Auckland will start in 2017 before Sumatran Orangutans join the collection sometime after that.. :D

Three of Auckland Zoo's best-loved characters are departing overseas.

Bornean orang-utans Madju, Isim, at right of picture, and Gangsa, left, will leave New Zealand on November 12 to join breeding programmes in the United States.

It will be an emotional departure for Madju, who turns 10 just three days before saying goodbye to his dad Charlie, mum Melur, and his "aunt" Wanita.

"Madju is at the age when orang-utans leave their parents and he is already showing signs he is getting a bit boisterous and testing their boundaries," the zoo's primate team leader Amy Robbins said. "For a while we expect they will miss him.

"They will wonder where he has gone but will soon realise they are enjoying the peace and quiet."

A team of more than 20 people - including keepers, vets and nurses - will help get the three primates into custom crates for a 12-hour flight to Los Angeles.


The orang-utans will be awake during the trip in the hold of a passenger jet and will have lunch boxes and drinks for the journey.

After a month in quarantine in California, Isim, 21, and Gangsa, 25, will stay on at Los Angeles Zoo and Madju will transfer to Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida.

"It will be sad to see the orang-utans go after so many years. Some staff spend more time with them than they do with their own families," Robbins said

The orang-utans were always scheduled to leave as part of an international breeding programme, Robbins said. "They will be instant superstars in America where their genetic stock is of an extremely high value," she added.

Three remaining orang-utans will stay on at Auckland Zoo. Work will begin in 2017 on a new facility for the zoo's primates, before the arrival of Sumatran orang-utans.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfmc_id=1&objectid=11534670
 
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