Auckland Zoo Auckland Zoo News 2016

ZooBoyNZ said:
Yes, I actually own a copy of Tiger by the Tail; it's a very good book in my opinion. :)

I can't wait to see plans for the South East Asia Precinct at the zoo as well; which is going to be home to the orangutans, tigers, otters, and maybe macaques and bird species. From early concept sketches it looks like the orangutans exhibit will be made up of 3-5 islands connected by O-Lines.

I also was a bit surprised that the capybara's names don't reflect their personalities, but at least the names are in Spanish and I quite like the names Pepe & Pablo to be honest. :o
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The polar bear enclosure looks amazing in TBTT, but from what I've heard on ZooChat, it was very small.

Orangutan islands sound amazing. I understand that the Sumatran orangutan are more social than the Bornean orangutan so I hope the zoo curate a medium to large colony, unlike many zoos who hold a single pair or small family group.

I liked the name Lucha (Luchadora is Spanish for fiesty). Maybe they're keeping that under their hat until they have male-female twins and can name them Lucha (M) and Dora (F). You know how zoos like to be up with the pre-schoolers #DTE . :p
 
Zoofan15 said:
The polar bear enclosure looks amazing in TBTT, but from what I've heard on ZooChat, it was very small.

Orangutan islands sound amazing. I understand that the Sumatran orangutan are more social than the Bornean orangutan so I hope the zoo curate a medium to large colony, unlike many zoos who hold a single pair or small family group.

I liked the name Lucha (Luchadora is Spanish for fiesty). Maybe they're keeping that under their hat until they have male-female twins and can name them Lucha (M) and Dora (F). You know how zoos like to be up with the pre-schoolers #DTE . :p
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I hope that they do end up with a large colony; it would be very impressive to see them swinging above in the trees and O-Lines. From what I have read, the siamang gibbons will be on the same islands as the orangutan; but each species will also have its own seperate habitat that can be separated from the other islands. How do you think the siamangs and orangs will go in the same exhibit? (Only of course if that ends up happening) :)
 
ZooBoyNZ said:
I hope that they do end up with a large colony; it would be very impressive to see them swinging above in the trees and O-Lines. From what I have read, the siamang gibbons will be on the same islands as the orangutan; but each species will also have its own seperate habitat that can be separated from the other islands. How do you think the siamangs and orangs will go in the same exhibit? (Only of course if that ends up happening) :)
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If they're lucky, they'll be able to start with some decent founders like they did with the Bornean orangutan colony in the 1980s. Two or more females aged around 8 years of age and a male of at least 11-13 years so they're not waiting for him to mature. Then the females can be bred at least three times each in order to create a large colony. An additional male could then be imported to breed with the daughters of the original male. The worst case scenario would be the zoo ending up with Sumatrans with a poor track record with offspring, or aging females that are unlikely to breed or have social issues.

Sumatrans are apparently more aboreal than Borneans, so should make good use of the O-lines, and are more social, allowing a large group to be held at the zoo.

It'd be great to see a mixed species exhibit. I've heard it works well in some zoos. In most cases they interactions are either positive, or neutral. Adelaide Zoo tried it, but discontinued the practice after the male siamang had his arm broken by one of the orangutans. I'm not sure if this was through rough play or aggression. The San Diego Zoo reported the siamangs chased a mother orangutan and her baby, and had to be separated, but following the birth of her next offspring, a reintroduction was trialled successfully. The baby orangutan in particular enjoys playing with the siamang.

Where do you think the best place to source orangutans would be? How many young females (under 12 years) do Perth Zoo have? Maybe they could supply the females, and zoos from Europe or Asia supply the males.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Two or more females aged around 8 years of age and a male of at least 11-13 years so they're not waiting for him to mature. Then the females can be bred at least three times each in order to create a large colony. An additional male could then be imported to breed with the daughters of the original male.
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Male Orangutans are often capable of breeding at the age of eight, or even younger sometimes(e.g 6). Its true Sumatran Orangs are more social than Bornean but they still aren't really sociable, more tolerant of each other in that a male will usually live with a female and offspring. But if you bring in all these orangs as you plan, what happens to all the young males that are produced? 'A second' male can't be kept with the first, so that requires a second exhibit rather than any form of colony.
 
Pertinax said:
Male Orangutans are often capable of breeding at the age of eight, or even younger sometimes(e.g 6). Its true Sumatran Orangs are more social than Bornean but they still aren't really sociable, more tolerant of each other in that a male will usually live with a female and offspring. But if you bring in all these orangs as you plan, what happens to all the young males that are produced? 'A second' male can't be kept with the first, so that requires a second exhibit rather than any form of colony.
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While potentially able to breed at 8 or younger, it's more likely a male of 12 years plus would sire offspring. The Bornean orangutans (which mature earlier on average than Sumatrans) at Auckland Zoo are a good example. Dara (1977) didn't produce her first offspring until she was 12, despite reaching maturity at 8. She gave birth in 1989, weeks after the other female, aged 8.5 years gave birth. This suggests the presence of a viable/mature male was the limiting factor, and that breeding only occurred when the eldest male, Horst, reached reproductive age mid 1988 (aged 10.5 years). His son, Datuk (1989), was then sent to Taronga Zoo in 1995 and was paired with two females born 1988 and 1989 in 1996. At the time of his death in 1998 at 9 years of age, he still hadn't bred with either female. Of course these are just two examples (and there are many to counter them), but to guarantee breeding as soon as the females are reproductive, then the aquisition of a male of 12 years + is more likely to result in success.

The average birth interval of a Sumatran orangutan is 9 years, and this could be extended with contraception is required. Two females could be bred at 8 years, 18 years and 28 years during their time at Auckland Zoo. I'm not sure how the new enclosure will be set up, but there has been talk of four islands, so this suggests four separate habitats (and the potential of four groups). If two males are imported initially, this could be:

Group 1: Female 1 and offspring; Female 2 and offspring; Male 1
Group 2: Male 2

Group 3 and 4 could be a possibility if male offspring are produced and reach maturity (prior to export), or if there is conflict in either of the groups. Female offspring in Group 1 would eventually mate with the male in Group 2. The founder males would either rotate between the females like Horst and Charlie did in the 1990s or stay in their groups and females immigrate into their groups as required for breeding.
 
Zoofan15 said:
The average birth interval of a Sumatran orangutan is 9 years, and this could be extended with contraception is required. Two females could be bred at 8 years, 18 years and 28 years during their time at Auckland Zoo.
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Its more like 4 or 5 year interval in most European zoos that breed them
 
Zoofan15 said:
It'd be great to see a mixed species exhibit. I've heard it works well in some zoos. In most cases they interactions are either positive, or neutral. Adelaide Zoo tried it, but discontinued the practice after the male siamang had his arm broken by one of the orangutans. I'm not sure if this was through rough play or aggression. The San Diego Zoo reported the siamangs chased a mother orangutan and her baby, and had to be separated, but following the birth of her next offspring, a reintroduction was trialled successfully. The baby orangutan in particular enjoys playing with the siamang.

Where do you think the best place to source orangutans would be? How many young females (under 12 years) do Perth Zoo have? Maybe they could supply the females, and zoos from Europe or Asia supply the males.
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This mix was also tried at Melbourne Zoo but discontinued because the two ape species didn't get along.
 
Nisha said:
Its more like 4 or 5 year interval in most European zoos that breed them
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Ideally this is what Auckland Zoo would allow but with limited placements for offspring, I doubt it'd be allowed. To my knowledge, the only great ape in Australasia allowed to breed within it's natural birth interval from the 2000s onwards has been Zombi the chimpanzee at Monarto Zoo.

With contraception, Auckland could extend the birth intervals of their orangutan to 10 years plus, like they did with Dara (11 years between Datuk and Darli).
 
Zoofan15 said:
Were the larger orangutans the aggressive party?
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I have no more information than that unfortunately. The introduction phase was shown on a reality type television show that the zoo had at the time and it seemed like the orang-utans were definitely following the siamangs around the exhibit. Whether this was out of aggression or curiosity I've no idea.
 
Zoofan15 said:
I'm not sure how the new enclosure will be set up, but there has been talk of four islands, so this suggests four separate habitats (and the potential of four groups).
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In that case there would obviously be room for several groupings as you suggest.

Is Auckland definately transferring to Sumatrans and with these sorts of plans for them?
 
Pertinax said:
In that case there would obviously be room for several groupings as you suggest.

Is Auckland definately transferring to Sumatrans and with these sorts of plans for them?
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Auckland Zoo have been working to phase out their Bornean orangutans for many years, as no other zoo in Australasia holds them. The last planned birth was in 2002, and the last birth was in 2005. In 2009, they exported three adults to the USA, followed by another three in 2015. This leaves them with 1.1 Bornean orangutans and 0.1 hybrid orangutans. In this article, they discuss the zoo’s plan to shift to Sumatrans:

US will go ape for arrivals - National - NZ Herald News

I’m not sure exactly what the plans are for the new enclosure/islands, but ZooBoyNZ has mentioned the idea of four islands in this thread.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Auckland Zoo have been working to phase out their Bornean orangutans for many years, as no other zoo in Australasia holds them. The last planned birth was in 2002, and the last birth was in 2005. In 2009, they exported three adults to the USA, followed by another three in 2015. This leaves them with 1.1 Bornean orangutans and 0.1 hybrid orangutans. In this article, they discuss the zoo’s plan to shift to Sumatrans:

US will go ape for arrivals - National - NZ Herald News

I’m not sure exactly what the plans are for the new enclosure/islands, but ZooBoyNZ has mentioned the idea of four islands in this thread.
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Thanks for the article, I hadn't read that one before. Here is a link to a OneDrive folder: https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=!AF8cBvyi52Zzq0U&id=E0DD2B56BF74ED24!184&cid=E0DD2B56BF74ED24 One of the documents is of Auckland Zoo's master plan, and one of the others is a design brief of the future South East Asian precinct. There is some designs/concepts of the future orangutan exhibit in those. :) You probably have already seen the documents, but it's just incase you haven't!
 
ZooBoyNZ said:
Thanks for the article, I hadn't read that one before. Here is a link to a OneDrive folder: https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=!AF8cBvyi52Zzq0U&id=E0DD2B56BF74ED24!184&cid=E0DD2B56BF74ED24 One of the documents is of Auckland Zoo's master plan, and one of the others is a design brief of the future South East Asian precinct. There is some designs/concepts of the future orangutan exhibit in those. :) You probably have already seen the documents, but it's just incase you haven't!
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Cool, thanks for those. It'll be amazing when it's complete! Great to see Auckland Zoo constantly upgrading and expanding! :D
 
zooboy28 said:
I guess importation of hippos is currently prohibited? But hopefully the importation of a couple of new animals is a priority for Auckland Zoo. I don;t think Faith is the friendliest hippo though, so integration could be difficult. Regardless, a one-hippo country is not acceptable.
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I'm thinking Auckland Zoo might phase out the Common Hippos and exhibit Pygmy Hippos instead. This species seesm to be gaining popularity in Australia and are no doubt cheaper to curate, given they're a fraction of the size.

Am I correct in thinking that they're more solitary than the common hippos though? Is this why zoos often exhibit a breeding pair, as oppose to one male and multiple females like Auckland Zoo used to with their common hippos in the 70s and 80s?

I believe they're also more terrestrial as a species? Some minor alterations may need to be made to the current enclosure but on the whole, what has been an adequate exhibit for Faith and Fudge, could be a spacious exhibit for a much smaller and endangered animal, that is supported by multiple zoos in the region.
 
Auckland Zoo now has a Green Iguana, Iggy who was confiscated after trying to be smuggled into New Zealand.
Iggy the Iguana moves in
Iggy the Iguana moves in
Monday, 25 July 2016
​​​​​Meet our newest resident - Iggy the green Iguana - who came to be in New Zealand because someone tried to smuggle him in through the mail. Luckily, Iggy was found just in time and can now help us educate our visitors about wildlife crime.

Wildlife crime is a serious issue, that's why NZ has The Wildlife Enforcement Group (WEG) - a partnership between the Department of Conservation, NZ Customs Service and Ministry for Primary Industries. ​​​
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Tygo said:
Auckland Zoo now has a Green Iguana, Iggy who was confiscated after trying to be smuggled into New Zealand.
Iggy the Iguana moves in
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very cool. There's a Youtube video as well (link below) where it says the iguana was posted from Sweden, has been at the zoo for 18 months already, and is now being housed in "the education department" (from which I take that it will not be on display).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7resHzg8zZM


EDIT: actually if the iguana has been there for 18 months then I suspect it might be the same animal which was intercepted by Customs in October 2014 along with the Veiled Chameleons which are now at Wellington Zoo. I'll try to find that out.
 
While its cool Auckland has acquired an iguana, its a shame it is not on public display. An iguana could do quite well in one of the outdoor exhibits in the Rainforest during the warmer months, with a heat lamp. The old Golden Lion Tamarin enclosure would be a good place.
 
zooboy28 said:
While its cool Auckland has acquired an iguana, its a shame it is not on public display.
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I think they keep their clawed frogs and fire-bellied newts off general display in the education department as well, which I think is also a shame.
 
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