Auckland Zoo Auckland Zoo News 2017

zooboy28 said:
Hopefully this will allow dispersal of some of the offspring to another NZ zoo - will be good to have more holders of this species in the country.
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It'd be good to see Hamilton Zoo and Orana Wildlife Park support the breeding programme.

I see Wellington Zoo imported 1.3: Guarani (male) and Vara, Guara and Lapa (females), but their website now lists them as just having 0.3 so Guarani must have moved/died therefore explaining the lack of breeding.

The last litter at Auckland Zoo were 2.0 named Pepe and Pablo, they were born to Consuela on 07/06/2016.
 
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I was surprised to hear that the new pups 0.0.3 born 29/09/2017 have already been integrated with the 'herd' as I thought infanticide was common in the species (especially by other females), however I found this journal article:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159198002317

The data revealed that the infanticides were associated with reproductive groups containing females who have not been together since weaning (unfamiliar females) in spite of living together without apparent conflicts until the occurrence of births, when they killed the companions' offspring. This study revealed that when groups are set up of females that were living together since weaning, there is no need to isolate the females for parturition.

So I'm guessing the two adult females are littermates? Or at least raised together?
 
Female red panda Khela (who came to Auckland from Hamilton Zoo last month) is now on display and has been introduced to male red panda Ramesh. The zoo is hoping the two will breed, so fingers crossed for red panda cubs sometime next year!

(Information from Auckland Zoo's Facebook)
 
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Auckland Zoo posted on their Facebook page today about how visitors can drop flowers off at the zoo reception for their red flying foxes (which are currently off display).
Something from the post that I thought would be worth mentioning here though:
At the zoo we have some of the largest bats in the world, our red flying foxes are currently off display but will be moving to our Australian precinct in the future.
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Good to hear - I assume an on display enclosure for them will need to built?
 
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Article on Auckland Zoo's new elephant (or lack of new elephant):

Mystery over Auckland Zoo's new $1.6m elephant

Transporting an elephant to New Zealand comes with a jumbo pricetag - $1.6 million in fact.

In May 2011 Auckland Council approved $3.2m to transport two gifted elephants from Sri Lanka to New Zealand.

In June 2015, Anjalee arrived at Auckland Zoo from Sri Lanka's Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, to keep the zoo's veteran elephant Burma company, after spending three months quarantined on Niue.

Protests earlier this year stopped a baby elephant called Nandi from leaving Sri Lanka for New Zealand. Nandi was also from Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage and gifted by the Sri Lankan Government.

Campaigners in Sri Lanka petitioned the Sri Lankan Court of Appeal to prevent Nandi from being moved to Auckland. A hearing is scheduled for Saturday.

Now Auckland Council is budgeting $1.6m for a second elephant to join Burma and Anjalee however, it is not clear whether it will be Nandi or a different gifted elephant.

During the 2017/2018 Annual Plan process council allocated only $1.1m for the relocation of the second elephant instead of the $1.6m required, due to an oversight.

A meeting will be held on October 24 and a correction of $549,000 will need to be added to the regional facilities Auckland board's ((RFA) operating expense budget in order for the second elephant to be transported from Sri Lanka.

Animal rights activist and SAFE ambassador Hans Kriek said $1.6m was a one-off cost and there would be high ongoing costs to look after an elephant in captivity.

"It's really not contributing to conservation of the species," Kriek said.

"If this is really about conservation, then that money would be better spent protecting animals already in the wild rather than putting one in a zoo for people to look at."

Elephants lived in groups and zoos could not replicate these types of family ties, Kriek said.

He said living in captivity was not good "emotionally, mentally and physically" for elephants.

RFA external relations director Paul Brewer said aspects of the elephant programme funding would be discussed at Auckland Council's finance and performance committee meeting on October 24.

Auckland Zoo would not comment until after the meeting.
 
Council approves new $1.6m elephant despite Sri Lankan court hold up

Council approves new $1.6m elephant despite Sri Lankan court hold up

The only thing stopping Auckland from getting a third elephant is a court case in Sri Lanka. In May 2011 Auckland Council approved $3.2m to transport two gifted elephants from Sri Lanka to New Zealand. Anjalee joined veteran elephant Burma at Auckland Zoo in 2015. But protests from animal rights activists and cultural and religious groups in Sri Lanka stopped second elephant Nandi from leaving Sri Lanka for New Zealand.

During the 2017/2018 Annual Plan process council allocated only $1.1m for the relocation of the second elephant instead of the $1.6m required, due to an oversight.

At Auckland Council's finance and performance committee meeting on Tuesday, 15 councillors approved a correction of $549,000 to the $1.6 million needed to move Nandi to New Zealand. A hearing about whether Nandi can be moved to New Zealand is underway after campaigners in Sri Lanka petitioned the Sri Lankan Court of Appeal.

At the committee meeting, Auckland Zoo deputy director Kevin Burley said the court case in Sri Lanka was not about Nandi specifically, but rather the gifting of elephants as a whole.

Anjalee had thrived under the zoo's care and he thought Nandi would thrive also, Burley said.

Councillors Cathy Casey, Efeso Collins, Mike Lee, Wayne Walker and John Watson voted against the decision. "It's a lot of money to transport an exotic, endangered animal from one part of the world to this part of the world," Casey said. "Two elephants are enough. $1.6m could go a long way for community groups and the council's homelessness programme," she said.

Collins said he was voting against the correction because $549,000 could be used to double council's commitment to homelessness. "We would pay the Christmas parades in Ōtara, Papatoetoe, Otahuhu and Māngere for 15 years with half a million dollars," Collins said. "We could fly around civil servants of this council business class with half a million dollars."

Regional facilities Auckland board external relations director Paul Brewer said it was delighted at the correction of $549,000. "There was good robust debate," Brewer said.

If the court in Sri Lanka ruled in its favour, getting Nandi to New Zealand would be quickly underway, he said.

A spokeswoman for Auckland Zoo said it was confident it could give Nandi an excellent home and life but her arrival was ultimately up to the Sri Lankan courts. "If we subsequently hear definitively that she will have to stay at Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, then we will then explore what other options are for our elephant programme," the spokeswoman said.

SAFE campaign director Mandy Carter said Nandi had established her own family at the orphanage and an "artificial group" at Auckland Zoo could cause issues, she said.

Alongside the one-off cost of $3.2m for Anjalee and Nandi, there would be high ongoing costs of $100,000 each to look after three elephants at the zoo, Carter said. Instead she thought the money could go to looking after native animals.

Residents commented on community website Neighbourly about Auckland Council spending $1.6m on an elephant. Remuera resident Zoe Spinks said having another elephant at the zoo would attract more visitors. "I see this as an investment to bring more interest and funding toward conservation, including our own native species," Spinks said.

Grey Lynn resident Jo Ryan said she wondered what Auckland Council's perspective was on spending money on an elephant rather than safe and affordable housing. "$1.6m could change the lives of many of those who are homeless," Ryan said.
 
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The little red flying foxes (which were mentioned earlier in this thread) are now on display in the Australian precinct. From a video that the zoo posted on their Instagram, it looks like they are in the lorikeet aviary.
 
Two news pieces from Auckland Zoo's Facebook page today:
This morning, the zoo said farewell to their three elderly cotton-top tamarins. Primate keepers made the kindest decision to euthanise the cotton-tops as they had well exceeded their life expectancy and were exhibiting degenerative age-related health conditions.
However, Auckland Zoo will be continuing to support the breeding programme for these critically endangered species by becoming the home to two young cotton-top tamarins at the end of November - a male from Germany and a female from Italy.
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Also - the zoo's pair of pygmy marmosets have moved into a different exhibit (which is a lot more open than the glass-fronted one which they are usually in) with the golden lion tamarins! Not sure if this arrangement will be permanent or just temporary.
Our pair of pygmy marmosets have moved to an island habitat! June & Piccolo are now sharing the island with their primate cousins - golden lion tamarin pair Alonzo & Frida who are known for their impressive orange manes. See these social monkeys all week, hanging out in the forest canopy in our South American precinct.
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https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/lo...oo-1-million-behind-after-year-of-wet-weather



Rainy days have hurt Auckland Zoo's bottom line.

Auckland Zoo brought in $11.3 million for the year to June, $1 million less than what was forecast, because 135 rainy days impacted on visitor numbers.

While this was only 31 more rainy days than average, of those wet days, 65 were during peak visitor times, including school holidays, public holidays or weekends.

Auckland Zoo is a not-for-profit organisation, which receives a 14 per cent annual subsidy from Auckland Council for operating costs but otherwise relies on the support of visitors, partners and sponsors.

...

Even with fewer visitors it was still happy with 683,000 visitors for the year, which was slightly less than the previous year's 703,000 visitors but almost 40,000 more than in 2015, he said.

...
 
ZooBoyNZ said:
This morning, the zoo said farewell to their three elderly cotton-top tamarins. Primate keepers made the kindest decision to euthanise the cotton-tops as they had well exceeded their life expectancy and were exhibiting degenerative age-related health conditions.
However, Auckland Zoo will be continuing to support the breeding programme for these critically endangered species by becoming the home to two young cotton-top tamarins at the end of November - a male from Germany and a female from Italy.
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Short news video here: Sad day as Auckland Zoo euthanises three well-loved primates
 
Endangered whio ducklings hatch at Auckland Zoo, will soon attend duckling 'boot camp'

Auckland Zoo is in a flutter after successfully breeding the rare native whio, or blue duck, for the first time in five years.

The five-strong brood, or "paddling" to use the technical term, are just over a week old. While the ducklings are all fuzz and cuteness now, over coming weeks they'll get strong enough to head off to a duckling "boot camp" at a Department of Conservation (DOC) facility down country.

More story and photos on the link.
 
There was a short interview with keepers from Auckland Zoo on Seven Sharp (TVNZ) last night discussing quality of life/euthanasia of animals at the zoo. It was supposed to focus on the recent decision to euthanise the elderly male cheetah, Anubis, but his keeper was understandably too upset to speak about it.

Two bits of news came out of it:

Sheeka the lioness (born 1999) may be euthanised in the next year due to ill health. They are closely monitoring her health and will make a decision based on her quality of life. The clip showed staff examining x-rays of her joints so perhaps she is suffering from arthritis.

Two female cheetah cubs will be arriving this month.
 
Sheeka has been euthanised:

Lion Sheeka put down by Auckland Zoo

Auckland Zoo has put down one of its lions, Sheeka, because of poor health.

The 19-year-old female was considered elderly and had been suffering from arthritis and problems with her kidney and other organs.

The zoo said she had lost condition and noticeably slowed in recent weeks, particularly the last few days.

It said the vets and specialist keepers decided the kindest option was to euthanise her.

Nicknamed "cheeky Sheeky" by her keepers, the lioness came to the zoo in 1999 from Australia and had three cubs in 2001.

Auckland Zoo has two other lions, both females.
 
- The two female cheetah (mentioned above by @Zoofan15) arrived at the zoo today after a 7-day quarantine at Orana Wildlife Park. They came to New Zealand from Cango Wildlife Ranch in South Africa, and are named Qia and Quartz.
According to a comment on the zoo's Instagram, the new cheetah girls will be living in "the old tiger enclosure by Darwins Cafe" and male cheetah Osiris will stay in his current enclosure.

- The zoo's three Bornean orangutans are moving to Orana Wildlife Park at the end of this month for a 2 year stay while the South East Asian precinct is built (the move was recently delayed)
From the zoo's Facebook:
This exciting new redevelopment will see over a fifth of our zoo transformed into an immersive new home for our orangutan, siamang gibbon, tigers, otters, reptiles and invertebrates and more!
During this time, you will be able to visit them in Orana Wildlife Park in the recently completed Great Ape Centre which has been purpose built for gorillas and orangutans. Our primate keepers, including primate team leader Amy, will be joining our orangutan in Christchurch to help them to feel at home their new environment.
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So excited for work to start on this! :D
 
Interesting that the cheetah are staying there (presumably temporarily)... Does this refer to the covered tiger exhibit next to the otters?

The development is exciting indeed, and it will be very interesting to see how it progresses. I guess the tigers, otters (both exhibits), red pandas (both exhibits) and lemurs will have to leave their exhibits at some stage too, but that might be quite far down the track.
 
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