Auckland Zoo Auckland Zoo News 2021

Chick number three! Last Thursday, a third Greater Flamingo chick hatched at Auckland Zoo. Also the first chick that hatched in early January has now been named Liyongo ( apparently Swahili for 'talks much'):
We’re excited to announce we have not one…not two…but THREE healthy flamingo chicks at Auckland Zoo! All being wonderfully cared for by their parents, the eldest chick is 5 weeks old and has already been following the flock into the pool for a refreshing swim. The second chick to hatch is 2 weeks old, with the youngest and third chick hatching out last Thursday, making them 8 days old today. The eldest chick is the first to be named, being given the name Liyongo by one of our long-time zoo visitors who has been following the progress of the flock since 2001! Liyongo is Swahili for ‘talks much’ which reflects the incredible sounds the flock makes together. Would you like to become a flamingologist and help our bird keepers to care for these youngsters?
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WhistlingKite24 said:
Chick number three! Last Thursday, a third Greater Flamingo chick hatched at Auckland Zoo. Also the first chick that hatched in early January has now been named Liyongo ( apparently Swahili for 'talks much'):

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Fantastic news!

What a great season this has been for the zoo’s flock:

Liyongo (03/01/2021) Gender Unknown
Unnamed (23/01/2021) Gender Unknown
Unnamed (28/01/2021) Gender Unknown
 
Zoofan15 said:
It’s great to see the chick growing well (and being raised by the flock).

The zoo announced this time last year that the flock had laid 14 eggs (unfortunately none successful); and since chicks have hatched as late as February, there might be more chicks to come.

The keeper even says in the video they have one flamingo chick “at the moment.” :)
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If only another NZ zoo would import some eggs like Auckland zoo did it would be a huge kick start to Flamingos joining other collections or its going to be a mighty long wait until we see them around outside of Auckland!
 
Zorro said:
If only another NZ zoo would import some eggs like Auckland zoo did it would be a huge kick start to Flamingos joining other collections or its going to be a mighty long wait until we see them around outside of Auckland!
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Honestly it might not be as long of a wait as one would think. Flamingo breeding is sort of exponential, in a way.

The colony is currently 25 strong, with 22 of them current or potential breeders, and collectively they tend to lay 10+ eggs a year, with around 40% fertility. Fast forward 5 years, assuming everything goes well and they follow prior years habits (with gradually increasing fertility as full winged males hatched at the zoo mature and start to breed), the colony could easily hit 35-40 birds by 2026 (and remember, all the chicks hatched at the zoo are kept full winged, aka better overall fertility for the group as they enter the breeding bracket). With those sorts of numbers, they could be producing 10+ chicks yearly. At that point, with that number, they could potentially produce enough birds to supply "starter flocks" of 10-15 individuals to 2 or maybe even 3 other zoos in the region before 2030 hits.

Would these smaller flocks be ideal for chick production? Not, not initially. However, they still do have the potential with those numbers to possibly breed, and of course, they wouldn't be of breeding age for 3-7 years anyway. In the time it takes for these new colonies to mature, Auckland, if it so desired, could continue to pump out chicks with its ever expanding and maturing colony to supplement these smaller "display only" flocks to breeding size groupings as well.

Another import of birds *would* be nice, but honestly the benefits to the regional population would be minimal (beyond having another zoo displaying them) for a number of years. By the time a flock of new imports would be matured and producing, the Auckland flock will likely be able to produce enough birds to meet regional display needs anyway. Of course the new genetics would be nice, but with a founding flock of 16 individuals, there is enough genetic diversity there for a few generations yet.

In my mind, another import of 15-20 individuals 10-15 years from now would be best, the birds could go straight into a large, successful flock, and with them, New Zealand would likely never need to worry about importing flamingos (either for genetics or numbers) again.
 
Hyak_II said:
Honestly it might not be as long of a wait as one would think. Flamingo breeding is sort of exponential, in a way.

The colony is currently 25 strong, with 22 of them current or potential breeders, and collectively they tend to lay 10+ eggs a year, with around 40% fertility. Fast forward 5 years, assuming everything goes well and they follow prior years habits (with gradually increasing fertility as full winged males hatched at the zoo mature and start to breed), the colony could easily hit 35-40 birds by 2026 (and remember, all the chicks hatched at the zoo are kept full winged, aka better overall fertility for the group as they enter the breeding bracket). With those sorts of numbers, they could be producing 10+ chicks yearly. At that point, with that number, they could potentially produce enough birds to supply "starter flocks" of 10-15 individuals to 2 or maybe even 3 other zoos in the region before 2030 hits.

Would these smaller flocks be ideal for chick production? Not, not initially. However, they still do have the potential with those numbers to possibly breed, and of course, they wouldn't be of breeding age for 3-7 years anyway. In the time it takes for these new colonies to mature, Auckland, if it so desired, could continue to pump out chicks with its ever expanding and maturing colony to supplement these smaller "display only" flocks to breeding size groupings as well.

Another import of birds *would* be nice, but honestly the benefits to the regional population would be minimal (beyond having another zoo displaying them) for a number of years. By the time a flock of new imports would be matured and producing, the Auckland flock will likely be able to produce enough birds to meet regional display needs anyway. Of course the new genetics would be nice, but with a founding flock of 16 individuals, there is enough genetic diversity there for a few generations yet.

In my mind, another import of 15-20 individuals 10-15 years from now would be best, the birds could go straight into a large, successful flock, and with them, New Zealand would likely never need to worry about importing flamingos (either for genetics or numbers) again.
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I agree with you if all goes well, perhaps but sometimes it does not as was the case of losing a number of flounder birds. As you know they breed best in large flocks so really Auckland would be silly to let go to many from its flock until later rather than sooner.I believe Aucklands birds will not meet the regions requirements for quite some time, We know there are many in Europe but lets not forget this small flock is the one and only in the whole region every extra bird would be a bonus!
 
Zorro said:
I agree with you if all goes well, perhaps but sometimes it does not as was the case of losing a number of flounder birds. As you know they breed best in large flocks so really Auckland would be silly to let go to many from its flock until later rather than sooner.I believe Aucklands birds will not meet the regions requirements for quite some time, We know there are many in Europe but lets not forget this small flock is the one and only in the whole region every extra bird would be a bonus!
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Auckland Zoo only lost four of the 20 founders they imported in 2001 - three died between 2001 and 2002; and a fourth sometime before the first chick was bred in 2014.

The creation of a splinter group (when numbers allow) would ideally take into account genetic diversity; as opposed to shipping out that year’s batch of chicks.

The same founders seem to be breeding each time (one pair have produced three chicks now) and their offspring in turn will have the advantage of being winged, meaning there will be large cohorts of closely related chicks; while other founders may only begin to breed for the first time once larger numbers are achieved.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Auckland Zoo only lost four of the 20 founders they imported in 2001 - three died between 2001 and 2002; and a fourth sometime before the first chick was bred in 2014.

The creation of a splinter group (when numbers allow) would ideally take into account genetic diversity; as opposed to shipping out that year’s batch of chicks.

The same founders seem to be breeding each time (one pair have produced three chicks now) and their offspring in turn will have the advantage of being winged, meaning there will be large cohorts of closely related chicks; while other founders may only begin to breed for the first time once larger numbers are achieved.
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I wonder if double clutching works with Flamingos?. I know the San Deigo WAP worked this well with the Condors and even triple clutched them!
 
Zorro said:
I wonder if double clutching works with Flamingos?. I know the San Deigo WAP worked this well with the Condors and even triple clutched them!
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It does. The trick with flamingos though, there has to be multiple pairs nesting at the same time, and you can only pull from one pair at a time (in smaller flocks at least). If you pulled all of the eggs at once, it will generally cause a colony to stop nesting instead of re-laying.

Given the number of eggs the Auckland flock produces, I'm almost certain that they are pulling eggs from at least some of their pairs to double clutch.
 
Hyak_II said:
It does. The trick with flamingos though, there has to be multiple pairs nesting at the same time, and you can only pull from one pair at a time (in smaller flocks at least). If you pulled all of the eggs at once, it will generally cause a colony to stop nesting instead of re-laying.

Given the number of eggs the Auckland flock produces, I'm almost certain that they are pulling eggs from at least some of their pairs to double clutch.
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Thats interesting would be nice to find out :cool:
 
Hyak_II said:
Given the number of eggs the Auckland flock produces, I'm almost certain that they are pulling eggs from at least some of their pairs to double clutch.
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Zorro said:
Thats interesting would be nice to find out :cool:
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Last year the flock laid 14 eggs. There’s not even that many pairs, so clearly some double clutched. I know the keepers remove the eggs, incubate them, and then replace the fertile ones prior to hatching. This has no doubt helped them achieve the success they’ve experienced. They’re clearly doing a phenomenal job, despite having no prior regional expertise to rely on.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Last year the flock laid 14 eggs. There’s not even that many pairs, so clearly some double clutched. I know the keepers remove the eggs, incubate them, and then replace the fertile ones prior to hatching. This has no doubt helped them achieve the success they’ve experienced. They’re clearly doing a phenomenal job, despite having no prior regional expertise to rely on.
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It looks like those of us that are interested will be keeping tabs on the first 100 chicks until the flock is way bigger! :D
 
Zorro said:
It looks like those of us that are interested will be keeping tabs on the first 100 chicks until the flock is way bigger! :D
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It’ll be exciting to see the Greater flamingo aviary (mentioned in the 2014 masterplan) when it’s built. I’m sure it will be truly world class. It’ll be an opportunity to further enhance breeding, with the exhibit purpose built from scratch - and will hopefully be able to accomodate the large flock we hope they’ll soon have.

My theory is the new aviary (potentially combined with a new hippo exhibit, will replace the elephant exhibit; though as nothing has been announced (or decided), we will have to wait and see.
 
Zoofan15 said:
It’ll be exciting to see the Greater flamingo aviary (mentioned in the 2014 masterplan) when it’s built. I’m sure it will be truly world class. It’ll be an opportunity to further enhance breeding, with the exhibit purpose built from scratch - and will hopefully be able to accomodate the large flock we hope they’ll soon have.

My theory is the new aviary (potentially combined with a new hippo exhibit, will replace the elephant exhibit; though as nothing has been announced (or decided), we will have to wait and see.
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lets hope they still go with it, 2014 is a while ago and as you know things can change! :cool:
 
Auckland's pair of Siamang now have access to the network of aerial ropes and pathways. They will be rotated throughout the day with the orangutans:
These incredible primates are now living the high life! If you’ve visited the zoo recently you may have seen our orangutans climbing 25 metres off the ground on this innovative network of aerial pathways. We’re excited to announce that our siamangs are now experiencing the full extent of this exceptional new habitat for themselves, taking in the best sights of the zoo and the surrounding neighbourhood. Primate team leader Amy says “it’s been amazing seeing them up there! So far our male Intan has been very agile and confident, while Kera is slowly taking her time. I’ve seen her hanging with just one hand which demonstrates just how strong this species is!” One of the reasons siamang call is to let other primates know that this is where they live, which means they’re claiming this network as part of their extended territory. This High Canopy area is the first part of our South East Asia Jungle Track to have opened to our visitors, with a complex and compelling new area for Sumatran tigers, Asian small-clawed otters and a climate-controlled tropical dome to be completed. Currently, the siamangs and orangutans will have access to the aerial pathways at different times of the day, so it’ll be a pleasant surprise who you’ll get to see climbing above you! We hope we’ll be able to welcome you all back to the zoo soon so you can see these amazing primates in action.
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Tasmanian devil update:

Female Tasmanian devil, Dash, is now on display (as of 26/02/2021) after arriving from Wellington Zoo and completing her quarantine.

The zoo have stated they will soon begin introductions between Dash and their male devil, Smiley.

This implies their other male, Levi, has died as they used the phrase “our male devil Smiley”; not “one of our male devils Smiley.” I will ask on my next visit.

Auckland Zoo
 
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