Auckland Zoo Auckland Zoo News 2022

Kifaru Bwana said:
A very respectable age.

I assume the aviary holds more kaka for breeding?
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Yes, Auckland Zoo has several in the freeflight aviary, including Mia’s daughter. They breed regularly.

Hamilton Zoo have a pair named Kennedy and Makere. They live in the free-flight aviary (the largest in New Zealand) and their offspring each season are passed onto DOC for release into sanctuaries.
 
Wanita the orangutan has passed away:

She was found unresponsive in her habitat this morning and staff were unable to resuscitate her. It was noted she’d been suffering from Orangutan Respiratory Disease for many years.

Her death leaves Auckland Zoo with 1.1 Bornean orangutans, with Melur due to welcome an infant later this month - something positive for her keepers to focus on during this difficult time.

I will be posting a tribute to Wanita in this thread shortly: Australasian Orangutan Population
 
Anjalee has safely arrived at Taronga Western Plains Zoo:

Anjalee is now settling in to her new surroundings, which includes a 30-day quarantine period. Our dedicated elephant keeping staff are staying on with her throughout her quarantine and following this, will be working alongside our Australian zoo colleagues to introduce her to her new elephant family.

We look forward to sharing more updates with you on how she’s doing in the coming weeks, so be sure to check back. As we’ve already shared, the Zoo’s other elephant Burma will be moving to her new zoo home, Australia Zoo, accompanied by some of the Zoo’s elephant team in late April. So, there’s still plenty of time to come and visit and wish her well ahead of her move.
 
North Island saddleback update:

The chicks have been sexed as two males:

From social media:

Excitingly, the chicks are now over one month old and have been successfully transitioned by our bird team so that they can now feed entirely by themselves - enjoying foods like insects and papaya. We were also able to sex the chicks (via DNA sexing) and can confirm they are both males.

These manu (birds) are currently in a back of house aviary where our team can keep a close eye on them via CCTV. They will continue to monitor their health – such as taking regular weights - over the next few weeks to make sure they’re growing as they should.
 
Bornean orangutan Melur gave birth March 20 to a healthy infant:

This is Melur’s third infant:

Born on Sunday 20 March at 11.30am, Melur had a quick and straightforward labour without any complications, supported by Charlie and the Zoo’s primate team.

So far, Melur is proving to be an exceptionally attentive mum, and her baby (sex yet to be confirmed) has a strong suckling reflex and a healthy grip – both signs he/she is thriving.

Today the family will have the opportunity to go outside into their high canopy habitat for the first time with baby. But it’ll be up to Melur if she feels comfortable doing so and also weather dependent – so this may mean visitors won’t see Melur and her baby immediately. However, as she settles into motherhood again, she will regain her strength and willingness to explore her habitat.

Auckland Zoo celebrates birth of baby orangutan | Auckland Zoo News
 
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Sumatran tiger import:

Oklahoma City Zoo and Topeka Zoo have now both applied for export permits to export their respective Sumatran tigers, Ramah and Zayana, to Auckland Zoo.

The tigers will be an exciting arrival to celebrate the zoo’s centenary this year and the first tigers imported into New Zealand from outside the region since 1994.
 
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Inkosi the Southern white rhinoceros has died:

Some sad news from Auckland Zoo today:

Inkosi suddenly stopped eating and became extremely lethargic last weekend. After administering pain relief and antibiotics, our vet team then did a full examination under general anaesthetic earlier this week. Bloods obtained and tested indicated Inkosi had signs of renal (kidney) failure.

With subsequent treatments failing to help Inkosi, and additional tests revealing his condition had deteriorated, our vet team with our ungulates team made the tough but only right call to euthanise him late Wednesday.

Inkosi was the first of his species born at Hamilton Zoo in 2002. He’s survived by his parents (Zambezi and Caballe), sister (Imani) and numerous half siblings - including one due at Auckland Zoo later this year.
 
Update on Bornean orangutan infant:

From social media:

Charlie and Melur’s two-week old baby is growing well and has been confirmed by our primate team to be a male. Our team have also chosen a special name for him – Bahmi, which means ‘noodles’ in the Indonesian language.

This not only reflects his Indonesian heritage but also pays homage to his ‘aunty’ Wanita, as she had always been affectionally called noodles by our primate team.

Melur and her baby have been exploring their high canopy habitat for short stints every day. It will be a few months until Melur will be venturing onto the aerial pathways with Charlie once more, as this is when she will no longer need to continually support her baby with her hand or foot, making climbing easier. We'll keep you updated on Bahmi's progress!
 
Zoo rehabilitates and release three sea turtles:

Full story on social media:

Great success for Team Turtle last week - with three rescued and rehabilitated sea turtles released into the wild!

All three sea turtles – green sea turtle Delta, eastern pacific green sea turtle Taka and loggerhead sea turtle Puck, were brought to our Zoo veterinary hospital by the Department of Conservation after being found in a critical condition on Piha, Takapuna and Kaitaia beaches, respectively.

After an involved rehabilitation process, SEALIFE Kelly Tarltons were able to safely release the turtles into the ocean at Poor Knights Island Marine Reserve last Thursday, accompanied by the kaumatua of Ngātiwi, students from Te Kura o Waikare and Auckland Zoo veterinarian Kimberly and vet nursing assistant Claire.
 
Sumatran tiger Sali is being transferred from Hamilton Zoo:

From social media:

Great news - we’re looking forward to welcoming Sumatran tiger Sali to Auckland Zoo!
Relocating from our friends at Hamilton Zoo, female tiger Sali will arrive in Auckland later this month as part of the zoos’ global breeding and advocacy programme for this critically endangered big cat.

Sali, who’s bloodline is well represented in the tiger population and is therefore not required to breed, will become the first tiger to experience our new Lowlands tiger habitat within the South East Asia Jungle Track – due to open fully this spring!

Later this year, the Zoo also hopes to welcome a young pair of Sumatran tigers from the United States who have specifically been selected by the international breeding programme managers to breed and contribute their valuable genes to the population in Australasia.

On arrival at Auckland Zoo, Sali will undergo a brief observation period in the tiger habitat’s inside quarters, ahead of being given the choice to venture outside.
 
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Have there been any update on the flamingo colony? I know that the two chicks were hatched, with a strong likelihood of a third that was due any day as per the last update. Curious to see how things have panned out for them this breeding season.
 
Hyak_II said:
Have there been any update on the flamingo colony? I know that the two chicks were hatched, with a strong likelihood of a third that was due any day as per the last update. Curious to see how things have panned out for them this breeding season.
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I was advised by a friend who visited last week that the two chicks hatched this season are thriving. There were no further successful hatchings.
 
Hyak_II said:
Gotcha. Sad there weren’t any more, but two is definitely better than none!
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Agreed. Considering there was no breeding activity in the first 13 years since the flock was founded in 2001, the small but incremental increases we've seen most years since 2014 have seen the flock steadily grow in numbers and edge ever closer to the minimum number of 40 birds for optimum breeding.

Decades from now, splinter flocks will be a strong possibility, which will supply over New Zealand zoos that are currently unable to import.
 
Auckland Zoo Update (April 2022)

Auckland Zoo no longer have a male Common waterbuck. They now hold three females. I was unable to find out what happened to him, but am aware there were integration issues (bulls can be aggressive, especially when housed with cows), so assume he was transferred to Orana Wildlife Park.

The zoo’s last Jackson’s chameleon has passed away. He was the last of his species held in New Zealand. He was born 17/07/2011 and lived a long life considering males of this species have a maximum lifespan of 8-10 years. I’ll be sad to see this species disappear considering Auckland Zoo’s long history with them. They were imported in 1996 and have bred successfully at the zoo.

The Galapagos giant tortoise hatchlings (Apple, Isabela, Guava and Darwin - hatched 01/21; and Fernandina - hatched 11/21) are thriving. I asked about their subspecies as requested by @Kifaru Bwana and were told they’re of the Iguana Cove subspecies C. n. vicina. It should be noted that @Chlidonias has previously advised they may be hybrids; and indeed, even in the wild, their range may overlap with the Sierra Negara subspecies C. n. guentheri.

The zoo’s Black-handed spider monkey troop currently consists of eight females. They’ll be looking to receive an unrelated male in the near future.

Burma’s crate training has been progressing well and all is set for her export on April 27.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Burma’s crate training has been progressing well and all is set for her export on April 27.
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Well this didn’t age well…

To be fair, they were hardly going to disclose the cancellation ahead of making this offical announcement, which was posted on their social media this afternoon:

Australia Zoo cancel import of Burma:

We are immensely disappointed to let you know that after many months of planning and hard work by our team here at Auckland Zoo, Australia Zoo has made the decision that they can no longer receive Asian elephant Burma.

The transfer, which was scheduled for next week, has therefore been cancelled and it will take significant time to explore alternatives to rehome Burma.

We will be working on these in the coming days and weeks ahead, and our skilled and dedicated elephant team will continue to provide the same expert care for Burma they always have while she remains with us.

Further discussion in this thread:

Australasian Asian Elephant Population 2022
 
Another Galapagos giant tortoise has hatched!

This is the seventh hatchling of this species to hatch at the zoo. They’re on track to becoming the next Honolulu Zoo!

From socials:

We have some wonderful news to share – another Galápagos tortoise has hatched at Auckland Zoo!

Now 43 days old, this tortoise is the sixth to have hatched at Auckland Zoo from three successful clutches by parents Smiley and Chippie. It was also the largest to hatch (weighing 94 grams!) which pales in comparison to the size of dad Smiley at 241kgs.

This hatchling was carefully cared for in an incubator for the first 30 days of its life, and recently our ectotherm team have moved it to a special climate-controlled vivarium in one of our behind the scenes areas.

The first four tortoises to hatch are now over 1 year old! You can see them in their custom-made creche at our Galápagos tortoise house.
 
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