It would appear the regions Orang-utan population is dwindling away like our gorilla population, I had believed that both would of made a slow but steady increase over time not slipping backwards.
Australasian Orangutan Population
- Thread starter Zoofan15
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It would appear the regions Orang-utan population is dwindling away like our gorilla population, I had believed that both would of made a slow but steady increase over time not slipping backwards.
The main reason is zoos in Australasia are now acknowledging orangutans are a semi-social species that dislike living in colonies.
Auckland Zoo held a colony of seven at one stage - consisting of an integrated group of five adult females and an adolescent male; as well as an adult male (which rotated access to this group of six with the zoo’s other adult male). Taronga held a similar sized colony, which was divided into groups based on conflicts - with Auckland later having to take the same approach as their youngest females matured.
It’s also not hugely helpful there’s no second holder for Bornean orangutan in the region, with the other holders holding Sumatran orangutans or hybrids.
More holders would be beneficial for the region, Perhaps Australia zoo could enter the scene at some stage since they did show much interest in holding them at one point?
It’s so frustrating Australia Zoo never acquired this species in 2006 as I strongly believe they would have received Bornean orangutan from Auckland Zoo and would now be a second holder of this species.
The year their colony reached nine orangutans, 1.2 were transferred to a second exhibit and exported to the USA four years later in 2009. My assumption is Australia Zoo would have received these three.
Hopefully Australia Zoo will take notice of the attraction Auckland Zoo’s orangutans have become - especially with the aerial pathway. Australia Zoo could potentially build something similar.
Orana Wildlife Park may also reconsider this species in the future. They have two large ape exhibits and only two gorillas to fill them.
An Auckland style south East Asian exhibit could really give Australia zoo a huge boost, they have the space and the climate to do something special. I noticed that even the smallest zoos in the country are processing forwards to a greater or lesser degree in their animal collection and also their exhibits, But I watch with great interest how and when AZ will move forward over time, one would assume that at some point some expansion or future development would have to happen?.Orang u tans would be ideal for the zoo.
Australia Zoo have said they’re focussed on making their zoo bigger and better - so would undoubtedly be looking at their collection to assess what’s missing, with great apes being the glaring omission.
An orangutan exhibit would link nicely to see the South East Asian exhibits (Sumatran elephants, Sumatran tigers), though for this reason they may prefer to source Sumatran orangutans.
I see the future of Auckland Zoo being to import two young female Bornean orangutans. Hopefully they’ll be time to do this and breed them with Charlie while still alive; with a new breeding male replacing him upon his death to breed with the imported females (and possibly daughters of Charlie) for genetic variation.
Swanson02
Well-Known Member
I got similar news from Adelaide that they were/are receiving a "4-year-old" Sumatran from somewhere, I initially assumed it would have been a young female to pair with Kluet. Although it could be a male, Adelaide might have scrapped breeding plans and instead now plan to be a bachelor facility holding 1-3 excess males.
Obviously, this proposed import wouldn't be tied in with Auckland but the reasons for cancellation, if plans were indeed canceled, would be the same. The keeper I got this information from, told me the correct info on the new infant baboon but incorrect info on Melbourne's Mandrill stance, so credibility as to whether Adelaide will receive this young Sumatran is up in the air.
Also, does anyone know if any 4-6-year-old Sumatran Orangutans fit this description in either the US or Europe?
I’d assume your initial assumption of a female to pair with Kluet is correct.
Kluet was previously identified as a genetically valuable male; and since it’d be difficult to form a bachelor group of this species, they’d need to be prepared to house the males separately - which would do little to enhance their collection.
Also, if they were aiming to receive a surplus male - the obvious candidate would be Sungai (2011) at Perth Zoo, who’s remained where he is.
There’s six young females within this age bracket (2016-2018) in the North American population:
0.1 Mila (23/03/2016) Indianapolis Zoo
0.1 Mulia (18/01/2018) Sedgwick County Zoo
0.1 Cerah (30/03/2018) Denver Zoo
0.1, Kera (06/06/2018) Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
0.1 Adira (07/08/2018) Greenville Zoo
0.1 Lily (07/08/2018) Sedgwick County Zoo
I’ll see what I can dig up on the European population, but it’s a chore to analyse as nobody’s uploaded a population list to the European Orangutan Population thread.
I had a quick look and identified these five Sumatran females:
0.1 Ronda (22/04/2017) Tierpark Hellabrun
0.1 Riang (12/06/2017) Zurich Zoo
0.1 Sari (00/08/2017) Leipzig Zoo
0.1 Indah (21/11/2017) Furuviksparken
0.1 Cabu (26/11/2018) Cologne Zoo
I would need to do further research to determine which are unrelated to Kluet, as he also comes from Europe and has several relatives within their regional population.
The wrong age, but I have thought it would be nice if Adelaide-born Indah's daughter Aisha was imported from San Diego, just because of the connection through her mother.
Four to six years old sounds so young to me for an infant to be separated from her mother; I'd expect an older adolescent to be imported, unless the individual had been hand-reared.
Four to six years old sounds so young to me for an infant to be separated from her mother; I'd expect an older adolescent to be imported, unless the individual had been hand-reared.
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Swanson02
Well-Known Member
The gist I got was that a 4-year-old individual had been earmarked to go to Adelaide around 2021 and he/she wouldn't arrive in Adelaide for another 3-4 years while covid and an import were being cleared up. So when the Orangutan does arrive she would be more around the 7-8 years age bracket which is when Sumatran Females start to reach maturity. I also do think it would be very nice and fitting if Aisha returned.
Thank you for doing that
. I was hoping there wouldn't be many individuals of that age bracket around the US and Europe so we could theorize on a particular animal but that doesn't seem to be the case. Saying all this the import might have been canceled and Adelaide may have gone in a different direction.
Thank you for doing that
It might not be so hard to narrow down as Melbourne Zoo are also planning to import and Kluet is related to their male, Malu. With this in mind, both zoos will likely import females that are unrelated to each other (as well as to Kluet and Malu’s line), so that matches can be made between their respective offspring in decades to come.
Since the US is such a hassle to import from, I’d assume both zoos will be importing from Europe.
If Kluet and Malu are related as you say, I doubt they'd breed offspring of theirs together.
It seems the regional Sumatran breeding has stagnated over recent years. Perth obviously won't be breeding until their new complex opens a few years down the line; Melbourne won't be breeding anytime soon too it seems; and Adelaide is very much up in the air as apparently they plan to import a younger female to pair with Kluet.
It’s a distant relation. Kluet is the great uncle of Malu. By the time you get to their offspring, the relationship will be even more distant.
It’s rare to have new founders join the international breeding programme these days and minor inbreeding such as this is inevitable (and has already occurred). It’s even more rampant in captive gorilla and chimpanzee populations.
There hasn’t been a surviving Sumatran orangutan birth since 2012. There was a similar lull of a decade between Perth Zoo breeding in 1993 and then no more surviving infants in the region until 2003 when Malu was born, which was followed by the birth of several infants at Perth from 2005 to 2012.
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It's a shame Santan and Maimunah weren't breed again (following Dewi in 2010); but I assume this is due to Santan's well represented Toronto lineage.
I would assume that’s the reason. They similarly haven’t rushed to transfer Dewi into a breeding situation - though she’s only 12 years old and the region seems to be following a trend of breeding this species for the first time in their mid teens (as oppose to eight or nine years old like most females throughout the 20th Century).
Dewi could potentially breed with Dinar at Perth Zoo down the line. Despite Santan and Dinar’s shared Toronto heritage, they’re unrelated. Breeding Dinar with Dewi would be preferable to breeding him exclusively with the current females at Perth, who all descend from the same line.
I am a bit surprised that the TAG teams for both Orange and gorillas have let the numbers fall to the current levels?, I would of believed that they would have been looking for a slow gain or at least hold the numbers stable, but to drop to dangerous levels?.
I’ll be watching Perth Zoo’s breeding plans with interest following the renovations to their exhibit. If we’re assuming this will still be around three years away, they’ll have four females of prime breeding age:
0.1 Sekara (20/07/1990) Hsing Hsing x Puspa
0.1 Pulang (21/12/1993) Atjeh x Puan
0.1 Teliti (20/10/2009) Hsing Hsing x Puteri
0.1 Lestari (09/01/2012) Hsing Hsing x Pulang
It wouldn’t surprise me if they transferred Teliti or Lestari out since it’d be unnecessary to have Dinar breed with the three daughters of Hsing Hsing, who are so similar genetically.
I had originally assumed Melbourne Zoo would be importing from Europe, but transferring Teliti to Melbourne would also create an unrelated breeding pair. The logical time to do this would be around the start of the renovations.
While Lestari fits the same criteria, she’s five years away from the preferred breeding age and Perth have mentioned in the past their desire for her to witness Pulang raising an infant.
Assuming that PZ's management approach to orangs hasn't changed, then the idea is to breed just enough for the colony to tick over. For many years the complex was limited to five enclosures - one for the male and four females plus young. I know there are more enclosures now, but not certain on numbers. They time the breedings both on age of individual and also to allow overlap of rearing mums, so that inexperienced individuals can watch what's going on (over the fence). Sure the zoo could pump out more youngsters, but they take up to 8 or so years learning from mum and then where would they go? It's not as if there are zoos in the region screaming out for them. Realistically there needs to be more regional zoos committing to holding orangs due to the complex social requirements (which don't affect chimp and gorilla husbandry). But they are expensive exhibits.
Personally I thing Auckland committing to Borneans was a huge mistake. Just not enough zoos in Australasia to manage two types of orang, and the public cannot tell the difference anyway.
Personally I thing Auckland committing to Borneans was a huge mistake. Just not enough zoos in Australasia to manage two types of orang, and the public cannot tell the difference anyway.
With eight orangutans, Perth are pretty much full to the brink at the moment. All of the potential breeding females still live with their now (pretty much) adult daughters, so the first move will obviously have to be sending these young females elsewhere before breeding can resume.
Although considering the age of some of their females, it may actually best to just retire the older four females from breeding (two of which - Puteri and Utama, won't be breeding again anyway); and breed from the youngest two girls who are aged 10 and 13. This would of course require a new male, and I don't see why Dinar shouldn't be swapped with a genetically valuable male like Kluet in the meantime.