It’s interesting to hear of another zoo fail to breed from a pair imported as juveniles and held in a 1.1 grouping. Incompatibility was clearly the issue given she conceived a calf at Dubbo seven months after her transfer.
They were half siblings, so that would explain why they never bred.
Werribee have really struggled to build up a decent sized herd - with Letaba producing males, who were transferred out; and Sisi producing only one surviving calf (Kipenzi).
It's interesting to see they never attempted to breed from Make, who was an experienced breeder.
Leeroy was an inconsistent breeder, so he never succeeded in the breeding program. Werribee went as far as importing a bull from Emmen (Kapamba), but Kapamba never bred due to a medical condition.
That left only Umgana, who was and still is a keen breeder, but has been retired due to his many granchildren at the Australia Zoo. Letaba was the only reliable mother, but she too was retired due to DJ's success at Beerwah.
The problem with Sisi was she didn't know how to raise calves, meaning they always had to be hand raised. The keepers weren't aware if she actually didn't know what to do with them, or if she was just lazy and couldn't be bothered (similar to Yuska the gorilla at Melbourne).
Hopefully Kifaru and Kipenzi are successful in breeding. There’s also a chance Sisi will breed too. Letaba would be non viable now considering it’s been 18 years since she last bred.
I have my fingers crossed for Kifaru and Kipenzi. Apparently they've mated multiple times already which is a great sign.
Unfortunately Werribee have no plans to breed from Sisi anytime soon due to her inability to raise calves. She's been retired from breeding, which ultimately leaves Kipenzi as Werribee's sole breeding female. Which, again, isn't great for construction of a decent sized herd. Hopefully with the Orana import upcoming later this year, Werribee will receive some females at least.
