Australia Zoo Australia Zoo News 2025

Zoofan15 said:
This will be a great opportunity for Bakari and a continuation of his family line, which currently consists of Bakari; his sister Tamu (2002), who is currently without a bull; and her two sons who live in Australia, neither of which are in breeding herds. His sire Memphis is still alive, but retired from breeding (with Perth scheduled to receive two non-breeding cows).

It appears Bakari’s intended mates are:

0.1 Inyeti (2005) Thomas x Aluka
0.1 Kibibi (2012) Satara x Uhura
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Australia have been probably the luckiest zoo in regards to white rhino. They escaped relatively unscaved from the disease that killed most of the females at western plains zoo and a few other zoo's, while they have maintained decent breeding of them. Hopefully we can see more success.

ETA: if they don't intend to use cabel for breeding, it would be better to transfer her to western plains, see if they can utilise her there. They have 1 viable cow. With the rhino import up in the air and numbers precariously low. Now isnt the time to rest on there laurels and let her age pass by and retire her.
 
Tiger91 said:
The good ol plans before Steve croaked it.
I wouldn't be surprised to see hippo's, of memory were the islands not built with the idea of exhibiting hippo in the water ways around them?. They have some especially large Dams in and around the africa section. So most of the hard work for hippo's is done. If they want to cut costs and build basic/cheaper exhibits.
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No I don't believe so, Bindi's Island was built/designed based on a dream of Steve's to create a habitat dedicated to his daughter and her adventurous spirit.

They do however have a few large dams as you say, and going back to when the Cairns hippos were being sent elsewhere I do remember there being talks of Australia potentially acquiring hippos at the time. Those however fell through; with one of the females being brought by Seaworld instead.
 
Tiger91 said:
Australia have been probably the luckiest zoo in regards to white rhino. They escaped relatively unscaved from the disease that killed most of the females at western plains zoo and a few other zoo's, while they have maintained decent breeding of them. Hopefully we can see more success.

ETA: if they don't intend to use cabel for breeding, it would be better to transfer her to western plains, see if they can utilise her there. They have 1 viable cow. With the rhino import up in the air and numbers precariously low. Now isnt the time to rest on there laurels and let her age pass by and retire her.
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Australia Zoo have indeed been fortunate to escape the mass death events seen at Dubbo (four females) and Auckland (two females). They did lose two males as juveniles - but at seperate times: Watoto (2005) died July 2008, Tawali (2004) died February 2009.

Caballe has five surviving offspring, so I assume the call has been made to cease breeding from her due to her representation. It looks likely her line will continue via at least one of her three sons (including two at Dubbo) as her daughter at Hamilton is in a non-breeding herd; and her other daughter is 13 and hasn’t yet bred.
 
Tiger91 said:
The good ol plans before Steve croaked it.
I wouldn't be surprised to see hippo's, of memory were the islands not built with the idea of exhibiting hippo in the water ways around them?. They have some especially large Dams in and around the africa section. So most of the hard work for hippo's is done. If they want to cut costs and build basic/cheaper exhibits.
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I had been visiting since 1973 from what I recall the Island original purpose was for the gorillas as part of "stage one". They used to have a zoo map on their website that showed "all" three stages but after Steve passed it was taken down along with all the information about the proposed worlds largest Gorilla exhibit!
Yes they do have some large dams near the African section that could be used for Hippos if they so wished!
 
Zorro said:
I had been visiting since 1973 from what I recall the Island original purpose was for the gorillas as part of "stage one". They used to have a zoo map on their website that showed "all" three stages but after Steve passed it was taken down along with all the information about the proposed worlds largest Gorilla exhibit!
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I knew they planned to have gorillas but I don't think it was to be on the aforementioned island - especially if they were advertising it as the 'worlds largest gorilla exhibit'.
 
Zorro said:
The Island might have been for the out doors area with the house and holdings adjacent to the Island?
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If they did intend to use the island for the gorillas than I'd imagine they would have had the BTS area adjacent. Unlike gibbons who can clamber across the water on ropes (and are therefore suitable to an island set up), gorillas would've required a 'bridge' of some sort to get off and on the island.
 
Jambo said:
If they did intend to use the island for the gorillas than I'd imagine they would have had the BTS area adjacent. Unlike gibbons who can clamber across the water on ropes (and are therefore suitable to an island set up), gorillas would've required a 'bridge' of some sort to get off and on the island.
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That is right, Steve did visit Howletts he perhaps could of picked up a few ideas with their over head walkways that they have!
 
Jambo said:
If they did intend to use the island for the gorillas than I'd imagine they would have had the BTS area adjacent. Unlike gibbons who can clamber across the water on ropes (and are therefore suitable to an island set up), gorillas would've required a 'bridge' of some sort to get off and on the island.
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I did hear in 2005 that Australia Zoo were planning to acquire orangutans, which would have been more suitable for the island, being able to brachiate.

It’s been mentioned on here the intention was for them to receive hybrids, likely from Taronga; which would have enabled them to focus on the Sumatran orangutan.
 
Tiger91 said:
I remember when I visited back in 2003. They had the plans up for the world's largest gorilla exhibit and orang exhibit based on islands. Steve wanted an orang exhibit much like they do in Singapore.
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Had this gone ahead I can only imagine what an affect it would have had on the region’s great ape populations:

Considering the only surplus gorillas in the region at that time (mid-2000’s) were the Melbourne males that later went to Werribee. It’s possible they may have transferred to Australia Zoo instead; but given the size of the planned exhibit, a breeding troop from Europe seems more probable - perhaps Howletts, who had a large colony. As a side note, Steve Irwin famously toured Howletts as part of his Crocodile Hunter Diaries series and was thoroughly impressed by their setup.

As previously mentioned, the orangutans would have likely been hybrids. Had Taronga’s transferred over, that would have left a single Sumatran male (Kluet), increasing the likelihood that Taronga would have then imported a female for breeding. Kluet may have even been imported (in 2003) with the intention of transferring out the hybrids.

Considering the scale of the orangutan complex that Australia planned to build, there’s two possibilities - acquire the additional hybrids from Melbourne (mother and daughter); or house an additional colony of purebred orangutans. The prime candidates could have been the 1.2 Bornean orangutans at Auckland Zoo who were exported the same decade to the US. It’s interesting to note that Melbourne Zoo finally bred Maimunah in 2003 (a decade after she arrived in 1992). This suggests the plan could have been the former (to transfer out Melbourne’s two hybrids in the mid-2000’s).
 
Zoofan15 said:
Had this gone ahead I can only imagine what an affect it would have had on the region’s great ape populations:

Considering the only surplus gorillas in the region at that time (mid-2000’s) were the Melbourne males that later went to Werribee. It’s possible they may have transferred to Australia Zoo instead; but given the size of the planned exhibit, a breeding troop from Europe seems more probable - perhaps Howletts, who had a large colony. As a side note, Steve Irwin famously toured Howletts as part of his Crocodile Hunter Diaries series and was thoroughly impressed by their setup.

As previously mentioned, the orangutans would have likely been hybrids. Had Taronga’s transferred over, that would have left a single Sumatran male (Kluet), increasing the likelihood that Taronga would have then imported a female for breeding. Kluet may have even been imported (in 2003) with the intention of transferring out the hybrids.

Considering the scale of the orangutan complex that Australia planned to build, there’s two possibilities - acquire the additional hybrids from Melbourne (mother and daughter); or house an additional colony of purebred orangutans. The prime candidates could have been the 1.2 Bornean orangutans at Auckland Zoo who were exported the same decade to the US. It’s interesting to note that Melbourne Zoo finally bred Maimunah in 2003 (a decade after she arrived in 1992). This suggests the plan could have been the former (to transfer out Melbourne’s two hybrids in the mid-2000’s).
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I would say that it's very likely Kluet was imported to Taronga in the belief that their hybrid orangutans (Jantan, Willow and the late Judy) wouldn't be living at Taronga for much longer. I'd heard that there had been plans for them to go to Mareeba which were canned, and Australia Zoo also could have been an option if that had eventuated.

When neither of those opportunities materialised, it would have been difficult for Taronga to manage two mature males in Kluet and Jantan as husbandry standards evolved, so Kluet was better placed in (what could have been) a breeding placement at Adelaide. Ultimately, Taronga phased out orangs with Jantan and Willow transferring to Mogo, where they are off-display.
 
Abbey said:
I would say that it's very likely Kluet was imported to Taronga in the belief that their hybrid orangutans (Jantan, Willow and the late Judy) wouldn't be living at Taronga for much longer. I'd heard that there had been plans for them to go to Mareeba which were canned, and Australia Zoo also could have been an option if that had eventuated.

When neither of those opportunities materialised, it would have been difficult for Taronga to manage two mature males in Kluet and Jantan as husbandry standards evolved, so Kluet was better placed in (what could have been) a breeding placement at Adelaide. Ultimately, Taronga phased out orangs with Jantan and Willow transferring to Mogo, where they are off-display.
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Had Taronga’s remaining hybrids 1.2 (until Judy’s death in 2007) gone to Mareeba; potentially joined by Melbourne’s two females, that would have opened up an exciting opportunity for Australia Zoo to have established a large purebred colony. It appears they intended to hold multiple orangutans as per @Tiger91’s comments on something along the lines of Singapore’s set up.

It would have been invaluable to have had a second holder of Bornean orangutan. Auckland could have at a minimum supplied them with the 1.2 (Horst, Indra and Intan), who moved to a seperate exhibit the year it was discovered Melur was pregnant with Madju. This would have given Auckland additional space to manage their remaining orangutans.

Whether this would have affected Auckland’s decision to phase out Bornean orangutan in the mid-2000’s is interesting to consider. They may have sent a much larger number (even all nine orangutans) to Australia Zoo and began afresh with Sumatrans; or alternatively, been motivated to persist with Bornean orangutan and two decades later, we would have surely seen exchanges of females between the two. Offspring of Horst and Indra/Intan would be unrelated to Auckland’s current colony.
 
Jaiden said:
Wait is Austrlia zoo getting Hippos and if they are where would they be located?
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It was reported on the previous page by somebody that visited the zoo that an Australia Zoo keeper advised the zoo are planning to import hippos (no indication of which species). If this follows through, it will be extremely exciting given the small number of holders of both Common and Pygmy hippopotamus in the region.

Pygmy hippopotamus seems the more likely of the two, but a 1.1 pair of Common hippopotamus would be invaluable considering all of the females of this species in the region are related; and none currently have the facilities to manage a second line.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Blue and gold macaw chick hatches:

The hatching of a Blue and gold macaw chick at Australia Zoo has been announced on socials.

A naming contest is in progress (see socials for details).
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The Blue and gold macaw chick has been named Ruby:

For minute there, I was worried an Australia Zoo animal might be given a name relevant to its cultural heritage. :rolleyes:

The name appears to have won on popularity vote as a bunch of people spammed the comments of the naming competition with ‘Ruby’ for some reason.
 
Zoofan15 said:
It was reported on the previous page by somebody that visited the zoo that an Australia Zoo keeper advised the zoo are planning to import hippos (no indication of which species). If this follows through, it will be extremely exciting given the small number of holders of both Common and Pygmy hippopotamus in the region.

Pygmy hippopotamus seems the more likely of the two, but a 1.1 pair of Common hippopotamus would be invaluable considering all of the females of this species in the region are related; and none currently have the facilities to manage a second line.
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Is Australia Zoo still considering getting Hippos?
 
Jaiden said:
Is Australia Zoo still considering getting Hippos?
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That was only ever speculated on here; but with the Hippopotamus IRA now approved, it would come as no surprise to see Australia Zoo acquire Pygmy hippopotamus.

Pygmy hippopotamus are not naturally gregarious so additional holders within Australia will be needed to accomodate calves bred from the anticipated imports (a bull for Darling Downs Zoo; and most likely, a cow for Melbourne Zoo).

Due to the requirements for housing Common hippopotamus, I’d consider them a less likely possibility.
 
Australia Zoo have bred Komodo dragons for the first time. 3 individuals were hatched.

Source - https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/na...d-run-murder-denied-bail-20250409-p5lqhd.html

The first baby Komodo dragons have hatched at Australia Zoo, with the three hatchlings now being carefully monitored by staff.

The zoo’s reptiles, amphibians and birds curator Nick Kuyper said successfully breeding the world’s largest lizard was a career highlight.

“Komodo dragon eggs have an incubation period of seven to eight months, and our first egg successfully hatched after 214 days, following a long and remarkable wait,” he said.

Komodo dragons were first bred in Australia at the Australian Reptile Park in 2022.

The species is native to the Indonesian islands of Rinca, Flores, and Komodo, and was listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2021 due in part to rising sea levels and habitat loss.
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