Australian zoo mammal histories

*Jaguarundi - these surely weren't still around in 1999? No. Definitely gone by this date.

*Florida panther - did anywhere really list their pumas as this subspecies? No. I'm guessing they were covering all bases for pumas.
*European (silvestris) and African (lybica) wild cats? Don't recall ever seeing either spp/subspp in zoos/records. But wouldn't rule it out either. Melbourne Zoo had a lovely felid collection. Probably covering all taxonomic bases for domestic cats.
*Eurasian (lynx) and American (canadensis) lynx? Thought it would only have been the Canadian spp (I remember these at MZ; not sure when last one died). Maybe covering all bases when the spp were sometimes classed as one?

Anyone remember any of these from the late 1990s (or earlier)?
Notes above.
 
For the Talapoins I remember you saying that there were only two at Perth (the two males from Wellington in 1985). But there is also a CITES record of two being imported into Australia from Switzerland in 1985 - any idea?
Definitely no females imported. Massive keeper disappointment that they were never able to import females before the males died.
 
I really enjoyed seeing the two female caracals at Wellington Zoo recently. Not sure if I just caught them at a good time but they were highly active, almost climbing the walls. It'll be good if Darling Downs Zoo acquire the species (and any other zoo in the region) as I believe the lack of support for the species in the region is the reason Wellington Zoo have not imported a male (currently no facility in the region to relocate offspring etc.)
 
Bloody well hope so!!! Impressive cat spp. Crazy that the region seems to only show interest in servals.

It appears to be part of the ZAA planning to down size the number of species to one or two taxon when one looks at the amount of wild cats species that were in the country to a few years ago is quite interesting, Its the start and stop again action of some of our major zoos that depends on what the pin up species at the time not just in cats or monkeys but across the board, a case in point would be the Bongo lots on interest in this species for a while but now interest is gone to the Nyala!
 
Here's an interesting thing to ponder. In the 2002 IRA for importing zoo Felidae into Australia, I found a sentence (on page 16) which states that the 1999 ARAZPA census lists "21 [twenty-one] species of non-domestic Felidae held in Australasian zoos."
http://www.agriculture.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/ba/memos/2002/animal/2002-08a.pdf

I had a count up of what I know was in the region in 1999 and came up quite a bit short. Starting with the eleven species still in Australasia we have lion, tiger, snow leopard (now just in Aus), leopard (now just in NZ), cheetah, puma (now just in Aus), serval, fishing cat, bobcat (now just in NZ), caracal (now just in NZ), and ocelot (now just in Aus). Then the four species which we've lost since 1999: jaguar (c.2010), clouded leopard (2008), Asiatic golden cat (2009), and leopard cat (2008). The last leopard cat was in NZ, the other dates were the last in Australia.

So that only gives us fifteen species. There were a few other species around in the 1980s (jaguarundi, jungle cat, Pallas' cat, margay, and Geoffroy's cat) but none of those lasted anywhere near to 1999 so couldn't be on the census.

I'd imagine they must be including all taxa (i.e. subspecies as well as full species), which adds on maybe one lion (the Asian hybrids which were at TWPZ), Persian leopard, and two or three tigers (Sumatran, Siberian, white). The tigons don't count because they were in a circus until 2000. But that does take us up close (19 or 20) to their total (21). Maybe there were a couple of other subspecies listed for the smaller cats.

Here's the interesting part though. While the paper simply says that there are 21 species on the ARAZPA census without specifically listing them, it does have an unaccompanied list of "Common and scientific names of exotic Felidae" (on page nine of the document). This clearly isn't a comprehensive list of the world's Felidae, and the implication seems to be that it is a list of what is in Australasia - even though it's a slightly odd list.

Here's what is has listed:

Cheetah Acinonyx jubatus
Asiatic golden cat Catopuma temminckii
Caracal Felis caracal
Domestic cat Felis catus
Wild cougar, puma, mountain lion Felis concolor
Florida Panther Felis concolor coryi
Wild cat Felis lybica
South American ocelot Felis pardalis
European wildcat Felis silvestris
Jaguarundi Herpailurus yagouarundi
Ocelot Leopardus pardalis
Serval Leptailurus serval
Lynx Lynx canadensis
Lynx Lynx lynx
Bobcat Lynx rufus
Clouded leopard Neofelis nebulosa
Lion Panthera leo
Jaguar Panthera onca
Leopard Panthera pardus
Siberian tiger Panthera tigris
Tiger, Bengal tiger Panthera tigris
White tiger Panthera tigris
Snow leopard Panthera uncia
Fishing cat Prionailurus viverrinus
Puma Puma concolor

It broadly corresponds to what I was suggesting earlier, with the species which I know were around in 1999 (minus leopard cat) plus some additional subspecies (except, strangely, Sumatran tiger and Persian leopard), but there are 25 names on the list. Puma and ocelot are both listed twice (with different generic names), so it can be taken down to 23. Take off domestic cat to make 22. But then there are some odd ones on there which I have to question. It's like they listed most of the Australasian taxa but then just threw in some random other ones.

*Jaguarundi - these surely weren't still around in 1999?

*Florida panther - did anywhere really list their pumas as this subspecies?
*European (silvestris) and African (lybica) wild cats?
*Eurasian (lynx) and American (canadensis) lynx?

Anyone remember any of these from the late 1990s (or earlier)?

I guess the most likely answer is that they are listing the species which are mentioned in the document - but that doesn't work because some species mentioned in the document (e.g. Sumatran tiger) aren't on the list and some of the ones on the list aren't otherwise mentioned in the document. I don't think it can be a list of species which the IRA covers for import either (e.g. Sumatran tiger isn't on it). So it's an odd one.

The main point is that the ARAZPA census for 1999 listed 21 "species" of cats in the region. I'd love to get hold of the old census records from the 80s and 90s. They would be so interesting.

Since when were there two species of ocelot?
 
When were ocelots split into two species?
are you talking about ocelot being listed twice in the list on the document? They are just down twice under different generic names (the older Felis and the more recent Leopardus) - they are the same species. Puma is also listed twice on there under two different genera.
 
I just came across the Policy on Exhibiting Primates in NSW, dated 2000.
https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/121569/primate-policy-welfare.pdf

Down near the bottom in Appendix One (page 57) is a list of the primates held in NSW. Most of them are all good but there are a few I have queries over, if anyone here can help (e.g. @tetrapod or @Hix).

On the list there are Chacma and Guinea Baboons, and Entellus Langurs. I was pretty sure the Entellus never got anywhere near the 2000s - or even 1990s - and similarly for the baboons (and during discussions on this thread Chacma and Olive Baboons came up but not Guinea). Thoughts on these three species and their dates?


Patas Monkeys are on the list too, although they didn't quite get to 2000 [but the policy would have been compiled over the previous couple of years], and also a few other "extinct" species which were definitely still in NSW in 2000 so they're fine (e.g. Stump-tailed Macaque and Red-handed Tamarin).
 
Last edited:
Western Plains had Entellus Langurs on one of the islands, and I'm sure they also had Patas after that at some point when they moved up from Taronga.

As for the Baboons, I imagine there may have been some in research labs either somewhere in Australia or new Zealand, and even though research animals aren't on display, it would be prudent for a document like this to include species they might end up in a display facility if they are no longer needed for research. Alternatively, a zoo may have had an interest in obtaining one of those species at some time, and the document authors were aware of this and included the species. The author, Matthew Crane, worked at Taronga many, many years ago and has a lot of contacts in the industry.

:p

Hix
 
Chacmas - Melbourne had them late 70s - maybe early 80s. They had a range of spp in that old baboon row, so it's possible that there were Guineas. While I was a bit young at this stage to really be aware of what was there, I seem to recall Chacmas, Olives, Hamadryas + Geladas. The first three were decent breeding groups so it's possible that some might end up in labs. Could they have been exported to NZ?
Entellus - Dubbo had them at least until the early or mid 80s, then replaced by Patas. Adelaide had them late 80s (possibly from Dubbo?). Certainly gone by mid 90s.
A number of macaque spp were held privately into early 00s inc Stump-tails.
 
I've really enjoyed reading this thread. I may have missed it whilst reading, but there doesn't appear to be any mention of the striped hyenas that were at Perth zoo back in the 70s. I have no physical evidence of this in the way of photos, etc. but remember them well as they were kept in the old bear dens.
 
I've really enjoyed reading this thread. I may have missed it whilst reading, but there doesn't appear to be any mention of the striped hyenas that were at Perth zoo back in the 70s. I have no physical evidence of this in the way of photos, etc. but remember them well as they were kept in the old bear dens.
Posts #54 and 57, page 3.
 
"FunkyGibbon said:
Does anyone know if the persian leopard was on display at Melbourne before it's death? I visited the zoo in December 2012 but don't remember seeing it.
the leopard was in one of the Big Cat cages (the area where the snow leopards etc were). I'm fairly sure she was in there right up to her death, but I wouldn't guarantee it. The cage remained empty for quite a while afterwards. "

I don't have documentation to back it up, but I remember hearing/reading that there was originally 2 females at Melbourne, sisters, but 1 was sent to Singapore when they could no longer be kept together. The remaining female only had one eye, but got into the news a few times when silly school kids climbed the safety barrier and poked fingers thru the wire. I remember there was another incident with another dumb visitor too. She lived in the end enclosure of the big cat row. This enclosure had snow leopards in it until recently.
 
Back
Top