Taronga Western Plains Zoo Bongos
- Thread starter MARK
- Start date
bongo
i haven't read anything on this, though i can see that ISIS records show the birth of a female calf. i am cautious about the ISIS records, in the past i have found it to be on occasions inaccurate. for example taronga have had the same long-beaked echidna pair for well over a decade yet for six month a year ago they apparently only had one male. both echidnas were alive and well when i visted earier this year. melbourne list only three male gorilla, yet i know they have two infant males, the troop silverback motaba and another silverback rigo, who was the father of the famous mzuri and lives alone ajacent to the main gorilla exhibit (apparently he does not get along with the girls!).
a female hyena and (originally 2 but now listed as one) colobus recently "appeared" at monarto. prior to this the only hyena in australia were the pair at perth. no records indicate this pair have bred or that the DEH approved an import of another animal!!!
however, it is most likely that the bongo at dubbo did indeed breed, and although the calf is a much welcomed female, her only three potential mates in the country are her grandfather, father or uncle. some more unrelated bongo are desperately needed in the region.
i haven't read anything on this, though i can see that ISIS records show the birth of a female calf. i am cautious about the ISIS records, in the past i have found it to be on occasions inaccurate. for example taronga have had the same long-beaked echidna pair for well over a decade yet for six month a year ago they apparently only had one male. both echidnas were alive and well when i visted earier this year. melbourne list only three male gorilla, yet i know they have two infant males, the troop silverback motaba and another silverback rigo, who was the father of the famous mzuri and lives alone ajacent to the main gorilla exhibit (apparently he does not get along with the girls!).
a female hyena and (originally 2 but now listed as one) colobus recently "appeared" at monarto. prior to this the only hyena in australia were the pair at perth. no records indicate this pair have bred or that the DEH approved an import of another animal!!!
however, it is most likely that the bongo at dubbo did indeed breed, and although the calf is a much welcomed female, her only three potential mates in the country are her grandfather, father or uncle. some more unrelated bongo are desperately needed in the region.
Writhedhornbill
Well-Known Member
These ISIS records are dodgy. Chester bred Javan rhinoceros hornbills last year in July and they're still up on born in the last 6 months.
Mate, there are no such things as "ISIS records". The records displayed on the ISIS web site, are those of the member zoos, as submitted by the member zoos. And as a matter of fact, although no doubt, you know this already, the records offcier at Chester Zoo is well respected as one of the best in the world. No doubt he'll be thrilled to know that you think his records are dodgy.
Forgive my last post, as I'm guilty of encouraging the wandering off thread of the topic of Bongos, but this one warranted a reply. I'll copy it to a new thread.
Any chance that we could all try a little harder to keep these threads on topic? If anyone wants to comment on something that's not related the the current thread, why not start a new one? It will make reading these threads so much easier.
Any chance that we could all try a little harder to keep these threads on topic? If anyone wants to comment on something that's not related the the current thread, why not start a new one? It will make reading these threads so much easier.
Writhedhornbill
Well-Known Member
Chester zoo has had excellent sucess with bongo. I think Zurich has too.
When I was last at Dubbo there were three in the exhibit and I believe one was young. bit unclear, trying to control twentyodd 16 year olds but I think there was a baby bongo in the exhibit and reported on local news. however i could be having memories from further back than I think
Writhedhornbill
Well-Known Member
I was informed that only the eastern sub species is kept in Captivity. It's supposed to be rarer
Writhedhornbill
Well-Known Member
It's like with bactrian camels. None of the wild species are kept in caprivity. They're all domesticated.
lol
sorry to stray, i know that would of driven you nuts, but the invitation had been extended to me for commet
back to bongos. and if i can figure out how to load photos on to the computer i will post my photos of the bongo exhibit at Western Plains Zoo. Also took a few snaps of the landscaping around the exhibit which i was actually impressed by...mature figs, swamp foxtails, umbrella sedge and bamboo. care needs to be taken to avoid introducing weedy species, but the landscaping did give it a nice forest edge appeal.
sorry to stray, i know that would of driven you nuts, but the invitation had been extended to me for commet
back to bongos. and if i can figure out how to load photos on to the computer i will post my photos of the bongo exhibit at Western Plains Zoo. Also took a few snaps of the landscaping around the exhibit which i was actually impressed by...mature figs, swamp foxtails, umbrella sedge and bamboo. care needs to be taken to avoid introducing weedy species, but the landscaping did give it a nice forest edge appeal.
i know i've said this befor a bazillion times but i have a real soft spot for congo buffalo. maybe because i always loved watching the fat little bull at melbourne who use to love basking in the sun on his side. maybe because of their appearance, a rich chestnut coat and stocky little dwarfed bodies.
they got him a female from dubbo (the only female in australia) as a partner but despite my high hopes, they were housed together but never bred. i believe this was on purpose. there are a few bulls at dubbo, and i wonder "if we are gonna inbreed bongo, why not at least hold off a little longer and breed me a few buffalo? - that said, odds are our congo buffalo may already be inbred!!
i don't know of any congo buffalo/bongo mixed species exhibits at any zoos, but i so do think it would be nice. i love those congo documentaries and photographs where you see herds of the two species grazing together in jungle clearings.
melbourne wanted bongo, yet never made the most of their buffalo and sent them to an off-display section at werribee. they would have made a much missed contribution to the african rainforest theme...
since dubbo is the only zoo with both species - they should give it a go....
they got him a female from dubbo (the only female in australia) as a partner but despite my high hopes, they were housed together but never bred. i believe this was on purpose. there are a few bulls at dubbo, and i wonder "if we are gonna inbreed bongo, why not at least hold off a little longer and breed me a few buffalo? - that said, odds are our congo buffalo may already be inbred!!
i don't know of any congo buffalo/bongo mixed species exhibits at any zoos, but i so do think it would be nice. i love those congo documentaries and photographs where you see herds of the two species grazing together in jungle clearings.
melbourne wanted bongo, yet never made the most of their buffalo and sent them to an off-display section at werribee. they would have made a much missed contribution to the african rainforest theme...
since dubbo is the only zoo with both species - they should give it a go....
As long as the yard is for Bongos, then its okay for this thread....