Day 1, Part 3: Taronga Zoo - Tiger Trek and Rainforest Trail:
Before we continue on there are a few enclosures at Taronga that are not really part of any specific area and are largely exhibits isolated from the rest; these included a large exhibit for the zoo’s only
Malayan Sun Bear, a rather bare enclosure for the zoo’s
Capybara mixed with a
Ruddy Shelduck, three sets of lush island enclosures for their breeding group of
Bolivian Squirrel Monkeys closer to the front at the Taronga Institute of Science and Learning, a glass-fronted enclosure for a bachelor group of
Ring-tailed Lemurs and two
Dromedaries as filler animals for the former bull elephant enclosure. There is also the ageing exhibit for the
Western Lowlands Gorillas with the main moated exhibit, a day room with two viewing windows and a final grassy enclosure along the side. It should be noted that the next batch of infants have arrived among the squirrel monkeys with at least one very young infant seen clinging to a female’s back. Also the
Cotton-top Tamarins on another island exhibit seemed to be off-show due to construction noise.
Sun bear enclosure
Western Lowland Gorilla – Kibali
Close to the sun bear enclosure, Tiger Trek is a large facility for Taronga’s commitment to the
Sumatran Tiger. There are three main enclosures that goes through a replica a Sumatran village on the fringes of Way Kambas National Park complete with a ranger station and even an aeroplane where visitors can watch a video welcoming them to Indonesia before they actually enter the village. It’s all rather excessive in my opinion akin to London’s Land of Lions with its over-the-top theming where the animals themselves are lost in the process. The tiger exhibits themselves are really nice however and the vegetation over the years has filled them out well providing a decent amount of privacy. The exhibit with the mature fig tree in particular would be particularly impressive to see them use to their full potential I thought. Overall – good enclosures for tigers and attempts to tie to a greater conservation message are acknowledged but personally it felt that too much effort was spent trying to add more than what is really needed.
Tiger Trek map
Tiger Trek aeroplane video
First Sumatran Tiger enclosure
In its heyday, the Rainforest Trail was named Wild Asia and included additional species like Javan Gibbon, Dhole, Chital and Malayan Tapir that are no longer part of the zoo’s collection. It initially opened in 2005 and is meant to reflect a rural village right on the edge of a rainforest with urban terrace theming running alongside leafier trails. The largest exhibit is for the zoo’s female
Asian Elephants, Tang Mo and Pak Boon. There are three main ways to view the elephants; firstly, from the main exhibit area near the large pool that takes up a large portion of the exhibit, a second viewing area through the fencing and finally from the indoor barn area as well where the individual stalls can be seen. The elephants were off-display due to fencing work being completed but were still visible from a side yard near the barn.
Elephant enclosure
Elephant enclosure – seconding view area
The lush trail passes the elephant barn and leads to a small walkthrough aviary filled with tall bamboo and towering trees. Called the Palm Aviary, this exhibit can sometimes create a bit of a visitor bottleneck with a narrow pathway, but on a quiet Friday afternoon, it makes for glorious viewing with a host of Asian bird species and a supporting cast of northern Australian birds to bulk out the aviary. The first species that were spotted where the iridescent
Nicobar Pigeon who were busily nesting building and tightly sitting on their nests. There were good numbers of
Luzon Bleeding-heart Pigeon and
White-breasted Ground-Dove as well in the aviary remaining more along the thicker vegetation. All three species haven’t received new blood in decades due to import restrictions but their numbers seem to be relatively stable or in some cases growing in Australian zoos. There were also a pair of big and beautiful
Wompoo Fruit-Doves which weren’t in this particular aviary during my last visit. Other columbids included more of those delightful
Superb Fruit-Doves and a few
Torresian Imperial Pigeons high in the canopy.
Palm Aviary
My number one bird to see at Taronga wasn’t some obscure Australian little brown job but rather the stunning
White-rumped Shama. For those who aren’t aware, these shamas up until recently were not found in Australian zoos as far as I was aware and persisted with an almost mythical status in Australian aviculture along with Pekin Robin, Silver-eared Mesia (now gone?) and Oriental Magpie-Robin. The zoo very quietly acquired a few pairs of these shamas to share the plight of the Asian songbird trade and have been successful in breeding them off-show with several clutches raised. My search for them was brief and I spotted one in the leaf litter and another one calling melodically in the bamboo. Simply spectacular.
White-rumped Shama
The shamas were hanging around several of the
Red-whiskered Bulbuls that have been long-term residents of aviary along with noisy flocks of
Metallic Starlings. I couldn’t keep my eye off my first ever shamas and followed them around as they stayed close by; I underestimated the length of their tails especially and their call just sounded so foreign to any Australian bird. A really nice point of difference and one can only hope shamas start spreading to other collections only if Taronga is sharing. The waxbill of choice for this aviary were large flocks of
Black-headed Munias that were also nest building like several of the other species. There was also a
Golden Pheasant and a few double-up species also found in the rainforest aviary like
Double-eyed Fig Parrot, Noisy Pitta, Forest Kingfisher and
Regent Bowerbird. Taronga seem to have quite a few of these kingfishers as they are signed across three aviaries, not that I’m complaining. The only species not seen in the palm aviary was
King Quail.
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Just before you exit the aviary, there is a large glass-viewing window that looks into a spacious exhibit with several bare but sturdy trees for their small group of
Francois’ Langurs. They represent most of individuals currently in Australia following a recent transfer of five males to Singapore Zoo. Their exhibit has two viewing windows; one on either end and visitors can view the langurs from the front as well. Opposite the langurs is a large netted exhibit that is well-furnished for their
Northern White-cheeked Gibbons providing ample climbing opportunities and allow the gibbons to access sturdy climbing frames, providing a good amount of three-dimensional space
. I could only spot their male but they should have a non-breeding pair that replaced the Javan Gibbons several years ago now. The gibbons and langurs make way for the a rather secretive species. The zoo’s ageing
Eastern Bongo is part of a population of only seven individuals in Australia. His exhibit is a rather long and narrow enclosure with a large fig tree for shade. Privacy is maintained with a high fence supported by thick vegetation. I don’t think I can get used to how large bongos actually are in the flesh especially when one is standing right against the fence – their size always surprises me. Giant red striped horses with horns.
Langur second viewing area
Francois' Langur
Gibbon enclosure
The nearby
Fishing Cats are not much better on a whole with Taronga’s pair representing two of six individuals in the region. At least their enclosure is a fantastic one with two glass-viewing windows, a small den area and an underwater viewing part if the cats ever feel adventurous. I know live fish – barbs, ricefish and white cloud mountain minnows - were once kept in the water according to Zoolex. The
Pygmy Hippos are even in more dire straits with the zoo having the only breeding pair in the country. One hippo kept is a rather small exhibit and the second has a decent pool with underwater viewing which used to have a Malayan Tapir. The first hippo is mixed with an
Egyptian Goose and the second hippo with a
Ruddy Shelduck. A lot of pretty uncommon animals regionally are housed in this portion of the zoo.
First pygmy hippo enclosure
There are two species of small mammal housed along the trail as well. The pair of male
Binturong are kept in an open-topped view with good views of the harbour. They have access to well-established vegetation and a range of shelters and climbing opportunities. The
Asian Small-clawed Otters are housed next to the second pygmy hippo in a building inspired by a fishing hut. I only saw two individuals on display but they were making the most of their deep pool and were right up against the glass.
Binturong enclosure
Fishing Village Hut - underwater viewing for hippo and otters
Next to the fishing cats and village hut is the second walkthrough aviary in the trail aptly called the Wetlands Aviary. The first thing you notice about the aviary is all the
Koi that inhabit the water. Despite a good amount of vertical space, my only concern is the lack of shallow water away from all the large koi for the spoonbills, herons and ibis to actively wade. The waterbirds were all perched high up either on a themed thatched roof or in one of the larger trees. Among them were the
Royal Spoonbills, a pair of
Glossy Ibis, a
Little Pied Cormorant and
Pied Heron. The splash of colour was provided by a pair of
Red Lories that were very showy. More zoos in Australia should make use of the wide range of exotic lories available in private hands; many of which like this species are quite common these days. Currumbin does this particularly well with their three lory species in their huge Lost Valley Aviary.
Red Lories
The wetlands aviary also has a few other species like sizeable flocks of
Wandering Whistling-Ducks and
Torresian Imperial-Pigeons that add the movement in the water and trees,
Eastern Whipbird for sound,
Lady Amherst’s Pheasant for colour in the understorey and
Java Sparrow to provide the engaging flocks of small birds. Yellow Figbird is also signed but was not seen and there was a relatively new-looking sign for unseen
Red-lored Amazon. Not sure what the story is about this species but it might be a remnant from one of their old South American aviaries. The final enclosures that were a set of enclosures for the zoo’s
Red Pandas including some very active cubs. Their lush exhibits were once bear pits and the signage discussed that it used to be part of a bear row, housing Asiatic Black, Kodiak, Polar, European Brown, Grizzly and Sun bears throughout its history. Only the old sun bear enclosure remains, which was one of the first zoo enclosures at Taronga to have a dry moat and is where the red pandas are now kept. Visitors are able to walk into the old back-of-house area that was used for the bears. A nice bit of history to finish off this portion of the zoo.
Red Panda enclosure
Keeper area of old sun bear enclosure
Day 1, Part 4 will cover Taronga’s reptile house that will soon be closing to make way for the new Reptile and Amphibian Conservation Centre opening in late 2023. I especially wanted to document this building in its final months before it closes.
