Current Mammals In New Zealand Zoos

Zoofan15 said:
They died. Husbandry of this species is in it’s infancy and the lifespan is estimated at around seven years (but possibly longer). The zoo bred them in November 2013.

There’s an article on their rearing here:

Auckland Zoo maintains the only captive New Zealand lesser short‐tailed bats Mystacina tuberculata in the world. These animals came to the Zoo in 2007 following a wild translocation attempt managed by the New Zealand Department of Conservation. Affected by a disease of unknown origin which damaged their ear pinnae, the bats were considered unsuitable for release. The colony has provided an excellent opportunity to develop the husbandry protocols required for the management and successful reproduction of these bats at the Zoo. Our knowledge has increased significantly with the successful breeding and hand rearing of two pups. While parent rearing would be preferred for future breeding events, the experience has confirmed the ability to rear pups if intervention is ever required. The work being carried out at Auckland Zoo contributes to the national efforts to conserve these threatened mammals.

https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/izy.12121
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WhistlingKite24 said:
The information is in the former mammals in NZ zoos thread [Former Mammals In New Zealand Zoos (1980 to present)]:

"*NZ Lesser Short-tailed Bat (Mystacina tuberculata)

Auckland Zoo kept this endemic New Zealand species until 2017. Their animals (of the Central subspecies rhyacobia) were from a group of bats caught in the Waiohine Valley (in the Tararaua Ranges) in 2005-2006 for translocation to Kapiti Island. Some of the group became afflicted with fungal infections in their ears and were considered unsuitable for release, and thus were retained in captivity instead (twelve animals arrived at Auckland Zoo in late 2007, and going on display in 2011). They successfully bred at Auckland Zoo in November 2013. The last animals in their group died in mid/late 2017. The species has also been kept at Wellington Zoo. Six animals (3.3) of the Northland subspecies auporica, captured in the Omahuta Kauri Forest in February and April 1981, were on display in the nocturnal house but all had died by the end of the year due to mite infestations. Six animals (2.4) of the Southern subspecies tuberculata, captured on Codfish Island, were kept off-display from 1992 until the death of the last individual in 2000. This group bred several times but none of the babies survived to maturity. The species has also been held temporarily in captivity (for periods of several months for translocation purposes) at Mt. Bruce and on Kapiti Island (subspecies rhyacobia), and on Codfish Island (subspecies tuberculata)."
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Thanks for sharing this information guys ! This is really interesting and much appreciated!

It is such a shame that the keeping and breeding of these animals in captivity never really worked out.

That said, as they state in the paper they were able to obtain valuable husbandry experience from the keeping of these bats and also learned lessons that could be put to use in the future should they be in the position of holding the species again.
 
Chlidonias said:
Small-clawed Otter (Aonyx cinerea) – Auckland; Butterfly Creek; Wellington

In the 1980s almost all the otters in New Zealand zoos had been bred by the North Brighton Zoo (this zoo closed in 1996). Through the 2000s most otters seem to have been produced at Auckland (from parents both locally-bred and Australian-imported). Only Auckland and Willowbank currently have breeding animals. Wellington has an all-male group (imported from Perth Zoo, Australia, in 2015), and Butterfly Creek has a family group (mother and 2.2 siblings from Perth Zoo in 2017)
The species has not been kept at Hamilton since the early 2000s, and Orana also has not had any for several years (formerly they kept a bachelor group of surplus males). Brooklands had retired animals from Wellington's former group, but these have since died of old age.
I have a newspaper article from 1995 which says that this species was kept at that time at Peacock Springs (Isaacs Wildlife Trust) in Christchurch, but I don't remember them being there at all.
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As announced by @ThomasNotTom, 0.5 Asian Small-clawed Otters from Auckland were going to move to Willowbank Wildlife Reserve. The five of them have now arrived safely at Willowbank: Log into Facebook | Facebook
 
Chlidonias said:
*African Lion (Panthera leo) [also including "Barbary" and white lions] – Kamo (Zion); Auckland; Paradise Valley Springs; Pouakai; Wellington; Orana
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Wellington's last two lions were euthanised today. They don't have immediate plans to acquire the species but will in the long-term: "While Wellington Zoo will be without Lions for a while, in time we will look at welcoming a new pride to the Zoo, so we can continue our conservation work with this iconic species." Lionesses Djane and Zahra pass away
Chlidonias said:
*Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) – Kamo (Zion); Auckland; Wellington; Orana
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Hamilton Zoo announced the arrival of four male Cheetah from Taronga Western Plains Zoo. They were all bred in Australia in 2018: Log into Facebook | Facebook
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
There are no lions at Auckland now! Their two males were euthanised today just under a week apart from Wellington’s last lionesses: Zoo makes kindest call for elderly lions | Auckland Zoo News
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This means Orana is now the only accredited facility in the country with African lion. Some imports for Auckland and Wellington will surely follow, with several surplus lion’s available in Australia; as well as opportunities to import new bloodlines from outside the region.
 
Chlidonias said:
Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta) – Auckland; Hamilton; Orana; Willowbank
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Wellington Zoo now have Ring-tailed Lemurs. Four females recently arrived from Hamilton Zoo and are currently in quarantine: Ring-tailed Lemurs touch down at Wellington Zoo

Edit: Orana Wildlife Park has also just announced some exotic mammal news, one of their gorillas Mahali died today due to a large growth in his abdomen. This leaves New Zealand with two gorillas: Orana Wildlife Park
 
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Chlidonias said:
*Lowland Nyala (Tragelaphus angasii) – Auckland; Keystone; Hamilton; Wellington
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New species for Orana Wildlife Park. They have received a small group of Nyala from Wellington Zoo. From their Fb page:

"Meet our lovely nyala, a brand new species for Orana. They have a short fluffy tail and beautiful orange coats with stunning white stripes! They were transferred from Wellington Zoo as part of the regional breeding programme."
 
Chlidonias said:
*Scimitar-horned Oryx (Oryx dammah) – two males at Orana (off display)
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Unfortunately New Zealand has lost another species. I confirmed with Orana Wildlife Park today that their last two Scimitar-horned Oryx have both recently passed: “Unfortunately we no longer have Scimitar-horned Oryx here at Orana Wildlife Park. They truly were magnificent animals. We do now have the critically endangerd Addax who, in my eyes, are just as awesome.”
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
Unfortunately New Zealand has lost another species. I confirmed with Orana Wildlife Park today that their last two Scimitar-horned Oryx have both recently passed: “Unfortunately we no longer have Scimitar-horned Oryx here at Orana Wildlife Park. They truly were magnificent animals. We do now have the critically endangerd Addax who, in my eyes, are just as awesome.”
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Its a bit sad it came to this. They could of got as many as they needed from Australia to keep them long term. Now the Nyala seem to be stacking up in NZ zoos I wonder how long this is going to continue!
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
Unfortunately New Zealand has lost another species. I confirmed with Orana Wildlife Park today that their last two Scimitar-horned Oryx have both recently passed: “Unfortunately we no longer have Scimitar-horned Oryx here at Orana Wildlife Park. They truly were magnificent animals. We do now have the critically endangerd Addax who, in my eyes, are just as awesome.”
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Zorro said:
Its a bit sad it came to this. They could of got as many as they needed from Australia to keep them long term. Now the Nyala seem to be stacking up in NZ zoos I wonder how long this is going to continue!
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With Orana’s Scimitar-horned oryx herd reduced from a once thriving herd to two single males, this phase out was inevitable. However, the person who took your call isn’t wrong - at least they’ve replaced them with Addax - a similar species that’s critically endangered. So many zoos have made senseless and baffling phase outs with no apparent replacement species, so this is something to acknowledge (I won’t say celebrate when they could have held both species).

Nyala are really overrated imo. They’re not even endangered and yet they’ve become the flavour of the month - presumably because they can be shoehorned into every zoo’s savannah.
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
This doesn't seem to have been mentioned yet but I found a document from December 2019. Auckland Zoo have applied to import Red Ruffed Lemur, White-faced Saki and DeBrazza's Monkey into New Zealand: https://www.epa.govt.nz/assets/FileAPI/hsno-ar/APP203982/APP203982-Application.pdf
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Lemurs will be a key feature in the Auckland Zoo’s entry precinct, so they’re presumably hoping to exhibit Red ruffed lemur in addition to the Ring-tailed lemur.

Long term, surplus male Red ruffed lemur would surely be welcomed at Hamilton Zoo. They house male Black and white ruffed lemur in the mixed lemur exhibit, which could potentially be integrated with them without the female-female aggression or the risk of hybridising.

I imagine the White-faced saki are the replacement for the Siamang, which moved out of the rainforest (now rethemed as the South American precinct) to live in the South East Asian precinct. Their exhibit has sat empty for a while now.
 
tetrapod said:
Always wondered why saki weren't brought into the region earlier. Ideal for mixed exhibits.
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According to this study, they trialled mixing them with tamarins - but the saki had to be removed due to aggression.

I assumed they lived in large colonies like most other South American monkeys; but apparently small groups of four are common and while same-sex aggression between unrelated adults is not unusual, offspring often remain to help rear young.

I believe the most practical solution is to start with a 1.1 pair in the old Siamang exhibit and slowly expand the group through breeding - with the size of the group controlled with contraception or transfers of surplus offspring.
 
Zoofan15 said:
According to this study, they trialled mixing them with tamarins - but the saki had to be removed due to aggression.

I assumed they lived in large colonies like most other South American monkeys; but apparently small groups of four are common and while same-sex aggression between unrelated adults is not unusual, offspring often remain to help rear young.

I believe the most practical solution is to start with a 1.1 pair in the old Siamang exhibit and slowly expand the group through breeding - with the size of the group controlled with contraception or transfers of surplus offspring.
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WF Saki are pretty common in European zoos and regularly mixed with other species. I was of the opinion (which may be incorrect) that there was more likelihood of the tamarins ganging up on the larger primate! Obviously depends on exhibit size as to any potential issues.
Given the lack of individuals in the region, one shouldn't be advocating contraception! They are a species that could easily be established in Australasia if enough zoos get behind it.
 
tetrapod said:
WF Saki are pretty common in European zoos and regularly mixed with other species. I was of the opinion (which may be incorrect) that there was more likelihood of the tamarins ganging up on the larger primate! Obviously depends on exhibit size as to any potential issues.
Given the lack of individuals in the region, one shouldn't be advocating contraception! They are a species that could easily be established in Australasia if enough zoos get behind it.
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Well the study may have been an isolated incident and it involved Pied-tamarins, so maybe the Cotton-tops and Golden lions would be more amiable.

Assuming your assessment of them being suitable for mixed species exhibits is correct, it may even be possible to house them across multiple monkey exhibits - increasing the zoo’s capacity and allowing them to become a breeding hub for the region.

Auckland Zoo’s rainforest comprises of several outdoor exhibits - three of which are a decent sized for sakis.

They might even spice up Hamilton Zoo’s spider monkey exhibit, which has looked bare since the tapir died.
 
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