It's official. Four Little Penguins have headed from Coffs Coast Wildlife Sanctuary to the Darling Downs Zoo. There are now three holders of Little Penguins in Queensland - reported on social media.
Darling Downs Zoo Darling Downs Zoo news 2024
- Thread starter Zorro
- Start date
The construction style of the enclosure could be to protect the penguins from predation by wild birds of prey, which are quite common on the zoo grounds.
My guess would be that it’s around keeping predators out. Darling Downs Zoo is located in a rural setting and aerial predators (birds of prey) would be more prevalent than in city zoos (where open air penguin exhibits are common).
Correct, The local Eagles over fly the zoo daily also with this type of enclosure keeps Fox's and Feral cats away from what other wise would be an easy snack!
A cormorant species and tern species would be cool. Personally like the idea of black-faced cormorants and little terns the most but any other coastal birds species they might decide on would compliment the penguins.
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Auckland Zoo held a Spotted shag (Phalacrocorax punctatus) with its Little blue penguin colony for a number of years. It was a rescue bird and a great addition to the exhibit.
You are all right on the money - in different ways!
Zorro, animal_expert01 and Zoofan15 correctly identified predators as a potential issue.
You may recall that Melbourne Zoo lost some penguins to foxes - even with their urban location.
Here we have possible predation from any number of raptor species. Any thing from Swamp Harriers to Wedge tailed Eagles. To be fair, the Wedgies don't worry us too much. We have had a pair breeding on a neighbouring property for over 20 years and we can't truly link any losses to them. Swamp Harriers are our main issue, along with Peregrines etc..
Of more concern are rats, foxes, feral cats and even stray dogs. Only last year we lost 3 young Llamas to wild dogs.
Osedax and steveroberts correctly identified our thoughts about adding a more active and aerial species to the enclosure - Terns being our preferred option.
However, nobody is taking Avian influenza very seriously yet. We have the ability to cover the whole roof with a solid fabric to prevent wild bird droppings contaminating the enclosure.
We just hope that it will never come to that.
Zorro, animal_expert01 and Zoofan15 correctly identified predators as a potential issue.
You may recall that Melbourne Zoo lost some penguins to foxes - even with their urban location.
Here we have possible predation from any number of raptor species. Any thing from Swamp Harriers to Wedge tailed Eagles. To be fair, the Wedgies don't worry us too much. We have had a pair breeding on a neighbouring property for over 20 years and we can't truly link any losses to them. Swamp Harriers are our main issue, along with Peregrines etc..
Of more concern are rats, foxes, feral cats and even stray dogs. Only last year we lost 3 young Llamas to wild dogs.
Osedax and steveroberts correctly identified our thoughts about adding a more active and aerial species to the enclosure - Terns being our preferred option.
However, nobody is taking Avian influenza very seriously yet. We have the ability to cover the whole roof with a solid fabric to prevent wild bird droppings contaminating the enclosure.
We just hope that it will never come to that.
Hopefully it will not become a concern, but it’s undoubtedly wise to prepare for the possibility. The ability to completely cover the exhibit as @Steve Robinson has described will ensure the birds are as protected as possible.
It's a massive issue! Zoos have been forced to temporarily close and cull birds in the UK. If enclosures aren't built with AI in mind, when an outbreak occurs, animals are restricted to confined conditions and their welfare impacted. Feel free to read my recently published co-authored paper that explores the topic Evaluating Potential Indicators of Welfare for Zoo Birds during an Avian Influenza Enforced Housing Order.
Darling Downs Zoo has apparently received a pair of spotted hyenas, with the female currently being on display.
That’s exciting news. I’ll be interested to hear if they were received from within the region or imported. A number of the females (including all three adult females at Monarto) are tied up with offspring; but a re-paring of a non-performing breeding pair is a possibility.
Awesome news! This would have to be a new pair from overseas considering all potential pairs are accounted for within the region. Also wonderful to have another regional holder of this species.
This is really good news genetically as besides the most of the regional population previously descended from a handful of founders at Monarto, prior to the imports of Sydney's males from Singapore in 2019 and Altina's pair from Africa in 2021.
The pair has been newly imported from somewhere in Africa, although from where I am unsure.
That’s great news. Aside from the significance of having a new genetic lineage within the region, it confirms they’re a breeding pair.
South Africa is the most likely source. Perhaps Johannesburg Zoo unless Cango have them.
2.1 imported from RSA.