Exotic Mammals in Australian Zoos

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Chlidonias said:
*Lion-tailed Macaque (Macaca silenus) – Rockhampton

This species has been kept in all the major zoos through the 1900s. The last two groups (both very inbred) were at Adelaide and Melbourne. Fears about Herpes B in macaques caused breeding to be stopped and the remaining animals were later retired to smaller zoos in the last few years. Now the only individuals left are two elderly females at Rockhampton Zoo. The last male in the country died in 2014 at Rockhampton.
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Terribly sad news. :( An entire species has been completely lost from the Australasian region. Rockhampton Zoo's Lion-tailed Macaques passed away last weekend - one died of natural causes and the other was humanely euthanised on welfare grounds:

"Rest in Peace Dana and Lhasa It’s with a broken heart we announce that our two elderly Lion-Tailed Macaques, Dana and Lhasa, passed away last weekend. Lhasa was found by keepers in the morning having died peacefully in her sleep through the night of natural causes from her advanced age. Our team were aware of the adverse psychological impacts the loss of Lhasa would have on Dana both short-term and long-term, so the extremely difficult decision was made to peacefully euthanise Dana. With the loss of Lhasa, Dana was already showing signs of severe stress, and being on her own would only continue that distress as lion-tailed macaques are highly social species.

We asked many questions and consulted to understand if there were any options to support her socially, however no other zoos in Australia house Lion-tailed macaques and she couldn’t live alone as primates are a social species and need to be with others of their kind for their physical and social welfare. It is very unlikely Dana would be accepted by a different species of primate and to attempt this would be dangerous for her at her age, as well as highly distressing. Lhasa was her world and after the years of companionship, Dana’s welfare was our top priority. While this decision has been heart-breaking for our zoo team and we will miss them both, we know that euthanasing Dana allowed her to die peacefully with Lhasa and not go through any unnecessary suffering. We have an incredibly supportive community here, that loves our zoo and we know will also miss Lhasa and Dana greatly"
 
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WhistlingKite24 said:
Terribly sad news. :( An entire species has been completely lost from the Australasian region. Rockhampton Zoo's Lion-tailed Macaques passed away last weekend - one died of natural causes and the other was humanely euthanised on welfare grounds:

"Rest in Peace Dana and Lhasa It’s with a broken heart we announce that our two elderly Lion-Tailed Macaques, Dana and Lhasa, passed away last weekend. Lhasa was found by keepers in the morning having died peacefully in her sleep through the night of natural causes from her advanced age. Our team were aware of the adverse psychological impacts the loss of Lhasa would have on Dana both short-term and long-term, so the extremely difficult decision was made to peacefully euthanise Dana. With the loss of Lhasa, Dana was already showing signs of severe stress, and being on her own would only continue that distress as lion-tailed macaques are highly social species.

We asked many questions and consulted to understand if there were any options to support her socially, however no other zoos in Australia house Lion-tailed macaques and she couldn’t live alone as primates are a social species and need to be with others of their kind for their physical and social welfare. It is very unlikely Dana would be accepted by a different species of primate and to attempt this would be dangerous for her at her age, as well as highly distressing. Lhasa was her world and after the years of companionship, Dana’s welfare was our top priority. While this decision has been heart-breaking for our zoo team and we will miss them both, we know that euthanasing Dana allowed her to die peacefully with Lhasa and not go through any unnecessary suffering. We have an incredibly supportive community here, that loves our zoo and we know will also miss Lhasa and Dana greatly"
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That is sad news indeed they were my favourite macaque species
 
Yeah that is sad, poor Dana too, if other Lion-tailed Macaques were still kept in Aus or NZ then there would have been a community for her to be re-homed at. I think Australasian Zoos should serious reconsider refocusing back on Lion-tailed Macaques and Crested Macaques.
 
steveroberts said:
Yeah that is sad, poor Dana too, if other Lion-tailed Macaques were still kept in Aus or NZ then there would have been a community for her to be re-homed at. I think Australasian Zoos should serious reconsider refocusing back on Lion-tailed Macaques and Crested Macaques.
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I strongly agree on that
 
steveroberts said:
Yeah that is sad, poor Dana too, if other Lion-tailed Macaques were still kept in Aus or NZ then there would have been a community for her to be re-homed at. I think Australasian Zoos should serious reconsider refocusing back on Lion-tailed Macaques and Crested Macaques.
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Very unlikely some ZAA collections have been reducing the number of species held in the Australian collections over a few years now. I would guess the Dusky Langer species will be the next species to vanish. Also the Javan Langers were aloud to drop off the radar as well.
 
@Zorro Yeah you're totally right. The phasing out really seems to only be increasing. I understand the realities that a certain number of species inevitably will be phased out of a region over the time to increase space for chosen species; that's the trajectory of Zoo's evolving over time, but it really seems that Australia & New Zealand really have been going overboard with it in the last few decades and most apparent in the last 10 years give or take.
 
Chlidonias said:
*Sri Lankan Leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya) – one pair at National Zoo

The female was imported from Paris (France) in February 2019, and the male from Zoo Santillana del Mar (Spain) in September 2019.
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New
It turns out two male sri lankan leopard cubs were born on 24 December 2020 and it was never announced for 7 months
Link here Log into Facebook | Facebook
 
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A few minor updates.
Chlidonias said:
*Arabian Camel (Dromedary) (Camelus dromedarius) – Altina; Darling Downs; Hunter Valley; Mansfield; Oakvale; Shoalhaven; Sydney Zoo; Taralga; Taronga; Tasmania Zoo; Werribee; Western Plains Zoo; Wings Wildlife Park; Zoodoo. [Also undoubtably held on show in other small collections apart for the ones listed here]

*Fallow Deer (Dama dama) – Adelaide; Altina; Birdland Animal Park; Caversham; Cooberrie; Gumbuya Park; Halls Gap; Hunter Valley; Mansfield; Mogo; National Zoo; Taralga; Tasmania Zoo; Western Plains Zoo; Wildlife HQ; Zoodoo
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Gorge Wildlife Park have both Dromedary and Fallow Deer. Two individuals of each species confirmed via message.
Chlidonias said:
*Himalayan Tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus) – Altina; Halls Gap; Mansfield
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Mansfield Zoo doesn't currently have Himalayan Tahr but certainly had plans to house them: "We don’t at this stage – all got cancelled when the equine flu occurred and they couldn’t be transported."
Chlidonias said:
*Spotted Deer (Chital) (Axis axis) – ?
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Bredl's Wild Farm (around the Airlie Beach area, Queensland) currently have a female Chital Deer that arrived recently meaning there is at least now one place that has this species: Log into Facebook | Facebook

Edit: Also, Sydney Zoo doesn't have Blackbuck nor Water Buffalo currently: "No sorry we don't have either species at the present time."
 
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@WhistlingKite24 I wonder what happened with the Water Buffalo that were at Sydney Zoo in 2019, there were a few right that were housed with Saigon the Elephant; I'm guessing they left the zoo when the two young male Eles' arrived.
 
steveroberts said:
@WhistlingKite24 I wonder what happened with the Water Buffalo that were at Sydney Zoo in 2019, there were a few right that were housed with Saigon the Elephant; I'm guessing they left the zoo when the two young male Eles' arrived.
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There were three - presumably bulls or steers as they were named Larry, Moe and Curly. They disappointingly replaced the hippos we were all promised and have since been removed from the zoo’s online species list (photos of species held). There’s 10 known holders of this species in Australia, so I’d imagine they were sent to one of them.
 
@Zoofan15 Oh right; its a real shame that Sydney Zoo couldn't have Hippos after-all, I guess its almost impossible these days for some ridiculous reason (Western Plain is the only Zoo with individuals now right)
 
steveroberts said:
@Zoofan15 Oh right; its a real shame that Sydney Zoo couldn't have Hippos after-all, I guess its almost impossible these days for some ridiculous reason (Western Plain is the only Zoo with individuals now right)
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Werribee Open Range Zoo also have five females (two mother-daughter pods). I guess a lot of it comes down to space, but an adequate exhibit could still be built in a city zoo like they are for Southern white rhinoceros.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Werribee Open Range Zoo also have five females (two mother-daughter pods). I guess a lot of it comes down to space, but an adequate exhibit could still be built in a city zoo like they are for Southern white rhinoceros.
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Even if the Sydney zoo managed to acquire Pygmy Hippos in the future would be something!
 
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