Auckland Zoo flying foxes

driftaguy said:
Where have the flying foxes gone?
There is a sign at their enclosure in the macaw aviary saying they are off-display - have they moved into the old kiwi house?
Click to expand...

The flying foxes have been off-display since last September at least, I was told that this was because they were stressed by the rats that were entering their enclosure, and had been moved up to a quiet enclosure at the back of the zoo (by the original entrance). Mind you, the volunteer who told me that also said that they were going to be moving into Te Wao Nui's Night Forest, which I am absolutely sure will never happen.
 
Have you ever seen the short-tailed bats in Te Wao Nui's The Night? I read on a sign that they are really small (5cm from top to bottom, I think), which may explain why I haven't seen any.
 
driftaguy said:
Have you ever seen the short-tailed bats in Te Wao Nui's The Night? I read on a sign that they are really small (5cm from top to bottom, I think), which may explain why I haven't seen any.
Click to expand...

I haven't seen any no - but yes they are tiny, and its not very easy to see them, especially as they don't flit across the lights, just climb on the ground/trunks. Further, I was told there was only one male in there, so that will make it even harder. They/it should be in the right-hand enclosure, as the left one has the morepork which is kept seperate.
 
kiwipo said:
What has happened to the plan of a large elephant herd? Has it been canned?
Click to expand...

Last I heard, that plan was postponed so they could focus on importing 2 female elephants, which would supposedly take less time which would be better for Burma's welfare. I think the 2 elephants were supposed to be imported by the end of 2013 but I haven't heard anything recently, so that might not be happening in the near future. The main problem has something to do with there being no import standards in New Zealand for elephants.

One of the problems with the large elephant herd plan is that some local residents are complaining they don't want to give up a local walking track, but the land is needed in order to have an appropriate enclosure size.
 
The extended enclosure would knock over the walking track and a large playground in Western Springs...
 
I'd sort of been wondering if Maggie the grey-headed flying fox was still at the zoo, and I just saw on their Facebook that she is still there but off-display. She is 21 years old this coming October!
 
Maggie's a bit of a legend around the zoo - she lives in one of the section kitchens. Haven't run into her myself yet, but she's apparently doing well.
 
As of the May list for volunteers, we have Maggie off display, plus three males, five females and two unknown (juveniles I guess).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top