What no Hyacinth Macaws
Parrots not on the live import list can be added, but it’s a comparatively lengthy process.
Future of Zoos SA zoos (Speculation)
- Thread starter Abbey
- Start date
Parrots not on the live import list can be added, but it’s a comparatively lengthy process.
On the subject of the parrot IRA:
It should be noted that it was primarily private bird owners, breeders and hobbyists that pushed for this. Zoos are on board, but are clearly benefiting from the initiative of those wanting to import them as pets.
It’s a clear example that if zoos want something enough, they can work towards it. We can similarly import zebra due to the multi-billion dollar racing industry ensuring imports from the Equus family can be regularly undertaken.
It should be noted that it was primarily private bird owners, breeders and hobbyists that pushed for this. Zoos are on board, but are clearly benefiting from the initiative of those wanting to import them as pets.
It’s a clear example that if zoos want something enough, they can work towards it. We can similarly import zebra due to the multi-billion dollar racing industry ensuring imports from the Equus family can be regularly undertaken.
Where's my hippo keeping family at?
They all moved to Columbia where the sun and hippos are plentiful.
I believe the hippo IRA are the next cab off the ranks to be looked at then Giraffe after that. I am not sure as to why both can’t be done simultaneouslyWhere's my hippo keeping family at?
True I guess zoo’s in South America don’t have to worry about their zoos running out of hippos in the near futureThey all moved to Columbia where the sun and hippos are plentiful.
I believe the hippo IRA are the next cab off the ranks to be looked at then Giraffe after that. I am not sure as to why both can’t be done simultaneously
Each IRA relies on multiple submissions from multiple entities, but yes I don’t see why they couldn’t all put in two submissions (one for each). I suppose there’s a lot of paperwork with regards to disease risk analysis etc. that they have to research and cover which are specific to the species being imported.
Zoos Victoria and Taronga could easily put submissions in. Maybe now that Zoos SA will receive Common Hippo from Werribee, they may get on board with the IRA as well which would help. As we've seen, the more interested the better!
All holders will have strong reasons to import considering Kani can only go to one zoo, which will leave the other two with a lengthy wait to breed if they can’t otherwise import.
The earliest we could expect a calf from Kani is 2024 and even assuming it was male, you’d be looking at a minimum of three years (2027) until that calf was of reproductive age. To be of a safe age (size) to introduce to potentially hostile cows would require a further two or three years on top of that (2030).
Swanson02
Well-Known Member
How long do IRAs last, forever? Because TWPZ as far as I recall, didn't need one to import Anjalee from Auckland nor did Sydney for their two young bulls from Ireland. Likewise did Darling Downs and the National zoo need to clear one for the Sri Lankan leopards? Do some species not need an IRA and just need to quarantine as they do not present a biological hazard? Like how reptiles are easy to import as mentioned above? I kind of and kind of don't get how it works
To the best of my understanding an IRA (Import Risk Analysis) is exactly that - a comprehensive analysis of every possible risk associated with importing that species (from biological to the risk of it escaping and establishing a feral population).
The reason they’re not needed for felids like tigers and leopards is because this analysis has already been carried out and a subsequent analysis would only yield the same information. The import was previously assessed to be safe (otherwise it never would have occurred in the first place) and therefore subsequent imports of that species should be similarly safe.
Swanson02
Well-Known Member
That's weird, I wonder what has made Hippos "unsafe" since they were last imported, which I assume was a pygmy hippo import only around 15-20 years ago. Is it because they found an individual cow surviving in the bush for over 2 years after she escaped? So she had technically gone 'feral' and thus the assumptions made in the last Hippo IRA regarding the impossibility of them going feral, were wrong? Therefore we will now need a new IRA that covers this?
I understand the reason for needing a new one every few years with bovids as they could present a lot of foreign and dangerous new diseases to our livestock. I also assume canids are cleared as people are always bringing dogs whether they are pets or for racing into the country.
The last hippopotamus imported from outside the region was a male Pygmy hippopotamus imported by Taronga Zoo in 1981 from Honolulu Zoo. The last hippopotamus imported into Australia was a pair of Common hippopotamus imported by Tipperary Station in 1988 from Auckland Zoo.
I’m not sure whether they had IRA’s for zoos in the 1980’s. I found an IRA dated 2002 for felids held in zoos with a note that an interim exemption had been issued in 1997. Many felids were imported by zoos prior to the 1990’s, so I’m wondering if this is when the concept of an IRA became mandatory?
I could well be mistaken with this theory; but since the greatest threat to biosecurity had been identified as birds (which were dealt with via a blanket ban), perhaps mammals weren’t subject to the same scrutiny until this time?
Regarding the Pygmy hippo there was nothing technically about it. I believe She was living feral for around 6-7 years. As to why she was never recaptured remains a mystery. Also how she managed to survive the local crocodile population for so long also remains another mystery. Her time only ran out when a local feral pig hunter shot her mistakenly for a pig.
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I've heard that Tipperary weren't maintaining adequate records. For example, they received four Common hippopotamus in the 1980's. When they transferred three to Mareeba, only then was it discovered that one of the females was not a founder but had in fact been born at Tipperary.
There was a similar story of a Pygmy hippopotamus not being recorded, so its clear this animal slipped under the radar.
Then perhaps reappeared back on the radar later
It was literally the last thing anyone would have expected to find in the Australian bush.
The one positive thing to have come out of the Tipperary saga was the discovery that they bred Fonzee and Solucky to produce two calves. In 2011, a keeper at Auckland Zoo undertook an investigation into the history of the Common hippopotamus population in the region and noted this Hippo was the sole surviving descendant of Nada in the region. Had the value of this line been realised a few years earlier, it's more likely Cuddles's mother and brother would have been retained.
But as you mentioned on another thread when zoos hire non animal savvy people what would they really know about hippo bloodlines it was a golden opportunity that went begging which the powers that be never picked up on.
The reason I also say it was more likely they would have been retained (rather than they would) is even if their value was realised, other constraints may well have overuled a desire by any of the zoos to receive them. Auckland Zoo couldn't import them due to biosecurity restrictions and a lack of space; while Dubbo had two mature bulls and Werribee had one.
Dubbo could have taken the two cows, who would have happily lived together in a pair; but even they only accepted her via Sea World following the death of one of their cows, which freed up space.
Or perhaps just a mistake made by bad management