Future of Zoos SA zoos (Speculation)

[Zoofan15]

I agree that it would be great to see False gharial housed in Australia, including at Adelaide.

The site earmarked for a flamingo exhibit could potentially be repurposed (given the unlikelihood of Adelaide being able to reacquire flamingoes) for an indoor, heated exhibit, given its proximity to the Jewels of Asia precinct.

That sounds perfect. Like you say, it’s certain Adelaide Zoo won’t be importing more flamingo anytime soon and it’s a space that could nicely link to the Jewels of Asia precinct. While mammals are my passion, even I’ll admit birds and reptiles are often neglected in the design of these precincts.

The False gharial by virtue of its size is as impressive as any mammal and would be a good fit for Adelaide Zoo, which should really be focussing on developing a collection that compliments Monarto - rather than competes with it.

 

[Swanson02]

That sounds perfect. Like you say, it’s certain Adelaide Zoo won’t be importing more flamingo anytime soon and it’s a space that could nicely link to the Jewels of Asia precinct. While mammals are my passion, even I’ll admit birds and reptiles are often neglected in the design of these precincts.

The False gharial by virtue of its size is as impressive as any mammal and would be a good fit for Adelaide Zoo, which should really be focussing on developing a collection that compliments Monarto - rather than competes with it.

I think the Cassowary exhibit was extended to incorporate the old flamingo one so Adelaide could hold a breeding pair of Cassowary.

Saying that I like the idea very much and the extension can be easily reversed though as all they erected was a fence. I believe Adelaide definitely needs another crocodilian and False Gharial would fit into the area very well, being a geographical transition species like the Komodo Dragon from Papua New Guinea/Australia (Cassowaries) up into mainland southeast Asia with White Cheeked Gibbon and Francois Langur (Fingers crossed).

 

[Zorro]

I believe a flock of Flamingos in the lake at Monatro zoos new entrance would look so cool and could become a high light for the park. It not likely to happen any time soon but would be a great feature if it ever did happen!

 

[Zoofan15]

I believe a flock of Flamingos in the lake at Monatro zoos new entrance would look so cool and could become a high light for the park. It not likely to happen any time soon but would be a great feature if it ever did happen!

Greater flamingo at Monarto:

That would be great to see. Auckland Zoo have had much breeding success with their flock, but the exhibit is so cramped. An open range zoo like Monarto could potentially house a flock of flamingos in the hundreds.

Breeding skyrockets once a minimum flock size of 40 is reached; so if there’s ever an opportunity to import, Monarto would be wise to acquire 45-50 flamingos and grow the flock from there. The flock could then be capped at whatever number they decide and then surplus transferred to other Australian zoos.

At a minimum, I’d expect Dubbo and Werribee to have an interest in this species if it were available. I’m hoping Orana Wildlife Park will be able to acquire some from Auckland Zoo long term.

 

[Zorro]

Greater flamingo at Monarto:

That would be great to see. Auckland Zoo have had much breeding success with their flock, but the exhibit is so cramped. An open range zoo like Monarto could potentially house a flock of flamingos in the hundreds.

Breeding skyrockets once a minimum flock size of 40 is reached; so if there’s ever an opportunity to import, Monarto would be wise to acquire 45-50 flamingos and grow the flock from there. The flock could then be capped at whatever number they decide and then surplus transferred to other Australian zoos.

At a minimum, I’d expect Dubbo and Werribee to have an interest in this species if it were available. I’m hoping Orana Wildlife Park will be able to acquire some from Auckland Zoo long term.

It’s a shame our zoos couldn’t work towards a combined import and share the costs

 

[Zoofan15]

It’s a shame our zoos couldn’t work towards a combined import and share the costs

The greater challenge would be arranging an import exemption such as the one granted to Auckland Zoo to allow them to import in 2001. I don’t know the specifics of why this was granted, but the chicks were hatched and reared in a quarantine facility, so I’m assuming that allowed an exemption to be granted versus importing birds which had lived overseas in an outdoor environment.

 

[Jambo]

Greater flamingo at Monarto:

That would be great to see. Auckland Zoo have had much breeding success with their flock, but the exhibit is so cramped. An open range zoo like Monarto could potentially house a flock of flamingos in the hundreds.

Breeding skyrockets once a minimum flock size of 40 is reached; so if there’s ever an opportunity to import, Monarto would be wise to acquire 45-50 flamingos and grow the flock from there. The flock could then be capped at whatever number they decide and then surplus transferred to other Australian zoos.

At a minimum, I’d expect Dubbo and Werribee to have an interest in this species if it were available. I’m hoping Orana Wildlife Park will be able to acquire some from Auckland Zoo long term.

Flamingos would be a nice fit to Werribee’s planned Waterhole area. Flamingoes are always a nice fit for an open range zoo. San Diego Safari Park displays them in the hundreds across large lagoons and it’s definitely quite a sight to behold.

 

[Zorro]

The greater challenge would be arranging an import exemption such as the one granted to Auckland Zoo to allow them to import in 2001. I don’t know the specifics of why this was granted, but the chicks were hatched and reared in a quarantine facility, so I’m assuming that allowed an exemption to be granted versus importing birds which had lived overseas in an outdoor environment.

Considering racing pigeons can be imported which can fly all over the country I am surprised that A grade zoos would have such a massive problems under strict controls?.

 

[Zoofan15]

Considering racing pigeons can be imported which can fly all over the country I am surprised that A grade zoos would have such a massive problems under strict controls?.

It does seem ridiculous. I understand rules are in place to protect the Australian livestock industry, but this species seldom escapes from captivity (no Australasian zoo has ever had an escape) and they’re held in a secure containment facility - after passing rigorous quarantine protocols.

 

[Zorro]

It does seem ridiculous. I understand rules are in place to protect the Australian livestock industry, but this species seldom escapes from captivity (no Australasian zoo has ever had an escape) and they’re held in a secure containment facility - after passing rigorous quarantine protocols.

Correct and how much more can they do?, born in a zoo thus its quarantine, pre-quarantined before export, then quarantined again upon arrival, then kept in the confines of a zoo which is another quarantined area plus all the 21st century testing along the way, but pigeons are ok?.

 

[Zoofan15]

Correct and how much more can they do?, born in a zoo thus its quarantine, pre-quarantined before export, then quarantined again upon arrival, then kept in the confines of a zoo which is another quarantined area plus all the 21st century testing along the way, but pigeons are ok?.

At a minimum, exchanges should be allowed between New Zealand and Australian zoos. Auckland Zoo would then be able to supply flamingos down the line when their flock reaches a suitable size; and could in tune receive species like Brolga (we have only one female left in the country now).

There’s an exemption for penguins, as evidenced by Wellington Zoo exporting one to Taronga Zoo - though presumably this exists on the rationale the penguin could (theoretically) make it to Australia on its own steam if re-released into the wild.

 

[Zorro]

At a minimum, exchanges should be allowed between New Zealand and Australian zoos. Auckland Zoo would then be able to supply flamingos down the line when their flock reaches a suitable size; and could in tune receive species like Brolga (we have only one female left in the country now).

There’s an exemption for penguins, as evidenced by Wellington Zoo exporting one to Taronga Zoo - though presumably this exists on the rationale the penguin could (theoretically) make it to Australia on its own steam if re-released into the wild.

I really can't see the flock at Auckland supplying many other zoos in the region since the AZ flock is not by zoo standards that large, I do hope the flock keeps growing as fast as possible!

 

[Jambo]

Flamingoes are determined as a bio security threat unfortunately, so I’m not sure they’d ever be allowed into Australian zoos; at least within the distant future. Not being an endangered species, Australian zoos have even less of a persuasion to allow an import. Hopefully our zoos can do something though; they’re such an iconic species and they’d be a great fit for every Australian zoo.

 

[Zoofan15]

I really can't see the flock at Auckland supplying many other zoos in the region since the AZ flock is not by zoo standards that large, I do hope the flock keeps growing as fast as possible!

I really hope Auckland Zoo’s flock continues to produce chicks, though they really need to move them to a large exhibit if they want to increase the flock size. This would allow a flock of 40 plus adults to be maintained and represents the point they’d be in a position to supply other zoos - likely Orana Wildlife Park as a starting point. At the current rate, this would still be 15 years away or so.

 

[Zoofan15]

Flamingo Breeding

To give an indication of the effect a larger flock size has on breeding results in Greater flamingo, I’ve sourced these figures via a post by Jana that detail the breeding results at Ohrada Zoo. They imported 38 Greater flamingo from Tanzania in 2001:

31.12.2001: 0,0,37; chicks 2001: zero
31.12.2002: 13,15,7; chicks 2002: zero
31.12.2003: 13,15,12; chicks 2003: 0,0,6
31.12.2004: 13,15,22; chicks 2004: 0,0,12
31.12.2005: 21,18,19; chicks 2005: 0,0,12
31.12.2006: 20,20,25; chicks 2006: 0,0,13
31.12.2007: 33,25,21; chicks 2007: 0,0,14
31.12.2008: 46,37,2; chicks 2008: 0,0,11
31.12.2009: 35,36,8; chicks 2009: 0,0,16
31.12.2010: 39,36,4; chicks 2010: 0,0,16
31.12.2011: 35,42,19; chicks 2011: 0,0,15
31.12.2012: 35,41,22; chicks 2012: 0,0,13
31.12.2013: 33,40,11; chicks 2013: 0,0,8
31.12.2014: 38,48,11; chicks 2014: 5,8
31.12.2015: 38,46,25; chicks 2015: 0,0,15
31.12.2016: 36,44,25; chicks 2016: zero
31.12.2017: 37,44,46; chicks 2017: 0,0,28
31.12.2018: 37,45,60; chicks 2018: 0,0,29
31.12.2019: 33,42,78; chicks 2019: 0,0,30

It’d be amazing to see this replicated at Monarto Safari Park if an import was allowed - sadly something we’re unlikely to see in foreseeable future.

 

[Zoofan15]

This is a thing which I tend to struggle with a bit, With all the TAG meetings and people involved in different species management how some of the time they appear to be not on the same page.

The cooperation shown during the Lowland nyala import gives me hope lessons have been learnt - namely make hay while the sun shines (import while you can) and to begin with a large founder base.

While with some species, we don’t have the luxury to import in bulk due to a lack of availability (giraffes etc). I hope that at a minimum, we’ll see some mass Bovid imports from Monarto.

Imagine what Monarto could achieve with Eastern bongo!

 

[Zorro]

The cooperation shown during the Lowland nyala import gives me hope lessons have been learnt - namely make hay while the sun shines (import while you can) and to begin with a large founder base.

While with some species, we don’t have the luxury to import in bulk due to a lack of availability (giraffes etc). I hope that at a minimum, we’ll see some mass Bovid imports from Monarto etc.

Imagine what Monarto could achieve Eastern bongo!

I do agree,but the way I see it the best option is to gather a group of interested zoos and do a bulk import for Bongos or what ever the species of interest. The main reason so many species have failed in the past was the importation of a very small amount of said animal species like only 1 pair or even a trio with little to no back down the track, it smells a little amateurish to my mind.

 

[Zorro]

The cooperation shown during the Lowland nyala import gives me hope lessons have been learnt - namely make hay while the sun shines (import while you can) and to begin with a large founder base.

While with some species, we don’t have the luxury to import in bulk due to a lack of availability (giraffes etc). I hope that at a minimum, we’ll see some mass Bovid imports from Monarto.

Imagine what Monarto could achieve with Eastern bongo!

Yes the Nyala import was done the wise way but as far as I know was all done in NZ with no input as far as I am aware from here?.

 

[Jambo]

I do agree,but the way I see it the best option is to gather a group of interested zoos and do a bulk import for Bongos or what ever the species of interest. The main reason so many species have failed in the past was the importation of a very small amount of said animal species like only 1 pair or even a trio with little to no back down the track, it smells a little amateurish to my mind.

At the moment it seems only Altina, Monarto and Dubbo are the only facilities interested in Bongo.

Importing them via NZ seems the best option, and I’m surprised they haven’t done this again following Maisha’s import back in 2017. I guess Wellington will also have to be on board in cooperating with such a feat; but sending over a few Tassie Devils in return would make this achievable.

 

[Jambo]

Yes the Nyala import was don't the wise way but as far as I know was all done in NZ with no input as far as I am aware from here?.

I believe so as Australia can’t import this species? And so they had to be imported via NZ (through a Wellington I believe).