Future of Zoos SA zoos (Speculation)

Zorro said:
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?.
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That’s correct. Wellington Zoo made an initial import of 1.2 from South Africa, followed by 1.0 from Singapore in 2011.

Then in 2016, a bulk import of 5.15 was made by Wellington Zoo from South Africa - with both animals from this import (and others bred at Wellington) transferred to Auckland Zoo and exported to Australia.

With the Bovid IRA incomplete at that time, this was the only way to do it - similar to how Dubbo’s Eastern bongo came via Wellington.
 
Jambo said:
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.
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As far as I am aware now the IRA has been completed they can be directly imported into Australia. (I stand corrected if I am wrong)
 
Zoofan15 said:
That’s correct. Wellington Zoo made an initial import of 1.2 from South Africa, followed by 1.0 from Singapore in 2011.

Then in 2016, a bulk import of 5.15 was made by Wellington Zoo from South Africa - with both animals from this import (and others bred at Wellington) transferred to Auckland Zoo and exported to Australia.

With the Bovid IRA incomplete at that time, this was the only way to do it - similar to how Dubbo’s Eastern bongo came via Wellington.
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20 animals for one species is really the way to go if this is possible. Take my hat off to them for getting this done correctly
 
Zorro said:
20 animals for one species is really the way to go if this is possible. Take my hat off to them for getting this done correctly
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It has the potential to sustain the population without resorting to inbreeding for decades. They’re not a large species, are ranked as Least Concern and easily obtainable, so there was no excuses for not sourcing the number they did - but I’m nonetheless impressed and hope it will serve as a model for other Bovid species.
 
Zorro said:
Some Nyala have been imported from NZ into oz. But they can be imported direct into Australia now from approved countries.
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In addition to being covered by the Bovid IRA, species must be also be on the live import list (otherwise more paperwork is needed). The live import list allows the import of the following:

Nilgai, Boselaphus tragocamelus
Waterbuck, Kobus ellipsiprymnus
Red Lechwe, Kobus leche
Dama Gazelle, Nanger dama ruficollis
Grant's Gazelle, Nanger granti
Scimitar-horned Oryx, Oryx dammah
Gemsbok, Oryx gazella
Addax, Addax nasomaculatus
Sable Antelope, Hippotragus niger
Eland, Taurotragus oryx
Nyala, Tragelaphus angasii
Bongo, Tragelaphus eurycerus
Sitatunga, Tragelaphus spekii
Greater Kudu, Tragelaphus strepsiceros

(Species in bold are already held in Australian zoos).

It’s therefore my opinion that Monarto etc. will only import species on the list for the foreseeable. I find it unlikely they’ll undertake extra paperwork when they have all these species to work with.
 
Zoofan15 said:
In addition to being covered by the Bovid IRA, species must be also be on the live import list (otherwise more paperwork is needed). The live import list allows the import of the following:

Nilgai, Boselaphus tragocamelus
Waterbuck, Kobus ellipsiprymnus
Red Lechwe, Kobus leche
Dama Gazelle, Nanger dama ruficollis
Grant's Gazelle, Nanger granti
Scimitar-horned Oryx, Oryx dammah
Gemsbok, Oryx gazella
Addax, Addax nasomaculatus
Sable Antelope, Hippotragus niger
Eland, Taurotragus oryx
Nyala, Tragelaphus angasii
Bongo, Tragelaphus eurycerus
Sitatunga, Tragelaphus spekii
Greater Kudu, Tragelaphus strepsiceros

(Species in bold are already held in Australian zoos).

It’s therefore my opinion that Monarto etc. will only import species on the list for the foreseeable. I find it unlikely they’ll undertake extra paperwork when they have all these species to work with.
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No Springbok?, they were held here at Pearl coast zoo :eek:
 
Zorro said:
No Springbok?, they were held here at Pearl coast zoo :eek:
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That is surprising. The region would greatly benefit from fresh imports of this species which is otherwise resting on the success of Orana’s small herd. Even in the event they can get the numbers up, the level of inbreeding would necessitate new individuals being brought in. They’re a species which integrates well with larger herbivores, so you’d think more zoos would have an interest.
 
Zoofan15 said:
That is surprising. The region would greatly benefit from fresh imports of this species which is otherwise resting on the success of Orana’s small herd. Even in the event they can get the numbers up, the level of inbreeding would necessitate new individuals being brought in. They’re a species which integrates well with larger herbivores, so you’d think more zoos would have an interest.
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I am somewhat surprised Orana has not imported some new animals by now?
 
Zorro said:
I am somewhat surprised Orana has not imported some new animals by now?
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I wouldn’t be surprise if they phased them out tbh. With the Bovid IRA now complete for Australia, they’ll be looking as a region to see which species they can cooperate on and with the Australian collections unable to import Springbok, there’s no support for Orana in continuing with them. It’s a shame, but appears inevitable at this point in time.
 
Zoofan15 said:
I wouldn’t be surprise if they phased them out tbh. With the Bovid IRA now complete for Australia, they’ll be looking as a region to see which species they can cooperate on and with the Australian collections unable to import Springbok, there’s no support for Orana in continuing with them. It’s a shame, but appears inevitable at this point in time.
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Especially considering Auckland has recently phased them out too, I’d imagine Orana would follow a similar route rather than being the only facility in the region holding and breeding them.
 
Jambo said:
Especially considering Auckland has recently phased them out too, I’d imagine Orana would follow a similar route rather than being the only facility in the region holding and breeding them.
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While we can appreciate the value of these Springbok - being the last in the region and a species that can cohabit with other herbivores, they’re not endangered and have little appeal to the general public compared to the Eastern bongo or the Addax (both of which are critically endangered).
 
Zoofan15 said:
While we can appreciate the value of these Springbok - being the last in the region and a species that can cohabit with other herbivores, they’re not endangered and have little appeal to the general public compared to the Eastern bongo or the Addax (both of which are critically endangered).
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I understand that but they would be cheap to buy and for a small species shipping would not break the bank. :D
 
Zorro said:
No Springbok?, they were held here at Pearl coast zoo :eek:
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Are you sure about that? They held dama gazelle, I think.
I was actually surprised that Grant's gazelle was on the list, as I'm not aware of the species being kept in Australia previously.
 
tetrapod said:
Are you sure about that? They held dama gazelle, I think.
I was actually surprised that Grant's gazelle was on the list, as I'm not aware of the species being kept in Australia previously.
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They kept Angolan Springbok and actually Orana (and Auckland) got their Springbok via these imports made by Pearl Coast in the 80’s; as they had to be imported in NZ first before being sent over to Australia - and Pearl Coast used Orana as their ‘stop over facility’.
 
Jambo said:
They kept Angolan Springbok and actually Orana (and Auckland) got their Springbok via these imports made by Pearl Coast in the 80’s; as they had to be imported in NZ first before being sent over to Australia - and Pearl Coast used Orana as their ‘stop over facility’.
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Didn't Orana end up with a few interesting species of hoofstock as a result of their connection to Pearl Coast? Dama gazelle, gemsbok and sable were also there too?
 
tetrapod said:
Didn't Orana end up with a few interesting species of hoofstock as a result of their connection to Pearl Coast? Dama gazelle, gemsbok and sable were also there too?
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Yeah, I believe so and that’s how they got their Addax too.

All of the antelope were imported from over in the UK (mainly from Marwell).
 
Zorro said:
I understand that but they would be cheap to buy and for a small species shipping would not break the bank. :D
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Springbok are notoriously fractious. There’s a reason many facilities in the United States have moved to hand-rearing any offspring produced... The amount of animals that would likely be killed or injured in an attempt to move enough animals to establish a new, worthwhile population halfway across the world would likely be too much for any zoo or the Australian government to deem an appropriate sacrifice in 2022…
 
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