Taronga Zoo Great Southern Oceans

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It's no secret - the Taronga Foundation have been posting letters looking for donations for the GSO project to thousands of homes throughout Sydney - you can't miss it lately.
 
I received a letter here in Bris about GSO, perhaps because I donated to the eles.
 
yeh mate, its not a secret, it just came in the mail the other day. the overhead mock-up of the precinct on the website looks pretty spectacular, cant wait for it to be finished.
 
overnight the taronga foundation hosted another of its rather famous 'establishmnet dinners', at said establishment in sydney. Hosted by rove mcmanus, the night raised a cool $200K for the zoo's Great Southern Oceans exhibit. Chip in another $600K from the NSW govt, and all in all id say a pretty productive night.
and add that to the $250K raised in one night at Bondi's Icebergs in March. Good work Taronga Foundation.
 
taronga has to jhave the best fund raisinga ctivities, as its not aimed at zoo people, but a lot of the various demographic, good on yas and keep it going!
 
sure does. the govt's $3:1 matching grant is a good incentive, but those TF ppl certainly know how to get the dollars rolling in. though theyll need it for GSO. i cant wait for it to open, i imagine that when it does, zoo people will be talking about taronga and zoo design the way they talk about san diego and the bronx now
 
who knows? i havent been to taronga since the end of march when GSO was already looking finished ;) plants were going in, some of the pools had water in them and most of the mock rock was done. plus the seals were ebing crate-trained. i imagine GSO will be open by the end of the year to make the most of the summer holiday crowds.
if you ask me the sections of the zoo that most need upgrading are the Australian section and African. Theyre both good enough as they are, but sitting next to these multi-million dollar development smakes them look, well, a bit behind.
theres other work going on too atm, with the car park/entrance upgrade about to or already?? under way. and of course the upgrade of the lower entry building which im guessing is timed to fit in with GSO, and soon the upgrade of the ferry wharf too
 
great southern ocean.

Has anyone been to taronga lately? How is GSO looking? Has anyone been lucky enough to go into the construction site yet and have a look around? The latest issue of taronga zoo friends magazine had an article about the GSO, but the article didn't really contain any new information. i also recieved a pamphlet asking for donations for the Fiordland penguins. The pamphlet said the exhibit would be opening in April 2008. I thought it was due to open in late 2007.
 
i received that as well, nicely done, and it does say april next year, although to agree i have heard late 2007, and the construction firms website, says gso is 95% completed.

i am guessing, that for animal welfare precautions, that the water (which i belive is being pumped from sydney harbour) will be undergoing rigourous testing and chemical analyais?alterations to ensure the water is safe for the animals.

i also read that there was a late addition to the project, that is a pelican pool/marsh area was added last minute, sounds kool, and l think will tie the project off nicely, in shaping our beautiful eastern coastline and our great southern oceans!
 
the pelicans sound like a nice addition. GSO it will no doubt kick on melbournes new "stories from the sea" (what a daggy name!). with its harbour views, sydney sandstone, and extensive collection of seals and penguins, you would expect taronga could potentially pull off the best marine immersion exhibit of any zoo in the world (excluding seaworld-type parks of course). i wait with anticipation.
 
I like the sound of Great Southern Oceans as a title - really captures the idea. Will they have aquarium exhibits as well?
 
I think I will be disappointed when it opens ... any "Great Southern Oceans" exhibit which doesn't also include Great White Sharks, Killer Whales, and Humpback Whales, really isn't a true depiction of that ocean :D

(I am being sarcastic of course)
 
i'll be interested to see how the design deals with that steep cliff that its on. but i'm sure the final result will be quite impressive. i'm eternally envious that taronga has fiordland penguins as well. hopefully they breed like crazy and the zoo manages to get their hands on some more to build up a proper colony..... and then shares them!! (does anyone know if there are any in captivity in NZ?).

how many seal pools can we expect at taronga? they hold some five or so species of pinneped do they not?
 
taronga has the only fiordland penguins in the world, for the moment. the reason why the taronga colony is so potentially valuable is because at the moment, the wild colony is so threatened all research has been suspended to minimise disturbance. so the breeding program at taronga could reveal some vital new information.
anyway, im off to taronga tomorrow, so i will give everyone an update on return.
 
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