Hamilton Zoo Hamilton Zoo News 2011

zooboy28

zooboy28

Well-Known Member
Given there are many news items from Hamilton Zoo, all individually posted on here, I thought we should make a thread to post small newsy items in.

Recent Changes:

-At least two Antipodes Parakeets have moved into the free-flight aviary, presumably from an old aviary, which still contains at least one parakeet. I presume the ones in the free-flight are males, like the individuals of the other two parakeet species in there, to prevent hybridisation. They were very inquisitive, hopping along paths near visitors, over our feet, and even climbing over prams. They were reasonably wary though, and avoided hands and anyone moving towards them. This really improves the aviary, especially for the casual visitor, who is unlikely to see many birds, much less make this sort of contact.

-The old Australasian Harrier Hawk has died, and its companion has been sent to Franklin Zoo (another subtle transfer there!). Their aviary now contains North Island Kaka and a pair of Banded Rails. Given its location within the Weka Walkthrough, this gives a great opportunity for visitors to compare two species of NZ rails.

-Blue Duck also appear to have been added free-range to the Weka Walkthrough, with a sign erected, although I did not see any.

-The Sulfur-Crested Cockatoo has disappeared from the Galah aviary, but I'm not sure if this is temporary or permanent.

-Lots of Kune Kune piglets have been born, at least 10, and are on display in two exhibits.

-In not so recent news, which I don't think has been reported here, the Siamang pair 'retired' at Hamilton Zoo from Auckland were moved from there original location at the top of the zoo in the rainforest to a newly constructed cage next to the Fishing Cats towards the bottom of the zoo. This was apparently because they made too much noise at the top, and neighbours complained. Their new location is not ideal, too damp I was told, so a new exhibit may be constructed for them.
 
zooboy28 said:
At least two Antipodes Parakeets have moved into the free-flight aviary, presumably from an old aviary, which still contains at least one parakeet. I presume the ones in the free-flight are males, like the individuals of the other two parakeet species in there, to prevent hybridisation. They were very inquisitive, hopping along paths near visitors, over our feet, and even climbing over prams. They were reasonably wary though, and avoided hands and anyone moving towards them. This really improves the aviary, especially for the casual visitor, who is unlikely to see many birds, much less make this sort of contact.
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that's great. I've never seen Antipodes displayed in a walk-through aviary before.
 
jay said:
I wish we could get Kune Kunes here in Australia
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I wish we could get some exotic pigs here! Kune Kunes are common domestic animals in NZ, and to see them in a zoo here is like seeing alpacas. I understand pigs are un-importable at the moment for Australia (and I think NZ), but one of the endangered south-east Asian species would surely tick all the boxes for ZAA.
 
zooboy28 said:
I wish we could get some exotic pigs here! Kune Kunes are common domestic animals in NZ, and to see them in a zoo here is like seeing alpacas. I understand pigs are un-importable at the moment for Australia (and I think NZ), but one of the endangered south-east Asian species would surely tick all the boxes for ZAA.
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I'd like to keep KunKunes for myself, rather than just see them in a zoo
 
Mike the zoo's 37 year old chimp has died. The chimp population there now is 2.4
Hamilton Zoo chimpanzee passes away following surgery | Scoop News
A chimpanzee at Hamilton Zoo passed away after undergoing major surgery yesterday in an attempt to save his life.

The chimpanzee named Mike had his right arm amputated during a five-hour surgery, after the limb was discovered to be infected.

Hamilton Zoo director Stephen Standley said the infection occurred after the tip of the middle finger on Mike’s right hand was bitten off during an altercation with another male chimp last week. This altercation is part of typical chimp behaviour as the males of the troop compete to prove who is more dominant.

“Staff first suspected Mike had sustained an injury last Wednesday [9 March] after noticing that he was not using his right hand when he returned to the chimp house to go to bed that night. While the keeper was unable to view the extent of Mike’s injury at that time, the next morning the chimp was examined by the zoo veterinarian who confirmed that he had lost the top of his right middle finger, including the nail bed,” he said.

The vet prescribed a course of antibiotics and pain relief, however the wound became infected and this infection soon spread, meaning amputation of the right arm was required. While gas gangrene was confirmed, the causal agent is unlikely to be determined since Mike was on antibiotics.

Mr Standley said while it initially appeared hopeful that Mike would come through yesterday’s surgery, he wasn’t able to fully recover from the anaesthesia and passed away about 8.15pm.

“Mike is a much loved member of the Hamilton Zoo family and it has obviously been a distressing time for us to firstly see him go through this major surgery and then secondly be unable to recover from the surgery as we would have hoped,” he said. Hamilton mayor Julie Hardaker said Mike’s loss will be felt strongly by many at this time.

“Mike is going to be sorely missed by staff and visitors, and certainly by the other members of the chimpanzee troop,” she said.

This morning the chimpanzee troop will be given access to Mike’s body so they can spend time with him, recognise that he has passed away and go through the natural grieving process.

The vet will then do a full post mortem on Mike before his body is cremated. Mike was born on 10 October 1973 at Taronga Zoo in Sydney and transferred to Auckland Zoo in June 1982, before moving to Hamilton in October 2004. Together with long-term partner Lucy, Mike parented the zoo’s other two male chimps, Lucifer and Luka.

Mike’s death comes just months after the passing of another Hamilton Zoo chimpanzee, Suzie, who died in November, aged 46.
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RIP Mike :(

I guess this means one of his sons (Luka/Lucifer) will become the new dominant male. As far as I know, Luka has been challenging for dominance although younger (17) than his brother Lucifer (22).
 
zooboy28 said:
RIP Mike :(

I guess this means one of his sons (Luka/Lucifer) will become the new dominant male. As far as I know, Luka has been challenging for dominance although younger (17) than his brother Lucifer (22).
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That's sad news about Mike :(

Luka and Mike have been alternating as dominant male for a while now. Mike was the dominant male until 2006 when Luka took over. Mike took over again between 2008-2009 but Luka has been the dominant male for about the last year. The prime breeding female Sanda prefers Lucifer however so it is unknown who the father will be when she has offspring of her own.
 
I'm sure many people already know this but Hamilton Zoo have high hopes of receiving either a female or a breeding pair of Sumatran tigers soon. They currently have a male Jaka and his speyed sister Mencari (both born 10/01/2000)
 
Visited yesterday, and made a few observations:

-Firstly, they no longer have guide books, instead you have to buy a map.

-The weka in the walk-through were not particularly inquisitive as I though they would be. The two I saw were just huddled about as far from the path as they could get.

-The kaka/banded rail aviary in the weka walkthrough now also has NZ wood pigeon as well, presumably some/all from the freeflight aviary, in which I saw none.

-The red panda exhibit has now got some agouti in it as well, but I didn't see any in there.

-A new platform/path has been built on the side of the ring-tailed lemur exhibit, with a double-door entry, presumably to allow people in for encounters.

-Both tigers were out in the exhibit, now that the female has been speyed. This is the first time since they were cubs that I have seen them both out.

-The seven African wild dogs were following each other around their exhibit nose-to-tail, is this a common behaviour?

-The kune kune pigs were in the spare enclosure next door, and their exhibit was being greatly renovated. All the fences next to the path had been removed, and a great pile of dry wood chippings dumped inside.

Not much else news-worthy, although even what I have posted isn't that exciting anyway :D

I have uploaded five maps of Hamilton Zoo from the late 90s to now, to show the development and changes which have occurred there over the last 14 or so years. If you do look at them I recommend you do it in order, they are labelled 1 (oldest) to 5 (yesterday):

http://www.zoochat.com/313/1-hamilton-zoo-map-pre-2000-a-218853/
http://www.zoochat.com/313/2-hamilton-zoo-map-december-2000-a-218852/
http://www.zoochat.com/313/3-hamilton-zoo-map-2003-a-218855/
http://www.zoochat.com/313/4-hamilton-zoo-map-2007-09-a-218856/
http://www.zoochat.com/313/5-hamilton-zoo-map-june-2011-a-218854/
 
waterbuck from Orana Park came to Hamilton in October, the first to be housed here since 2003
New girls on the block settle into Sahara paddock | Stuff.co.nz
10 October 2011

Two female waterbuck made a cautious entrance to their new home at Hamilton Zoo this week.

Etana, 5, and Kwacha, 3, are used to living in their own enclosure at Orana Wildlife Park in Christchurch, but the sisters will now share the Sahara paddock with some of their African compatriots, including zebra, giraffe, ostrich and boisterous guineafowl.

On Thursday afternoon the siblings explored their new surroundings together for the first time.

They were a little tentative at first but it didn't take long before they were trotting around the paddock attracting an audience of goats, blackbuck and buffalo all eager to see the new girls on the block.

Hamilton Zoo team leader Sam Kudeweh said the transition couldn't have gone more smoothly.

"It's pretty good. Nobody's too frantic, everyone's just checking each other out.

"These two are actually very calm and lovely animals. They've been well conditioned to humans."

Etana and Kwacha will replace the zoo's nilgai antelope, which died from age-related causes last year, and there are plans for additional waterbuck (a male and two females) to be transferred from Orana Wildlife Park to Hamilton Zoo next year.

Ms Kudeweh said the zoo was hoping to breed waterbuck through artificial insemination using semen from Australia.

The sisters are the first waterbuck to be housed at Hamilton Zoo since 2003.

Waterbuck are a large antelope found widely in sub-Saharan Africa. They have a white circle around the tail and a white collar, and are commonly preyed upon by big cats in the wild.
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(and a zebra foal was born in September: http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/cutestuff/5664379/Hamiltons-world-cup-talisman)
 
I don't know (none of the articles say the stallion's name) but the foal has been named Layla
 
jay said:
That sounds feminie so a filly?
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yes a female. Here's another article, which also mentions another pregnant zebra at the zoo: Layla steps out for a taste of spring - Hamilton - NZ Herald News
Hamilton Zoo's latest addition, Layla the zebra, is finding her feet and developing a taste for grass while enjoying the warm spring weather.

The third foal for her mother, Marble, Layla was born on September 20 weighing somewhere between 30kg and 40kg.

Hamilton Zoo team leader mammals Sam Kudeweh said the little zebra, one in a long line bred in captivity, was walking within an hour of her birth.

"They're up and running pretty much after they're born - they have to be, obviously, or something would come along and eat them up.

"She's drinking off her mum but she's already started to taste grass ... she's enjoying the spring grass," Ms Kudeweh said.

Layla shares the zoo's Savannah enclosure with giraffes, black bucks, ostriches and several water bucks that will join them today.

"She's a very confident little girl, she's graduating away from her mum and investigating lots of things in her environment," said Ms Kudeweh.

Zoo staff were crossing their fingers for another of its pregnant zebras, Miribai, who is due to give birth soon.

"For now Layla is enjoying the spring weather but we are hopeful that she will have another little zebra to play with soon."

Ms Kudeweh said zebras bred in captivity had a lifespan of about 20 years.
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I visited Hamilton Zoo on the 12/11/2011, which will be my last visit for some time, and (despite the depressing weather) the zoo was looking really good. Some updates:

-The secondary African Hunting Dog exhibit (previously home to two females I think) was inhabited by a goat, so either the two females have been integrated into the main group, or they have moved on.

-Saw the two new female Waterbuck in the savannah exhibit, they looked a little wary of the giraffes, but otherwise make a good addition - hopefully they will build up a nice little herd. Saw the zebra foal too.

-The Swan Geese have been moved into a new exhibit (created with a little temporary fencing) on the site of the old capybara exhibit. I don't know why they have been moved out of hte wetlands exhibit, but maybe it was to give them, or the Cape Barren Geese they shared with, a beter chance of breeding?

-Parrot Court appears a little less-stocked than previously, with one aviary now holding only Rainbow Lorikeets. Some kids were winding up the male Himalayan Monal, causing him to peck the glass. I think they should try and build up the vegetation in front of his aviary, or move the pair somewhere more private.

-The Antipodes Parakeets are great in the free-flight aviary, landed on my arm briefly! The Weka, however, were nowhere to be seen in their walk-through exhibit. The sign for the Blue Duck had been removed from there as well.

-A building is being constructed at the top end of the Rhino exhibit, not sure what this is for - unlikely to be the planned holding/feeding/viewing area for the Rhino as it seems to small.

-Overall, the zoo was looking really good, although I do not expect any real developments in the near future, as the zoo's owner (Hamilton City Council) seeks to save money and reign in debt by cutting budgets. Planned new enclosures for cheetah and red panda are therefore off the cards for now. Entry prices will also rise.
 
another news article from last month:
Lemur twins and bellbird trio settle in at Hamilton Zoo - Yahoo! New Zealand News
28 Oct 2011

Lemur twins and a bossy bellbird are among the newest residents at Hamilton Zoo.

The ring-tailed lemur twins were born at the zoo on 10 October to parents Rachel and Bruce. It is not the first time the couple have welcomed twins after becoming parents to Julian and Josie on 20 August 2010.

Hamilton Zoo Director Stephen Standley said the two new additions are creating quite a stir within the lemur group.

"The twins are quite active and vocal, and the other ring-tailed lemurs are very interested in these new arrivals. Rachel is extremely attentive to the twins and make sure she keeps a close eye on what the pair gets up to," he said.

Meanwhile three bellbirds which transferred to Hamilton Zoo just over a week ago are now on display in the free flight aviary.

One of the bellbirds, a 10-month old female, came from Auckland Zoo, while the other two, 9-month old sisters, transferred from Orana Wildlife Park.

Mr Standley said that while none of the birds are officially named, Orana Wildlife Park keepers gave one of the sisters an unusual nickname - Bossy One.
"I'm sure this side of her personality will also become evident to the staff here at Hamilton Zoo over time," he said.
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