Hamilton Zoo Hamilton Zoo News 2016

Nisha

Nisha

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
There's a baby on the way:

Hamilton Zoo's chimpanzee troop will soon have a new member, with female chimp Sanda expecting a baby. Sanda, 30 years old, is set to give birth in mid-February. The baby chimpanzee's father is Luka, 22 years old.

Hamilton Zoo Director Stephen Standley says it's a very positive development for the zoo's chimpanzee troop, and the wider conservation programme for the species.

"We've been hoping for a chimpanzee pregnancy for a while, and confirmation Sanda is carrying a baby is really exciting," Mr Standley says. "We've kept a close eye on Sanda over the last few months. The team has been able to conduct an ultrasound on her, and the pregnancy appears to be progressing very well."

Mr Standley says father Luka has displayed behaviour toward Sanda which suggests he knows the little one is coming. "He's been doting on her, which is what you might expect from an expectant father."

Mr Standley says although Sanda is being closely monitored, human contact will be as limited as possible. Zoo staff are keen to allow nature to take its course, and let Sanda and the other chimpanzees respond to the infant in line with their natural instincts.

An announcement on the birth will be made once Sanda has had a chance to bond with her baby and it has been assimilated into the troop. Sanda arrived at Hamilton Zoo from Adelaide Zoo in November 2008, while Luka arrived four years earlier, in 2004, from Auckland Zoo.

Hamilton Zoo has five chimpanzees in its troop.

Baby chimpanzee expected at Hamilton Zoo - Hamilton Zoo
 
This is fantastic news, hopefully all goes smoothly and 2016 will be a successful year for Hamilton's Chimpanzee troop. They are definitely due some good news.
 
Awesome news. Hoping for a successful outcome for mother and baby. It's encouraging to see a chivalrous side to Luka.

I understand since the death of Fimi a few years ago, Sally has been supporting Sanda, so she will hopefully benefit from this over the coming months.

Anyone know how they have conclusively identified Luka as the father? The two males are kept with the group so couldn't either be the father? Especially since Sanda prefers Lucifer to Luka.
 
The first spider monkey born at the zoo in 10 years, was born on the 11 February.
Celebrating the Chinese year of the monkey - Hamilton Zoo
Celebrating the Chinese year of the monkey
ZOO NEWS - Posted 12 February 2016

Hamilton Zoo has a timely new arrival as the world marks the start of the Chinese new year.

As if to coincide with the start of the Chinese Year of the Monkey, the zoo has welcomed a new spider monkey to its troop.

The new arrival was born in the early hours of Thursday morning (11 February).

Catherine Nichols, Hamilton Zoo's Carnivores and Primates Team Leader, says the infant is the first spider monkey born at the zoo in 10 years, and joins a troop of six.

"It will be a few months before we get to find out the gender of the new arrival," Mrs Nicholls says. "The baby will spend a lot of time bonding with its mother - and we're keen to let nature take its course – so it will be a wee while until we know if it's male or female."

Its mother is Jeneill (31 years old) and the father is Salsa (21 years old). The new baby is Jeneill's fourth offspring. Breeding of the species at Hamilton Zoo has been guided by the Zoo and Aquarium Association of Australasia species management programme for spider monkeys.

The zoo's spider monkey troop lives in the rainforest exhibit, so visitors will need to be patient and look closely to see the new arrival.

Spider monkeys are a native of Central America, and have become critically endangered due to deforestation of their natural habitat.

Increasing the population comes with challenges: the species' gestation period is 7.5 months, and only one infant is born at a time. The time delay between two pregnancies for female spider monkeys is usually between 18 months and four years.
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Chimpanzee born

Chimpanzee, Sanda gave birth on Monday. Baby is so far healthy and believed to be a female

One of Hamilton Zoo's most anticipated arrivals has occurred, with the birth this week of a baby chimpanzee.

Adult female chimpanzee Sanda gave birth to a daughter on Monday, 15 February, shortly after 9pm.

Sanda's labour and the baby chimpanzee's birth were captured on video camera, and footage shows Luka - the baby chimpanzee's father – in attendance as the child is born.

Catherine Nichols, Hamilton Zoo's Acting Curator, says Luka's presence at the birth signals he's a "doting dad", and continues behaviour he displayed while Sanda was pregnant.

"Luka's behaviour is very encouraging for us – he will be vital to the baby's upbringing and acceptance into the troop," she says.

Mrs Nichols says keeping the troop together is also crucial to the baby chimp's assimilation: "We want the other chimpanzees in the troop to identify and connect with the new arrival."

Zoo staff have already observed the other chimpanzees inspecting the new baby from a distance, but have not pushed the maternal boundaries and given Sanda some space.

"It's all looking positive so far," she says.

Sanda's post-birth behaviour is similar to a human mother: she is likely to stay out of sight in the chimp house for a week or so until she is comfortable, so zoo visitors will need to be patient before they get a glimpse of the new baby.

The new baby takes the number of chimpanzees at Hamilton Zoo to six, and she joins her parents Sanda and Luka, plus the other adults Lucy, Lucifer and Sally.

Chimpanzees are on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's list of endangered species.

Hamilton Zoo announces baby chimpanzee arrival
 
Nisha said:
Chimpanzee, Sanda gave birth on Monday. Baby is so far healthy and believed to be a female
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This is fantastic news! Fingers crossed all goes well here. Congratulations to the chimps and the staff at Hamilton Zoo! :cool:
 
Awesome news! And even better if it's a female. Congratulations to Hamilton Zoo on their first chimpanzee birth.
 
Wonderful news! I am thrilled for everyone involved- they were well due some good news in their chimp group.
 
Fencing improvements are to be made to Hamilton Zoo's tiger exhibit, but just around the holding area.

Story here: $120,000 fence upgrade at Hamilton Zoo | Stuff.co.nz

Hamilton City Council will spend $120,000 upgrading a fence around its tiger service area at Hamilton Zoo following a fatal tiger attack last year.

The planned fence upgrade was brought forward following the fatal on zoo curator Samantha Kudeweh last year.

Kudeweh was killed by Sumatran tiger Oz on September 20 while carrying out routine duties inside the animal's enclosure.

The $120,000 fence upgrade was agreed to by councillors during council's latest finance committee meeting and will be funded from existing budgets.

Council's deputy chief executive Lance Vervoort said the fence was at the back the service area of the zoo's tiger enclosure.

The mesh fence's height will be increased from two-metres to five-metres and will be electrified at the top.

The fence upgrade had been scheduled to take place in the next few years.

"What we've done is brought that [upgrade] forward as part of reviewing our animal management obviously after the tragic death of Sam Kudeweh last year," Vervoort said.

The fence is located outside the actual tiger containment area and served several purposes, Vervoort said, such as keeping unauthorised people out of the service area.

Vervoort said there had been occasions overseas where people had tried to get unauthorised access into an animal enclosure with serious consequences.

Upgrading the fence would also provide further assurance that if a tiger did get out of the animal containment area into the service area, it couldn't move further into the zoo, he said.

Four zoo investigations have been launched in the wake of Kudeweh's death.

The Council has also launched an independent external review into Hamilton Zoo which will be carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

The review will be finished by the end of March and examine a number of aspects of the zoo's operation including animal enclosures, zoo staffing, health and safety and risk management and opportunities for improvements at the zoo.

WorkSafe NZ, the Ministry for Primary Industries and the Coroner's office are all carrying out investigations into the fatal tiger attack.

The council is doing its own health and safety investigation.

Vervoort said findings from the four investigations were not yet available.

WorkSafe NZ's investigation into Kudeweh's death will include an examination into a 2013 incident at the zoo involving a tiger.

In March 2013, a keeper had a close encounter with a female tiger.

The experienced keeper entered an enclosure she thought was empty and found herself alone with Sumatran tiger Sali.

In that incident, the tiger passed through three open doors before she got into the enclosure with the keeper.

In the wake of the 2013 incident, Kudeweh was assigned the task of reviewing the zoo's emergency procedures manual with a view of identifying possible improvements.
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There's an amazing photo on Hamilton Zoo's Facebook page of Lucy (and her new born son, Luka) from the 1993, posted by Sandra Rice (Auckland Zoo keeper). It's interesting to compare Lucy's youthful condition to Sanda's. She has such dense black hair. Lucy is 18 years old in the photo, and already a mother to 5 year old Lucifer, while Sanda will turn 31 years old this year. However, there is one similarity between them. Notice the absence of hair on their arms (as if it has been plucked), this is seen at Taronga Zoo on high status individuals who have been groomed excessively by exhibit mates. It's clear both mothers are held in very high regard by their respective troops.

I had always assumed that Mike and Lucy arrived at Auckland Zoo together in the 1980s, but recently learned their was a couple of years between their respective arrivals. I'm assuming the intention was for Mike to breed with Suzie and Sally, but as it became apparent this was unlikely, they requested a female from Taronga (Lucy).
 
Last month, Hamilton Zoo staff made the difficult decision to euthanise one of Hamilton Zoo’s resident cheetahs. Zoo staff had observed that male Cheetah Jambo had retina deterioration, which had been monitored closely by Zoo staff for several months.

Jambo’s quality of life had diminished significantly, he was almost 100 per cent blind, getting around only by following his twin brother Moyo, using scent and familiarity with the enclosure.

Remaining Cheetah Moyo is in generally good health and will continue to be monitored by Zoo staff and vets. While male cheetah generally live in small permanent groups of brothers in the wild, it is not unusual for them to live alone. Born on October 1, 2004, Jambo and Moyo came to Hamilton Zoo from Taronga Western Plains Zoo, NSW, on 23 August 2007.

A cheetah’s lifespan is, on average, 10-12 years. At the time of death, Jambo was 11 years (and almost) 5 months.
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Source: Hamilton Zoo newsletter
 
You can now make name suggestions for Hamilton Zoos female baby Chimpanzee.
Name our baby chimpanzee - Hamilton Zoo
Name our baby chimpanzee
Hamilton Zoo's newest addition to the chimpanzee troop was born on February 15 2016 and now it's time to give her a name.

The daughter of Sanda and Luka is growing beautifully and has brought a real sense of harmony to the troop. You'll see Sanda and little one in the house or out in the enclosure with father Luka never far from sight.

All entries received will be assessed by a team of Hamilton Zoo staff who will then select a winner, to be announced on May 19.

The lucky winner will receive an annual zoo pass giving them free entry to Hamilton Zoo for an entire year.

Fill in your contact details, along with your name suggestion and the meaning below.

TIP:
Where possible we encourage names that are relevant to where animals come from so we're looking for a name which relates to the chimpanzees' natural habitat in Central and Western Africa.
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Hamilton Zoo Baby Chimpanzee has been named Chiku, a Swahili name for girls meaning "talker" or "one who chatters".
Baby Chimpanzee Named - Hamilton Zoo
Baby Chimpanzee Named
ZOO NEWS - Posted 20 May 2016

Hamilton Zoo has named its three-month-old baby chimpanzee after a month-long public naming competition through the popular zoo’s website.

The name chosen is Chiku, a Swahili name for girls meaning "talker" or "one who chatters".

Acting Zoo Curator Catherine Nichols says it's an appropriate name for the little one, as the baby chimpanzee is vocalising more and more as she begins to notice her surroundings.

“We liked the name because it represents her personality: she’s a very chatty little animal.”

The winning name was chosen by Deanna Carter of Te Awamutu, who was delighted when she was told this afternoon that she had won an annual pass to Hamilton Zoo. She chose the name simply because it was cute and thought it would be a suitable name for a chimpanzee.

Chiku is the first chimpanzee to be born at Hamilton Zoo and brings the number in the troop to six, including her mother Sanda, father Luka, Lucifer, Lucy and Sally.

At this age, Chiku is carried by her mum Sanda on her underside at all times and will continue to be until around six months of age, when she will start to be carried on Sanda’s back says Mrs Nichols.

“On average, chimpanzees begin to take their first tentative steps from six months of age and she’ll only get stronger and more active as she grows.”

Chimpanzee life expectancy in the wild is up to 45 years, but they sometimes live up to 60 years in zoos.

“Her growth and dependence on Sanda is similar to what we have as humans, unlike many other species which walk and become independent more quickly,” says Mrs Nichols.

“All members of the troop will have a hand in raising her and teaching her over the coming years.”

With numbers estimated at no more than 150,000 in the wild, chimpanzees are on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's list of endangered species. Habitat loss, bushmeat hunting, and poaching for infants are the three major causes for the decline of chimpanzees in the wild.
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Another big birth at Hamilton Zoo - a male White Rhino (the seventh born at the Zoo).

Story & Photo: Rhino Calf Born - Hamilton Zoo

A male southern white rhinoceros calf has been born at Hamilton Zoo.

Arriving in late June after his mother's 16-month pregnancy, the calf brings the total number of white rhinos at Hamilton Zoo to six. The male calf joins his mother Kito, father Kruger, and females Imani, Moesha and her daughter Jamila.

The calf is the third for Kito. Ubuntu, born in 2010 was initially born blind, needing help from keepers in his first few weeks until his eyesight cleared, and another female was sadly stillborn in 2013.

Team Leader of Ungulates (hooved animals) Aaron Gilmore says the calf is healthy, and very keen to feed from Kito.

“He’s a determined little guy, weighing around 63 kilos at birth and already showing his strength,” says Mr Gilmore.

“Depending on weather and his continued growth, school holiday visitors will hopefully have the chance to see him in the exhibit with his mother for short periods of time each day.”

Hamilton’s white rhino breeding programme has been exceptionally successful with seven rhinos born at the zoo. They include male Kifaru, who went to The National Zoo and Aquarium in Canberra along with Ubuntu. Males Inkosi and Mtoto are at Auckland Zoo, while females Imani and Jamila remain at Hamilton Zoo.

Named for the Afrikaans word “weit” which means wide, referring to the animal’s wide mouth, the southern white rhino was thought to be extinct in the late 19th century, but in 1895 a small population of less than 100 individuals was discovered in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa.

Today, after 121 years of successful protection and management, they are classified as “Near Threatened” in the wild.

Although still hunted and poached for their horns - believed to have medicinal qualities in some cultures - about 20,000 animals exist in protected areas and private game reserves. Zoos play their part by showcasing animals as ambassadors for wild populations and conservation projects, as well as providing genetically sound reserve populations.

“This calf is a very important part of the Australasian breeding programme, and will aid long-term conservation efforts at Hamilton Zoo and help provide a future for the species as a whole,” says Mr Gilmore.
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Hamilton’s white rhino breeding programme has been exceptionally successful with seven rhinos born at the zoo.
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shouldn't this calf make nine for Hamilton Zoo, not seven?
 
Chlidonias said:
shouldn't this calf make nine for Hamilton Zoo, not seven?
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That’s correct, the nine born at Hamilton are:

Inkosi (2002)
Mtoto (2004)
Stillborn male (2005)
Imani (2007)
Kifaru (2009)
Ubuntu (2010)
Jamila (2012)
Stillborn female (2013)
Newborn male (2016)

Savannah, born 2011 at Australia Zoo was also conceived at Hamilton Zoo
 
Zoofan15 said:
That’s correct, the nine born at Hamilton are:

Inkosi (2002)
Mtoto (2004)
Stillborn male (2005)
Imani (2007)
Kifaru (2009)
Ubuntu (2010)
Jamila (2012)
Stillborn female (2013)
Newborn male (2016)

Savannah, born 2011 at Australia Zoo was also conceived at Hamilton Zoo
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So the newborn is the seventh born alive at the zoo then?
 
I knew it must be nine, but after I'd posted I thought I must be including two stillborns (I couldn't remember how many of those there had been) which would make the article correct in that respect.

So, yes, seven live calves.
 
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