History of Australasia’s Zebra Population
- Thread starter Zoofan15
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Your correct, Yes Mary River holds some antelope species like Addax and oryx but there's little information as to what is really there that I know about!
Grant’s Zebra (Perth Zoo)
Perth Zoo imported 1.2 Grant’s zebra from Auckland Zoo in March 1988:
1.0 Charles (1987) - transferred out 1995
0.1 Maureen (1987) - died 2012
0.1 Shona (1987) - died 2013
This trio never bred during their time together at Perth Zoo.
Charles was transferred to Taronga Western Plains Zoo in April 1995. Those familiar with Perth Zoo’s history will know October 1995 was when the zoo welcomed their first giraffe calf. I doubt it was a coincidence the zoo transferred out their Grant’s zebra stallion six months prior to this event.
Following Maureen’s death, two hybrid geldings were transferred in from the National Zoo and Aquarium in August 2012 as companions for Shona:
1.0 Kamalu (2010)
1.0 Zaafir (2011)
This hybrid duo remain at Perth Zoo to this day.
Perth Zoo imported 1.2 Grant’s zebra from Auckland Zoo in March 1988:
1.0 Charles (1987) - transferred out 1995
0.1 Maureen (1987) - died 2012
0.1 Shona (1987) - died 2013
This trio never bred during their time together at Perth Zoo.
Charles was transferred to Taronga Western Plains Zoo in April 1995. Those familiar with Perth Zoo’s history will know October 1995 was when the zoo welcomed their first giraffe calf. I doubt it was a coincidence the zoo transferred out their Grant’s zebra stallion six months prior to this event.
Following Maureen’s death, two hybrid geldings were transferred in from the National Zoo and Aquarium in August 2012 as companions for Shona:
1.0 Kamalu (2010)
1.0 Zaafir (2011)
This hybrid duo remain at Perth Zoo to this day.
There are no zebra held privately in Australia. Pearl Coast Zoo sent Grevy’s zebra to Tipperary, but these have long since died out. The only private holder in the region is Gibb’s Farm/Keystone in New Zealand, which has geldings.
But yes, like @Zorro says, Mary River Station holds large herds of ungulates. They have Scimitar-horned oryx (numbering in the hundreds), Addax, Indian antelope and Banteng.
It appears minimising inbreeding is a priority within the region rather than maintaining purebred lines and sadly, I don’t anticipate that will change.
Grant’s are the viable breeding population, with enough founders to sustain the region for decades. Priority on receiving surplus stallions should be Hamilton Zoo (who have a Grant’s mare) and Werribee/Dubbo, who I suspect may have purebred Grant’s mares in their herds.
The aforementioned mares are elderly, but that doesn’t matter. Best case scenario, they’ll be just enough time to breed from them. Worst case scenario, these three zoos all have stallions in place for a decade or more, which can be paired with fillies as and when they become available. Darling Downs Zoo is (understandably) retaining fillies to build a second herd, which potentially could generate a surplus of fillies within five years.
Charles transfer to Dubbo obviously would've been a move to continue Dubbo's purebred Grant's herd, following their female imports over a decade earlier. I assume he would've been paired with the first generation fillies. If we can assume he passed sometime in the mid 2000's, this would also tie in well with the region's zoos all deciding to just breed hybrids instead of a specific sub-species each.
I think it's a real shame the region couldn't come to a coordinated decision as to what sub-species they wanted to breed. It would make sense if the regions main open range zoos joined DDZ's iniative, and breed purebred Grants.
I agree, It would be ideal for a number of zoos came together with breeding a pure sub/species line since two only zoos put in a huge effort to import the largest group ever to be imported, a little help from our major zoos would be nice!
Grant’s Zebra (Taronga Western Plains Zoo)
Taronga Western Plains Zoo imported 2.2 Grant’s zebra from Auckland Zoo in October 1983:
1.0 Sundance (1982) - died 1992
0.1 Misty (1982) - died 2003
1.0 Shannon (1983) - died 1996
0.1 Cilla (1983) - died 2009
Dubbo then received 1.0 Grant’s zebra from Perth Zoo in April 1995:
1.0 Charles (1987) - died 2011
Taronga Western Plains Zoo imported 2.2 Grant’s zebra from Auckland Zoo in October 1983:
1.0 Sundance (1982) - died 1992
0.1 Misty (1982) - died 2003
1.0 Shannon (1983) - died 1996
0.1 Cilla (1983) - died 2009
Dubbo then received 1.0 Grant’s zebra from Perth Zoo in April 1995:
1.0 Charles (1987) - died 2011
I’m unsure if Charles was intact (considering he never sired foals at Perth); but even if he was gelded, there would have been the opportunity to (in)breed from first generation sons of the Dubbo founders into the 2000’s (with hybridising taking place from there onwards).
In either case, it’s likely older Dubbo bred mares in the region like Shani (2005) are purebred Grant’s.
Grant’s should definitely be the subspecies the region focuses on. It’d be a shame not to build on the foundations Darling Downs Zoo and ZooDoo have laid out for a long term sustainable breeding programme.
Husbandry Guidelines Document
I’ve found this document regarding husbandry guidelines for keeping Plains zebra in Australasia:
https://aszk.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Plains-Zebra-Equus-quagga-Husher-S.2010.pdf
It unfortunately offers little insight into the demographics of the population, but I’ve nonetheless filtered out some points of interest:
Hybridising at Dubbo
It appears hybridising at Dubbo had begun by 2011. Khari (2016) was noted to be the son of Neema, who was born at Dubbo in 2011. As you can see in this photo, Neema has prominent shadow stripes and is therefore not a purebred Grant’s zebra.
Photo source: Taronga Western Plains Zoo
I’ve found this document regarding husbandry guidelines for keeping Plains zebra in Australasia:
https://aszk.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Plains-Zebra-Equus-quagga-Husher-S.2010.pdf
It unfortunately offers little insight into the demographics of the population, but I’ve nonetheless filtered out some points of interest:
There were 146 Plains zebra foals born in Australasian zoos between 1982 and 2007.
There’s a note regarding delays in conceptions (both mares breeding late and long birth intervals) causing infertility in mares (similar to elephants and rhinos).
The latest a female in the region has conceived was apparently 26 years of age. Marbles (New Zealand’s last Grant’s mare) turned 20 years old this month, so hurry up and import a Grant’s colt, Hamilton Zoo!
The ARAZPA 2007 Captive Management Plan for Plains Zebra was cited several times. Unfortunately this document doesn’t appear to be online, which is a shame as it would have offered valuable insight. It appears to have been published shortly after the decision to hybridise as a region, since Auckland Zoo and Hamilton Zoo both imported non-Grant’s mates for their Grant’s herds in 2005.
There’s a note regarding delays in conceptions (both mares breeding late and long birth intervals) causing infertility in mares (similar to elephants and rhinos).
The latest a female in the region has conceived was apparently 26 years of age. Marbles (New Zealand’s last Grant’s mare) turned 20 years old this month, so hurry up and import a Grant’s colt, Hamilton Zoo!
The ARAZPA 2007 Captive Management Plan for Plains Zebra was cited several times. Unfortunately this document doesn’t appear to be online, which is a shame as it would have offered valuable insight. It appears to have been published shortly after the decision to hybridise as a region, since Auckland Zoo and Hamilton Zoo both imported non-Grant’s mates for their Grant’s herds in 2005.
Hybridising at Dubbo
It appears hybridising at Dubbo had begun by 2011. Khari (2016) was noted to be the son of Neema, who was born at Dubbo in 2011. As you can see in this photo, Neema has prominent shadow stripes and is therefore not a purebred Grant’s zebra.
Photo source: Taronga Western Plains Zoo
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From photos, Shani certainly appears to be purebred Grants; which would be reasonable assumption considering there's a great chance Dubbo had a functioning Grants herd going into the 2000's.
Interestingly, Shani has two sons currently in breeding situations in the region; Melako (formerly at Werribee, now at Mogo) and Mstari at Dubbo; alongside herself still breeding at Altina. Taking away the Grant's focused breeding facilities, only two Australian breeding facilities (Monarto and National) don't have a breeding Shani descendant! It seems therefore the regions population is heavily Grants mixed with Burchells and/or Chapmans.
Khari's birth apparently created a third generation at Dubbo, which makes me believe that Neema was the offspring of some other females still present at Dubbo. The only females there at the time (at an age where they could've given birth to her) were all non Dubbo born females.
So if we can assume Neema is part Grants, her sire would've presumably been Dubbo born Grants. Her mother would've been either born at Werribee (a Chapmans hybrid) or from Canberra who appear to have had Grants/Burchell's hybrids at the time.
Either way, Neema is presumably half Grants and half hybrid.
When I visited just after the TWPZ opened in 1977 I recall only seeing 3 zebras and they looked like Grants for sure!
Original Dubbo Zebras
To my knowledge, Auckland Zoo were the only facility in the region breeding Grant’s zebra at that time and didn’t export zebra to Australia until the 1980’s as detailed above.
Based on the information at hand, I’d say the trio you saw were likely elderly Chapman’s stock from Taronga. All the main zoos in Australia appeared to have Chapman’s, with Perth emerging the most successful breeder in the 1950’s and Taronga experiencing success going into the 1960’s. On 14/11/1961, a filly named Candy Bar was born at Taronga Zoo. Photos show this foal to have the spidery Chapman’s stripes. This even fits the timeline of her going to Dubbo as an elderly mare in the late 1970’s.
Dubbo likely would have then imported the 2.2 Grant’s from Auckland Zoo in 1983 to found a new herd, after the initial trio died or failed to produce offspring (mares can become infertile if not bred from regularly).
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Breeding at Altina
Furthermore, according to your population list, Altina Wildlife Park are without a breeding stallion. This presents the perfect opportunity to bring in a purebred Grant’s colt - perhaps from ZooDoo, who have two surplus colts - Oreo (2021) and Kafue (2022).
Jafari is the son of Shani and half brother of the two younger mares, so should really be transferred out.
0.1 Shani (2005)
0.1 Askari (2015)
0.1 Fina (2018) Atreyu x Askari
0.1 Kanzi (2020) Atreyu x Askari
1.0 Jafari (2020) Atreyu x Shani
This could see Altina become the region’s third breeding facility for Grant’s zebra, even if it is initially breeding from a 1.1 pair.
I have a colour paper pic of them from a Sunday magazine from 1977 some where if I can find it.
When I contacted Altina late last year I was told Jafari would be leaving the zoo soon, so I'd assume he would've departed already. A new stallion may already be there!
I certainly think the region should make use of the remaining purebred Grants outside of the newly founded populations (such as Marbles at Hamilton, and potentially Shani at Altina). Zoodoo have two young colts who would definitely be suitable for transfer; whereas DDZ's youngest colt is still young.
I believe Sydney Zoo’s stallions are purebred Grant’s that are on loan. Potentially one of them could be subbed in for the breeding stallion at DDZ and the other transferred to Altina to breed there.
Hamilton’s non-Grant’s stallion is well overdue to move on. He’s been in place for a decade and is very well represented.
Osedax
Well-Known Member
Two of them are Grant's, one is a hybrid.
Thanks for that. I see via a note by @Steve Robinson that Zambezi and Zulu are the two loaned zebra and therefore must be the Grant’s.
Since the US import was in 2014 (two years before they were born), they must be first generation males:
1.0 Zuberi (2010)
1.0 Zambezi (2016)
1.0 Zulu (2016)
Malawi should certainly be retired! He comes from a very well represented line as it is, and they've obviously allowed him to breed a lot at Hamilton. Keystone might be the place for him.
I assume the hybrid is the older male (Zuberi). I believe he may be Dubbo's Zuberi who was born at Dubbo around that time; I remember initially believing Sydney's males were from Dubbo for that reason!