Part 2 I guess
Disclaimer - I'll include an asterisk * next to all information the keepers admitted they themselves, were speculating a bit on.
After spending some time exploring the new visitor center we got on one of the tour buses and drove along the new route. Unfortunately, the new route as shown on the park map has to cover a lot of distance without much to see. We were told by the volunteer tour guide that Monarto plans to fill the area with a few new exhibits eventually. The first animals we saw were the Addax, Barbary sheep, and Scimitar oryx, both the oryx and addax have been breeding like rabbits so there are a lot of young calves and yearlings about.
After that, we got off the bus at the 'Outpost' (the old visitor center), observed some meerkats, and tried to see the porcupines. I've been to Monarto twice a year on average every year since they got porcupines and have never seen them once
, they are always in their burrow, at this point I've resigned myself to never seeing them. We then walked down the track and saw the Yellow-footed rock-wallaby in their walkthrough exhibit. Next, it was the chimpanzees, active as usual and hooting loudly. Hope and Zola have a very strong connection, playing together constantly. We stayed until the keeper talk, where I got to ask her a few questions after (Thank you @
Zoofan15 for providing). The keeper was very enthusiastic and super helpful.
Here's the information I got
- Galatea's infant was unfortunately stillborn, possibly due to heart-related stuff*
- Galatea is currently on contraceptives to allow her body to rest, they plan on taking her off them around 6 months after she gave birth and trying once more. The keeper said that Galatea is "better with the boys now" so should fall pregnant easier the second time around*. Maybe she was shy in prior years?
- Hannah is currently off contraception and has been for a few months, Monarto got a recommendation to breed with her again, its possible she could already be pregnant*.
- Monarto plans to breed with Lani after both Galatea and Hannah have fallen pregnant. I was told they don't want too many pregnant chimps or newborns at once.
- The keeper team wants Zuri to remain at Monarto as they believe she would make a good head female one day, like her mother Zombi. It all depends on the coordinator's recommendations though. From the sounds of it, the coordinator is no longer at Monarto so maybe that coordinator listings page is outdated?
- Lastly, when they are old enough Monarto plans to send Hope and Zola away as a pair. The keeper speculated it would be to either Sydney or a zoo in NZ* (she didn't specify which one).
After we visited the Chimpanzees we went back to the old visitor center which is now being transformed into a Murray river conservation education center. It has a lot of educational games and boards for kids, and a few small tactile native animals like shingle-back lizards, stick insects, and more will also be added.
After that we boarded the bus again, our first exhibit was the Przewalski's horses, the exhibit contained Monarto's bachelor herd of 4. This was followed by the American Bison and Red Deer exhibit. I assume the red deer have been breeding as there were a lot more of them than there were a year ago (maybe Monarto received more). We then drove past the two black rhino exhibits, the new one is enormous. I hope to see a mother and calf running around in there one day (more about Black Rhino later). We then drove into the shared Blackbuck and Mesopotamian fallow deer exhibit, the Blackbuck having been breeding like crazy. We watched the male attempt to breed with a female which had a few-week-old calf in tow, I don't know how Monarto keep track of Blackbuck births and genetics (if they even bother). After that was the waterhole -
- We were told one of the Giraffe was heavily pregnant (I don't know which one)
The bus then continued on to the White Rhino where we jumped off. I spoke to a keeper there, he was a bit of a rude old grumpy fella and seemed unwilling to answer some of my questions. Here's the information I got
- The large hippo dam is done and has been test-filled with water, he thought Monarto could hold 4-6 hippos initially* but will likely expand it further at a later date
- The hippos will unfortunately be solely in Wild Africa, which will mean visitors will have to pay more to see them (I think this is very unfortunate).
- Wild Africa won't just be bookings, they'll offer tours every day to visitors. Essentially Monarto will have two tour formats, Wild Africa (paid) and the normal zoo bus tour (free after entry).
- He told me about Monarto's plans for 30 white rhinos, some in Wild Africa, some on exhibit, and some behind the scenes, he was frustrated with delays at Orana (a bit rude about it). Apparently, they have bookmarked a fair portion of the rhinos in South Africa and are waiting on Orana to complete the quarantine facility.
- Monarto has apparently been searching for female South Central Black Rhinos for a while now, both in the US/Europe and in Southern Africa. Apparently, it's been a hard search, he said if they can't tack one or two onto the White Rhino S.A import, a Black Rhino cow import will have to wait until after the majority of White Rhinos are here*.
After spending time with ol' grumpy, we boarded back onto a bus and unfortunately sped through the cheetahs. We did briefly see the cubs playing in a heap of Rhino dung. We then jumped off again for the carnivore talk. I was amazed by how intelligent the hyenas were. After that, I got to chat for ages with a really nice and energetic carnivore keeper. Here is the info I got from her
- If I remember correctly, Thandiwe the Hyena is going to be transferred to Altina to breed there. Apparently with Hyena's, personality matches are very important and they believe dominant Thandiwe will be good for the little fella at Altina.
- The keeper said that Monarto want to organize a switch with Sydney for all three of their Hyenas in exchange for 2-3 of Monarto's, she didn't mention which Hyenas though.
- Monarto also hope to import more unrelated hyena from South Africa as Altina did
- Makena the lion has just been put off contraceptives and they hope she will fall pregnant soon
- She also mentioned that Monarto still wishes to import more ungulates, especially Sable antelope and Impala for both Wild Africa and main exhibits, it's just covid and the import situation has made things hard
- Lastly elephants*, we went on for ages about them. Apparently, gossip about elephants has been traveling around the staff rooms at Monarto since Samorn died and is constantly joked about. Apparently, the board continuously flips and flops on elephants almost on a monthly basis. She believes they will eventually get elephants as they "feel like the pinnacle, the final piece to Monarto's puzzle", but admitted they were a long way off.
- She also stated that Monarto would want their founding herd, be it either bachelor or breeding to be a minimum of 3+ elephants*. When they do hold elephants again she said Monarto wants to approach them extremely carefully as Samorn left South Australia in a poor state and Monarto doesn't want to risk being scrutinized for returning them to SA in a way the general public may perceive as cruel. Even if it is an older bull who can live alone. She also liked my idea of a bachelor herd but hadn't heard it rumored before. The last time I was at Monarto I was told by a male keeper that a bachelor herd had been rumored, all I can say is I'd love to sit it on a staff lunch at Monarto
.
Anyway, I hope some of this information is new to zoochat and not all already known, remember much of it is speculation from the keepers and myself so should be taken with a bucket of salt. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask
