Australia Zoo Komodo Dragons

any komodo for Steve ?

If Komodo dragons are as threatened as some zoos make out , perhaps this is something that the berst known keeper in Australia could have in his zoo

Or does he already ? I get a little confused sometimes about who has what -- blame it on my medications ....

but Komodo dragons are really something AWESOME , and I am sure that he can attract alot of visitors to Australia Zoo if they can display , and breed , these huge lizards .
And as the Island where they come from is similar in climate etc to Australia , he wont need to build a climate controlled enclosure .

I am surprised that NZ has the last remaining dinosaurs .... I mean , these dudes are at the top of the food chain . Surely the komodos would be the dinosaurs instead of the tuatara ......
I have stroked a living adult tuatara --- I wouldnt be doing similar with a Komodo quite so easily .... !
 
yeah he's got the only real breedable group in australia, in outdoor enclosures - check out the begining of the thread.
 
Just a note on Komodo dragons, the biggest one that i could find that was kept in a zoo was ten foot two inches long and weighed 166 kgs,wow. ( Berlin zoo around cric -1938)

The breeding pens at Australia zoo are off public dispay, one pen houses the biggest male and two females, there is one on show for the public. from what i have been told the breeding areas are quite large, also i read there will be several stages in the complex, i think they are on stage two at presant.
 
patrick i agree with your wallacia concept. another way of tying in other 'mixed up' species would be to create an 'islands in danger' precinct?
any exhibit with this theme could be strongly interpreted towards australia being an island too, just a big one. it could also orientate around resource conservation, introduced species etc, using easter island and it's lost civilisation as a graphic example.
such an exhibit could trace the movement of the aboriginals and polynesian people through the pacific and their ensuing impact, showcasing indiginous architecture and examples of seafaring alongside wildlife displays like tuatara. fijian iguanas would also be a focus, as would 'south american' galapogas tortoise, aldabran tortoise. there are many other reptile species from the west indies, pacific and madagascar present in australian zoos.
mammal wise i'd include tree kangaroos, lemurs (who dont really belong in africa) and long-beaked echidnas. you could even chuck in silvery gibbons and orangs, with bird exhibits of asian lories, swinhoes pheasant, etc.
obviously, this generic presentation of an asian forest with komodo dragons is repeated throughout our zoos, particularly with our indiginous fauna. tasmanian devils dont belong next to crocodiles!!!
 
yeah glyn your "sislands in danger" idea is actually part of the wellinton zoo masterplan as uses madagascar, australia and new zealand as examples.

i think if the best way to subdivide a zoos regions would be as follows;

AFRICA PRECINCT
african rainforest (gorillas, guenons, colobus, bongo pygmy hippo, etc..)
african savannah (you know the who...)
north african desert (baboons, barb sheep, oryx, addax, fennec fox etc..)
madagascar & the indian ocean islands (lemurs, aldabra tortoises etc..)

ASIAN PRECINCT
southeast asian rainforest (you know who..)
indian terai (rhino, bengal tigers, all the hoofstock, elephants etc..)
himalayan temperate forest (brown bears, snow leopard, red panda, tahr )

SOUTH AMERICAN PRECINCT
amazonia & atlantic forests (you know who..)
pantanal wetlands (anteaters, maned wolves, capybara, anaconda, caiman)
patagonia (condor, guanaco, peccary, cavies, rhea)

OCEANIA PRECINCT
australian southeastern forest (tas devils, koalas, platypus, wallaby)
australian southern desert (HN wombats, YF rock wallaby, red roo, emu)
polynesia (birds, iguanas, coconut crabs, bats, LHI stick insects, reef fish)
new guinea (tree-roos, echidnas, cassowary, fruit bats, cuscus)
wallacia (komodo dragons, lories, macaques, babyrusa, bats, cuscus)

the sulawesi species could be in the SE asia section as its a mostly asian island with the exception of a few possums and stuff or then again wallacia could be merged with new guinea.

of course you could divide differently (i have left out mongolia) and there are plenty of species crossovers. some exhibits could only be at open range zoos etc...

and i'm glad australia is phasing out europe and north america all together...

i like the idea of an indoor polynesian island exhibit which is essentially
a cross section of a coral atoll. you could have reef fish in the sea, a beach with giant coconut crabs and palms, and then a forest with fruit bats, reptiles and birds.

all under a glass dome.
 
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