Taronga Zoo Long-beaked Echidnas

Yes, Wendy - loves her potoroos!
 
Shame more people aren't aware of them, but people would probably just assume it was a kiwi or something.
 
Chlidonias said:
that is correct. It is the male one that has now been put on display in the nocturnal house. The female is still off-show (unless she's recently been added to the nocturnal house as well). Very very cool animals!
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Any plans to eventually breed the little critters?! :)
 
Only for the last 20 or 30 years - unsuccessfully (obviously)!

:p

Hix
 
probably not...over the years they have had a number of homes, their most recent public display was in the outdoor yards of the monotreme house, and that was a long, long time ago.
then they were moved behind the scenes to what i believe was an off display wombat enclosure behind the bush bird aviaries at the top of the zoo. After living there for ages and still not re-producing staff have seperated the animals to see if re-intoducing them triggers some sort of breeding response.
 
glyn said:
probably not...over the years they have had a number of homes, their most recent public display was in the outdoor yards of the monotreme house, and that was a long, long time ago.
then they were moved behind the scenes to what i believe was an off display wombat enclosure behind the bush bird aviaries at the top of the zoo. After living there for ages and still not re-producing staff have seperated the animals to see if re-intoducing them triggers some sort of breeding response.
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I have overheard folks say that maintaining echidnas in singletons and just the 1.1. pairing will not promote any breeding at all. Best is more like a grouping of 4-5 with multiple males and females ... The males are in competition mating ...
 
In the wild, short beaks at least, will basically have a wrestling match to determine who gets the girl. A group of males will follow her around until it's time to decide. It's called an echidna train. Might be similar for long beaks. Could explain it.
 
If that's the case, then it may be a loooooooooooooong time before any zoo breeds them!

:p

Hix
 
There were originally three long-beaks. I remember a search mission in the late 1990's to discover the whereabouts of the third. Much of the outdoor enclosure was excavated, only to find some bones :(

Amazing animals that I hope can get the heightened profile they deserve.
 
Jarkari said:
In the wild, short beaks at least, will basically have a wrestling match to determine who gets the girl. A group of males will follow her around until it's time to decide. It's called an echidna train. Might be similar for long beaks. Could explain it.
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Couldnt' Taronga just import the male in Moscow so that they can have a better chance of breeding, and as the male in Moscow is a different sub-species to the ones at Taronga, let the original Taronga male breed with the female but still have 2 males on exhibit. They could sort of make a mini train!
 
UrMumzAGoat said:
Couldnt' Taronga just import the male in Moscow so that they can have a better chance of breeding, and as the male in Moscow is a different sub-species to the ones at Taronga, let the original Taronga male breed with the female but still have 2 males on exhibit. They could sort of make a mini train!
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the Moscow one's actually a different species, and I can't really imagine them letting it go to Taronga anyway. Nice idea though.
 
Yes the Long-beaked echidnas are now split into 2 or 3 species from memory. I have seen a number of photos of individuals that appear hairless, as opposed from the dense black fur of the Z. Bartoni seen (unfortunately never by me - despite being the sole reason for my visits) at Taronga. Not sure if this hairlessness is a the defining feature Z. Bruijnii.

Sadly, It seems Tarongas elderly specimens are unlikely to ever breed. Which is a terrible shame. Personally, i would absolutely love to see New Guinea fauna prioritised in Australian zoos - they are clearly have the most expertise in marsupial and monotreme husbandry and a CBP for Eastern long beaked echidnas would be an absolute lifeline for these exceptionally rare species.

Anyone know how many Z. Bartoni there are at The Rainforest Habitat?
 
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