Melbourne Zoo Melbourne 2013 news

nanoboy said:
Ah ok. So there are no more Persian leopards in Australia then?
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nope. The only leopard left in Australia is at Gorge Wildlife Park (as zooboy said a few posts up). This is a black leopard called Chelsea, and she is also very old so won't be around for a lot longer.

There's also a black leopard at Zion in NZ. These are the only two leopards left in Australasia.
 
Chlidonias said:
nope. The only leopard left in Australia is at Gorge Wildlife Park (as zooboy said a few posts up). This is a black leopard called Chelsea, and she is also very old so won't be around for a lot longer.

There's also a black leopard at Zion in NZ. These are the only two leopards left in Australasia.
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You mean Persian leopards right? Because there are snow leopards around - Melbourne Zoo springs to mind.

Are there any African leopards in Oz? They would make a great addition to Werribee Zoo.

That black cat at Gorge isn't a jaguar?
 
But snow leopards aren't leopards. They are just a cat that happens to have leopard in their name.

Am I right in thinking that there are no jaguars in Australia?
 
nanoboy said:
You mean Persian leopards right? Because there are snow leopards around - Melbourne Zoo springs to mind.

Are there any African leopards in Oz? They would make a great addition to Werribee Zoo.

That black cat at Gorge isn't a jaguar?
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snow leopards aren't leopards (as Shirokuma says in the post above mine). They are called that because they live in the snow and they have spotted coats. Same as if someone had labelled a jaguar a "Brazilian leopard" instead of "jaguar".

In Australia there is just one leopard Panthera pardus (i.e. the "regular" leopard of Africa and Asia). It is the black one at Gorge. And one "regular" leopard (another black one) in NZ. Panthera pardus is divided into many subspecies of which the Persian leopard is one. The black leopard at Gorge is probably of mixed parentage (i.e. a "generic leopard" - it is Panthera pardus but of unknown/mixed subspecies).

There are no jaguars left in either Australia and NZ.

There are no snow leopards left in NZ but there are still some in Australia.

No clouded leopards (even less a leopard than the snow leopard) in NZ and I think they've gone from Australia now too?
 
How fascinating! A leopard is one of the most widespread of big cats and we only have 2 in Australasia. Even more fascinating is that a snow leopard is not a leopard!! Well, I didn't see that one coming. Cheers for the explanations.
 
zooboy28 said:
I think the last one was at Melbourne Zoo, it was listed up until the 2008 census but not after that.
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yes I'm pretty sure the Melbourne one (female I think?) was the last one and she was an old cat. I was sure she had died but not sure enough to leave off my question mark :D

Question for anybody, was the last jaguar in Australia the one at Darling Downs?

EDIT: it looks like it was 2008 when the Melbourne female died: http://www.zoochat.com/24/visit-melbourne-zoo-58957/
 
I'm sure he'll be very impressive when he's mature, though few gorillas could match Rigo! It's going to be nice watching the young male gorillas in the region mature over the next few years, Yadumu and Ghubari have a way to go as well before they are as impressive as Motaba.
I hope that this will be the start of great successes in Melbourne's gorilla group, some infants would sure be nice.
 
soona said:
I'm sure he'll be very impressive when he's mature, though few gorillas could match Rigo!
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'Rigo' was an extremely impressive male at the height of his powers. 'Otana' being only twelve is of course not fully developed yet.

His father 'Kouillou' is not a big male, but very 'colourful' with a bright orange crown. However his mother 'Tamba' has a brother 'Ambam'(the upright walking Gorilla) so 'Otana's uncle, in a bachelor group at Port Lympne who is probably the largest silverback at either Park.

So just how big 'Otana' eventually becomes may depend on which parent he takes after growth-wise.

But more importantly, with his mother-raised social background I'd rate him a 100% certainty as a breeder.;)
 
Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroos are back on display, according to this recent Facebook post:

Look who's out to say hi!

Our Tree Kangaroos at Melbourne Zoo have a new home. They've moved in along the boardwalk through Tree-top Monkeys, so make sure you come say hi next time you visit the Zoo!
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Looks like a very nice enclosure, both for the animals and from a visitors perspective. I think this is the first time the zoo has displayed them since their enclosure was demolished to make way for the new children's zoo. I'm not sure what they have replaced either, I can't tell from the photo. I'm also a bit surprised by their appearance here, they were supposed to be in the new islands development with the lemurs in the spare gorilla enclosure, so perhaps that idea has been scrapped.
 
Lemur Island Update:

The new lemur exhibit will host a bachelor troop of Ring-tail Lemurs (doesn't appear that they want to include Ruffed Lemurs here, which would have been cool), and looks like it will be viewed from hanging baskets. Actually. Check out the images in the link. I look forward to seeing how it is realised when it opens in December.

Article and images here: http://www.zoo.org.au/news/lemur-island-plans-released

13/9/13 Melbourne Zoo will soon host a state-of-the-art new home for 11 Lemurs. Taking a tour of the $4.4 million project, Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Ryan Smith said the new exhibit would enable visitors to step through an impressive bamboo tunnel and emerge in the wonderful and mystical world of the Lemur.

The Victorian Government has contributed $4 million towards the project with the remainder raised by the Zoo.

Lemur Island will house a bachelor troop of 11 Ring-tailed Lemurs, a species native to Madagascar. Six Lemurs are already at Melbourne Zoo and the remaining five Lemurs will be transferred from Perth Zoo and Hamilton Zoo in New Zealand.

‘This is a fantastic project and one that the Victorian Government is proud to support. It is an incredible exhibit and one that will continue to keep Melbourne Zoo at the forefront of Zoological institutions around the world', Mr Smith said.

Lemur Island will open just before Christmas this year
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zooboy28 said:
Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroos are back on display, according to this recent Facebook post:



Looks like a very nice enclosure, both for the animals and from a visitors perspective. I think this is the first time the zoo has displayed them since their enclosure was demolished to make way for the new children's zoo. I'm not sure what they have replaced either, I can't tell from the photo. I'm also a bit surprised by their appearance here, they were supposed to be in the new islands development with the lemurs in the spare gorilla enclosure, so perhaps that idea has been scrapped.
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They have replaced the spider monkeys - although the spider monkeys are still on display in another area. There is a bit of enclosure shuffling going on at the moment eg. the white cheeked gibbons are in the ruffed lemur enclosure while their usual enclosure is being extended (opposite the tree kangaroo/spider monkey enclosure). Note that there is also an echidna waddling around the floor of the tree kangaroo exhibit too. Great to have Australia represented in the rainforest area - along with Africa, Asia and South America!
 
They are spending over 4 Million Dollars on ring-tailed lemurs?? I find that highly dissapointing. There are so many lemur species that are much rarer in captivity and in desperate need of more holders, while ring-tailed lemurs are super easy to keep and breed. They are everywhere in Europe. I have no idea how it is even possible to spend that much money on their housing - really, they`re easy. And surely nothing that can keep a zoo "at the forefront of zoological institutions around the world"!
 
Grant Rhino said:
They have replaced the spider monkeys - although the spider monkeys are still on display in another area. There is a bit of enclosure shuffling going on at the moment eg. the white cheeked gibbons are in the ruffed lemur enclosure while their usual enclosure is being extended (opposite the tree kangaroo/spider monkey enclosure). Note that there is also an echidna waddling around the floor of the tree kangaroo exhibit too. Great to have Australia represented in the rainforest area - along with Africa, Asia and South America!
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Ah Ok. The Spider Monkey exhibit looked like it had suffered some damage, so good to see its been fixed up after than period of sitting empty. Where are the spiuder monkeys now? The island by the big cats?

Sounds like the treetops are being improved which is great, especially the gibbon extension. I wonder if they will still exhibit Ring-tail Lemurs here once the new exhibit opens? I really hope they move the Ruffeds in there too, they make a great contrast when exhibited together.

Great that they have echidna on display too, I felt that was an important animal they had missing for too long. Especially when they can be so easily displayed in many other exhibits, e.g. the koalas.
 
zooboy28 said:
Ah Ok. The Spider Monkey exhibit looked like it had suffered some damage, so good to see its been fixed up after than period of sitting empty. Where are the spiuder monkeys now? The island by the big cats?

Sounds like the treetops are being improved which is great, especially the gibbon extension. I wonder if they will still exhibit Ring-tail Lemurs here once the new exhibit opens? I really hope they move the Ruffeds in there too, they make a great contrast when exhibited together.

Great that they have echidna on display too, I felt that was an important animal they had missing for too long. Especially when they can be so easily displayed in many other exhibits, e.g. the koalas.
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I was there today and here is the update:

There are 4 spider monkeys - 2 of them are in the old Ruffed Lemur enclosure (in the rainforest precinct), the other 2 are still in the little temporary enclosure at the back of the Hamadryas Baboons (its actually part of the original night quarters but has been turned into a temporary enclosure). There is only one Ruffed Lemur left (the other one died) and it is off display. The white cheeked gibbons are now in their extended enclosure in the rainforest precinct.

The rainforest/arboreal primates area now have all enclosures in use - so if you walk through, you will see the following in this order:
1. White Cheeked Gibbon
2. Tree Kangaroo and Echidna
3. Ring Tailed Lemur (parents and their young twins)
4. Second viewing window for Gibbon
5. Black Capped Capuchin Monkey
6. Black Capped Capuchin Monkey (the 2 enclosures are linked by tunnels)
7. Black and White Colobus Monkey
8. Spider Monkey
9. Tree Shrew

When Lemur Island is finished, the family group of Ring Tailed Lemurs will remain where they are. The Lemur Island is going to be for a bachelor group of 11 male Ring Tailed Lemurs - which will include the ones on the island near the big cats (there are no spider monkeys there) and the ones on the island near the Japanese Garden. The Ruffed Lemur will not be part of the Lemur Island exhibit (as far as Im aware anyway - and I have asked a few people in the know).

The reason the spider monkeys were taken out of their original home was because a storm blew a tree down onto the enclosure - but no monkeys were harmed. Thats fixed now and as mentioned, the tree kangaroos are in there now.
 
Yassa said:
They are spending over 4 Million Dollars on ring-tailed lemurs?? I find that highly dissapointing. There are so many lemur species that are much rarer in captivity and in desperate need of more holders, while ring-tailed lemurs are super easy to keep and breed. They are everywhere in Europe. I have no idea how it is even possible to spend that much money on their housing - really, they`re easy. And surely nothing that can keep a zoo "at the forefront of zoological institutions around the world"!
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in terms of lemurs, ringtails and black-and-white ruffed are the only two the ZAA are interested in (currently). But yes, as usual, for all their talk the zoos spend mass amounts of money on the popular and well-represented-in-captivity animals when arguably it could be spent better elsewhere for more return for conservation.
 
So today Adelaide Zoo announced on Facebook the arrival of some Maras, which they say are the only ones in Australia. I assume this means that Melbourne no longer holds this species, which they imported last year for the children's zoo area, but which (as far as I can tell) were never actually seen there. Presumably Melbourne sent them to Adelaide as they weren't a suitable species for the children's zoo, although its also possible that their mara died, and the Adelaide ones are a new import.
 
Adelaide Zoo confirmed on their Facebook page that the Mara they have did come from Melbourne, and that they received three, which means one of the original 2.2 importation (from Whipsnade) died.
 
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