To start off the year pregnant gorilla Kimya has turned 10 years old: Kimya Turns Ten | Zoos Victoria
I wonder if a breeding situation will be found in due course for G.Anne's son ''Ganyeki' currently at Werribee. Although his father 'Motaba' is from a well represented line, he is G.Anne's only offspring and she is the only(?) descendant of two wild-caught founders in the USA, so on the maternal side, he is genetically valuable.
the only problem is that he has been hand-reared, which increases the risk that he will not breed (I know, there are more and more good results with hand-reared males), making an expensive transfer to Europe less likely. If available, most zoos will prefer a mother-reared male.
Agree on all your points above. Perhaps he should be first choice for a tryout if a new group was to be set up anywhere in the Australasian region though.
Does anyone know why Melb Zoo needed to bring in new African Hunting dogs when they already had a group of 5 or 6? Where did their original dogs go? I take it from the Zoos web site that they only have the 4 new ones from Perth. Anyone know more detail?
Melbourne Zoo's group for at least the last few years has only been four (all males). I haven't looked at hunting dog data for Australian zoos yet; when did the new ones come to the zoo?Does anyone know why Melb Zoo needed to bring in new African Hunting dogs when they already had a group of 5 or 6? Where did their original dogs go? I take it from the Zoos web site that they only have the 4 new ones from Perth. Anyone know more detail?
Melbourne Zoo's group for at least the last few years has only been four (all males). I haven't looked at hunting dog data for Australian zoos yet; when did the new ones come to the zoo?
I don't know the specifics of Melbourne Zoo's situation, but hunting dogs don't live terribly long - about ten years or so - so the turn-over in zoos can be fairly frequent and new groups often replace older holdings. Also when you have a managed regional programme some zoos need to only hold single-sex groups because of the way the species breed (with just one dominant female).
From what I know and have heard, you are right. The previous hunting dogs were four brothers that were getting on in life so were moved to retire (I don't know where though) and a younger same sex group were brought in.
The new baby will have no shortage of admirers — Zoos Victoria membership has increased by 90,000 over the past year to reach 217,000, more than any AFL club. And the organisation is set to record its best-ever annual visitor numbers.
Nearly 500,000 have visited its three zoos so far in 2014-15, with a third of the financial year left. The 2013-14 total was 561,968.
Melbourne Zoo visitation has been over a million for some years now. I don't know the figures but total visitation across the three properties must be approaching 2 million
We are delighted to announce that we have a new member of the Zoos Victoria family!
Our Western Lowland Gorilla, Kimya, delivered her first baby at about 6:05 pm yesterday in the Gorilla House night dens.
Keepers have had Kimya under 24/7 observation for the past month. The birth took place in the presence of the baby's father Otana and the three older females in the group, Julia, G-Ann, and Yuska. Otana and G-Ann showed the most interest in the birth and baby. Yuska, the first gorilla to ever give birth in Australia, chose to stay next door in her night den.
The new arrival is the seventh gorilla to be born at Melbourne Zoo and our first gorilla birth since 2000.
Kimya came from her birthplace at Taronga Zoo in October 2013 to join Otana as part of the international breeding program for their endangered species. Otana arrived a month earlier from Howlett's Wild Animal Park in Kent, England.
As yet, Keepers have not been able to observe the sex of the baby.
The gorilla baby is not yet on display and the Gorilla Rainforest area will be closed for public access today.
This is a very special time not only for Melbourne Zoo, but also for gorilla species in the wild.