Melbourne Zoo Melbourne Zoo 2015

Its a girl!

Update on the new Gorilla arrival today: It's thought to be a female :) no name yet, But the house will be open for limited viewing later in the week

It is only a few days old, but the latest star at Melbourne Zoo already has a knack for putting on a show.

Mum Kimya and her baby made their media debut on Wednesday just four days after the birth in the Gorilla House on Sunday night.

Zookeepers have not been able to get a close look at the baby, but their observations so far point to it being a girl.

Zoo spokeswoman Judith Henke said keepers do not interrupt mother-and-baby bonding, and will wait to confirm the gender.

Ms Henke said keepers were thrilled with how Kimya had adapted to her new role, saying she is doing everything "100 per cent right".

"She's doing everything right, she's an exemplary mother."

As for the four-day old, it looks "happy and relaxed", Ms Henke said.

The baby's birth broke a 15-year drought at the zoo. The last western lowland gorilla born was in 2000.

Dad Otana witnessed Sunday's birth and has been able to get a look at his new offspring.

The rest of the gorilla family has embraced its newest member, with three of the females, Julia, Yuska and G-Ann also witnesses to the birth.

Keepers had kept a vigil over Kimya 24 hours a day in the past few months of her pregnancy to ensure the health and safety of mother and baby.

Kimya and her baby will make their debut in front of zoo members on Thursday, with the public able to get their first peek of the new family on Friday. Viewing will be limited to between 11am and 3pm

New baby gorilla: A star is born, and is now presented, at Melbourne Zoo
 
A vote has been opened to choose the name of the Gorilla baby, The choices are:

Kya — Diamond in sky

Kamari - Moonlight

Kanzi - A treasure

Kibibi — Little lady

No Cookies | Herald Sun
 
Melbourne Zoo’s 100-year-old tortoise Little John gets his shell oiled down

No Cookies | Herald Sun

Ashley Argoon
Herald Sun
April 24, 2015 12:10AM

IT’s a shell-ebration down at Melbourne Zoo for not-so Little John on his 100th birthday.

There’ll be no party going on for the giant tortoise, but he’s gonna have a good time celebrating his ton with a few veggies and a shell oil-down to stop those nasty cracks.

A nice scratch under the neck is also on the cards for the 200kg tortoise, who reacts to a pat in much the same way as a dog to a tummy rub.

“He’s got a few more birthdays to go — in captivity giant tortoises can live to 200,” keeper Kristie Lawrence said.

“He’s just a beautiful, gentle giant.”
 
Jabiru96 said:
Predator Moving Day | Zoos Victoria
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This article basically says that the female Philippines Crocodile has been moved into her new, larger enclosure that also features underwater viewing. This completes the new Predator exhibit at the Zoo, which already contains African Wild Dogs and Lions. The new enclosure has been visible for a while, and looks to be much better than the one in the Reptile House. Hopefully she is able to breed here too.
 
The government has commited funding to allow free entry for kids to continue along with $9 million that will allow the second stage of the Predator Precinct to be constructed.

Full article below

Children will continue to receive free entry to Melbourne Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary and Werribee Open Range Zoo thanks to an announcement made by Premier Daniel Andrews.

The announcement, made at Melbourne Zoo, means free entry for children under the age of 16 on weekends, public holidays, and Victorian Government school holidays.

In further exciting news, the Victorian Government has committed $9 million for a new, state-of-the-art facility for Melbourne Zoo's Big Cats as the second stage of the Predator Precinct which already features Lion Gorge, opened in December 2014.

The new development will replace the 1960s Big Cats Row, and Snow Leopards, Sumatran Tigers and other predator species will be displayed in a new setting, providing visitors with improved viewing and giving the animal’s updated facilities.

Melbourne Zoo Director Kevin Tanner welcomed the announcements as a great result for both visitors and animals.

"Melbourne Zoo has long been considered a world-class zoo and replacing Big Cats Row will ensure that the Zoo remains a world leading attraction into the future," Mr Tanner said.

“We will now start planning the details of the new development with the aim of opening late in 2017, the Zoo’s 155th birthday year.

"This is an exciting time to visit the Zoo, and with the extension of the Kids Free policy we will continue to provide fantastic value for money to our community and members."

The new development is scheduled to open in late 2017 in time to celebrate the Zoo's 155th birthday year.
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Female Gorilla Julia Dies

Very sad news from Melbourne Zoo today (posted on their Facebook page):

Vale Julia. It is with great sadness that we announce the death of one of Melbourne Zoo's female gorillas, Julia.

Julia died overnight from complications which developed from injuries inflicted by our young Silverback male Otana. Staff monitoring the group as usual throughout Friday observed Otana displaying an unexpected level of aggression towards Julia. Silverbacks assert their dominance as a normal part of their behaviour. In this instance, the results of the aggression Otana displayed towards Julia on Friday were unexpected and unprecedented.

On Friday evening, Julia chose to spend at least part of the night away from the group, sleeping in one of the heated caves outside. On Saturday morning staff checking on Julia observed that she appeared to be unwell and was not responding as normal. The decision was made to move Julia to the veterinary hospital for an examination. The Vet team examining Julia found that she had experienced extensive trauma and significant complications resulting from the aggression on Friday. The team worked to stabilize her condition into the early hours of Sunday, but unfortunately she passed away.

Otana is currently separated from the group. Keepers are concentrating on helping them all get through this tragic event that will change the social structure of the group.

Staff throughout the Zoo are devastated and the Primate Keepers have been offered counselling to help them through this difficult time.

For more details, read the news story here: Vale Julia | Zoos Victoria
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The full story from the Zoo's website (News | Zoos Victoria

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of one of our female gorillas, Julia.

Julia died overnight from complications which developed from injuries inflicted by our young Silverback male Otana. Staff monitoring the group as usual throughout Friday observed Otana displaying an unexpected level of aggression towards Julia. Silverbacks assert their dominance as a normal part of their behaviour. In this instance, the results of the aggression Otana displayed towards Julia on Friday were unexpected and unprecedented.

On Friday evening, Julia chose to spend at least part of the night away from the group, sleeping in one of the heated caves outside. On Saturday morning staff checking on Julia observed that she appeared to be unwell and was not responding as normal, although no wounds were visible. After immediate consultation with the Vet team, the decision was made to move Julia to the veterinary hospital for an examination. The Vet team examining Julia found that she had experienced extensive trauma and significant complications resulting from the aggression on Friday. The team worked to stabilize her condition into the early hours of Sunday, but unfortunately she passed away at 3am today.

Otana arrived in September 2013 from his birthplace in the U.K., where he had recently reached the age to leave his original family group, led by his Silverback father. After a gradual process of introductions to the females in the Melbourne Zoo group, the social dynamic appeared to be working well. However, at age 13, Otana is still an inexperienced group leader.

Prior to Friday, Otana’s displays of aggression have been intermittent and not severe, with females responding with the submissive behaviours that a Silverback expects. Otana is currently separated from the group. Keepers are concentrating on helping them all get through this tragic event that will change the social structure of the group.

Julia was 33 years old and came to Melbourne Zoo in 1997 from the Jersey Zoo. She has previously bred with Silverback Motaba, now retired from the breeding program at Werribee Open Range Zoo.Their offspring the female Jumatano is now at Taronga Zoo in Sydney.

Staff throughout the Zoo are devastated and the Primate Keepers have been offered counselling to help them through this difficult time.
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That is very sad news :(. I guess they need to take precautions now seriously so that Kanzi (and the other troop members) is safe.
 
Jumatano is now known as Johari... and is the spitting image of her mother. Vale Julia!

Things like this must be completely heartbreaking for keepers and carers... my deepest sympathies go out to them.

T.
 
tdierikx said:
Jumatano is now known as Johari... and is the spitting image of her mother. Vale Julia!

Things like this must be completely heartbreaking for keepers and carers... my deepest sympathies go out to them.

T.
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Jumatano is in fact her original 'public' name if I remember correctly, while Johari is actually her initial 'keeper' name (correct me if I am wrong). Hopefully Johari can breed (being the only offspring of a wild born animal) to pass on her mother's valuable genetics (unfortunately her father Motaba is very well represented as a son of the famous gorilla Jambo).
 
She answers to Johari... and is not referred to by her other name by keepers...

I wouldn't hold your breath for any offspring from Johari just yet, as she's not all that fond of Kibali so far. I'm tipping she's going to be an awesome Aunty to the other little ones though - you can see that she wants to be a mummy so bad... if it didn't mean certain interactions with Kibali, she'd probably have been first cab off the rank... lol!

Luckily the other 2 girls are plenty happy to keep Kibali satisfied for now...

T.
 
Very sad news about Julia. I remember her at Jersey and have seen her at Melbourne also. I wonder how well she really got along with Otana before this happened? Having been handraised in Africa, she had not seen any other Gorillas until she went to Jersey as a young animal. Along with G Anne (also handraised, in the USA) she was always rather a social isolate in Jersey's group, the main reason she and G.Anne were finally sent to Melbourne, after new male Ya Kwanza (from Melbourne) would not accept them and eventually broke Julia's arm in a fracas.

Perhaps all these years later she had similar difficulties with Otana also?
 
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