You may find that Melbourne is following the trend as with other major city zoos within the country to down size its collection.
Melbourne Zoo Melbourne Zoo News 2022
- Thread starter Sunbear12
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They are not a breeding pair; and i'm not sure of their names/ages. They're not from Healesville, that's for sure.
Yes, that's where I got my info from. The exhibit isn't that large though, so 45 seems like a bit too much for me. They currently have fifteen though, so easily have the space to at least double the troop size. New males will be needed to continue breeding though.
Four of those are confirmed. Black and White Colobus are potentially one, but really only fit into the enabling category and zoos vic's criteria now states they have to fit into two of the five categories.
Pygmy Hippos will not be phased out. Melbourne will acquire a female eventually. Import restrictions are just making it difficult.
The Cotton Top Tamirans are there, you just need to spend a little time looking. They certainly aren't on the phase out list.
Please refrain from doing so. You can make your own thread for that if you wish, but my history thread is solely for the history of Melbourne zoo.
Hamadryas baboon:
It would make more sense for Melbourne Zoo to receive Hamadryas baboons from Sydney Zoo. They imported 13 animals from Singapore, which have produced at least six infants since they arrived. Any zoo holding this species has surplus males they’d be happy to offload, so transferring a couple to Melbourne is a win-win.
I imagine Melbourne Zoo will retain all their female baboons (with one breeding per family line) since even non breeding females contribute to a female heavy foundation. Some of these females are only adolescents and could be around for 15-20 years.
Pygmy hippopotamus:
While I doubt the zoo would phase out Pygmy hippopotamus - in both the long and short term, they might not have a choice if Felix dies unexpectedly. Statistically, this is unlikely, but it’s happened before in zoos with little to no warning.
There’s no sign of a hippopotamus IRA on the horizon, so the best hope we have is that Felix survives until one is sorted - otherwise Melbourne could find itself without this species for a few years.
Sumatran tigers:
There’s reasonable evidence to suggest Melbourne Zoo’s Sumatran tiger siblings have been removed from the breeding programme due to expressing the CVD gene, which is hereditary and would almost certainly be passed onto their cubs.
They’re 12 years old, so it’ll be around eight years before Melbourne is in a position to review what they’ll be replaced with.
Dingoes are readily available and are one species they do not need to and should not breed.
Hopefully Taronga's pair can breed again soon. I think we can all assume that if Amara survived, she was likely destined for Melbourne. So I assume the case will be the same for their next calf too.
Melbourne dosen't have the space for breeding right now. Once Indrah and Hutan pass though, Melbourne will certainly have a lot of options. They have a single enclosure, encompassed with bts breeding facilities, alongside another enclosure elsewhere in the zoo that could potentially hold the cubs once they get older too. I'd imagine Melbourne will be breeding rather than holding non breeding individuals following Indrah and Hutan's deaths.
At the moment, all hope for the future of Pygmy hippopotamus in the region is resting on the pair at Taronga. I had wondered at the time if the decision to transfer Kamina to Darling Downs Zoo (rather than pair her with one of the bulls at Adelaide or Melbourne) was indicative of progress on the hippopotamus IRA (and an imminent import) - but four years on, we’re still waiting.
It’d be nice to see a breeding loan of two or three years between Melbourne and Darling Downs Zoo to create a second pair as a back up to the Taronga pair. From here, a bull calf bred from this pairing could be sent to Adelaide in exchange for Obi, who could then be paired with Kamina at Darling Downs Zoo (assuming no further developments re. the IRA).
I imagine rejoining the Sumatran tiger breeding programme following the deaths of Hutan and Indrah could tie in well with Melbourne receiving a breeding pair. To date, breeding has been shared across a multitude of facilities (albeit it always being Taronga’s turn). Three facilities will be attempting to breed in the next year; and a fourth and fifth have just bred, so a decade from now it’ll truly be Melbourne’s turn after close to two decades of not breeding.
Asian Elephant Due Dates
Zoos Victoria have announced the due dates of their Asian elephants as November 2022, December 2022 and January 2023:
Video: Baby elephants coming for Melbourne Zoo
The birth order is: Dokkoon > Num Oi > Mali.
Zoos Victoria have announced the due dates of their Asian elephants as November 2022, December 2022 and January 2023:
Video: Baby elephants coming for Melbourne Zoo
The birth order is: Dokkoon > Num Oi > Mali.
Hoping for all female calfs
Hoping for all female calfs
Three female calves would be fantastic. Aside from contributing to a strong foundation of cows within the matriarchal herd and ensuring succession, they’ll also have a breeding application within the region - likely bred with Putra Mas a decade from now.
Bull calves will be surplus from the outset since Luk Chai’s line is so well represented.
I’m particularly hopeful Num Oi has a female calf considering her previous losses and struggles to build up a matrilinial line as Dokkoon has done.
If at least 2 females came out of this group it would set them up for years to come
It’d be nice to see some updates on Zoos Victoria’s social media about this, but they post very little news on there. 20 of their last 21 posts are non news related - including anthropomorphic jokes and pop culture references.
This was reported on by the media however, which was an update on the fencing: New fence for elephants | Wyndham
I guess the new woke board aren’t to keen on zoo news
Managed to get to Melbourne today for a couple of hours. The weather wasn’t great, but the zoo was pretty empty which made it worth it.
Some notes from my visit:
Some notes from my visit:
- Melbourne has its pair of Dingoes in the former Wild Dog enclosure, and they seem to be doing well. Both are very engaged with the public (possibly as a result of being ambassador animals as well).
- Roshani the Red Panda has returned on display, and both enclosures have received new climbing structures.
- Hutan and Indrah haven’t been removed from the breeding program; they just haven’t been selected to breed due to their representation. Their brother, Aceh, is currently in a breeding situation in Canberra, and apparently was chosen over Hutan due to his dominant personality making him a more suitable candidate for breeding. Hutan’s very lazy and laidback (much like his late father, Ramalon).
- Num Oi looks to be pregnant the heaviest. Definitely has the most pronounced tits which are far more noticeable than my last visit (a months ago). I think it’s likely she’s due very very soon.
- The giraffes and zebras have been separated again, not exactly sure why.
- And finally, and most excitedly, a large patch of forest has been cleared out behind the White Cheeked Gibbon enclosure; not sure what they’re doing here - possibly a new enclosure of some sort hopefully, or even an extension of the current Gibbon enclosure.
austrlain zoo gower
Well-Known Member
On my last visit they were also clearing out behind the gibbon enclosure, hopefully they might be planning to breed, as the female is becoming more use to the public
Extending the exhibit seems more likely than them building a completely new enclosure. The current enclosure is quite small, especially for a breeding pair, so I can see the initiative on expanding the enclosure. Hopefully the more space will allow Li Lian to finally conceive; as obviously she’s a very shy individual around the public, and it would important to give her the space she needs to ensure she’s absolutely comfortable in hopes of breeding.
Elephant due dates:
The due dates are as follows:
Dokkoon - November 2022
Mali - December 2022
Num Oi - January 2023
It’ll be interesting to see if any of the cows go overdue as Dokkoon has in the past - though her delayed delivery of Mali was attributed to the heatwave at the time.
I thought Mali was due in January?
So did I, but when I contacted the zoo they advised she’s due in December and it’s Num Oi that’s due last.
Dokkoon and Mek Kepah will be Mali’s birthing partners - which will be interesting as Dokkoon will also have her own calf (weeks or even days old) at her feet.
This'll be the first time in Melbourne's history of breeding this species that 'birth partners' will be introduced. All females in the past have given birth by themselves (with the others in adjacent stalls), but as elephant husbandry is now beginning to be better understood; it's much more beneficial for them to experience a 'herd birth', especially with Mali who'll be needing the guidance of her mother when giving birth.
It'll be interesting to see what exactly they plan to do on the night of the births. When Dokkoon first gives birth i'd imagine she'd be separated with Mek Kapah and Mali into the largest stall of the barn (with access also outside) - which would leave Num Oi, Kulab and Man Jai to occupy the smaller, remaining stalls. But still, the stalls are awfully small for more than two elephants and even more so when a calf is added into the mix, so it'll be interesting to see where they go with this. To give more space, it might be preferable to keep Man Jai with Luk Chai overnight but this would mean they'd have to share the same barn space which isn't the best for two bulls.