Wellington Zoo News for 2012

A

Arvicola

Member
15+ year member
I figured it may be time to start a new thread for 2012 news
the first I have is that Welllington Zoo now have Bolivian Squirrel Monkeys

Bolivian Squirrel Monkeys Arrive At Wellington Zoo... | Stuff.co.nz


A band of 30 cheeky Bolivian squirrel monkeys have arrived at Wellington Zoo.

The Bolivian squirrel monkey is an energetic, social monkey from South America and is also known as a black-capped squirrel monkey or black-headed squirrel monkey.

This particular troupe of monkeys arrived from a French zoo last week, a Wellington Zoo spokeswoman said. They will emerge from quarantine tomorrow.

"They are quite gorgeous wee things and we are very excited about them."

Wellington Zoo will keep 17 of the monkeys, with the rest bound for Brooklands in New Plymouth and Auckland.

They should be on display to the public in two or three weeks, after more tests are completed.

Bolivian squirrel monkeys also have a mischievous side - last year a spike in the theft of sunglasses at London Zoo was blamed on its quick fingered squirrel monkeys.
 
OH MY GOD!!!!!! That is such fantastic news! I'm sure there must have been squirrel monkeys in NZ in the past but well before my lifetime. I am so super excited!! And (for once not being my usual critical self of NZ zoo importations) thirty of them!!! For once a number that can result in a sustainable population. Very well done.

I must go lie down now.




(EDIT: I think maybe Auckland still had squirrel monkeys two or three decades ago? But I never saw them in any case so my over-exuberance still stands! Gosh NZ zoo collections are poor when squirrel monkeys result in such effusiveness from me....)
 
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Chlidonias said:
OH MY GOD!!!!!! That is such fantastic news! I'm sure there must have been squirrel monkeys in NZ in the past but well before my lifetime. I am so super excited!! And (for once not being my usual critical self of NZ zoo importations) thirty of them!!! For once a number that can result in a sustainable population. Very well done.

I must go lie down now.
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So long as the thirty are not descended from one pair.:p But if basically unrelated then that is indeed a good founding population.
Did you take a Bex as well?
 
I don't know anyone called Bex ;)

Which French zoo did these come from Arvicola (or anyone else)?
 
Chlidonias said:
(EDIT: I think maybe Auckland still had squirrel monkeys two or three decades ago?
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I'm pretty certain that Auckland had Common Squirrel Monkeys from at least the mid 80s to the very late 90s, or possibly even 2000. I don't think anyone has ever held Bolivians over here before. But I might be wrong on both counts
 
You are correct on both counts.

(The ones Auckland had were definitely common squirrel monkeys [but I don't know the date of the last time they held them; it could well have been as recent as 2000] and Bolivians have never been in NZ before)
 
Chlidonias said:
Which French zoo did these come from Arvicola (or anyone else)?
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ISIS indicates they came from Amneville (which is listed as currently having a total of 59 plus some unknowns) The only other French park with more is Le Vallee Des Singes but there's are Peruvian ;)
 
thanks Nisha. I browsed ISIS before asking to see if I could work it out, but I couldn't be bothered checking the addresses to see which zoos were actually the French ones!
 
from the Wellington Zoo newsletter:
We've had a band of 30 Bolivian Squirrel Monkeys here at the Zoo that arrived from France just over a week ago.

The Bolivian Squirrel Monkey is an energetic, social monkey from South America, and is also known as a black-capped squirrel monkey or black-headed squirrel monkey.

This particular troupe were being quarantined at Wellington Zoo - and we will keep 17 of them. Five have now made their way to Brooklands in New Plymouth. Another eight will head up to Auckland Zoo in April.

They are quite gorgeous wee things, and we are very excited about them. They should be on display for visitors in the next two to three weeks - once all the health checks have been undertaken.
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moving on from the squirrel monkeys (I have calmed down now), I just lifted this from the Wellington Zoo website (from last week):
From Wednesday 22 February our Tigers will be off display while we develop our new Asia Precinct. This includes a new home for our Sun Bears as well as a new Tiger experience that means you will get up close with them like never before.

The Asia Precinct will open towards the end of the year- and you can follow its progress at Wellington Zoo - Asia Precinct.
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(Well maybe I'm still a bit excited about the squirrel monkeys; I started a thread just for them here: http://www.zoochat.com/17/bolivian-squirrel-monkeys-260444/#post529587)
 
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According to the Wellington Zoo Facebook page they have just imported 2 female Spider Monkeys which are currently in Quarantine
 
To make you extra happy Chlidonias the Wellington Zoo Facebook page says the Squirrel Monkeys are now on display. They are also having a naming competition for one of them as well
 
excellent. I should be back up in Wellington at some point during the year to see them :)

Are all 17 of them in the aviary with the tamarins, conures etc, or has the group been split?
 
Interesting that they would mix the squirrels with tamarins and conures. Squirrels were supposed to be the source of a disease that affected marmosets/tamarins, and zoos were encouraged to put barrier techniques up to reduce transmission. Also I would be a little concerned about the birds' well-being...

Are the new spiders from outside the region?
 
Arvicola said:
I'm pretty certain that Auckland had Common Squirrel Monkeys from at least the mid 80s to the very late 90s, or possibly even 2000. I don't think anyone has ever held Bolivians over here before. But I might be wrong on both counts
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Auckland Zoo had Common Squirrel Monkeys in 1992, but must have lost them all by the late 90s. I never saw them at Auckland, but presumably they were kept up the top in the monkey cages (with the Dianas, Capuchins, Spiders and Macaques).
 
Wellington Zoo Celebrates Record Breaking Year | Scoop News
28 May 2012

With more than a month left in the financial year, Wellington Zoo has made history welcoming well over 200,000 visitors in the last 11 months.

"We set the magic 200,000 mark as a stretch target for ourselves a couple of years ago and it is fantastic that we have achieved it already this year, with still a month to go in our financial year" said Amy Hughes, Wellington Zoo Group Manager, Visitor Engagement.

"We have visitor attendance records that date back to the mid-60s and this is the first time we've had a 2 at the front of our numbers"

Yesterday the Zoo welcomed 4,091 visitors as part of Wellington Open Day - 400 more than the last Open Day, when Happy Feet, the Emperor Penguin, had just arrived at the Zoo for treatment. Sunday's amazing turn out despite the inclement weather made it the most visited day in the Zoo's recorded history.

"While we were already well on track to hit the 200,000 mark this year, being able to welcome so many of our community through our doors for a gold coin donation towards our conservation fund was a really fantastic way to achieve this target."

"These record breaking visitor numbers are a testament to the huge community support that we continue to receive - especially given the tough economic conditions that the whole country has been experiencing"

"We pride ourselves on encouraging people to find their personal connection with nature and this year we have been able to achieve this with more people than ever".

"We are hugely grateful to all of our visitors, fans and supporters from around New Zealand and around the world. We hope that they will continue to support us over the next year as we open our new ASB Malayan Sun Bears and Pub Charity Sumatran Tiger exhibits."

Wellington Zoo is a charitable trust principally funded by the Wellington City Council
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Arvicola said:
According to the Wellington Zoo Facebook page they have just imported 2 female Spider Monkeys which are currently in Quarantine
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tetrapod said:
Are the new spiders from outside the region?
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the spider monkeys came from Zurich (from the latest newsletter)
 
106 Chilean Rose Tarantula have arrived from the UK. 44 Will stay in Wellington and the rest will be split between various other New Zealand collections
 
Nisha said:
106 Chilean Rose Tarantula have arrived from the UK. 44 Will stay in Wellington and the rest will be split between various other New Zealand collections
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that's good news (well, not for arachnophobes!!). Where did you read it? I found some articles but they didn't mention species.
Tarantulas! Coming to a zoo near you - Story - Environment/Sci - 3 News
Arachnophobes might want to steer clear of Wellington Zoo today, even if their latest arrivals are "pretty harmless".

A box full of tarantulas – 106 of them, to be precise – has just arrived, and it's going to be opened this morning.

"We're aiming to establish a self-sustaining population of tarantulas in containment facilities in New Zealand," says Wellington Zoo marketing and communications advisor Libby Callander.

"We'll have breeding groups scattered around the country, which will allow us to go a number of generations without inbreeding."

The spiders come from a breeding facility in Wales. They touched down in Auckland at 5:45am, and were checked over the biosecurity officials from the Ministry of Primary Industries before being sent to Wellington.

The group will be split up and sent to various zoos around New Zealand.

Rest assured, however – Ms Callendar says there's little chance any could escape.

"They come in a big wooden crate, and inside that wooden crate is a bunch of polystyrene boxes," says Ms Callander.

"They're all in their own individual polystyrene boxes. There can be a danger in shipping wild animals, but they are packed in the best kind of way that they can to transport them over."

And even if they did escape, they wouldn't last long in New Zealand conditions.

"They won't survive outside of zoos," says Ms Callander. "They need to be kept at 20degC all year round, and obviously in New Zealand that's not going to happen."

But what if against all odds, one did escape, and survive? Have the tarantulas been defanged?

"We wouldn't do that to a tarantula, says Ms Callander.

"That would be the same as declawing a lion, or something like that. It's not something we'd do as a zoo."

Besides, despite their reputation, tarantulas aren't that poisonous.

"They do have venom but it's just kind of like a beesting. It's not the most fun, but it's not life-threatening for people that don't have allergies."
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Tarantulas on a plane head to NZ - National - NZ Herald News
A massive shipment of tarantulas is on its way to New Zealand.

Wellington Zoo is importing 107 of the insect-eating spiders, which can grow from the size of a palm to as big as a dinner plate, for distribution in zoos nationwide next week.

Its collections development manager Simon Eyre told Radio New Zealand the shipment was aimed at establishing a self-sustaining population of tarantulas in New Zealand.

"There will be breeding groups scattered around the country so we can go a number of generations without inbreeding."

The last shipment of tarantulas imported into New Zealand was dominated by males, which do not live as long as females of the species, Mr Eyre said.

He said most of the male spiders had since died, leaving New Zealand with very few breeding pairs.

Most of the spiders being imported were "pretty much" harmless, with venom similar to that of a bee sting, he said.

"The eat small insects like crickets. They don't eat people and mice and things.

It's a very... Hollywood thing. It's not going to be anything like tarantulas on a plane."

Mr Eyre said the tarantulas would not survive outside the zoos in New Zealand as they needed to be kept in temperatures of more than 20 degrees Celsius year-round.
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