Perth Zoo Perth Zoo - General Discussion and Speculation

steveroberts said:
Yeah while white rhinos most sociable rhino species, with Memphis as a male, yeah they might be less sociable generally but imagine seeing others of their own species is really important and total isolation from their species is not great for any white rhinos, but think hopefully the females will arrive fairly soon and think Memphis will be ok in the meantime, he has the best keepers one could ask for so they will look after him.

You probably know all this already but he had a brief companion in the early 1990s after Mwivi died, 'Calfie' a young (think Red Angus cattle) calf who kept him company until Memphis sent him flying with a playful thrust of his horn and snout ('Calfie' was ok though, left to go to a farm) believe he shared with a male eland for a short time too before that (believe the eland went east maybe to WPZ possibly returning there before the Savannah precinct opened to the public, think 'Calfie' joined Memphis afterwards) but he did really really well by himself until late 1999 (though everyone was very happy when Katala & Sabie joined him - was a big Memphis sized and shaped in his likeness platic 'piggybank' between the entrance and the main lake with a sign saying s'Mate for Memphis' (think more words explaining underneath) and visitors could put money in, which so many did, remember seeing other visitors putting money into too multiple times, was there c.1995-1998 - but sorry am straying from his current situation with nostalgia).

Oh cool will be great if you visit next week, give Memphis a wave hello of love from me if you get a chance (have not been able to see him in 19 years since last visited so have missed seeing him, Bakari was a calf when last was there).
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By the sounds of it he has had a lot of company over the years I would personally love to see him with an Eland. Wow that is so cool that you have seen Bakari since he was a calf you must have a very special bond seeing pictures of grown up Bakari now? I will try my best to try take some photos of Memphis and Bakari and post it on the Perth Zoo media thread.
 
steveroberts said:
You probably know all this already but he had a brief companion in the early 1990s after Mwivi died, 'Calfie' a young (think Red Angus cattle) calf who kept him company until Memphis sent him flying with a playful thrust of his horn and snout ('Calfie' was ok though, left to go to a farm) believe he shared with a male eland for a short time too before that (believe the eland went east maybe to WPZ possibly returning there before the Savannah precinct opened to the public, think 'Calfie' joined Memphis afterwards)
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Cannot remember whether the eland ever made to Perth but the original plan of the Savannah was for a mixed exhibit of eland/rhino (major flaw being the small size of the enclosure).
 
Jaiden said:
Yeah I forgot that him a Bakari are split up I have not been in a while lol but. But he still see his Son Bakari daily and the Future Rhino exhibit will fell empty. I am planing to go in the next few days I will ask.
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Southern white rhinoceros Memphis and Bakari were separated on my 2016 visit. Auckland similarly had a bachelor group of a father and his two sons, but as the sons reached young adulthood, it became necessary to separate them.

Bachelor groupings of rhinoceros are a relatively new phenomenon in the region - and at least seem to be serving the function of accomodating young bulls in a space efficient manner prior to them joining breeding herds; even if they don’t remain cohesive long term.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Southern white rhinoceros Memphis and Bakari were separated on my 2016 visit. Auckland similarly had a bachelor group of a father and his two sons, but as the sons reached young adulthood, it became necessary to separate them.

Bachelor groupings of rhinoceros are a relatively new phenomenon in the region - and at least seem to be serving the function of accomodating young bulls in a space efficient manner prior to them joining breeding herds; even if they don’t remain cohesive long term.
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Unfortunately these groupings are a big fail and do not work and basically a bad idea.
 
Zorro said:
Unfortunately these groupings are a big fail and do not work and basically a bad idea.
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It’s unfortunate that bachelor groupings of rhinos rarely (if ever) remain cohesive into adulthood; but they at least serve the purpose of accomodating bulls in the adolescence years. By three years old, their fathers are sick of the sight of them; yet they’re won’t have the size and presence to mate with cows for another few years (bulls used in breeding herds are usually a minimum of 8-10 years). Bachelor facilities can therefore hold bulls for five years or more at a time when it’s challenging for them to be housed elsewhere.

Kifaru (2009) is a perfect example of this. He left his natal facility (Hamilton Zoo) at the age of four; lived with two other males (born 2010) in a bachelor herd throughout his adolescence; then went into a breeding herd at the age of 10 years in 2009.
 
tetrapod said:
Cannot remember whether the eland ever made to Perth but the original plan of the Savannah was for a mixed exhibit of eland/rhino (major flaw being the small size of the enclosure).
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Yeah the only reason know that the eland did make it to the zoo for a very short time was because of @Princeabebe post from 2017 here:

@Princeabebe June 25, 2017 ''Hi all - I'm new to the forum. Interesting to hear Tetrapod talking about the savannah at Perth zoo. I was a 'docent' (the almost unrecognizable name the zoo's guide organization chose for themselves) for a couple of years in the early 1990s - the savannah opened when I was there. There's a couple of things I could add to the comprehensive history you've already covered. One is that the elands did arrive - or at least the buck did. I never got to seem them/him, but the woman who ran the docents did (I remember her saying "he is magnificent"). Don't know where they/he got sent to when it was clear they weren't going to fit. The ostriches had been at the zoo for years, but the zebra apparently hassled them relentlessly (I suppose the giraffe/zebra enclosure just wasn't/isn't big enough) so they got shipped off elsewhere. The rhino bunker was fantastic. At some point early on, Memphis broke the viewing glass so it was removed. This meant when it was mudbath time, he'd shove his enormous head halfway through the gap so he was only a couple of feet from the public - it was great fun. His keepers used to play chasey with him too - they'd run around and whack him with brooms and hide behind things while he tried to get them, then called him down to the mud for a bath....''

African Savannah at Perth Zoo queries (25 years of Animals) [Perth Zoo]
 
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steveroberts said:
Yeah the only reason know that the eland did make it to the zoo for a very short time was because of @Princeabebe post from 2017 here:
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Hi after reading that post I was wondering does any one knows what where the original plans of the Perth Zoo Asian Rainforest or the Central African exhibit mentioned in the post?
 
steveroberts said:
African Savannah at Perth Zoo queries (25 years of Animals) [Perth Zoo] Princeabebe post

@Princeabebe 25 June 2017
''Hi all - I'm new to the forum. Interesting to hear Tetrapod talking about the savannah at Perth zoo. I was a 'docent' (the almost unrecognizable name the zoo's guide organization chose for themselves) for a couple of years in the early 1990s - the savannah opened when I was there. There's a couple of things I could add to the comprehensive history you've already covered. One is that the elands did arrive - or at least the buck did. I never got to seem them/him, but the woman who ran the docents did (I remember her saying "he is magnificent"). Don't know where they/he got sent to when it was clear they weren't going to fit. The ostriches had been at the zoo for years, but the zebra apparently hassled them relentlessly (I suppose the giraffe/zebra enclosure just wasn't/isn't big enough) so they got shipped off elsewhere. The rhino bunker was fantastic. At some point early on, Memphis broke the viewing glass so it was removed. This meant when it was mudbath time, he'd shove his enormous head halfway through the gap so he was only a couple of feet from the public - it was great fun. His keepers used to play chasey with him too - they'd run around and whack him with brooms and hide behind things while he tried to get them, then called him down to the mud for a bath.
I have to say I find Perth Zoo (I live in Perth) a bit sad these days. De Jose's vision in the late 80s/early 90s was for minimal visible cages and fences and lots of fake rock, moats and ha-has. Over the years, as you guys have discussed, enclosures have been modified here and there, and the principle of invisible fences is long gone. Much of the zoo now strikes me as a reasonably funded privately-run small wildlife park - lots of colorbond and cyclone fencing. For someone who remembers being very excited about the coming savannah (not to mention the other grand plans de Jose had at the time, like a central African exhibit with gorillas and okapi where the big lakes are now), it is all a bit disappointing. But the zoo, like everything else in this country, is run by public servants along neo-liberal lines and lacks much of what anyone might call 'vision'.
One lasting problem is, of course, the lack of space. You are all right when you say it's time for them to develop the property the zoo owns on the outskirts of the city and take all the big animals there. I, personally, always found it sad that de Jose's vision for the zoo's collection was originally - and fairly strictly, I seem to remember - for there to be an east African, an Australian, and a south-east Asian exhibit. Prior to oval's redevelopment into the savannah, the zoo had a reasonable collection of Indian animals - blackbuck, himalayan tahr, langurs, chital, sambar, peacocks etc. They all went. In the meantime, this original vision of purity has been sullied a number of times, to the extent that there is now a modest South American section - the previous South American species (rheas, maned wolves, mara etc) all went when the Indian stuff got shipped out, too. Interestingly, that whole end of the zoo is now taken up by the cringeworthy Australian section, with its fake pinnacles and assorted other miniaturized tourist attractions. Pretty crappy and embarrassing.''
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Yeah I read that and that is what sparked the question
 
did perth zoo ever have hippos?
i can see on the old maps i have in 1975 they had pygmy hippos. my sibling said they remember seeing them when we where kids but i think they are mistaken (we did see them in singapore zoo when we where kids )

i talked to my friend who did the sunbears bts , when asking about the future of sunbears at perth zoo they where told by the keepers they arn't sure if the sunbears are including in the zoo's masterplan. The old otter enclosure near sunbears(currenly empty) apprently stopped being used by otters because the otters use try to escape.
 
ramsayi said:
did perth zoo ever have hippos?
i can see on the old maps i have in 1975 they had pygmy hippos. my sibling said they remember seeing them when we where kids but i think they are mistaken (we did see them in singapore zoo when we where kids )

i talked to my friend who did the sunbears bts , when asking about the future of sunbears at perth zoo they where told by the keepers they arn't sure if the sunbears are including in the zoo's masterplan. The old otter enclosure near sunbears(currenly empty) apprently stopped being used by otters because the otters use try to escape.
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Yes they had a male named Pondo who was born at Auckland Zoo in 1929. He passed away in the mid 1950's.
 
ramsayi said:
did perth zoo ever have hippos?
i can see on the old maps i have in 1975 they had pygmy hippos. my sibling said they remember seeing them when we where kids but i think they are mistaken (we did see them in singapore zoo when we where kids )

i talked to my friend who did the sunbears bts , when asking about the future of sunbears at perth zoo they where told by the keepers they arn't sure if the sunbears are including in the zoo's masterplan. The old otter enclosure near sunbears(currenly empty) apprently stopped being used by otters because the otters use try to escape.
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Jambo said:
Yes they had a male named Pondo who was born at Auckland Zoo in 1929.
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Perth Zoo’s last hippopotamus (a Pygmy hippopotamus) died in 1980. Her name was Penny and she arrived in 1937 (wild caught).

Perth also had Common hippopotamus. They had a male named Nat (wild caught), who was imported in 1928 and died two years later. They then imported a male bred at Auckland Zoo named Pondo in 1934. He died in 1955 and was apparently held with Penny in his younger years.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Perth Zoo’s last hippopotamus (a Pygmy hippopotamus) died in 1980. Her name was Penny and she arrived in 1937 (wild caught).

Perth also had Common hippopotamus. They had a male named Nat (wild caught), who was imported in 1928 and died two years later. They then imported a male bred at Auckland Zoo named Pondo in 1934. He died in 1955 and was apparently held with Penny in his younger years.
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ah yeah my sibling must have been remembering singapore zoo then, thanks for the info :)
 
Jaiden said:
Here is a Facebook post about it Log in to Facebook
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Thanks for sharing. It’s interesting to hear they went through the process of a naming competition only for the hippopotamus to retain the name he’d been given at Auckland Zoo. With the exception of Nero, most of the names suggested were about as half-witted as the ones you hear today - so presumably that’s the reason why.

Pondo was Auckland Zoo’s first surviving hippopotamus calf. His parents had a total of six calves (three surviving). Their fourth calf (Zulu) went to Adelaide Zoo in 1933 and their sixth calf (Dimazulu) was sent to Melbourne Zoo in 1946 (and renamed Rangi). His descendants are Werribee’s three hippos.
 
Anyone have any information on a Kookaburra being in an exhibit next to the exit of the Noc house possible around early 2010's Kinda remember one being there for a bit but any follow up would be great if anyone else remembers :)
 
Johnpaul21 said:
Anyone have any information on a Kookaburra being in an exhibit next to the exit of the Noc house possible around early 2010's Kinda remember one being there for a bit but any follow up would be great if anyone else remembers :)
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According to @Hix, Australian birds were once held there. The following account is from his August 2015 visit (where it’s implied they were no longer there):
The South American Birds are next to the Nocturnal House, but on my first visit it was closed off for construction work, however on my second visit I was able to wander in and I suddenly saw something I recognised but had forgotten all about. One of those forgotten memories that suddenly hits you with a jolt. The aviaries were the same as they were in 1987, although the surrounding trees had grown quite a bit, and I remembered trying to photograph Apostlebirds in one aviary which didn’t work because the sun was on the wire and washed out the image. Back then the aviaries held a variety of Australian birds, but now most have had the dividing walls removed to produce one large cage for a pair of Blue-and-Gold Macaws. Other smaller aviaries housed a pair of Yellow-crowned Amazons, a group of Sun Conures, and a large aviary for Emperor Tamarins.
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Just another question, Did there used to be Fennic Foxes in the current radiated tortoise exhibit?
I have a memory I think of them being there but does anyone else remember?
 
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