perth zoo continued
in the 1980's the zoo came under the direction of John DeJose, from the US. The man had experience at the San Diego Zoo and Taronga where he was in the capacity of Bird Curator (overseeing the breeding of Andean Condors).
He came to Perth at a stage when bears languished in cement grottoes, monkeys sat in bare concrete cages and the two elephants, kept in a 'concrete jail' suffered from ongoing feet problems. He ran a highly publicised campaign to win Government funding and community support. At the time,there was quite a vocal community group opposed not to the zoo but the general conditions-things slowly turned around in favour of the zoo.
today the zoo is amazing. opened in 1898, it has thousands of giant figs, date palms and cabage palms inhabited by free-ranging palm squirrels, beautiful heritage buildings, broad walkways and picnic lawns and just enough old cages to remind us of how far zoos have come.
one thing most people who know anything about australian zoos think of in relation to perth is its african savannah exhibit. certainly the reputation of this immersion experince has spread far and wide in zoo circles and it didnt fail to impress. theres the usual range of species, rothschilds giraffes, white rhinos, grant's zebras, lions, hunting dogs and two groups of meerkats (occupying the old serval exhibit). but there were also radiated tortoise, hyeana, (galapogas tortoise-a recent inclusion to try and link with lemurs too, the wildlife of africa, south america and the islands). perths cheetah, who gave birth to a cub through AI is currently the most genetically valuable animal in Australasia and also currently unrepresented. she was relocated to new zealand this year and replaced with a female from monarto.
the asian rainforest exhibit is not really an immersion experience but in the future will be remodelled to better tie together all the exhibits. a brand new sun bear exhibit is under construction; silvery gibbons live in a relatively new exhibit that is probably as large as Melbournes great flight aviary and viewed from a boarwalk-where the signs are bi-lingual-englih and indonesian. i can only guess the zoo is urging any indonesian foreign tourists to protect their heritage. as with the sumatran tigers, orang and elephants the zoo gives its visitors active opportunities via donation boxes to donate to in-situ conservation programs.
the asian elephants have a recently expanded facility-there are 4 elephants at the zoo. Trisha, the matriach, was apparently a 'dangerous' animal in her old exhbit where she lived in solitary confinement after the bull died from foot infections. when the zoo acquired 3 baby elephants in the 1990s, and gave her a new home, she unsurprisingly took on a new attitude-becoming a 'gentle giant', a media favourite (as she led her babaies around the zoo) and community name. all over the zoo, old people and children alike are talking about trisha, in much the same way as melburnians in the 80's talked of mzuri the gorilla.)
the 3 babies have since grown up-the bull is kept seperate from the females and is indicating a lot of interest in one female, who he was observed mating with. she is not pregnant but zoo officials maintain that in time they will breed, and lets face it, until the thai elephants touch down in oz theyre the only zoo vying for the title of breeding australai's first elephant.
sadly, one of the females has developed a chronic muscle wasting disorder, she sometimes is unable to get up and one docent told me recently she had to be raised in a sling. the zoo has modified her barn, providing her with sand mounds to lay on of a night. interestingly, none of the pachyderms displayed any sterotypic hehavious, actively foraging, bathing and interacting over the two days and many hours i watched them for. the keepers went in to the exhibit regularly, providing browse.
although the elephants condition is incurable (and for the record she had it before she left asia but the zoo accepted her on welfare grounds), she seems content and the zoo is closely monitoring her. she wasnt swaying, her skin appeared supple and her tail completly hairy (apparetnly a sign of good health).
other points of interest, the zoo's contentious, multi million dollar orang exhibit renovation. about a third of the way completed, i have to say it looks really good in real life, if not a little too 'biological needs only'. theres not much effort gone into immersion yet-thats to come later with more trees, a raised boarwalk through the centre of the exhibit and better interpretation. for the moment, the zoo has integrated its artificial trees within the old exhibits, and the result is the most active orang colony ive ever seen-even beating taronga's. almost all the orangs are kept apart, but within sight of each-other. the artificial trees simulate canopy life-seclusion, shelter, water, food, exercise and mental puzzles. an interesting touch is the moreton bay fig planted on top of the biggest pole in the exhibit!!! seeing the exhibit for myself certainly changed my perception-up until then id read fairly mixed reviews. but designed by keepers and architects-i think the solution is a practical, eye catching one that seems to work well for the animals-they are still breeding-look for the evidence if anyone goes!!!
a few other highlights0the wetlands aviary with attached crocodile, frog and swamp tortoise exhbits, penguin plunge, the nocturnal house-with endangered red-tailed phascogales and a slender loris???. the world of birds is great but outdated and is to be, initially renovated into habitat theme walk-through exhibits then torn down in 5 years time for the big cat enclosures to be expanded. the world of primates, also earmarked for redevelopment into a south american/lemur walkthrough, has 2 species of capuchin that are the last of their kind in oz.
also on the primate front, 2 breeding groups of white-cheeked gibbons. sulawesi macaques and fishing cats live in adjoining, spectacularly beautiful exhibits.
this is certainly a small zoo. there are no antelopes, hippo, tapir or many exotic reptiles. but it is thoroughly charming and in my eyes embodies the role of the modern zoo-that is a conservation centre. its reintroduction of native species have set benchmarks for other ozzy zoos to follow and helped push a number of endangered species up to vulnerable. its community education programs are varied and meaningful and its exhibits and support for in-situ programs world class. the zoo seems to be fully commited to its regional breeding obligations and in my eyes ranks as one of th worlds best.
GO PERTH ZOO
