Rockhampton Zoo Rockhampton Zoo News

This is one of the saddest pieces of news I have posted on this forum. :( Rockhampton Zoo has announced that there was a salmonella outbreak in their walkthrough rainforest aviary. After looking at all the possible options, the zoo made the difficult decision to close the aviary until further notice and will soon euthanise all the birds to keep the disease contained. Absolutely heartbreaking news and my thoughts go out to the zoo and keepers.

Some of the birds that will be euthanised include their spoonbills, ducks, swans, parrots and pigeons/doves (including Nicobar Pigeons and Rose-crowned Fruit Doves) that are all housed in the dome aviary. Devastatingly, one of the few Superb Lyrebirds currently in captivity will also have to be euthanised. I just checked with the zoo and they confirmed their female will join what I am sure is a lengthy list of species.

Edit, here is a full article: Rockhampton Zoo Dome Aviary closed until further notice
 
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marmolady said:
That is absolutely heartbreaking news. I can’t fathom what the keepers must be feeling right now.
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Zorro said:
Very sad news indeed. A big set back. :(
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The worst thing about incidents like these is all the anti-zoo crowd jumping at the opportunity to hate on the zoo involved for killing animals; when in reality, this is the last thing the keepers wanted to do.

This is arguably the hardest/most heart breaking call their zoo has ever had to make; and is surely a loss that will be very much felt by all involved - including those ZooChatters who closely follow the bird species held in the region.
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
This is one of the saddest pieces of news I have posted on this forum. :( Rockhampton Zoo has announced that there was a salmonella outbreak in their walkthrough rainforest aviary. After looking at all the possible options, the zoo made the difficult decision to close the aviary until further notice and will soon euthanise all the birds to keep the disease contained. Absolutely heartbreaking news and my thoughts go out to the zoo and keepers.

Some of the birds that will be euthanised include their spoonbills, ducks, swans, parrots and pigeons/doves (including Nicobar Pigeons and Rose-crowned Fruit Doves) that are all housed in the dome aviary. Devastatingly, one of the few Superb Lyrebirds currently in captivity will also have to be euthanised. I just checked with the zoo and they confirmed their female will join what I am sure is a lengthy list of species.

Edit, here is a full article: Rockhampton Zoo Dome Aviary closed until further notice
Click to expand...
From the zoo's website, here is the full list of the species found in the rainforest dome aviary currently - 18 species so a sizeable chunk of this small zoo's avian collection. :(

Rainforest Dome Aviary
Alexandrine parrot (Psittacula eupatria)
Australian king-parrot (Alisterus scapularis)
Bar-shouldered dove (Geopelia humeralis)
Crimson rosella (Platycercus elegans)
Eastern whipbird (Psophodes olivaceus)
Emerald dove (Chalcophaps indica)
Glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)
Indian ringneck parrot (Psittacula krameri)
Little black cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris)
Pied imperial pigeon (Ducula bicolor)
Rose-crowned fruit dove (Ptilinopus regina)
Royal spoonbill (Platalea regia)
Spotted dove (Spilopelia chinensis)
Superb lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae)
Eclectus parrot (Eclectus roratus)
Barbary dove (Streptopelia risoria)
Mandarin duck (Aix galericulata)
Black swan (Cygnus atratus)

Below are the bird species that do not have to be euthanised as they currently live in other aviaries dotted around the zoo away from the dome. Several members of the public have been very concerned about the nearby breeding pair of cassowaries and fortunately Rockhampton have since confirmed they are healthy and safe. A small silver lining - the Nicobar Pigeons have since moved from the dome aviary to the exotic aviary which I didn't realise so that's a small positive. Their Forest Kingfisher is another gem that is safe.

Australian Bush Aviary
Bush stone-curlew (Burhinus grallarius)
Crested pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes)
Forest kingfisher (Todiramphus macleayii)
Red-tailed black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus banksii)
Red-winged parrot (Aprosmictus erythropterus)
Major mitchell cockatoo (Lophochroa leadbeateri)
Twenty eight parrot (Barnardius zonarius)

Asian Rainforest Aviary
Eclectus parrot (Eclectus roratus)
Mandarin duck (Aix galericulata)
Moustached parakeet (Psittacula alexandri)
Nicobar pigeon (Caloenas nicobarica)

Eagle Aviary
Wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax audax)

Macaw Aviary
Blue and gold macaws (Ara ararauna)
 
More sad news from Rockhampton. Samantha the chimp gave birth to a stillborn infant this afternoon. The infant was a male and Samantha had to have a C-section. My thoughts go out to Rockhampton for what has been a difficult year for them: Log into Facebook | Facebook
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
More sad news from Rockhampton. Samantha the chimp gave birth to a stillborn infant this afternoon. The infant was a male and Samantha had to have a C-section. My thoughts go out to Rockhampton for what has been a difficult year for them: Log into Facebook | Facebook
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Thankfully Samantha the female chimp is recovering well. Update from Facebook:

"Samantha's recovery update: Samantha is doing incredibly well mentally and physically, and the surgical site is healing very quickly and cleanly. In this video, she is enjoying some yummy hazelnut paste. Our primate team is managing Samantha's recovery following her C-section, in consultation with our vet team. Samantha is currently on a course of antibiotics as well as pain medication prescribed by our veterinarian to reduce the chance of infection and manage her pain levels after the surgery. Our primate team observes Samantha throughout the day and consults with the veterinarians daily to ensure she is provided the best of care. For the first week, Samantha was housed in our off-display area, where she could still interact with the chimp troop through the mesh. This was to ensure she rested during her recovery. Samantha now has outdoor access, where she can still enjoy mesh contact with the rest of the troop until she can be reintroduced to the rest of the group. Thank you to everyone for your kind messages and thoughts."
 
No more Lion-tailed Macaques in the Australasian region:

Rockhampton Zoo have just announced the death of the last two Lion-tailed Macaques in any Australasian zoo. One of the females was found deceased and the other female was euthanised on welfare grounds as she was the last individual in Australasia. Very sad news to see this striking species disappear from the region:

"Rest in Peace Dana and Lhasa It’s with a broken heart we announce that our two elderly Lion-Tailed Macaques, Dana and Lhasa, passed away last weekend. Lhasa was found by keepers in the morning having died peacefully in her sleep through the night of natural causes from her advanced age. Our team were aware of the adverse psychological impacts the loss of Lhasa would have on Dana both short-term and long-term, so the extremely difficult decision was made to peacefully euthanise Dana. With the loss of Lhasa, Dana was already showing signs of severe stress, and being on her own would only continue that distress as lion-tailed macaques are highly social species.

We asked many questions and consulted to understand if there were any options to support her socially, however no other zoos in Australia house Lion-tailed macaques and she couldn’t live alone as primates are a social species and need to be with others of their kind for their physical and social welfare. It is very unlikely Dana would be accepted by a different species of primate and to attempt this would be dangerous for her at her age, as well as highly distressing. Lhasa was her world and after the years of companionship, Dana’s welfare was our top priority. While this decision has been heart-breaking for our zoo team and we will miss them both, we know that euthanasing Dana allowed her to die peacefully with Lhasa and not go through any unnecessary suffering. We have an incredibly supportive community here, that loves our zoo and we know will also miss Lhasa and Dana greatly"
Log into Facebook | Facebook

Source: Rockhampton Zoo's Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1260292687755767
 
A new concept plan for Rockhampton Zoo's future developments has been publicly shared. This zoo has had an incredibly tough year so here's hoping these new developments mark a period of great growth for them. The plans include to:
  • construct a new entrance and zoo administration upgrade
  • re-establish the walkthrough aviary after the disastrous event earlier this year with the salmonella outbreak. They plan to also renovate the boardwalk.
  • expand the chimpanzee enclosure to provide additional space
  • renovate the previous lion-tailed macaque display suitable for animals such as arboreal primates. Introduce climbing and swinging facilities for the new animals to use.

  • refurbish the current wombat/macropod and python exhibits
  • demolish the current eagle and macaw display and replace them with three adjoining,
    naturalistic displays with glass viewing areas.
Concept plan: Future Projects and Strategies
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
A new concept plan for Rockhampton Zoo's future developments has been publicly shared. This zoo has had an incredibly tough year so here's hoping these new developments mark a period of great growth for them. The plans include to:
  • construct a new entrance and zoo administration upgrade
  • re-establish the walkthrough aviary after the disastrous event earlier this year with the salmonella outbreak. They plan to also renovate the boardwalk.
  • expand the chimpanzee enclosure to provide additional space
  • renovate the previous lion-tailed macaque display suitable for animals such as arboreal primates. Introduce climbing and swinging facilities for the new animals to use.

  • refurbish the current wombat/macropod and python exhibits
  • demolish the current eagle and macaw display and replace them with three adjoining,
    naturalistic displays with glass viewing areas.
Concept plan: Future Projects and Strategies
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Good to hear, I believe the Chimp enclosure is already quite large I wonder if they are going to expand the group at all? :cool:
 
Zorro said:
Good to hear, I believe the Chimp enclosure is already quite large I wonder if they are going to expand the group at all? :cool:
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The current exhibit is 1000 square metres in size, which is a third of the size of Monarto’s exhibit (3000 square metres). Since Monarto’s exhibit has a capacity to hold up to 15 chimpanzees, it’s clear Rockhampton’s five adults and two infant/juveniles will soon require more space - especially if further breeding is to occur.

At 26 years of age, Leakey has close to a decade of reproductive years ahead of her and I imagine will be welcoming a new infant in the next year or two; while at 33, Holly should be able to have one more infant once Gandali is weaned.

Short term, I can only see the troop increasing by reproduction; but long term, I imagine the plan will be to follow the female dispersal pattern and transfer Capri to another zoo in the region. At this point, they may receive a female in her place to continue their troop via breeding with the son/s of the current group.

Current Troop:

1.0 Cassius (18/10/1971) Chiko x Mary
1.0 Alon (29/01/2008) Imported 2015
1.0 Gandali (03/02/2020) Alon x Holly

0.1 Samantha (01/11/1983) Charlie x Coco
0.1 Holly (25/05/1988) Peter x Deanne
0.1 Leakey (30/12/1994) Imported 2015
0.1 Capri (11/02/2018) Alon x Leakey
 
They have been doing well with this group its good they are going to expand the exhibit.
I thought they may of had some interest in obtaining Orangs with the warm climate and interest in chimps. :)
 
Zorro said:
They have been doing well with this group its good they are going to expand the exhibit.
I thought they may of had some interest in obtaining Orangs with the warm climate and interest in chimps. :)
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As a growing zoo, they may aspire to hold orangutans in the future. I’d love to see another holder of Bornean orangutan.

As a small zoo, it was impressive to see Rockhampton import a pair of chimpanzees from overseas. This is one of the few species the main zoos (Taronga etc) have also shown initiative in importing, so we’re lucky to have a number of new bloodlines in the region - including Alon and Leakey’s.
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
Rockhampton Zoo's female chimp Leakey is currently pregnant. She is due in December: New baby on the way at Rockhampton Zoo
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I was only saying the other day...
Zoofan15 said:
At 26 years of age, Leakey has close to a decade of reproductive years ahead of her and I imagine will be welcoming a new infant in the next year or two.
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It’s great to see this genetically valuable pair breeding again. With the zoo welcoming a succession of infants, it gives them the opportunity to make transfers to other zoos a decade from now - without significantly impacting upon the individual family lines by the removal of one or two offspring from the troop.
 
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