Adelaide Zoo Sad Beaver News.

Electus Parrot

Electus Parrot

Well-Known Member
Today at Adelaide Zoo I received the unfortunate news of the last American beaver in Australia had to be euthanised due to age related problems at the old age of 20 years old. A species that was rarely seen but was an enjoyment to watch when they were out.
Another species lost in Australia.
 
Sad news indeed.

The last of the badgers (at Melbourne) must be pretty old too. Not that I've ever seen it.
 
If importation laws don't change then Australia won't have many different exotic animals left in another decade.;) Already so many of that glorious nation's few zoos are very similar and somewhat redundant, which works well for regional breeding programs but is a shock for a visitor used to the incredible diversity of North American or European zoos.
 
There are two factors working against increased diversity of exotics in Australian zoos:-

1. The idealistic but unrealistic determination of Aussie zoos to keep fewer species so as to be "self-sufficient", for want of a better term; in other words to keep a limited number of exotic species with minimal need to import fresh genetic material. Praiseworthy in itself, I suppose, but the downside is an apparent determination not to keep anything else.

2. A drastically restrictive outlook by government departments scared of importing yet another feral animal problem. This is an outlook which shows little faith in the zoos of this country as responsible organisations.
 
I think that the caracal that was at Adelaide and is now at Melbourne is quite old too. Many animals that are of the last of their kind in Australia are very old and probably won't be around in some years time.
 
Well, jbnbsn99, it probably has a whole lot racier meaning in the U.S.
We Aussies are innocent souls!

You probably crack up over the old T.V. show "Leave It To Beaver", too....
 
Ara said:
There are two factors working against increased diversity of exotics in Australian zoos:-

1. The idealistic but unrealistic determination of Aussie zoos to keep fewer species so as to be "self-sufficient", for want of a better term; in other words to keep a limited number of exotic species with minimal need to import fresh genetic material. Praiseworthy in itself, I suppose, but the downside is an apparent determination not to keep anything else.

2. A drastically restrictive outlook by government departments scared of importing yet another feral animal problem. This is an outlook which shows little faith in the zoos of this country as responsible organisations.
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Amen. Very well put Ara ;)
 
Feral pests

Just a query. Have there been any "un-intentional" releases of animal species in Australia? I only know of calculated releases ie. cane toads, foxes, rabbits.
 
ptig said:
Just a query. Have there been any "un-intentional" releases of animal species in Australia? I only know of calculated releases ie. cane toads, foxes, rabbits.
Click to expand...

Pygmy hippopotamus? ;)

House geckoes along the Stuart Highway and crown-of-thorns starfish in Port Phillip Bay through ships' ballast are two I can think of. I can't think of any mammal species - I think even the palm squirrels around Perth zoo were deliberately released there.
 
Goats have been intentionally released on some islands as a potential food source for stranded sailors.
Banteng and buffalo were released when settlements were abandoned on Coberg Pennisula.
Horses, donkeys and camels have been released as early pioneers crossed the country. As the supplies these animals were carrying where used there was no more use for the animal and it was usually left behind.
The only un intentional ones i can think off would possibly be from escaped pets.
 
Of course, now that I think about it, the black and brown rats weren't released intentionally.
 
or the house mice, or the bulk of the feral cats (in NZ many cats were intentionally liberated in the wild to try and control rabbits in the 19th century, so it may be the same in Australia). There are also many populations of cockatoos, corellas, galahs etc in various parts of Australia outside the species' natural ranges that are probably the result of unintentional escapes from cages.

The white ibis in Sydney (and spreading) are descended from Taronga Zoo birds, although I cannot remember off the top of my head if they were intentionally released or were escapees
 
most of the foreign birds (probably all) are the result of intentional releases. In the 19th century there were Acclimatisation Societies in both Australia and NZ (and other parts of the world that the English colonised) whose sole aim was to introduce as many exotic species of animal and plant as possible to the wild to "enhance" the new countries, or into domestication to enlarge the number of species available to farming. These new countries were seen as lacking in desirable species, either from the point of view of hunting or sport (which was why deer and foxes, for instance, were introduced) or of simple beautification of the countryside (attempting to turn it into a place more like England, with sparrows and starlings making the colonists feel more at home). In NZ at least there was the additional reason that with the native birds being wiped out and being largely forest-dwellers anyway, the farm country that was being opened up was being invaded by millions of (likewise introduced) insect pests, so a lot of passerine birds were introduced to try and combat the problem
 
Chlidonias said:
The white ibis in Sydney (and spreading) are descended from Taronga Zoo birds, although I cannot remember off the top of my head if they were intentionally released or were escapees
Click to expand...

Intentionial.

And it was a New Zealander who thought it was a worthwhile exercise!

:p

Hix
 
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