Wellington Zoo small news for 2011

Chlidonias

Chlidonias

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there are baby meerkats at the zoo so I thought instead of making a thread just for that I'll make a "small news" thread (even though I dislike generic threads as it makes it more difficult to find information in them). Maybe any "big news" that crops up can be posted in individual threads.
Meerkat pups venture outside | Stuff.co.nz
4 March 2011

No-one is quite sure who their dad is, but Wellington Zoo's new meerkat babies are spoilt for choice when it comes to mums.

The two newest additions to the meerkat family are little more than a month old, and have just started opening their ears and eyes to the outside world – much to the pleasure of their doting mums, Feta and Titch.

Carnivore and primates team leader Paul Horton said zoo staff weren't entirely sure who the lucky father was, but suspected a confident fellow called Alexander was the father of both pups..

But meerkats live in a communal manner, so all seven adults were taking it in turn feeding, foraging, babysitting, and standing sentry to protect the babies – whose sexes are still unknown, and are yet to be named.

Meerkats were born blind and and deaf, but developed quickly after birth, Mr Horton said.

"They're getting confident and coming out more and more. Their eyes are open and they're pretty cute and interested in what's happening in the big wide world."
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just looking on ISIS and I see that Wellington only has one emperor tamarin now. They imported the pair from Melbourne in 2008 and never bred from them. I hope they bring in some more and have better luck.
 
I've just put some photos of the kakapo chick in the Wellington Zoo gallery
 
Hope the chick picks up okay. If its got liver problems from over rich supplementary feeding, presumably they will have to rethink that strategy or the food content of it, at least.
 
Rare Chatham Is bird treated - environment | Stuff.co.nz
11 May 2011

One of the world's rarest birds has been brought to Wellington for treatment, flown from its remote Chatham Islands home.

The Chatham Islands taiko, or magenta petrel, is critically endangered and on the brink of extinction. There may be only 140 of them.

For the part of the year they are not at sea, they live on a difficult-to-access pocket of the Chatham Islands, where a very sick chick known as E1113897 was found by Conservation Department staff and members of the Taiko Trust, who are striving to keep the species alive.

The bird was flown to Wellington Zoo yesterday, the first time a taiko has been brought to the mainland.

Zoo vets will try to treat the chick so it is well enough to return home – hopefully in time for it to fledge and head out to sea next month.

Chatham Islands DOC technical officer Dave Houston said there had been much discussion over whether to risk moving the chick for treatment, but it was "bedraggled" and unable to preen itself.

Assets programme manager Jim Clarkson said it had been found in early April quite damp, and it became clear the bird had no waterproofing and would not survive at sea.

At Wellington Zoo yesterday, veterinary science manager Lisa Argilla said the chick appeared stressed from the flight, but she hoped it would make a full recovery once it had been diagnosed and treated.

"It's very special to have him here, but we don't want him too long."

Taiko return to the Chatham Islands from sea late each year, and burrow underground where they nest and raise chicks, which fledge from around now.

Volunteers, DOC staff and contractors this year found 11 chicks. They were all taken to the nearby Sweetwater Reserve, which is enclosed by a predator-proof fence.

The taiko had been thought extinct till rediscovered in 1978. Since then 249 taiko had been tagged, but of those many would have died. Only 17 breeding pairs have been known.
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yeah, I'm not sure I'll be able to make it this week and then I'll be back in the South Island for the next few weeks after that so I think I'm going to miss the taiko
 
the zoo's hospital has viewing windows so visitors can watch check-ups etc. One of the rooms with a viewing window has a saltwater pool for rescued seabirds.
 
well I did end up going to the zoo today to see the taiko after all. I wouldn't have been much of a zoochatter if I hadn't, would I? It is quite a lovely bird, and no doubt the only one I'll ever see. I managed some poor photos, battling the usual overly-reflective properties of the hospital windows (!) - and does there always need to be a hoard of school-kids around me when I'm trying to take photos there?! :D

I'll upload one or two if they're any good, but probably not till next week.
 
Jealous!

I won't be able to make a trip down to visit unfortunately as I am relocating north tomorrow.

The Taiko is at least the third procellariiforme looked after by Wellington Zoo and kept in the Nest. In 2010 they had an albatross (which I didn't see) and a Cape Petrel (which I did see). I have also seen Little Blue Penguins recuperating in there.
 
Mini Monkey House Officially Opens

Latest mini monkey house unveiled.

Latest mini monkey house unveiled | Stuff.co.nz

Built as a colourful tribute to its tiny residents, the new mini monkey house at Wellington Zoo has been officially opened.

Housing South American pygmy monkeys and the zoo's only emperor tamarin monkey, the new addition has been designed to reflect their homeland.

It was opened yesterday by Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown, who had a chance to get up close to Ekeko. The monkey weighs in at 400g and is recognisable by his white moustache.

Emperor tamarins are believed to have got their names from their resemblance to the German emperor Wilhelm II, who also had a striking white moustache.

Ms Wade-Brown expected the new exhibit to be hugely popular. "It's a fabulous addition – beautifully designed using recycled materials and in-house talent."

The exhibit was built by the zoo's in-house team, using recycled materials, for under $40,000.

It will be the perfect place for Ekeko to meet his new mate, a female coming from Britain's Paignton Zoo later this year.

Ekeko has been at the zoo since January 2008, after arriving from Osnabruck, Germany. He is sharing his new home with three pygmy marmosets, a mother and her two sons from Britain's Newquay Zoo.

Pygmy marmosets are the world's smallest monkeys, weighing 140g at most.
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So there are 3 pygmies in there after all!
And a new Emperor Tamarin coming too, hopefully this time they breed:D
 
zooboy28 said:
The Taiko is at least the third procellariiforme looked after by Wellington Zoo and kept in the Nest. In 2010 they had an albatross (which I didn't see) and a Cape Petrel (which I did see).
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they're probably quite regular at the hospital, given their prevalence around NZ. There's a giant petrel there at the moment as well as the taiko (according to the sign there, although the giant petrel was making its public appearance later in the day after I'd gone), and there was a small petrel species there a couple of weeks ago which I think was a little shearwater - I got a couple of photos of that one but I'm waiting on a confirmed ID before posting). There was also a gannet there on that day.
 
zooboy28 said:
So there are 3 pygmies in there after all!
And a new Emperor Tamarin coming too, hopefully this time they breed
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I didn't see any of the pigmies in that exhibit today, but I only paused there briefly. The lady at reception did tell me that all three were still in there though. I saw the trio in the Cafe Mojo enclosure as well for the first time (simply because I haven't been in there before). The young one certainly has grown up. I never saw meerkats in this enclosure -- before this year, the last time I was at the zoo the meerkats were still where the leopard tortoises are now. Was the cafe enclosure larger then or always that size? Its very small for meerkats!

Good to hear a new emperor tamarin is coming in. Hopefully they can be the start of a viable population here.
 
Chlidonias said:
well I did end up going to the zoo today to see the taiko after all. I wouldn't have been much of a zoochatter if I hadn't, would I? It is quite a lovely bird, and no doubt the only one I'll ever see. I managed some poor photos, battling the usual overly-reflective properties of the hospital windows (!) - and does there always need to be a hoard of school-kids around me when I'm trying to take photos there?!

I'll upload one or two if they're any good, but probably not till next week.
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I managed to do it earlier than next week after all. The two best taiko photos I got are now in the Wellington Zoo gallery. (But don't expect too much from the words "the two best photos" - they're pretty poor!)
 
Taiko Goes Home

While its good that it has recovered and been released :D, its a pain because I was actually wanting to visit it this weekend:(

Wellington Zoo - Critically endangered Taiko returns to Chatham Island

On Friday last week Wellington Zoo farewelled the critically endangered Chatham Island Taiko fledgling that had been treated by resident Veterinarian and bird specialist Dr Lisa Argilla at The Nest – Te Kohanga for the past three weeks.
The bird was transferred to Wellington Zoo in May with poor waterproofing which would have made floating impossible.
By regular feeding and swimming in the salt water pool at The Nest – Te Kohanga, the chick was encouraged to preen which improved its waterproofing to the point where it was able to be returned to Chatham Island on Friday. The chick was placed in a burrow and did not waste any time, taking off to sea between 3 and 5 am the next day.
“We are hopeful that the bird will survive and return to the island to breed in the future, “ says Dr Lisa Argilla.
It is thought Chatham Island Taiko once bred in huge numbers in the southwest of Chatham Island before the species was driven to the brink of extinction by introduced mammalian predators.
They declined to the point they were considered extinct until 1978 when a small number were rediscovered by New Zealand ornithologist David Crockett.
Without continuing work by DOC and the Taiko Trust to protect the adults and young from introduced mammalian predators the species would rapidly become extinct.
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