It's possible that Anja at Sydney Zoo is a male, I presumed the sexes of the animals based on how the animals' names were grouped within the post, although in hindsight that was overly presumptuous. It will be good to know for sure either way.
Sydney Zoo Sydney Zoo News 2023
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It's possible that Anja at Sydney Zoo is a male, I presumed the sexes of the animals based on how the animals' names were grouped within the post, although in hindsight that was overly presumptuous. It will be good to know for sure either way.
That’s a reasonable assumption as they were listed as Bruce, Garth, Mimi, Anja and Zahra and given the convention is male.female, it’d make sense to list them as males then females.
One of the posts notes the lemurs are from two different groups and mark a significant milestone in international conservation efforts. Since Bruce and Garth are similar names, I’d assume they’re from one group (zoo) and the others are from another. Though Ring-tailed lemurs are a male dispersal species (unrelated males can be introduced), it wouldn’t make sense to form a group with a related male and females (i.e. it’d make sense if Anja was female).
Osedax
Well-Known Member
Spent a couple of hours at Sydney Zoo today. Unfortunately I did not get to Africa or the Aquarium, so will hopefully be back next weekend.
- First of all, I was heavily disappointed and annoyed at the non-animal "attractions" (more like "repellents" for us zoo fanatics!) at the zoo. A large area of the main carpark has been taken up by "Elmo's Circus Dream", and the entire overflow carpark has been turned into children's rides and a giant stage for the "Emma Memma" concerts. This has made it very hard to get a park, and even harder to find your way back! The front entrance has basically become an advertisement for these concerts and the zoo's tacky Christmas celebration. Within the zoo itself, Sesame Street characters were all over Primate Boulevard, making it impossible to watch the baboons and capuchins without Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird staring at you. The tacky Christmas theming was ever present here, too. Anatomically inaccurate reindeer stood next to the tigers, and the amphitheatre was full of Santa-themed "attractions". I understand they are just trying to make money to care for the zoo's inhabitants, but I wish they would just focus on the animals.
OK, rant over, now I can focus on the actual news.
- Recent births include a Tufted Capuchins and several Red and Kangaroo Island Kangaroos and Swamp Wallabies.
- The alpha female meerkat is pregnant again.
- Kavi (Asian Elephant) is in musth.
- There seem to be a lot less meerkats in the South African Crested Porcupine exhibit.
- All but one of the young Capybaras have left the zoo, leaving 3 capybaras.
- I only saw 2 lemurs and 1 tiger.
- The chimpanzees have certainly recovered since the atrocities of Schwaben Park! When a keeper entered their indoor building, they got extremely excited (the males especially), and starting running around, shouting, baring their teeth and throwing punches. It was so great to see them acting like real chimps!
- It was also great to see the orangutans up close and active at the glass. I always forget just how enormous Santan is! They had been given unbuttered and unsalted popcorn which they were enjoying gathering. A highlight was seeing Dewi hang upside down by her toes from a rope to pick popcorn from the straw.
- I think I forgot to mention in my last update that the zoo has received a Southern Koala!
- A few moves in the nocturnal house; the Spinifex Hopping Mouse males and females have been separated, with the males having moved into the former Feathertail Glider exhibit. Also, (and I was very excited by this) the Fat-tailed Dunnarts have been replaced by a Black-footed Tree-rat! I could not manage to find it, but hopefully I will have better luck next weekend.
- First of all, I was heavily disappointed and annoyed at the non-animal "attractions" (more like "repellents" for us zoo fanatics!) at the zoo. A large area of the main carpark has been taken up by "Elmo's Circus Dream", and the entire overflow carpark has been turned into children's rides and a giant stage for the "Emma Memma" concerts. This has made it very hard to get a park, and even harder to find your way back! The front entrance has basically become an advertisement for these concerts and the zoo's tacky Christmas celebration. Within the zoo itself, Sesame Street characters were all over Primate Boulevard, making it impossible to watch the baboons and capuchins without Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird staring at you. The tacky Christmas theming was ever present here, too. Anatomically inaccurate reindeer stood next to the tigers, and the amphitheatre was full of Santa-themed "attractions". I understand they are just trying to make money to care for the zoo's inhabitants, but I wish they would just focus on the animals.
OK, rant over, now I can focus on the actual news.
- Recent births include a Tufted Capuchins and several Red and Kangaroo Island Kangaroos and Swamp Wallabies.
- The alpha female meerkat is pregnant again.
- Kavi (Asian Elephant) is in musth.
- There seem to be a lot less meerkats in the South African Crested Porcupine exhibit.
- All but one of the young Capybaras have left the zoo, leaving 3 capybaras.
- I only saw 2 lemurs and 1 tiger.
- The chimpanzees have certainly recovered since the atrocities of Schwaben Park! When a keeper entered their indoor building, they got extremely excited (the males especially), and starting running around, shouting, baring their teeth and throwing punches. It was so great to see them acting like real chimps!
- It was also great to see the orangutans up close and active at the glass. I always forget just how enormous Santan is! They had been given unbuttered and unsalted popcorn which they were enjoying gathering. A highlight was seeing Dewi hang upside down by her toes from a rope to pick popcorn from the straw.
- I think I forgot to mention in my last update that the zoo has received a Southern Koala!
- A few moves in the nocturnal house; the Spinifex Hopping Mouse males and females have been separated, with the males having moved into the former Feathertail Glider exhibit. Also, (and I was very excited by this) the Fat-tailed Dunnarts have been replaced by a Black-footed Tree-rat! I could not manage to find it, but hopefully I will have better luck next weekend.
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Thanks for the update!
Good to hear, the regional population of capuchins has declined in recent years, and it's awesome to see them breeding again. I wonder where the females came from, but the initial two males (a father and son), were from Melbourne - NZ descended.
Did this mean he was separated from Ashoka?
There are currently five lemurs - two boys from Hamilton and three girls from Monarto. They've been brought together to breed, so hopefully Sydney find some success next year.
Ah, Dewi. She was a local favourite back at Melbourne with her antics, and is certainly a very playful individual. Awesome to hear she's still the same and doing well.
Osedax
Well-Known Member
No, but I imagine he will be soon.
Lucky Sydney can accommodate temporarily separating the two bulls then.
Was there any mention of them joining the breeding program (such as via AI in the meantime)?
Osedax
Well-Known Member
Nothing recently, but when the two young bulls first arrived, the zoo said that they would keep them as companions for Saigon until she died, and then send them off to another zoo to be part of the Australasian breeding program. Obviously, this is not what actually happened. I speculate they may be waiting for Taronga's elephants to leave, so they can say they have "Sydney's only elephants" for a few months before sending them off.
Werribee would probably be in the best position to receive two bulls; especially with their new 50 acre complex.
I imagine there wouldn't be a huge iniative to continue to breed from Luk Chai too, considering he's a first generation bull and still has his father, mother and brother living up at Dubbo; still of breeding age.
Whilst these bulls aren't necessarily valuable on a global level, they are very much to the regional population which currently only has two living founder bulls (one of which already has grandchildren!).
Earlier this year at the zoo, I was told that these bulls joining the breeding program wouldn't be for another five years or so. That's not to say that those plans won't or haven't changed, but I gather that Sydney Zoo isn't planning on offloading these animals anytime soon. Considering we have them in the region, it would be good to breed from them eventually, but hopefully there will be plenty of time for that.
Osedax
Well-Known Member
I also forgot to mention that the Flinders Ranges Scorpion in the nocturnal house has been replaced by a Woma Python.
I imagine it’ll be a decade or more before the Sydney bulls are utilised in the breeding programme. Nobody outside the region will want their offspring (well represented line), so the regional coordinator will have to be mindful that we’ll need to accomodate what offspring we breed from them.
Breeding from Putra Mas should be a priority, followed by breeding from Pathi Harn, who is now the only remaining son of Bong Su.
Osedax
Well-Known Member
I’m sure Werribee and Monarto will have plenty of space for extra elephants.
Werribee will have a capacity for up to 40 elephants, so initially the complex will be greatly under-utilised (time to bring in the antelopes as filler species). They could certainly receive the Sydney bulls, who should be able to cohabit with Luk Chai for a few days a week (he and Pathi Harn were down to three contact sessions a week prior to Luk Chai’s departure).
The 40 elephant capacity will likely be revised long before we reach it (if we ever do) and presumes a reasonable level of cohesion e.g. a matriarchal herd of 20-25 elephants, plus 5-8 adolescent and breeding bulls.
Werribee’s next move will be interesting. Like I said in my previous post, breeding from Putra Mas is a regional priority; but especially if Monarto can secure a second breeding cow (e.g. Thong Dee) then they may well breed from Luk Chai again. We’ve had two EEHV deaths to date and while we hope there won’t be another, it would be foolish to assume Luk Chai’s 1.2 offspring represent guaranteed succession of his line. A second trio from Luk Chai and then retirement is certainly a possibility. This makes it easier to swap breeding bulls long term e.g. an unrelated bull could transfer from another Australian facility and be unrelated to all cows (versus half being his daughters).
Osedax
Well-Known Member
Yes, that’s what I imagine will happen as well.
Sydney Zoo's founding capuchin group comprised of 2.0 from Melbourne and 5.5 from Shoalhaven.
Osedax
Well-Known Member
Wow, Shoalhaven's group must have been huge a few years back! They had around 10-15 when I visited last year.
They have a birth interval of 12-18 months, so even a handful of females can produce a large number of young between them in the space of a few years. Hamilton Zoo has previously bred cohorts of infants; but Shoalhaven may well be breeding uninterrupted, which is beneficial for teaching adolescent females maternal care.
Osedax
Well-Known Member
Yes, quite a few of the individuals I saw did look quite young.
From socials it appears the last birth was last year, so really awesome to see they’re still breeding them well.