Taronga Zoo Taronga and Western Plains in the news

Soil compaction is always a problem especially with large animal exhibits. The live plants start dying and erosion may occur.

We had this problem with the gaur exhibit at Night Safari. The exhibit had to be terraced as it was slightly sloping and new substrate dumped in.

Taronga's ele exhibit may require terracing in the near future as it too is built on a slope.
 
its actually not really sloping at all, only about two thirds of the lower paddock is sloping, and the lower paddock is smaller than the top one.
would a **** load of forest mulch do the job?
 
way back, five pages there was talk about the seal enclosure being too small. The draft standards for pinnipeds has been released by DPI and in a letter from them today they have said they hope to have these finalised by the end of 2007. So Taronga can't have an exhibit that is too small as there are no standards in place yet. However I'd imagine the designers would have gone over the draft standards thoroughly before finalising plans. If they didn't and Taronga builds a multi million dollar exhibit that doesn't meet them they will have to spend millions more over the next five years to rebuild the exhibit. On a circus note it is currently legal for circuses in NSW to hold pinnipeds.
 
has anyone given any thought to what wild asia might look like in the future, as in what species will substitute or replace animal species currently in pretty dire situations, such as the malayan tapir.....
has anyone heard if the zoo plans to introduce the malayan tapirs in with the spotted deer in the future? this could be done, with animal races connecting the tapir exhibit via the binturong pen underneath the boardwalk.....interestingly, the very early (circa 2000) conceptual plans showed tapirs and elephants being in together, linked by faux palm barriers...te tapirs are one species id like to see given a bit more room. although they have enough as it is, they obviously dont get, or cant get the lvel of enrichment the elephants currently receive so i would like to see them with a bit more room to roam. also, does anyone know.....
1-are the tapirs rotated between the two dislplays
2-are the otters introduced with the tapirs
3-has the brazillian tapir been relocated to WPZ yet
4-are the cassowary on display yet
5-has construction of the bull elephant facility started yet....even preliminary works
6-how many bongo does taronga currently have
7-which species is in the old rhino exhibit
 
leopard seal

A second leopard seal has washed up on sydneys beaches. this time a female. Since both seals cannot be released, could this be the start of a breeding program for leopard seals at taronga? with the GSO precinct being prepared, this could get exciting.
 
Glyn,
I'm going to Taronga next Tuesday with my 2 little grandsons, so I will try and get some answers for you.

I think Taronga currently has 2 bongo, both male, and not in together.
 
since tapir are most probably being phased-out i can't understand why the zoo decided to invest in a new immersion-style exhiit for them? not sure of the age or life expectancy of the animals but taronga have had them for well over 10 years now i would have thought...
 
proably at the time of design, which was about 2000, the zoo though tapir would still be an intergral part, and since we have only really established the uv eye problem.
 
glyn said:
1-are the tapirs rotated between the two dislplays
2-are the otters introduced with the tapirs
3-has the brazillian tapir been relocated to WPZ yet
4-are the cassowary on display yet
5-has construction of the bull elephant facility started yet....even preliminary works
6-how many bongo does taronga currently have
7-which species is in the old rhino exhibit
Click to expand...

1. yes i think they are
2.nope the two exhibits dont connect to each other. to get from the inside of tapirs to the otters exhibits you have to go through a building.
3.not since last weekend.
4.no not yet but the beginings of the exhibit have started
5.they havnt started building anything but iv seen contractors and ppl with maps ect walking through it talking, so work might start soon.
6. i have no idea but i think 2 boys???
7. the brazillian tapir

hope that helps
 
wow so they ahve moved the tapir in to the big exhibit!

and on the otters, there are provisionals for an eventually mixed species exhibit, part of the wall between the 2 can come out, so that the otters can get into tapir, but not other way around.
 
moving the elephants?

Move the Elephants. 17 Sep 2007. ABC Western Plains NSW. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

ive just found this article taht is basically the greens having another stab at the elephants. they think they should be moved out to Dubbo which as we all know is not going to happen because it would mean that the zoo
would have to admit that the elephant exhibit was too small and it would lose all credibility.

there was one section that i did find interesting:
"M/S Rhiannon went on to say that evidence gathered by a former Melbourne Zoo employee shows that the Sydney based elephants have only one fifth of a hectare to live in which is hardly adequate."

why would a former Melboure Zoo employee come out and say this and how would they get that information?
 
i also like that the enclosure apparently "exceeds australian standards". judging from the last 100 years of keeping elephants, i for one don't think much of the australian standards!!

see - this is what i always said would happen. sooner or later people would start seeing though all the gloss of the new exhibits and realising that the number one issue of space was never addressed.
 
patrick said:
i also like that the enclosure apparently "exceeds australian standards". judging from the last 100 years of keeping elephants, i for one don't think much of the australian standards!!

see - this is what i always said would happen. sooner or later people would start seeing though all the gloss of the new exhibits and realising that the number one issue of space was never addressed.
Click to expand...

You are quite correct Pat you have hit the nail on the head with what you have said
 
torie said:
there was one section that i did find interesting:
"M/S Rhiannon went on to say that evidence gathered by a former Melbourne Zoo employee shows that the Sydney based elephants have only one fifth of a hectare to live in which is hardly adequate."

why would a former Melboure Zoo employee come out and say this and how would they get that information?
Click to expand...

You don't need to be a rocket scientist to work out the land space in the exhibit - it can be easily viewed from above in the cable car, and both sections of the exhibit can be clearly seen.

I should add, that whilst I am an ex Melbourne Zoo employee, I am certainly NOT the one in the article :D
 
The Taronga elephant exhibit measures a little more then 2,000 m² which is exactly 1/5th of one hectar (one hectar is 10,000 m²). The measurements of the xhibit were published and are no secret. It`s much too small for a breeding group of elephants if you ask me, and although the new bull paddock will double the space, it won`t be connected with the existing yard, so the elephants won`t have more space availible then now. in Europe, 3,000-4,000 m² are now considered as minimum for a breeding group, and many zoos building a new elephant enclosure vastly exceed that! Cologne for example has 12,000 m² outside, in 3 connected yards. Chester has around 5,000 m² with the potential for future expansion. The Taronga exhibit was outdated even before construction had started, what a terrible waste of money...
 
I think someone has already mentioned this before but I think if Taronga moved the tortoises and condors, they could expand the elephant yard. They would have to move one of the main paths that leads down to the bottom of the zoo, but it could be done.
 
must have been a slow news day or the greens decided to do something...
of course it could be done boof.
taronga doesnt lack space and there is a substantial part of the zoo opposite the tigers and snow leopards, which, whilst earmarked for an asian highland precinct could certainly be developed into an elephant exhibit if things heat up.
at least we have the elephants now, so maybe down the track this could be done. i wish the greens would focus their efforts on the poor circus elephants down the road from me. at least taronga's animals are in a cohesive, stable group.
does anyone know if they are still being walked daily?
also, we all know why the asian elephants cant be based at dubbo for more reasons than elephant herpes. and just remember, these guys are no more expert than we are, and they do want to decriminalise drugs too lol so im not really that into listening what they say. as zoopro pointed out, the size of the exhibit is no secret, but if you want to pick and choose evidence as the greens do to back up your argument (what does a solitairy african elephant who lives in alaska indoors and uses a treadmill have to do with sydney) then ill cite Amsterdam Zoo in Holland as a zoo succesfully breeding elephants in an exhibit way smaller than tarongas and certainly without the facilities.
sure they dont have miles and miles to walk everyday but they do have...
real dirt, mud and grass
heated indoor barns with rubberised floors
dedicated keepers
eachother (a herd)
a varied diet
enrichment
browse, toys and logs, rocks etc
deep water
and sunny weather
of course no zoo can give an elephant or any animal as much space as the wild, but if zoos have to be around id at least rather them keep these animals in the way they do
 
I believe the elephant in Alaska is moving

The Alaska Zoo Board has announced it intends to relocate Maggie, the 27-year-old African elephant who has long been the center of controversy, to the Performing Animal Welfare Society's (PAWS) spacious elephant sanctuary in Northern California.
 
I thought I read somewhere that the intention was to walk the cows around the zoo before and/or after visiting hours. This could add a little to exercise/enrichment.

(Also, I got a shock to read the other day that Lee Rhiannon was formerly a keeper at Taronga. She does nothing but "bag" the place nowadays.)
 
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