Taronga Zoo Taronga news 2012
- Thread starter Lyrebird
- Start date
Jalur_Tiger_Cub
Well-Known Member
Does anyone know the exact birth dates of Asali and Johari the lions?
A few bits of news from Taronga's 'Wild Life' magazine:
-more female lemurs are being imported for Dubbo from Italy layer this year
-a walkthrough lemur exhibit called 'Lemur Forest Adventure' will open next year
-seven Komodo dragons are being imported in June from LA Zoo and to be sent around Australia,and in the next five years more will be imported
-more female lemurs are being imported for Dubbo from Italy layer this year
-a walkthrough lemur exhibit called 'Lemur Forest Adventure' will open next year
-seven Komodo dragons are being imported in June from LA Zoo and to be sent around Australia,and in the next five years more will be imported
are there any other walk-through lemur enclosures in Australasia? I can't think of any off the top of my head.Jabiru96 said:
None that l am aware of,
However,
Mogo Zoo has brilliant pvt boat tours that include hand feeding lemurs on islands.
Perth zoo have a very small walk in and out marmoset enclosure, the public walking area is more of an alcove that would be full if 10 people were in it at the same time.
A Tasmanian zoo also has a hand feeding of marmosets experience, l think a few australian zoos are working on this type of experience, however a reoccurring problem of marmosets peeing on the visitors will need to be sorted first!
Ringtails for certain but maybe black and white ruffed lemurs as well?
Sorry folks, but once again I can't understand the Australian policy of importing/exporting wild animals?
It is allowed to import Komodo Dragons, but not Flamingos (although the first would be - if they could escape and reproduce - a much bigger problem for Oz's native fauna then the later)?????
Electus Parrot
Well-Known Member
Unfortunately with birds, and mammals such as hoofstock and rodents, they are more worried about disease rather than the animals escaping. But with all the precautions that are taken these days, I sometimes feel that they use the animals escaping and reproducing as another excuse to back up their argument (unconvincingly I might add).
A few months ago there was talk in the media of even introducing Komodo dragons (along with elephants and lions!) to Australia
The fact is not ignored. The current thinking is that as migration takes a toll on the bird's resources, a sick bird will not survive the journey to Australia.
If they could survive the journey, then there would be multiple outbreaks of Avian Influenza and Newcastles Disease each year in Australia along the migratory routes.
Hix
@Hix:
Correct me if I am wrong: But wasn't (and isn't) it the case that bird flu was/is introduced from Asia to Europe by wild (migrating) birds? (I am really not sure). If so, then it must have been sick birds that have survived the journey. And the distance from China to Germany is not really much shorter then from China to Australia.
Maybe Oz has had just luck not getting hit by bird flu yet...
But If I am wrong, then forget about it.
(Sorry if I became to much off-topic).
Correct me if I am wrong: But wasn't (and isn't) it the case that bird flu was/is introduced from Asia to Europe by wild (migrating) birds? (I am really not sure). If so, then it must have been sick birds that have survived the journey. And the distance from China to Germany is not really much shorter then from China to Australia.
Maybe Oz has had just luck not getting hit by bird flu yet...
But If I am wrong, then forget about it.
(Sorry if I became to much off-topic).
China and Germany are on the same continent, so the flu could easily have been transferred between populations across the continent, and did not have to rely on one sick bird flying the entire distance. Do birds migrate between China and Germany anyway?
Australia has a state of the art bird quarantine facility. It opened about 20 years ago, and was primarily used by the chicken industry and also largely by racing pigeon fanciers and would you believe budgie breeders. Aviculturalists and zoos got to use it when space was available. It closed about 10 years ago when scientists decided that even quarantine could not prevent some diseases entering the country. I understand the chicken industry were also satisfied they had the genetic material they desired by then. My guess is there will be no more legal imports until the chicken industry feels the need for more genetic material again.
Smuggling continues, I would suspect that most birds smuggled are not avicultural species but racing pigeons, although that is not to say that significant smuggling of avicultural species does not occur. It was perhaps not surprising to hear that there was a small outbreak of bird flu in feral and racing pigeon populations in Melbourne last year.