Taronga Zoo Taronga news 2012

@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.

No, you are quite correct. I was not clear in my original statement - it is the water crossing while migrating to Australia that is believed to weed out the sick individuals, as there is nowhere for them to stop and rest.

:p

Hix
 
Another three meerkats have been born at Taronga Western Plains Zoo bringing the Zoo's population up to 12 from just 3 in under six months. The zoo has also announced that later this year it will be building a new meerkat exhibit.
 
@MRJ: Germany and China are on the same continent? Even there is no sea to cross, there are in fact 2 (Europe and Asia).
I don't know if there is one or more bird species migrating the whole distance from China to Germany. But I know that there are birds coming from the East to Western Europe.
And is it really necessary that a sick bird has to travel the whole distance to introduce the bird flu? I could also go step by step, means from a sick bird (that dies afterwards somewhere on the migratory route) to the next bird. Also - in the case of Australia - they could "hop" from Island to Island (from China over the Sundas to New Guinea and then to Oz). So the water border is not really a safe barrier.

Thanks for your infos about the quarantine and the bird flu in Melbourne. I wonder what was the actuator/release of that outbreak.

@Hix: :)
 
Another three meerkats have been born at Taronga Western Plains Zoo bringing the Zoo's population up to 12 from just 3 in under six months. The zoo has also announced that later this year it will be building a new meerkat exhibit.

Photos are on the zoos facebook page. very cute.
 
Also - in the case of Australia - they could "hop" from Island to Island (from China over the Sundas to New Guinea and then to Oz). So the water border is not really a safe barrier.

Agreed. But the fact they could hop doesn't mean they do.

The fact remains - outbreaks of these diseases do not regularly occur in Northern Australia or along the migratory route.

:p

Hix
 
@MRJ: Germany and China are on the same continent? Even there is no sea to cross, there are in fact 2 (Europe and Asia).
I don't know if there is one or more bird species migrating the whole distance from China to Germany. But I know that there are birds coming from the East to Western Europe.

Europe and Asia are one continuous land mass. Calling them two continents or one is really a matter of preference. The point I was trying to make, and I think Hix is making is that a sick bird can transfer the flu to another sick bird only a kilometre or so away, so that way the flu can be transferred across large land masses by thousands of birds without exceptional exertion by any one bird.

However even quite short water crossings can be prohibitive to sick birds.

And is it really necessary that a sick bird has to travel the whole distance to introduce the bird flu? I could also go step by step, means from a sick bird (that dies afterwards somewhere on the migratory route) to the next bird. Also - in the case of Australia - they could "hop" from Island to Island (from China over the Sundas to New Guinea and then to Oz). So the water border is not really a safe barrier.

Possible, however the barrier has proved effective over the last 200 years.

I think the point is that on a continuous land mass there is a density of birds across the entire area, so the infection can jump from bird to bird without the birds themselves actually having to move. in other words it can be extremely easy for the infection to spread.

However only a handful of birds by comparison cross water bodies regularly, so the infection has to actually find those birds then the infected birds would have to actually cross the water body while they are both infectious and fit enough to make the flight. The probability of all those factors coming together while not impossible would be minute.

Sorry no further information on the flu in Melbourne.
 
walk-thru lemur forest

just to bring it back to topic, does anyone know where the lemur exhibit is going to be situated?
and as im out of the loop a fair bit these days, any word on a future new exhibit for Komodo Dragons given that the one at the front of Serpentaria is completely unsuitable for any more than one of these reptiles?
 
The walkthrough lemur exhibit will be located on the site of the old seal pools.

Also, TWPZ are investigating the deaths of some white rhinos (source-zoo website)
 
(I don't think this has been mentioned yet, even though it happened last year) but 0.1 Andean condor has hatched and has been named Konira.
 
News to report from today:

-Mr Hobbs (sun bear) and Bethyl (Kodiak bear) are now rotating on the same exhibit, while Satu the male Sumatran tiger is in the former sun bear exhibit

-Surprisingly a bongo calf is on exhibit with it's parents and also a himalyan thar kid (is it correct to call it a kid?)

-Katie the Pygmy hippo has been taken off display
 
jabiru96 said:
-Surprisingly a bongo calf is on exhibit with it's parents

Baby bongo makes Sydney zoo debut
13 April 2012

With her rusty-orange coat and "sweet" nature, Taronga Zoo's latest addition was perfectly matched to her new name Kiazi - which means sweet potato in Swahili.

The zoo on Friday debuted its latest addition - a rare baby bongo calf.

"She is very cute and I'm sure she will be a great drawcard," said Renae Moss, the supervisor of the zoo's Ungulate Unit.

"They are easy to breed in zoos so I guess if it wasn't for zoos, there's a good chance we would probably lose the Eastern Bongo off the planet."

Kiazi was born on April 2 as part of a conservation breeding program.

The newborn shares an exhibit with first-time mother Djembe, also born at the zoo, and grandmother Nambala, giving visitors the chance to see three generations of Eastern Bongos - a critically endangered species.

Kiazi has a red-brown hide with white stripes on the shoulders and back, along with a white tail.

Speaking at Taronga Zoo on Friday morning, Ms Moss told AAP that Kiazi was the fourth bongo calf to be born at the zoo.

There are as few as 75 Eastern Bongos remaining in the wild, making her birth particularly exciting for the highly threatened species.

"There's more of the Eastern Bongo in captivity than there are in the wild," Ms Moss said.

"They're facing the threats of poaching, being trapped in snares and human encroachment."

Taronga's Eastern Bongos are part of a conservation breeding program managed across the Australasian region to protect the species from extinction.

As part of this program, Melbourne Zoo also welcomed the arrival of a male calf in March, to parents that originally came from Taronga Zoo.
 
The father of the bongo calf would probably be Nyeri as he is the only male at taronga at the moment. (I could be wrong so would like confirmation if possible)
 
Baby Bongo goes on display:


:p

Hix
 
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Saw her two days ago which was quite a surprise to see a little one in the exhibit. I was incorrect in saying that she was in with her parents, she is in fact in with mother Djembe and grandmother Nambala, while her father Ukundu rotates with them.
 
Such a stunning species - and one of my all time favs; congrats on the birth!
Nambala (f) is also this newborns great-grandmother as well, as Kiazi's father Ekundu (m) (i think is the correct spelling) is the son of Shani (f) who is also Nambala's daughter. did i loose anyone lol :)
 
How many bongo in Australia now? and will this little one be highly inbred?
 
As our population of bongo should be doubling every three years where will the surplus go when all the spaces are filled?

Will the Tb in taronga become an issue for the breeding program, or the dispersal of this species?

Cheers Khakiboob
 
As our population of bongo should be doubling every three years where will the surplus go when all the spaces are filled?

Cheers Khakiboob

They will get worried about breeding to many and stop breeding them, and then when a few die and the genetic base becomes even smaller they will decide in their wisdom to phase the species out. :rolleyes:

Pretty much as they did with the Kudu.:mad:

Either that or allow private zoos to keep breeding populations and provide a viable population number. :)
 
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