Taronga Zoo Taronga Visit 24/12/09
- Thread starter Hix
- Start date
I've got a possible answer to that......phoenix said:
If the major zoos had a publicity presence on here they would expect to be answering questions like "OMG your new baby lemur is SOOO cute! What are you going to call it?" or "Wow the 'New Diet Pepsi Presents Lion Savannah Bonanza Extreme Exhibit' is awesome!! What are the lions' names?" -- but instead they'd be getting questions like "so do you want to explain why you committed to establishing Species A in the region but then two years later when there were 28 viable individuals in zoos decided to phase out Species A and import one pair of Species B instead and inbreed them as far as possible and then castrate all the males and import Species C, and then a couple of years after that decide to phase out Species C and go back to Species A even though there's only one ancient individual left in the country?", which the zoo would reply to with some PC guff about "its for the best of the species...modern zoos are all about conservation.....you wouldn't understand the reasons behind it anyway..." to which our reply would be "pull the other one mate, just give us a straight answer to the question", and then the zoo rep would quit the forum in a huff.
Spot on, Chlidonias
the sad irony of being a zoo fanatic down in our part of the world, is that the more "into" zoos you become the more disillusioned you get with the way they are operated.
too young to work yet.
thirteen
also i think the condor cage needs re developement with its design(were the perches are,etc)
Love it!
A pretty good appraisal of what PR departments are largely about in Zoos all over the place I think. These people are not really equipped to deal with indepth questioning as they are PR folk rather than animal experts, but it can be very frustrating to be given their official line and be 'talked down' to all the same. I rarely contact Zoos direct nowadays, mainly for just for that reason.hey everyone-the games up, im now officially a lurker. not really, i just have super slow net these days and not a lot of time and do just about all my internet stuff on my phone, so my visits to the site are usually limited to a quick peek (which, like the most recent dhole news usually has me frothing at the mouth and rolling my eyes and getting so frustrated i dont want to post)
keep up the good work guys. i still think we should be running the zoos round here
keep up the good work guys. i still think we should be running the zoos round here
glyn! Welcome back! It's good to know you're still around.
When I become dictator of Australia (whoops - poor old Ara has finally cracked up!) I'm going to create a Zoological Parks Policy Department under the directorship of yourself, phoenix and Steve Robinson, to finally get the zoos in this country the way they should be.
When I become dictator of Australia (whoops - poor old Ara has finally cracked up!) I'm going to create a Zoological Parks Policy Department under the directorship of yourself, phoenix and Steve Robinson, to finally get the zoos in this country the way they should be.
What exactly is wrong with the perch locations?
http://www.zoochat.com/34/condor-aviary-130985/
http://www.zoochat.com/34/condor-aviary-130984/
Hix
I visited Taronga today unaccompanied by family or friends so was able to go everywhere and see everything I wanted to....
Let's start at the beginning? No, let's start at the end:-
"Notta lotta stuff here" muttered the American visitor to his wife as they walked out the exit in front of me. Silently, I had to agree with him. There seems to be fewer and fewer animals (exotics AND native) every time I visit. You do a lot of walking to see less and less.
On the other hand, Taronga looks great at present. After a hot, wet summer the place is a riot of vegetation, a sub-tropical jungle, to the extent that it's getting hard to see the animals in some enclosures if you're the impatient type.
And what Taronga does, it does well. Great Southern Oceans continues to impress me. So does the educational display (graphics mainly ) inside and outside the old elephant house.These are large reproductions of photos of elephants and elephant accommodation past and present at Taronga and even at the old Moore Park zoo a century ago. Heman's tusk is also bolted to the wall, low enough so that kids can handle it, feel its consistency and grain.
Elsewhere I was encouraged to see that there are two binturong enclosures holding 5 binturongs. I'm aware that they have been breeding OK, but 4 of the 5 are males. Rather than cut it back to a pair again, I'd like to see Taronga bring in a few more females and build up a colony.(Fat chance!
)
I was also interested to see that the large aviary (name escapes me) above the former seal pool which previously held Australian parrots and cockatoos is now the home of a mixed colony of South Americans - macaws, amazons and conures, many of which (according to a sign) were customs confiscations. I was under the misapprehension that smuggled parrots which were detected were destroyed, and am glad that these weren't. The ancient razor-billed curassow also lives in here. For an old bird it is in good condition - good feather and clean unscaly legs. The lower mandible looks a bit overgrown, maybe needs trimming a bit.
Even to a casual observer like me it is obvious that Taronga takes good care of its elephants - why not; they are a multi-million dollar investment. There has been a lot of discussion of the "urban elephant" in these forums. It seems to be a mantra with some people that elephants need a large acreage to keep their feet in order, with the automatic supposition that if an elephant is given, say, 40 acres it will patrol that acreage every day and keep fit. Really? Aren't there any lazy elephants? Are they all health fanatics? I would suggest that foot problems arise when elephants are kept on concrete all the time and not exercised; maybe chained or in stalls. Taronga 's elephants are worked and exercised, health checked regularly, fed properly and monitored continually. They are probably Taronga's No. 1 attraction.
Now for some "downers". There are fewer and fewer aviaries at Taronga. Less and less native birds, and the average large suburban bird dealer has a better display of exotic birds than Taronga. Birds are obviously not a priority here.
Neither are monkeys. Despite both being supposedly on display, I was unable to see either the De Brazza's guenons or the Francois' langurs (the only two species of Old-world monkeys here.) In fact, the Francois' enclosure has a rather unoccupied look about it - are they still here? In fact, the only monkeys on display were the spider monkeys.
Lots of school kids (a necessary evil I suppose) running around, yelling and going "RAAAGH" at the poor old kodiak bear as she lay in her shelter. They should have more respect for the old lady.
I suspect that I'm probably a bit "Taronga-ed out" - casual, less critical visitors probably get a bit more out of it than me. I badly need to visit another zoo for contrast - maybe Melbourne or Adelaide.
Let's start at the beginning? No, let's start at the end:-
"Notta lotta stuff here" muttered the American visitor to his wife as they walked out the exit in front of me. Silently, I had to agree with him. There seems to be fewer and fewer animals (exotics AND native) every time I visit. You do a lot of walking to see less and less.
On the other hand, Taronga looks great at present. After a hot, wet summer the place is a riot of vegetation, a sub-tropical jungle, to the extent that it's getting hard to see the animals in some enclosures if you're the impatient type.
And what Taronga does, it does well. Great Southern Oceans continues to impress me. So does the educational display (graphics mainly ) inside and outside the old elephant house.These are large reproductions of photos of elephants and elephant accommodation past and present at Taronga and even at the old Moore Park zoo a century ago. Heman's tusk is also bolted to the wall, low enough so that kids can handle it, feel its consistency and grain.
Elsewhere I was encouraged to see that there are two binturong enclosures holding 5 binturongs. I'm aware that they have been breeding OK, but 4 of the 5 are males. Rather than cut it back to a pair again, I'd like to see Taronga bring in a few more females and build up a colony.(Fat chance!
)I was also interested to see that the large aviary (name escapes me) above the former seal pool which previously held Australian parrots and cockatoos is now the home of a mixed colony of South Americans - macaws, amazons and conures, many of which (according to a sign) were customs confiscations. I was under the misapprehension that smuggled parrots which were detected were destroyed, and am glad that these weren't. The ancient razor-billed curassow also lives in here. For an old bird it is in good condition - good feather and clean unscaly legs. The lower mandible looks a bit overgrown, maybe needs trimming a bit.
Even to a casual observer like me it is obvious that Taronga takes good care of its elephants - why not; they are a multi-million dollar investment. There has been a lot of discussion of the "urban elephant" in these forums. It seems to be a mantra with some people that elephants need a large acreage to keep their feet in order, with the automatic supposition that if an elephant is given, say, 40 acres it will patrol that acreage every day and keep fit. Really? Aren't there any lazy elephants? Are they all health fanatics? I would suggest that foot problems arise when elephants are kept on concrete all the time and not exercised; maybe chained or in stalls. Taronga 's elephants are worked and exercised, health checked regularly, fed properly and monitored continually. They are probably Taronga's No. 1 attraction.
Now for some "downers". There are fewer and fewer aviaries at Taronga. Less and less native birds, and the average large suburban bird dealer has a better display of exotic birds than Taronga. Birds are obviously not a priority here.
Neither are monkeys. Despite both being supposedly on display, I was unable to see either the De Brazza's guenons or the Francois' langurs (the only two species of Old-world monkeys here.) In fact, the Francois' enclosure has a rather unoccupied look about it - are they still here? In fact, the only monkeys on display were the spider monkeys.
Lots of school kids (a necessary evil I suppose) running around, yelling and going "RAAAGH" at the poor old kodiak bear as she lay in her shelter. They should have more respect for the old lady.
I suspect that I'm probably a bit "Taronga-ed out" - casual, less critical visitors probably get a bit more out of it than me. I badly need to visit another zoo for contrast - maybe Melbourne or Adelaide.
The Helmore Parrot Aviary. And you are under no misapprehension - smuggled birds detcted at the border are destroyed. However, Customs also confiscate a lot of animals currently in the country that are being illegally held. The birds in the Helmore would be in the latter category.
They were both on display last Friday when I visited, the De Brazza's spending a lot of time down the back in the vegetation, and the Francois sitting above the viewing window and out of sight (unless you know where to look). They do this because of all the school kids "yelling and going "RAAAGH" ".
I badly need to visit another zoo for contrast - maybe Melbourne or Adelaide.
Western Plains, Mogo and National Zoos are all closer, plus there's Symbio and the Nowra Wildlife Park. And Tidbinbilla, just south of Canberra. Maybe they can supply your 'fix' until you can get to Melbourne or Adelaide?
Hix
