Taronga Western Plains Zoo Taronga Western Plains Zoo News 2024
- Thread starter Zoofan15
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Osedax
Well-Known Member
The platypus centre must be nearing completion then!
I hope so. This update (22/12/2023) implies it won’t be this month, but hopefully by February/March, it could be close to opening!
We’re so excited to tell you that Platypus Rescue HQ is nearing completion! The large glass panels at the front of the habitat were installed last month - and since then landscaping works have been completed.
There’s still a little way to go in the new year, so whilst we won’t be opening for the summer holidays, we can’t wait to welcome you to Platypus Rescue HQ in early 2024.
Updates from my visits 10/01, 11/01 & 12/01/2024:
Sadly, the bongo breeding pair, Djembe and Kulungu, have both died. Their final calf, Masikio, is housed with the imported female Maisha in the original bongo exhibit, where they have been paired for companionship, while the other male bongo, Kamau, is housed next to the giraffe/zebra exhibit. The regional population now stands at 4.1 animals and is desperately in need of further imports of females for its continuation.
The current tiger population (3 animals) was described as a comfortable holding capacity. Up to 6 tigers have been held in the past, which was aided by some of these animals being in a family group. The issue with holding more tigers (especially multiple males) is moving the animals between enclosures safely, given there are only two on-display exhibit and the other holding areas are functional BOH cages. Satu, Indah and Sakti are all alive and well.
Both Persian onagers are still alive and well.
Hippos Cuddles, Kibibi and Kendi are being housed together in a pod. While it was recently reported that Kendi had been separated from her mother and sisters, this seems to have been temporarily. Nile is also alive and well. During my visits, the family pod had access to the two exhibits closest to the primate islands, while Nile was in the Hippo Beach enclosure closer to the elephants.
The Platypus Rescue HQ is currently scheduled to open in February 2024. The building essentially appears finished from the exterior. It is located across the road from the new wildlife hospital. There is a little bit of work being done on the aviary side of the hospital, I'm not sure if that's just extra space for construction vehicles, re-landscaping or something else.
I have shared some information about elephant breeding plans and the zoo's recent lion history which @Zoofan15 will share in those species' respective population threads.
Sadly, the bongo breeding pair, Djembe and Kulungu, have both died. Their final calf, Masikio, is housed with the imported female Maisha in the original bongo exhibit, where they have been paired for companionship, while the other male bongo, Kamau, is housed next to the giraffe/zebra exhibit. The regional population now stands at 4.1 animals and is desperately in need of further imports of females for its continuation.
The current tiger population (3 animals) was described as a comfortable holding capacity. Up to 6 tigers have been held in the past, which was aided by some of these animals being in a family group. The issue with holding more tigers (especially multiple males) is moving the animals between enclosures safely, given there are only two on-display exhibit and the other holding areas are functional BOH cages. Satu, Indah and Sakti are all alive and well.
Both Persian onagers are still alive and well.
Hippos Cuddles, Kibibi and Kendi are being housed together in a pod. While it was recently reported that Kendi had been separated from her mother and sisters, this seems to have been temporarily. Nile is also alive and well. During my visits, the family pod had access to the two exhibits closest to the primate islands, while Nile was in the Hippo Beach enclosure closer to the elephants.
The Platypus Rescue HQ is currently scheduled to open in February 2024. The building essentially appears finished from the exterior. It is located across the road from the new wildlife hospital. There is a little bit of work being done on the aviary side of the hospital, I'm not sure if that's just extra space for construction vehicles, re-landscaping or something else.
I have shared some information about elephant breeding plans and the zoo's recent lion history which @Zoofan15 will share in those species' respective population threads.
Osedax
Well-Known Member
No!! Hopefully this motivates them to finally import some more. This means the only bongo in the region that are able to breed are two males.
Wishful thinking perhaps: But if you are going out of Persian onagers, you might as well export the 2 wild ass to Europe where they at least have the opportunity to support the species as a whole.
The loss of Djembe (the only viable female) means it’s game over until we import. Hopefully the zoos involved import more than the 2.2 that founded the current population that soon resorted to inbreeding and even then wasn’t sustainable.
While Ekundu still remains at Taronga Zoo, they’ve very much transitioned to an open range species considering Taronga Zoo imported them first; with Melbourne Zoo also holding the species early on. This should ultimately allow them to grow larger herds, with regular breeding.
I don't know why Maisha hasn't been able to bred, but if it's a behavioural issue rather than a fertility problem, then just maybe housing her with Masikio could eventually result in a mating and a pregnancy, but that's a big, big if. I sense the issue is not an unwillingness on Dubbo's part, but rather the difficulty in sourcing animals.
It would be interesting to know which are the two males remaining. They are quite possibly rather elderly. The last breeding was circa 2008, a colt named Touran. It would make sense if he was one of the males still at the zoo, but I honestly don't know. It would be good if they could contribute to a breeding program if feasible, but doesn't seem like it's the plan.
Maisha's lack of breeding, plus the early loss of the female originally intended to be Marraquie's partner, have been blows to the genetic diversity of the breeding program. It also didn't help that the majority of the calves born have been male. I believe the last non-inbred calf was Djembe herself, then her daughter Kiazi was swapped for Maisha.
I’m not aware of a specific cause being identified, but I do know they initially tried breeding her with Kulungu (housing her in a trio with him and Djembe); and then re-paired her with Kamau when that didn’t work out. That suggests they didn’t believe her infertility was physiological as they clearly hoped a change of male would result in success. Whether it’s a case of third time lucky with Masikio remains to be seen, but I’m not holding my breath.
Yes, sadly the entire population descends from one female founder (Nambala) due to the loss of the other female. That’s correct Djembe was the last non-inbred calf, with Djembe subsequently paired to related males.
The export of her daughter Kiazi was a loss, but a reasonable decision considering we thought we were receiving an unrelated viable female in return. The alternative would have been to further inbreed, which wasn’t necessary when we can import.
Thanks for asking about the holding capacity! Its super interesting to hear what they actually have back of house and what their capacity is. It will be interesting to see what they do moving forward as the current tigers age out.
Forget all the statistics: be witness to another unnecessary species management program disaster. Even a decade ago it was more than obvious you require 4-5 dedicated zoos to take on a species and follow through with careful monitoring throughout those 10 years.
In order for a successful bongo breeding program tp become established would require at least between 4-6 new individuals on import for the Australian zoo community and to be distributed between 2-3 breeding groups and 2-3 other holders. This import could have been done years ago and its development could be calculated at the outset (with number of founders needed, number of births required per year, space availability and species specific goals).
When the Singapore female bongo exchange happened would have been a perfect opportunity to import more individuals for the regional program and it would have flourished. The last thing Singapore needed ATT was another bongo female, they would have benefitted from having an unrelated bull ... a lot more.
In conclusion: Now what we see in this case is major mismanagement of a species ex situ conservation breeding program. It seems there is a lack long term policy planning and/or statistics and population monitoring expertise in dealing with being able to manage a program sustainably over 90/100 years.
Unfortunately, the way I see it is not a one-off: we have had Malayan tapir, dusky langur, pygmy hippo, hippo and a considerable list of other species. It seems that in many cases at the outset low numbers, lack of expertise on husbandry, ecological parameters, no accomodation nor allocation of sufficient zoo spaces almost foreboded a big hole in the ground under the program opening swallowing it up whole and all.
In order for a successful bongo breeding program tp become established would require at least between 4-6 new individuals on import for the Australian zoo community and to be distributed between 2-3 breeding groups and 2-3 other holders. This import could have been done years ago and its development could be calculated at the outset (with number of founders needed, number of births required per year, space availability and species specific goals).
When the Singapore female bongo exchange happened would have been a perfect opportunity to import more individuals for the regional program and it would have flourished. The last thing Singapore needed ATT was another bongo female, they would have benefitted from having an unrelated bull ... a lot more.
In conclusion: Now what we see in this case is major mismanagement of a species ex situ conservation breeding program. It seems there is a lack long term policy planning and/or statistics and population monitoring expertise in dealing with being able to manage a program sustainably over 90/100 years.
Unfortunately, the way I see it is not a one-off: we have had Malayan tapir, dusky langur, pygmy hippo, hippo and a considerable list of other species. It seems that in many cases at the outset low numbers, lack of expertise on husbandry, ecological parameters, no accomodation nor allocation of sufficient zoo spaces almost foreboded a big hole in the ground under the program opening swallowing it up whole and all.
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Very well said @Kifaru Bwana . There has been quite a few species badly managed which ever way one wants to spin it not just the species you have mentioned above but more besides. Poor management has been at the core of many of them luckily some of the smaller zoos have stepped in to manage the situation as Altina did saving the Maned wolfs and others have done importing pure bred Grants Zebras something the big major zoos should have done instead of hybrid and inbreeding being done when it can be avoided with imports. The Bongo situation is a classic to bad planning having imported such a tiny base of core of animals needed to be backed up with more imports. Exporting the one and I believe only female bred here instead of retaining it was a bad mistake. One asian zoo in resent years import 10 bongo from the USA, this is the sort of planning needed here and not the bare minimum at bast and then hope for the best does not cut the mustard.
Species management in Aus has always been lack lustre. Until we get better species management/ stud book management. Im honestly surprised the Nyala import went so well. But then im guessing maybe a NZ zoo was spear heading it.
Yes, Wellington Zoo:
The initial 1.2 founders were imported by Wellington Zoo in 2009 from South Africa. They then imported a bull from Singapore in 2011.
Wellington Zoo then imported 20 nyala from South Africa in 2016, which led to exports to Australia over the years that followed.
I agree with you also I give the NZ zoo full marks for an outstanding job which should/could be used as a bench mark for others to follow,
With the Bovid IRA now in place for Australia, there’s no need to import via a third party in New Zealand.
However, it wouldn’t surprise me to see one of the Australian zoos undertake a group import on behalf of multiple holders. It would certainly be exciting to see multiple Eastern bongo imported for distribution between multiple holders. Females build up numbers, but males are just as important to maintain genetic diversity across subsequent generations.
I used to be hopeful that the zoos would do that, but it has been a few years since the bovid IRA was passed. And we haven't seen any movement across any of the bovine species in regards to imports.
Im honestly thinking that our open range zoos are just resting on their laurels with what we have. There are so many antelope species that could be imported to buff up our savannah exhibits, and African themes. I think in the future we will more then likely see the acquisition of a few males here and there.
Werribee has always held diverse hoof stock but with them removing addax and the movement of elephants. Id be surprised to see them import anything. Monarto has plans for imports, however they haven't finished there Africa expansions, have an elephant exhibit, rhino quarters and hippo quarters/exhibits that they are working on/finishing. So I doubt we will see anything on that front.
Meanwhile western plains seems to be stagnating. Animals wise there collection is becoming increasingly generic. With no majour animal endeavours done to better the zoo. No one is driving out there (6 hours from Sydney) to look at a platypus a wildlife hospital, quolls or any of there other native animal projects. Yes conservation wise they are great. But Dubbo relies on tourists and there exotic collection is falling behind. Which will see visitor numbers drop.
Success for the Regent honeyeater programme:
From socials:
Love is in the air in the Capertee Valley, where wild and Taronga-bred regent honeyeaters have been sighted raising chicks for the first time!
The chicks are the first confirmed zoo-wild offspring from the NSW Regent Honeyeater Recovery Program, which released another 14 birds bred at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in November, during the spring breeding season in the Greater Blue Mountains region.
The hatching comes two years after the mother, a Taronga-bred bird tagged RMPP was released in the Tomalpin Woodlands in the Lower Hunter Valley. Since that time RMPP has flown more than 134 km west to Capertee National Park, where she and a wild male saw two of their chicks fledge in spring. The fledglings were last sighted at the end of November and it is hoped they have joined the wild flock of birds.
From socials:
Love is in the air in the Capertee Valley, where wild and Taronga-bred regent honeyeaters have been sighted raising chicks for the first time!
The chicks are the first confirmed zoo-wild offspring from the NSW Regent Honeyeater Recovery Program, which released another 14 birds bred at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in November, during the spring breeding season in the Greater Blue Mountains region.
The hatching comes two years after the mother, a Taronga-bred bird tagged RMPP was released in the Tomalpin Woodlands in the Lower Hunter Valley. Since that time RMPP has flown more than 134 km west to Capertee National Park, where she and a wild male saw two of their chicks fledge in spring. The fledglings were last sighted at the end of November and it is hoped they have joined the wild flock of birds.
Platypus HQ is now open:
From socials:
Platypus Rescue HQ is officially open!
We are so excited to officially open Platypus Rescue HQ, the world’s largest purpose-built platypus conservation centre in the heart of NSW at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo.
Platypus Rescue HQ will provide refuge for wild platypus threatened by climate events including bushfires, droughts and floods, an ongoing research centre to comprehensively study platypus biology and behaviour, and a pre-release area to prepare and study recovered platypus for release back to the wild.
And for the first time at Taronga Western Plains Zoo, there is a public platypus habitat where guests can see 23-year-old male platypus Mackenzie up close, learn more about this fascinating species and see conservation in action.
From socials:
Platypus Rescue HQ is officially open!
We are so excited to officially open Platypus Rescue HQ, the world’s largest purpose-built platypus conservation centre in the heart of NSW at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo.
Platypus Rescue HQ will provide refuge for wild platypus threatened by climate events including bushfires, droughts and floods, an ongoing research centre to comprehensively study platypus biology and behaviour, and a pre-release area to prepare and study recovered platypus for release back to the wild.
And for the first time at Taronga Western Plains Zoo, there is a public platypus habitat where guests can see 23-year-old male platypus Mackenzie up close, learn more about this fascinating species and see conservation in action.