Taronga Zoo Taronga Zoo News 2013

zooboy28 said:
How was it? It sounds like a cool idea, zoo history is something that I find fascinating, and I can imagine that Taronga would have a very rich history. Do they run these walks often?
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Do you plan on going? I hear that you might be in Oz soon. :p Road trip!

(You might also enjoy this http://www.zoo.org.au/melbourne/whats-on/i-animal. I have a friend who is supposed to hook me up on the right tour, but I haven't been to it yet so I can't give a review.)
 
nanoboy said:
Do you plan on going? I hear that you might be in Oz soon. :p Road trip!

(You might also enjoy this http://www.zoo.org.au/melbourne/whats-on/i-animal. I have a friend who is supposed to hook me up on the right tour, but I haven't been to it yet so I can't give a review.)
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Yup, I have been to Taronga Zoo a couple of times, but doing the Sydney zoos will definitely be on the agenda this year. And if I can fit such a tour in I most definitely will. Don't know about driving up there though.

I'm planning on becoming a Friend of Melbourne Zoo immediately upon arrival, and will then be able to use that to get into other zoos as well (including Taronga).

I have heard about that tour, I think Melbourne Zoo has been promoting it on facebook. It sounds very interesting ("contains coarse langiuage and nudity"!!!!), and probably will be worth checking out at some time.
 
zooboy28 said:
How was it? It sounds like a cool idea, zoo history is something that I find fascinating, and I can imagine that Taronga would have a very rich history. Do they run these walks often?
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It was really informative. It is a Zoo Friends activity which Zoo Friends go into a ballot for if they are interested in doing it.
 
Barbary Sheep Herd Health Check

Didn't realise they had such a big herd!

Story & Photo here:Healthy Herd of Barbary Sheep | Taronga Conservation Society Australia

Taronga’s amazing Barbary Sheep herd of 18 have all completed their annual health checks.

After Zoo Veterinarians and keepers spent a whole day with the sheep, anaesthetising and checking them, the ‘Barbs’ as they are known to keepers were all found to be very healthy, just needing a little minor hoof trimming and teeth rasping.

To keep them in top condition they all received parasite control medication and vaccinations.

Here is our herd leader, which we call “The Captain”, recovering after his anaesthetic and being given a helping hand by keeper, Lachlan.

These majestic animals are the only wild sheep found in Africa. They are magnificent to watch as they leap from rock to rock in their exhibit.

They are no classified as Vulnerable in the range across northern African from Algeria to the Sudan.

Remarkably they can exist on the moisture found in their fodder and can jump over two metres from a standing start.

Ironically, the sheep have been introduced to some mountainous areas, such as south western United States and south eastern Spain where they are doing so well that in some instances they can be a threat to local vegetation.
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Pertinax said:
Are there plenty of Barbary Sheep in Australia, or, knowing the problems in Oz with fresh importations of exotics, does the Taronga herd of Barbary Sheep suffer from being inbred?
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There are only six ZAA zoos holding the species in Australia (none in NZ), but together they hold over 150 individuals. I think there are a few non-ZAA places that hold them too. Not sure that inbreeeding is an obvious issue, but its likely that there was a small number of founders.
 
jay said:
Alma Park in Brisbane has a herd that breeds regularly
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Of Barbary Sheep? They are ZAA members, but don't have this species listed in the census. They have got Himalayan Thar listed though.

The zoos listed are: Adelaide, Altina, Hall's Gap, Monarto, Taronga and Western Plains.

Are Barbary Sheep kept anywhere else? Are they available privately in Australia?
 
zooboy28 said:
Of Barbary Sheep? They are ZAA members, but don't have this species listed in the census. They have got Himalayan Thar listed though.

The zoos listed are: Adelaide, Altina, Hall's Gap, Monarto, Taronga and Western Plains.

Are Barbary Sheep kept anywhere else? Are they available privately in Australia?
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I think jay must be thinking of the tahr. They had a paddock of them when I was there but no aoudads. CGSwan's list has them at TWPZ, Monarto, Altina and Adelaide.
http://www.zoochat.com/24/exotic-mammals-each-australian-zoo-123597/index3.html
 
zooboy28 said:
He lists them at Hall's Gap and Taronga too.

Someone should sticky that thread too (instead of just going around locking threads) - its very useful and pretty up to date.
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so he does. Talk about blind!!

And yes they should.
 
'Wild Asia' looks like it is no more. Kambiri, the last remaining pygmy hippo at Taronga (after Petra left to Melbourne) is now on display in the African Waterhole exhibit (the old Katie's former exhibit). Berani the Malayan tapir will be moving to Kambiri's old exhibit (next to the dhole and meerkats) while Kambiri will be moving next to the small clawed otters in the 'Rainforest Trail' (formerly 'Wild Asia'), thus giving underwater viewing of her. The soon-to-be Malayan tapir exhibit has got multiple shades to protect Berani's eyes and has different substrate for him.

The sad thing is that 'Wild Asia' will soon probably have different geographic species now that it is 'Rainforest Trail'.

Nothing else to report on other than:
-Sakti the tiger is separated from his siblings and mother after she 'kicked him out of home' pretty much.
-Fennec fox kits are essentially the same size as their parents now
-Yound Komodo dragons from LA looking good on exhibit.
 
What a shame. After spending such a huge sum of money to bring 'geographic' zones to the zoo, only to see them being eroded away.
 
Jabiru96 said:
'Wild Asia' looks like it is no more. Kambiri, the last remaining pygmy hippo at Taronga (after Petra left to Melbourne) is now on display in the African Waterhole exhibit (the old Katie's former exhibit). Berani the Malayan tapir will be moving to Kambiri's old exhibit (next to the dhole and meerkats) while Kambiri will be moving next to the small clawed otters in the 'Rainforest Trail' (formerly 'Wild Asia'), thus giving underwater viewing of her. The soon-to-be Malayan tapir exhibit has got multiple shades to protect Berani's eyes and has different substrate for him.

The sad thing is that 'Wild Asia' will soon probably have different geographic species now that it is 'Rainforest Trail'.
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That is disappointing, and I'm not sure it accomplishes anything useful - unless Berani's new digs are better for his health?

Wild Asia is one of the most interesting exhibit precincts in Australasia, with an excellent variety of animals, with many smaller, lesser-known species included. However, since it opened eight years ago nothing has really been done to improve it or add to it, and with the loss of Malayan tapir (and the fishing cat likely soon too), and addition of non-Asian species, it will become a rather disappointing exhibit, especially for zoochatters.
 
Disappointing also given that SE Asia is one of the 3 key zoogeographic zones that Australasian zoos focus on, specifically managed breeding programs and in-situ conservation...
 
In particular regards to the Fishing Cat, and to a lesser extent the tapir, I find it really disappointing how a species becomes 'in vogue' in Australian zoos and is then allowed to slowly die off or populations are left to dwindle down to nothing. Its sadly quite a regular thing in our country; fishing cats, tapirs, pygmy hippo, fennec foxes, dhole, maned wolves, tamarin species, lemurs etc. The species either sink into the abyss of regional extinction, or there is an eleventh hour importation of 'fresh blood' into our regional programs.
Austrralia's major zoos need to do a lot more in this regard and stop letting the smaller, privately run zoos shoulder the burden of maintaining the bulk of a species population.
As I said before too, it leaves me disappointed when zoos, and taronga is bad at this, invest millions in new enclosures only to see them eroded over time. Given that taronga would have known at the time that tapirs were on the way out, I could never actually understand why they built a brand new tapir exhibit in wild asia. I probably would have preferred to see them stay in their old exhibit and that space used to build either a bigger otter enclosure or used to enhance other exhibit areas. Now, were blessed with a spectacular underwater viewing enclosure, Asian themed, housing P Hippo.
Regarding the change of direction in terms of the new Director, I think one noticeable difference is the move away from creating immersive exhibits with a strong focus on naturalism, however well or poorly executed, towards some more 'in your face', non natural looking new developments.
 
glyn said:
In particular regards to the Fishing Cat, and to a lesser extent the tapir, I find it really disappointing how a species becomes 'in vogue' in Australian zoos and is then allowed to slowly die off or populations are left to dwindle down to nothing. Its sadly quite a regular thing in our country; fishing cats, tapirs, pygmy hippo, fennec foxes, dhole, maned wolves, tamarin species, lemurs etc. The species either sink into the abyss of regional extinction, or there is an eleventh hour importation of 'fresh blood' into our regional programs.
Austrralia's major zoos need to do a lot more in this regard and stop letting the smaller, privately run zoos shoulder the burden of maintaining the bulk of a species population.
.
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You said this very well and it is something thathas concerned me as well. Thanfully some species, white rhino, elephant, sum tiger don't appear, yet to be going down this road but that could be because they are the major drawcards.
 
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