Taronga Zoo Taronga Zoo News 2015
- Thread starter tdierikx
- Start date
ah, thanks for that. I am disappointed that there appears to have been no mention of this by the zoo that I could find. I mean, just in November they even did "Vale" notices for a quokka and a baby lemur that died. Not to disrespect those individual animals of course, but Cantik was the last fishing cat in Australia! Surely worthy of note one would think.
zooboy28
Well-Known Member
They are not the only zoo in the region persisting with the species, Hamilton holds them too.
so Taronga has no lions now... but are these lions coming back from Hunter Valley later, or will Taronga be getting new ones and leaving the current ones where they are?
thanks for that
If sourced regionally, the new lions will most likely be related to the departing Taronga trio, as most of the lions in Australasia descend from Kuchami's mother, Kura (1998) who is a mother of eight.
Some options include Kura's great-grandaughters at Monarto Zoo (paired with the male cub at Western Plains Zoo) or one of Kura's great-grandsons at Werribee (paired with one or both of the female cubs at Western Plains Zoo).
Lazerus is the father of the 1.2 cubs born at Western Plains Zoo, but only fathered Kura's second litter in 2004. Kura's 2001 litter was fathered by Tonyi, therefore the descendents of those lioness' (Amali, Amira, Kuchami and Kutaza) are unrelated to Lazerus and his triplets at WPZ.
Some options include Kura's great-grandaughters at Monarto Zoo (paired with the male cub at Western Plains Zoo) or one of Kura's great-grandsons at Werribee (paired with one or both of the female cubs at Western Plains Zoo).
Lazerus is the father of the 1.2 cubs born at Western Plains Zoo, but only fathered Kura's second litter in 2004. Kura's 2001 litter was fathered by Tonyi, therefore the descendents of those lioness' (Amali, Amira, Kuchami and Kutaza) are unrelated to Lazerus and his triplets at WPZ.
Two new Californian Sea-lions have arrived at Taronga from Rotterdam. There is a video on their facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/tarongazoo/videos/1040796955983195/?theater
that was unexpected news. The zoo should now have six male Californian sealions.
These two new ones, Cisco and Diego, from Rotterdam;
Michi, imported in 2000 from Stuttgart;
Pepper in 2009 from Emmen;
Cooper in 2009 from Cologne.
The sixth one is Murphy? I can't find where he came from or which year he was imported. Anyone know?
Last edited:
Article on the new California sea lions: https://taronga.org.au/media/media-...onga’s-two-new-sea-lions-enjoy-holiday-splash
The Temminck's Golden Cat went the same way. Melbourne was the only zoo in the region to hold a breeding pair during the 1990s (Hamilton and Auckland held single males) and had given up on breeding them by the time Taronga, Adelaide, Auckland and Hamilton Zoos made half-hearted attempts to breed them. Taronga, Adelaide and Hamilton only ever attempted breeding with one female. It was disappointing to see the last of the species exported, or die when they were an interesting exhibit. I know many people are fond of the fishing cat, but I always found the larger Golden Cat to be of more interest.
This feeds into my theory an belief that Aussie zoos should specialise in the taxa that we have no problems in importing and showcased the wide variety that exists in these taxa, namely felines, Canines and Primates. A wide range od small cats could be be kept in the region each species showing how they adapt to different enviroments and showcasing the variety of adaptions each species has. A fishing cat looks very different to a golden cat whick looks different toa serval etc. Half a dozen small cats would compliment the variety of large cats (cheetah, tiger and lion) that are already doing well here.