Taronga Zoo Taronga Zoo News 2021

WhistlingKite24

WhistlingKite24

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
I recently emailed Taronga Zoo about the latest version of their map as their nocturnal house is no longer shown. They informed me that it has now closed for renovations and won't be open until 2022 (however below it says the new Australian area will be finished by 2023). All the animals have been relocated to areas within the zoo. Just a heads up for anyone who was wanting to visit specifically to see some rarities in the nocturnal house in the next two years or so:
Our nocturnal house has closed for some much needed renovations, these are expected to be completed in 2022. All of the animals within our nocturnal house have been temporally relocated to other areas within the zoo.
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Copy of recent map: https://taronga.org.au/sites/default/files/2020-12/TZMap_Ed12v01.pdf

Other construction projects happening soon:

*Taronga Zoo Platypus Conservation Centre: "The Taronga Zoo Platypus Conservation Centre at Sydney will have the ability to house up to 12 platypus at one time in need of temporary accommodation or rehabilitation. In addition, the centre will include a research facility allowing programs to be established to address knowledge gaps in reproductive biology and develop species specific translocation strategies. Construction of the Taronga Platypus Conservation Centre Sydney is currently scheduled to commence 2021."

*Upper Australia Habitat: "Demolition works are scheduled to begin in early 2021 and primary construction works scheduled to commence post mid-2021, with a target to have the precinct re-opened as soon as possible in 2023."

*Congo Forest: "design of the Congo Forest Sydney is currently scheduled to commence in 2021/22 and construction is currently programmed to commence in 2023."

*Reptile/Amphibian Habitat: "Construction of the Reptile and Amphibian Conservation Centre is scheduled to commence 2022."

*Wildlife Hospital: "A new state-of-the-art Taronga wildlife hospital complex which will bring back of house to the public eye. This new facility will connect our existing clinic and educational facilities in the Taronga Institute and create the opportunity to continue the excellence of zoo animal care and wildlife rehabilitation. Phase 1 – Construction of the back of house Nutrition Centre – scheduled to commence in 2022. Phase 2 – Construction of Main Taronga Wildlife Hospital – scheduled to commence in Late 2023 - Early 2024."

See here for further information (this page has been recently updated): Building a Better Zoo
 
First seal pup in 20 years was born December 21:

No Cookies | Gold Coast Bulletin

It might have been a terrible year for many but 2020 was special for Taronga Zoo in that it welcomed its first seal pup in 20 years.

The yet-to-be-named female arrived on December 21 and joins a happy family of 15 other seals and sea lions, including five-month-old sea lion named Amalie.

The new pup is a long-nosed fur seal, previously known as the New Zealand fur seal, and weighed in at a healthy 3.5kg.
 
ReaganM said:
Taronga Zoo have updated their master plan. There seems to be a few things missing like the great ape exhibit and elephant trail. Seems a shame that these projects have been abandoned or postponed.

Building a Better Zoo
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Another interesting point I noted when I posted this link above is that Bongo and Pygmy Hippo are no longer mentioned along with the gorillas for the Congo Rainforest development. I wonder what's happening there; I hope they are still considering incorporating them into the area (with or without Okapi).

2020 version on website:

"A lush forest exhibit for the growing gorilla family, adjoining Pygmy Hippo pools and a tree-filled landscape for the rare Bongo antelope."

2021 version on website:

"The Congo Forest Precinct will deliver a new lush simulated forest experience, whereby Taronga’s guests will be able to find the growing gorilla family nestled in natural environment. The exhibit will be deliberately designed to deliver the optimal environment and ambience that will enable the gorillas to display natural behaviours in a comfortable and embracing space. This will in turn offer our guests with a breathtaking and highly immersive experience that will provide a solid platform to engage and influence guest on how they can supportthe future of gorillas in the wild. Design of the Congo Forest Sydney is currently scheduled to commence in 2021/22 and construction is currently programmed to commence in 2023."
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
Another interesting point I noted when I posted this link above is that Bongo and Pygmy Hippo are no longer mentioned along with the gorillas for the Congo Rainforest development. I wonder what's happening there; I hope they are still considering incorporating them into the area (with or without Okapi).

2020 version on website:

"A lush forest exhibit for the growing gorilla family, adjoining Pygmy Hippo pools and a tree-filled landscape for the rare Bongo antelope."

2021 version on website:

"The Congo Forest Precinct will deliver a new lush simulated forest experience, whereby Taronga’s guests will be able to find the growing gorilla family nestled in natural environment. The exhibit will be deliberately designed to deliver the optimal environment and ambience that will enable the gorillas to display natural behaviours in a comfortable and embracing space. This will in turn offer our guests with a breathtaking and highly immersive experience that will provide a solid platform to engage and influence guest on how they can supportthe future of gorillas in the wild. Design of the Congo Forest Sydney is currently scheduled to commence in 2021/22 and construction is currently programmed to commence in 2023."
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I can understand the decision to can Bongo. I’d rather see a decent sized herd built up at the open range zoo than a single pair at Taronga; but to abandon plans to exhibit Pygmy hippopotamus would be baffling. The zoo already hold a pair and they’re a perfect fit for any city zoo.
 
Zoofan15 said:
I can understand the decision to can Bongo. I’d rather see a decent sized herd built up at the open range zoo than a single pair at Taronga; but to abandon plans to exhibit Pygmy hippopotamus would be baffling. The zoo already hold a pair and they’re a perfect fit for any city zoo.
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I believe Taronga could of still of exhibited a couple of spare male Bongo within the African rainforest exhibit even if they held a breeding group at WPZ. Pygmy Hippos are still a perfect fit to include here too. Another good add would of been Mandrills if the interest still would of been there for them.
 
Zoofan15 said:
I can understand the decision to can Bongo. I’d rather see a decent sized herd built up at the open range zoo than a single pair at Taronga; but to abandon plans to exhibit Pygmy hippopotamus would be baffling. The zoo already hold a pair and they’re a perfect fit for any city zoo.
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It’s a shame Pygmy Hippo are missing from the Masterplan. Melbourne Zoo seem to be looking at options to make use of their other Pygmy Hippo exhibit, which shows that they don’t have any intentions of getting a mate for Felix (most likely due to the importation restrictions). It would be a shame to lose this species in a City Zoo; maybe they are just planning to keep them in their current enclosures.

Okapi would be an amazing addition to the Congo, and it is a big disappointment that Australian Zoos have decided to phase Mandrills out. It was an honour to see the trio at Melbourne before their deaths.

Considering they plan to take 1-2 years just to make a complex featuring Gorillas, I have a hunch they have plans for something else they haven’t mentioned yet. It’s possible with the recent loss of interest with Bongo and Pygmy Hippo, they are just waiting to see if they should put a lot of money into building them new exhibits.

ReaganM said:
Taronga Zoo have updated their master plan. There seems to be a few things missing like the great ape exhibit and elephant trail. Seems a shame that these projects have been abandoned or postponed.

Building a Better Zoo
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The Elephants will most likely be heading to TWPZ. Taronga seems happy with their Chimp exhibit, and the Gorillas are part of the plan for the Congo Forest. They did hope to have Orangutans, but I assume this interest has since died down. It would be nice for Taronga to get a breeding group.
 
Jambo said:
It’s a shame Pygmy Hippo are missing from the Masterplan. Melbourne Zoo seem to be looking at options to make use of their other Pygmy Hippo exhibit, which shows that they don’t have any intentions of getting a mate for Felix (most likely due to the importation restrictions). It would be a shame to lose this species in a City Zoo; maybe they are just planning to keep them in their current enclosures.

Okapi would be an amazing addition to the Congo, and it is a big disappointment that Australian Zoos have decided to phase Mandrills out. It was an honour to see the trio at Melbourne before their deaths.

Considering they plan to take 1-2 years just to make a complex featuring Gorillas, I have a hunch they have plans for something else they haven’t mentioned yet. It’s possible with the recent loss of interest with Bongo and Pygmy Hippo, they are just waiting to see if they should put a lot of money into building them new exhibits.



The Elephants will most likely be heading to TWPZ. Taronga seems happy with their Chimp exhibit, and the Gorillas are part of the plan for the Congo Forest. They did hope to have Orangutans, but I assume this interest has since died down. It would be nice for Taronga to get a breeding group.
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My theory is that there’s been a seismic shift in the master plan (which they likely planned for), in that management have decided to relocate the elephants to Dubbo; which has in turn will change the direction of the later stages of the master plan.

Possibilities include:

1. Replacing the elephants with Indian rhinoceros (or another high profile species).

2. Reinstating orangutans (aerial pathways).

3. Re-adding components of the middle stages of the masterplan that appear to have been scrapped e.g. Pygmy hippopotamus pools.

The third possibility appears the most underwhelming, mainly because it’s a continuation of the decrease in diversity that we’ve seen at the zoo; but if there’s long awaited import plans for Pygmy hippopotamus afoot, it’s possible Taronga could make the commitment to this species many of us have hoped they would.
 
Just to add to this discussion with something from Taronga Zoo themselves, I did actually email the zoo about whether they were going to add the bongos and hippos in the Congo Rainforest. They are still in the planning stage (it wasn't a definite no nor a definite yes). So I guess we will just have to patiently wait and see. Excerpt of email:
Plans are still being finalised for the development of Congo Forest at Taronga Zoo Sydney at this time we can only confirm new state-of-art habitats to care for and display our growing family of Critically Endangered, Western Lowland Gorilla as mentioned on our website.
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Taronga Zoo Annual Report 2019-2020:

Whilst technically from the 2019-2020 period, the zoo only just released their annual report [https://taronga.org.au/sites/default/files/2021-01/Taronga_Annual_Report_2019_2020.pdf] a few days ago. There are several interesting snippets and bits of news that I have organised below. Having all this recent information in one place is also a good starting point to see where 2021 takes Taronga:

*Taronga commenced their first reintroduction efforts for the Blue-tailed Skink (Cryptoblepharus egeriae). 296 skinks were released into the Cocos atoll. This species was last seen in the wild on Christmas Island in 2010 and these are the first efforts to reintroduce the species since it was last seen in the wild. A fantastic effort. On Lord Howe Island, the zoo was also able to construct a rodent-proof facility to house two island endemics temporarily – the LHI Woodhen and LHI Currawong. After a rodent eradication program, the two groups successfully re-established well into their territory.

*an insurance founder population of 100 eggs from Kosciusko National Park was secured to start breeding the Northern Corroboree Frog.

*1.1 Giraffe were transferred on 20th May 2019 from Dubbo to join the zoo’s pair. This was followed by the official opening of the zoo’s new African Savannah with the arrival of Plains Zebras and African Lions, and new exhibits for Fennec Fox and Meerkat as well.

*key births included a Yellow-bellied Glider, a Feathertail Glider, a Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat, two Bilby joeys, 55 Southern Corroboree Frogs, 45 Bellinger River Turtles, 388 Blue-tailed Skinks, 45 Lister’s Geckoes, 23 Regent Honeyeaters and the zoo’s first ever successful breeding of a Swift Parrot. Some fantastic results there for the threatened herptiles in particular! Exotics included a Francois’ Langur (the one born in 2019) and four Cotton-top Tamarins.

*Taronga’s marine complex Great Southern Oceans received an upgrade: “In February 2020, the Great Southern Oceans Filtration and Infrastructure upgrade project was successfully completed. This project has addressed a number of long-term challenges with the existing filtration system and in turn delivered improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of the existing water filtration system. The upgrade has delivered enhanced capabilities and systems to deliver improved water quality and environments for the animals that call great southern oceans home.”

*One of the appendices of the annual report document several transfers of animals to and from Taronga (see the annual report’s appendix 4)
 
Just brilliant news. Taronga Zoo have announced the birth of a male Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo to female Kwikila! This regional population of Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroos is growing steadily due to this recent breeding success (this joey plus the 2020 joeys at Perth and Healesville):
We are delighted to announce the emergence of a Goodfellow’s Tree Kangaroo joey!
The male joey, who is yet to be named is approximately 28 weeks old, but has only recently started popping his head and shoulders out of mum Kwikila’s pouch.
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WhistlingKite24 said:
Just brilliant news. Taronga Zoo have announced the birth of a male Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo to female Kwikila! This regional population of Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroos is growing steadily due to this recent breeding success (this joey plus the 2020 joeys at Perth and Healesville):

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Melbourne apparently had a joey born also, but it was killed by a fight with (presumably) a brushtail possum :(
 
The state government has approved the plans for the $16 million upgraded Australian precinct which will include a new canopy walk to view the koalas, an extended macropod walkthrough and renovations for the nocturnal house. Construction is set to begin in a few months and will not be completed until 2023. Article: NSW Government approves plan for new Australian animal precinct at Sydney's Taronga Zoo - Australasian Leisure Management

Looking at the plans, the number of exhibits in the nocturnal house will seem to be reduced (perhaps it's too early to say for sure though). There will be three enclosure dedicated to gliders and one for their mix of Ghost Bats and Bilbies. The other enclosures that are labelled on the plans are named "active desert landscape, mixed species and encounters". There is also about six enclosures that are not labelled as visitors enter the building. The entrance of the nocturnal house will be extended as well. Plans: https://majorprojects.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/prweb/PRRestService/mp/01/getContent?AttachRef=PDA-1485!20200427T043640.185 GMT
 
Chimp escapes enclosure at Taronga Zoo:

Right before 6am, a keeper found a chimpanzee sitting outside its enclosure. Fortunately, after staff were notified the chimp went back into its exhibit without any trouble after a few minutes. This could have ended badly but fortunately no animal nor person was harmed. The chimp community is currently off-display as the zoo conducts an investigation: https://7news.com.au/news/animals/t...efore-calmly-letting-itself-back-in-c-2045040
 
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WhistlingKite24 said:
Chimp escapes enclosure at Taronga Zoo:

Right before 6am, a keeper found a chimpanzee sitting outside its enclosure. Fortunately, after staff were notified the chimp went back into its exhibit without any trouble after a few minutes. This could have ended badly but fortunately no animal nor person was harmed. The chimp community is currently off-display as the zoo conducts an investigation: https://7news.com.au/news/animals/t...efore-calmly-letting-itself-back-in-c-2045040
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Well that’s a turn up for the books. 40 years in this exhibit and not a single escape of this nature. My money’s on Fumo. The moat fronting the exhibit was possibly breeched. Two chimpanzees have drowned in it previously (after falling in).

Auckland, Hamilton and London Zoo have all had ape escapes where the ape in question gains access to a keeper/servicing area. Taronga Zoo apparently leave a banana on the window ledge of the keeper area each night. It’s presence the next morning assures them no escape has occurred (as it’d be the first thing a chimp would take if they gained access to that area). :p
 
Zoofan15 said:
My money’s on Fumo. The moat fronting the exhibit was possibly breeched. Two chimpanzees have drowned in it previously (after falling in).
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Is that male or female and what age? Also would they not be confined indoors at night?
 
Pertinax said:
Is that male or female and what age? Also would they not be confined indoors at night?
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The article stated that it was a male, but it did not specify anything else. I would presume it would have been one of the juveniles though. Either Sule, Fumo, Liwali or Sudi.

They are locked indoors at night so it’s likely he escaped from the night area. It could also be possible that they have access to the netted enclosure occasionally, which may have been where he escaped from. More info would be nice.
 
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Patrick Keegan said:
According to A post By Kerry_at_taronga Mr Hobbs the malayan sun bear was put to sleep on Friday morning.
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Sad news and another step towards the phase out of this species from Australasian zoos. He was only one of three males and although Taronga only made a half-hearted attempt to breed, he was the only male paired with a female young enough to breed.

If this breeding programme is to be revitalised, Arataki and Jamran need to be paired with each other’s daughters ASAP, but I’m aware of no plans to do so.

Like Wellington Zoo, Taronga now has a single middle aged female and when she dies, the exhibit will likely disappear with her.
 
Taronga Zoo have announced the births of seven Bolivian Squirrel Monkeys (including the few that were born last year). At least five of the babies are males and Taronga's group now stands at 17 individuals:
We are thrilled to announce the recent arrival of our seventh and final Bolivian Squirrel Monkey Baby to Taronga Zoo Sydney Bringing our Squirrel Monkey group to a total of 17, the final baby was born about a week ago whilst the other three were born throughout December and January.
Hear from Primate keeper Scott as he gives us an update about Taronga’s Squirrel Monkey baby boom!
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Source: Taronga's Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=421038599220620
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