Taronga Zoo Taronga Zoo News 2022

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Patrick Keegan said:
Komodo Dragon Naga will be moving to Adelaide zoo this week presumably into the new enclosure that was formerly the hippo back of house area it is hoped that komodo dragons will return to taronga in the second phase of the amphibians and reptile conservation centre
https://www.instagram.com/p/CdaL-bQvU0P/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
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That’s exciting to hear Adelaide Zoo are planning to breed him with their female Komodo dragon. If successful, they’ll be the first facility in South Australia to do so (as well as the second in the region).
 
Patrick Keegan said:
Komodo Dragon Naga will be moving to Adelaide zoo this week presumably into the new enclosure that was formerly the hippo back of house area it is hoped that komodo dragons will return to taronga in the second phase of the amphibians and reptile conservation centre
https://www.instagram.com/p/CdaL-bQvU0P/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
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Good to hear that breeding is being planned. It'll be strange not to have a Komodo Dragon in the exhibit at the front of the current reptile complex, Naga has been hugely popular with visitors (as his predecessors have been before him). I wonder if Taronga plan to fill that exhibit with another animal (the wording of the post implies not another Komodo Dragon) in the meantime, or whether it will sit empty.

From my last visit to Taronga earlier in the week, the site for the new Reptile and Amphibian Centre has been fenced off, but construction doesn't appear to have started. I might try to take some photos on my next visit.
 
Abbey said:
Good to hear that breeding is being planned. It'll be strange not to have a Komodo Dragon in the exhibit at the front of the current reptile complex, Naga has been hugely popular with visitors (as his predecessors have been before him). I wonder if Taronga plan to fill that exhibit with another animal (the wording of the post implies not another Komodo Dragon) in the meantime, or whether it will sit empty.

From my last visit to Taronga earlier in the week, the site for the new Reptile and Amphibian Centre has been fenced off, but construction doesn't appear to have started. I might try to take some photos on my next visit.
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He was always quite an attraction at the beginning of the reptile world complex, so it'll be a shame to see him gone, although i'm excited to know he'll have the chance to breed over at Adelaide!

They plan to have Komodo's in their new Reptile and Amphibian centre, which is scheduled to begin construction very soon. It's planned to be opened late next year.

Since they plan to demolish their current reptile world, I wouldn't be suprised if they just leave the enclosure empty. There's no point of filling up the enclosure temporarily, unless they have an animal/species that needs an enclosure. Lace monitors would be a good replacement, considering they're like a smaller version of the Komodo Dragon.
 
@Jambo

Lace Monitors would be an excellent choice if Taronga decided to house one or two of them in Naga's vacated enclosure for the next year-18 months. Haven't seen Lace Monitors at Taronga for a couple of years now, last time that saw them there was when either 1 or a pair were housed in that outdoor enclosure at the visitor 'exit' of the 'Wombat Burrow Tunnel' at end of 'Backyard to Bush' from 2003 until sometime in last 12 years, and before that if anyone else remembers from the 1995 opening of the 'Reptile World' a pair were housed in the larger of the glass fronted enclosures in the outdoor pavillion of the complex's eastern corridor (in front of the entry to the smaller indoor reptile displays, the specifically Australian part, and adjacent to the round concrete open-topped pen for mixed big skinks). Was fun comparing them with (Tuka) the Komodo approx' 20 metres away. Rhinoceros Iguanas replaced them in that enclosure in early 2000s.
 
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Jambo said:
He was always quite an attraction at the beginning of the reptile world complex, so it'll be a shame to see him gone, although i'm excited to know he'll have the chance to breed over at Adelaide!

They plan to have Komodo's in their new Reptile and Amphibian centre, which is scheduled to begin construction very soon. It's planned to be opened late next year.

Since they plan to demolish their current reptile world, I wouldn't be suprised if they just leave the enclosure empty. There's no point of filling up the enclosure temporarily, unless they have an animal/species that needs an enclosure. Lace monitors would be a good replacement, considering they're like a smaller version of the Komodo Dragon.
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Do we think it is likely that Taronga’s next Komodo will be one of the three hatched at ARP? I wouldn’t imagine ARP would keep all three at least not until adulthood due to space issues. Will be interesting to see what happens over the next couple of years with them.
 
Josh F said:
Do we think it is likely that Taronga’s next Komodo will be one of the three hatched at ARP? I wouldn’t imagine ARP would keep all three at least not until adulthood due to space issues. Will be interesting to see what happens over the next couple of years with them.
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With Naga now being paired with Cecelia for breeding, I'd say that's a strong possibility considering there's no indication he'd be returning; and most of the other zoos in the region have either a single dragon or breeding pair.

The Australian Reptile Park will likely be hoping for a repeat breeding, which is highly likely given they have a compatible pair and have achieved success in incubating and rearing them. For now, they'll be keen to capitalise on holding the only juvenile Komodo dragons in the region; but as time passes, the reality is they'll need the space and would surely be happy to transfer at least one or two.

For reference sake, here's a list of destinations of the imported dragons:

Los Angeles Import (2012)

1.0 Kuasa/Kozzie - Hartley's Crocodile Adventures
1.0 Naga - Adelaide Zoo
1.0 Raja - Perth Zoo
1.0 Kraken - Australian Reptile Park
0.1 Daenerys - Australian Reptile Park
0.1 Lavaclaw - Ballarat Wildlife Park
0.1 Indah - Australia Zoo

Prague Import (2020)

1.0 Balu - Darling Downs Zoo
1.0 Toothless - Ballarat Wildlife Park
1.0 Gili - Snakes Downunder Reptile Park and Zoo
1.0 Naga - Australia Zoo
1.0 Ragnar - Australia Zoo
0.1 Lagertha - Australia Zoo
0.1 Cecilia - Adelaide Zoo
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
Melbourne Zoo's sole Fiordland Penguin has moved to Taronga Zoo for breeding purposes. The male has paired with young female Dusky. This gives the zoo five (2.3) individuals: High hopes for endangered penguin bonding
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Given this species can only be sourced via unreleasable rescues, it’s good Melbourne have agreed to this transfer for the good of the species. Hopefully with a small colony, some breeding success will follow to build up numbers.
 
The White-rumped Shamas have been breeding very well at Taronga. The two off-display pairs successfully raised a clutch of four chicks each. After this round of the chicks, both pairs raised more clutches with an additional four chicks to one pair and three chicks from the second pair. Some of the offspring from these pairs can now be seen in both the wetlands and palm aviary in the rainforest trail - confirmed via email.
 
Article about Taronga’s new Vet Hospitals

The new public gallery at Taronga Zoo’s animal hospital

Information on the new vet hospitals:

Enter one of Taronga’s largest capital works projects in the zoo’s 120-year history: the building of two new wildlife veterinary hospitals – one in Sydney and one at Taronga Western Plains zoo in Dubbo. Costing $80 million in total, and funded by private donations matched dollar for dollar by the NSW government, the zoo has so far raised $60 million. The Dubbo hospital is under construction, but the Sydney build is still in the planning phase.

For those familiar with Taronga, the new vet hospital will be built on the site of the current reptile house.

Almost all of the ground floor – three new treatment rooms, a clinical pathology lab, a nutrition lab and a dedicated CT scanning room – will be viewable to the outside world.

An interesting statement:

“We did some market research about what people want to see at zoos,” explains Nick Boyle, “and at the very top of the list was that they wanted to see what vets do.”

Forget about Okapi, Snow leopard or even a Giant panda. All their customers want is to see a veterinary clinic in action. :rolleyes:
 
Zoofan15 said:
Article about Taronga’s new Vet Hospitals

The new public gallery at Taronga Zoo’s animal hospital

Information on the new vet hospitals:

Enter one of Taronga’s largest capital works projects in the zoo’s 120-year history: the building of two new wildlife veterinary hospitals – one in Sydney and one at Taronga Western Plains zoo in Dubbo. Costing $80 million in total, and funded by private donations matched dollar for dollar by the NSW government, the zoo has so far raised $60 million. The Dubbo hospital is under construction, but the Sydney build is still in the planning phase.

For those familiar with Taronga, the new vet hospital will be built on the site of the current reptile house.

Almost all of the ground floor – three new treatment rooms, a clinical pathology lab, a nutrition lab and a dedicated CT scanning room – will be viewable to the outside world.

An interesting statement:

“We did some market research about what people want to see at zoos,” explains Nick Boyle, “and at the very top of the list was that they wanted to see what vets do.”

Forget about Okapi, Snow leopard or even a Giant panda. All their customers want is to see a veterinary clinic in action. :rolleyes:
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Interesting. I've long thought that the 'main characters' of zoo-based TV shows have been not the animals or keepers, but the vets. Perhaps that is a perspective unique to Australia, where zoo-based shows lasting only a few seasons have been dime a dozen - animals live and die, and keepers come and go, but the vets have been mainstays.

I do think that having these parts of the vet hospital visible to the public will be a good tradeoff to the loss of public and exhibit space as a result of replacing the reptile house, with the benefit of having an expanded wildlife hospital to allow the zoo to treat more injured animals coming in from the wild.

That said, the location of the new reptile house will be in an area that has up until now been a picnic area and a garden, so that will be area going back to animal exhibits. Before that, it was the Seal Theatre, penguin exhibit and an aviary. Since the demolition of those structures in the late 2000s, it's been quite an open, sunny area of the zoo.
 
Abbey said:
Interesting. I've long thought that the 'main characters' of zoo-based TV shows have been not the animals or keepers, but the vets. Perhaps that is a perspective unique to Australia, where zoo-based shows lasting only a few seasons have been dime a dozen - animals live and die, and keepers come and go, but the vets have been mainstays.

I do think that having these parts of the vet hospital visible to the public will be a good tradeoff to the loss of public and exhibit space as a result of replacing the reptile house, with the benefit of having an expanded wildlife hospital to allow the zoo to treat more injured animals coming in from the wild.

That said, the location of the new reptile house will be in an area that has up until now been a picnic area and a garden, so that will be area going back to animal exhibits. Before that, it was the Seal Theatre, penguin exhibit and an aviary. Since the demolition of those structures in the late 2000s, it's been quite an open, sunny area of the zoo.
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At Auckland Zoo, the keepers and the animals were 100% the stars of The Zoo TV show. At my school, Trent Barclay (carnivores) was more idolised than Steve Irwin and Christine Tintinger (primates) remains highly respected by the public to this day for her dedication to the zoo - 43 years and counting!

The animals were even more popular. You could hardly move for the flowers surrounding the tiger pit when Nisha the Sumatran tiger died and many zoo visitors knew the felids, great apes and elephants by name. One of the elephants even had its own line of money boxes via the ASB Bank.

Even without The Zoo TV Series, the baby orangutan is still drawing crowds that gather five or six deep around the viewing window; while the vet hospital (where you can view the daily goings on) is empty of visitors every time I go in there. To be fair, it may enjoy more success at Taronga. They have more animals and odds of probabilities are something will be sick on any given day! I’m sure it will be a success and either way, will provide the zoo with improved facilities to provide the best possible care for the animals.
 
Zoofan15 said:
At Auckland Zoo, the keepers and the animals were 100% the stars of The Zoo TV show. At my school, Trent Barclay (carnivores) was more idolised than Steve Irwin and Christine Tintinger (primates) remains highly respected by the public to this day for her dedication to the zoo - 43 years and counting!

The animals were even more popular. You could hardly move for the flowers surrounding the tiger pit when Nisha the Sumatran tiger died and many zoo visitors knew the felids, great apes and elephants by name. One of the elephants even had its own line of money boxes via the ASB Bank.

Even without The Zoo TV Series, the baby orangutan is still drawing crowds that gather five or six deep around the viewing window; while the vet hospital (where you can view the daily goings on) is empty of visitors every time I go in there. To be fair, it may enjoy more success at Taronga. They have more animals and odds of probabilities are something will be sick on any given day! I’m sure it will be a success and either way, will provide the zoo with improved facilities to provide the best possible care for the animals.
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Yeah, all of this is just my opinion, but I would probably say that's a difference between Auckland and Taronga, given that The Zoo was a beloved, long-running series, and, in contrast, there have been various different series set at (or including) Taronga - The Zoo (2007-2010), Wild Life at the Zoo (2012-2013) and now Taronga: Who's Who at the Zoo (2020-2021), across three different networks. With each new show, the familiarity of animals and keepers is lost somewhat (there's more of them). Generally, every episode has a wildlife hospital storyline, most likely due to the large number of injured wild turtles, kangaroos and so forth which Taronga takes in, and hopefully are then re-released.

From what I've seen of The Zoo, I'd say that your assessment would be broadly correct (and, furthermore, I trust you as you're in much a better position to judge). That's not to say that the vet hospital will necessarily draw big crowds, but it will be interesting to see how it goes. A lot of the animals treated by the Taronga hospital are injured or ill animals from the wild, so there may be some interesting patients in there from time to time.
 
Abbey said:
Yeah, all of this is just my opinion, but I would probably say that's a difference between Auckland and Taronga, given that The Zoo was a beloved, long-running series, and, in contrast, there have been various different series set at (or including) Taronga - The Zoo (2007-2010), Wild Life at the Zoo (2012-2013) and now Taronga: Who's Who at the Zoo (2020-2021), across three different networks. With each new show, the familiarity of animals and keepers is lost somewhat (there's more of them). Generally, every episode has a wildlife hospital storyline, most likely due to the large number of injured wild turtles, kangaroos and so forth which Taronga takes in, and hopefully are then re-released.

From what I've seen of The Zoo, I'd say that your assessment would be broadly correct (and, furthermore, I trust you as you're in much a better position to judge). That's not to say that the vet hospital will necessarily draw big crowds, but it will be interesting to see how it goes. A lot of the animals treated by the Taronga hospital are injured or ill animals from the wild, so there may be some interesting patients in there from time to time.
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Yes, I agree being a long running series enabled people to build more of an association with the animals. We watched Luka the Common chimpanzee grow from an adorable juvenile to a nuisance adolescent, Kura the African lion progress from a yearling cub to motherhood and the beginning of her senior years etc.

I’ll be honest, the wildlife hospital segments of the Australian zoo series have me reaching for the skip button, but others find it interesting and that’s fine. On the subject of interesting patients being brought in, even I’d be riveted by the treatment of a Leopard seal should one ever be uncovered. The viewing gallery would be standing room only.
 
Abbey said:
Interesting. I've long thought that the 'main characters' of zoo-based TV shows have been not the animals or keepers, but the vets. Perhaps that is a perspective unique to Australia, where zoo-based shows lasting only a few seasons have been dime a dozen - animals live and die, and keepers come and go, but the vets have been mainstays.

I do think that having these parts of the vet hospital visible to the public will be a good tradeoff to the loss of public and exhibit space as a result of replacing the reptile house, with the benefit of having an expanded wildlife hospital to allow the zoo to treat more injured animals coming in from the wild.

That said, the location of the new reptile house will be in an area that has up until now been a picnic area and a garden, so that will be area going back to animal exhibits. Before that, it was the Seal Theatre, penguin exhibit and an aviary. Since the demolition of those structures in the late 2000s, it's been quite an open, sunny area of the zoo.
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That’s a very intriguing point and although I’ve never realised it, your right!

From the Taronga Zoo series, my whole family knows Larry the vet, and even Francis (the other vet). When we went up to Sydney earlier this year we actually came across Larry and had a talk with him! The vets are more popular than you think due to TV series.
 
Zoofan15 said:
At Auckland Zoo, the keepers and the animals were 100% the stars of The Zoo TV show. At my school, Trent Barclay (carnivores) was more idolised than Steve Irwin and Christine Tintinger (primates) remains highly respected by the public to this day for her dedication to the zoo - 43 years and counting!

The animals were even more popular. You could hardly move for the flowers surrounding the tiger pit when Nisha the Sumatran tiger died and many zoo visitors knew the felids, great apes and elephants by name. One of the elephants even had its own line of money boxes via the ASB Bank.

Even without The Zoo TV Series, the baby orangutan is still drawing crowds that gather five or six deep around the viewing window; while the vet hospital (where you can view the daily goings on) is empty of visitors every time I go in there. To be fair, it may enjoy more success at Taronga. They have more animals and odds of probabilities are something will be sick on any given day! I’m sure it will be a success and either way, will provide the zoo with improved facilities to provide the best possible care for the animals.
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Coming from Auckland, I can definitely say the general public is much more closer to the zoo and it’s animals than any other zoo I’ve seen. Most of the public knew Kashin- she was the star of Auckland. And many also knew the hippos (Faith and Fudge); the tigers (Molek and Berani), the Orangutans (Charlie and co.) and even the Lions. I was surprised when I visited a few years ago to see a member of the public ask a keeper how Zabulu the Giraffe was doing!

Anyhow, the Auckland public is much more connected to Auckland Zoo compared to Taronga. The general public in Sydney rarely even know the names of the elephants, gorillas let alone the iconic chimps.

In comparison, a lot of the Melbourne public knew Mzuri and the orangutan twins, Bono and Suma, and even Bong Su. Now though, I’ve never heard a visitor name an animal correctly (without reading a sign), besides Mali. It’s obviously the media that plays a big part in the public’s connection to their local zoo.
 
Jambo said:
Coming from Auckland, I can definitely say the general public is much more closer to the zoo and it’s animals than any other zoo I’ve seen. Most of the public knew Kashin- she was the star of Auckland. And many also knew the hippos (Faith and Fudge); the tigers (Molek and Berani), the Orangutans (Charlie and co.) and even the Lions. I was surprised when I visited a few years ago to see a member of the public ask a keeper how Zabulu the Giraffe was doing!

Anyhow, the Auckland public is much more connected to Auckland Zoo compared to Taronga. The general public in Sydney rarely even know the names of the elephants, gorillas let alone the iconic chimps.

In comparison, a lot of the Melbourne public knew Mzuri and the orangutan twins, Bono and Suma, and even Bong Su. Now though, I’ve never heard a visitor name an animal correctly (without reading a sign), besides Mali. It’s obviously the media that plays a big part in the public’s connection to their local zoo.
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The medium through which animals are presented to the public have changed vastly over the decades - from newspapers to online social media. Shiva and Selatan were two of the stars of Taronga Zoo throughout the 1990’s, yet their descendants aren’t a fraction as well known as they were - less than 5% of the visitors would know them by name. Similarly, Mzuri and the orangutan twins (Bono and Suma) at Melbourne attracted international media attention; while the names Dewi and Kanzi wouldn’t be known within most Australian households, much less outside of Australia.

The same trend is seen with elephants. Could we expect the same outpouring of grief for Thong Dee decades from now versus what we saw for Tricia? Of course not, yet she produced the region’s first elephant calf.

The reason is undoubtably due to the novelty factor. Many of these animals were either the only representative of their species or a pair and that made them iconic - combined with the relative novelty of zoological animals, which has been exhausted by this day and age.
 
Taronga Zoo rescue Green sea turtle hatchling:

Rescued Turtle Hatchling

A Green sea turtle hatchling weighing just 127g was found at Tamarama Beach in Bondi recently and brought to Intensive Care at Sydney’s Taronga Wildlife Hospital.

It’s back right flipper was missing, and its back left flipper had a little chip out of it. A small piece of its shell was also missing – indicating something had taken a bite out of it.
 
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