Random question, for a species like red roos are zoos allowed to collect from the wild. Especially as they are commercially shot/harvested.
Taronga Zoo Taronga Zoo News 2024
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Random question, for a species like red roos are zoos allowed to collect from the wild. Especially as they are commercially shot/harvested.
What the region needs re. Pygmy hippopotamus is new founders. We have 2.3 Pygmy hippopotamus and both bulls are unpaired. Demographically, we have all we need to build up a decent sized population considering the oldest hippo is only 18 years old; but they’re all closely related.
Lololi and Moo Deng are both female, which is why they referenced Lololi as Sydney’s Moo Deng. I came across an article today of famous zoo animals and interestingly Shabani (1996) the Western lowland gorilla was among them. He lived at Taronga between 1996-2006 and I’ve seen a few articles about him in recent years regarding his fan base.
The drama continues ....
I expect no action whatsoever ... in the coming months and I am not particularly hopeful after 2024 either. There is a definite lack of urgency here when it comes to importing new and unrelated stock.
Further, that the current IRA does not allow imports of captive bred pygmy hippo from South East Asia (Indonesia / Malaysia / Singapore or Thailand) and neither South Korea nor Taiwan is just plain stupid.
Just think about it: Singapore will be sending a male pygmy hippo soon to Taipei Zoo. Get what I mean ....!!!!
Singapore will be an approved country for hippo imports into Australia.
"approved countries
For the purpose of this review, approved countries are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States."
Source - page 113
OK, even so ... given that large stocks of breeding pygmy hippos and hippos exist in the S.E. Asian real (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand) and Eastern Asia (Taiwan, Japan) it is insane the Australian nor New Zealand authorities have even realised that founder stock is securely represented locally. It is almost as if they have not done their administration work thoroughly ...(???)!
Not sure whether any zoo needs to "collect" from the wild - even to introduce new genetics.
There is a steady trickle into the captive population in the form of non-releasable wild origin animals from wildlife carers.
And the captive population includes significant numbers of genetically over represented animals that have been desexed.
Certainly no shortage of them!
Osedax
Well-Known Member
I was at Taronga again today, and have a few updates.
- There seems to be a hatchling amongst the Eyelash Vipers in the ARC! There is certainly one that is much smaller than the others, anyway.
- At the front of the lower viewing window of the ARC the only terrarium left is the Goldfields Crevice-skink.
- The giraffes, zebras and ostriches were all in together today! The ostriches seemed fine with the giraffes, but got a bit flighty when one of the zebras started approaching.
- Some female Fat-tailed Dunnarts have been added to Nguwing Nura (there were only males in there before).
- There are now at least two Rainbow Bee-eaters in the Semi-Arid Aviary; there was just one before.
- The Eastern Yellow Robins have been reintroduced to the Semi-Arid Aviary.
- Tiger Trek seemed quite empty today, and I only saw Clarence and Kembali. This makes me think that maybe Pemanah and Marwar have already left or are preparing to leave; though I don’t know where Tengah and Kartika were.
- There seems to be a hatchling amongst the Eyelash Vipers in the ARC! There is certainly one that is much smaller than the others, anyway.
- At the front of the lower viewing window of the ARC the only terrarium left is the Goldfields Crevice-skink.
- The giraffes, zebras and ostriches were all in together today! The ostriches seemed fine with the giraffes, but got a bit flighty when one of the zebras started approaching.
- Some female Fat-tailed Dunnarts have been added to Nguwing Nura (there were only males in there before).
- There are now at least two Rainbow Bee-eaters in the Semi-Arid Aviary; there was just one before.
- The Eastern Yellow Robins have been reintroduced to the Semi-Arid Aviary.
- Tiger Trek seemed quite empty today, and I only saw Clarence and Kembali. This makes me think that maybe Pemanah and Marwar have already left or are preparing to leave; though I don’t know where Tengah and Kartika were.
On my recent 3-week, 59-zoo trip to Southeast Asia, I visited 18 zoos with Common Hippos and 12 zoos with Pygmy Hippos. In fact, 10 of the zoos had BOTH Common and Pygmy Hippos, so if Australian zoos wanted hippos there are dozens of both species in Southeast Asian collections. They are incredibly common species in that part of the world. Some of the zoos had 3 or 4 exhibits all in a row with Pygmy Hippos and @Kifaru Bwana has a great point in that there are hippos regularly breeding and just waiting for Aussie zoos to inquire about them. 
On my recent 3-week, 59-zoo trip to Southeast Asia, I visited 18 zoos with Common Hippos and 12 zoos with Pygmy Hippos. In fact, 10 of the zoos had BOTH Common and Pygmy Hippos, so if Australian zoos wanted hippos there are dozens of both species in Southeast Asian collections. They are incredibly common species in that part of the world. Some of the zoos had 3 or 4 exhibits all in a row with Pygmy Hippos and @Kifaru Bwana has a great point in that there are hippos regularly breeding and just waiting for Aussie zoos to inquire about them.
I wonder if Singapore could act as a gateway to other South East Asia countries though?
Australia (which didn’t have a Bovid IRA in 2016) imported an Eastern bongo from Singapore Zoo via New Zealand (a permitted country of import). The bongo was required to be held in the approved country (New Zealand) for 12 months; but otherwise didn’t differentiate between whether it was born in New Zealand or not.
It’d be more complex to organise (considering New Zealand and Australia are within the same region); but not necessarily out of the question.
Chinese zoos I hear are in this situation I believe @Steve RobinsonOn my recent 3-week, 59-zoo trip to Southeast Asia, I visited 18 zoos with Common Hippos and 12 zoos with Pygmy Hippos. In fact, 10 of the zoos had BOTH Common and Pygmy Hippos, so if Australian zoos wanted hippos there are dozens of both species in Southeast Asian collections. They are incredibly common species in that part of the world. Some of the zoos had 3 or 4 exhibits all in a row with Pygmy Hippos and @Kifaru Bwana has a great point in that there are hippos regularly breeding and just waiting for Aussie zoos to inquire about them.
Nice, i have always been curious with species that are native if populations have gotten low whether zoos are allowed to attain from the wild or build up populations of those coming in through wildlife careers.
Back in the day you would hear where they would go and just get what they wanted. But those times and practices are long gone.
On my recent 3-week, 59-zoo trip to Southeast Asia, I visited 18 zoos with Common Hippos and 12 zoos with Pygmy Hippos. In fact, 10 of the zoos had BOTH Common and Pygmy Hippos, so if Australian zoos wanted hippos there are dozens of both species in Southeast Asian collections. They are incredibly common species in that part of the world. Some of the zoos had 3 or 4 exhibits all in a row with Pygmy Hippos and @Kifaru Bwana has a great point in that there are hippos regularly breeding and just waiting for Aussie zoos to inquire about them.
South east asia does have a lot of hippo's we could tap into. It really comes down to biosecurity and if they forsee any issues with imports that could cause problems. It would probably be cheaper then importing from the US or Europe. We have exported hippos out to asia in the past so some may even be distantly related.
Certainly some are - but the current situation surrounding health protocols makes any transactions with the PRC very difficult.
Our Hippo IRA will be approved sooner rather than later. However, there will many, many Asian countries with which transactions will not be permitted.
Osedax
Well-Known Member
Today I was at Taronga again, and I have a couple of things to report.
- At least two White-breasted Woodswallows (a new species for the zoo I believe) are now in the Semi-Arid Aviary! This means that there are now two species of woodswallow in that aviary and I observed several interactions between the White-breasted and the Masked Woodswallows.
- The entry gate to Buru Nura (Kangaroo Country) near the tree kangaroos and Australian Rainforest Aviary is currently closed; visitors must enter and exit through the gate near Daramu Gunya (Tree Shelter) and Gulamany Nura (Koala Country).
- Charlie (adult male Australian Sea Lion) was in with a female (not sure who) in Seal Bay. First time I've seen him with another seal in with him since the unsuccessful attempt to breed him with April last year, which makes me think they might be hoping to breed again.
- At least two White-breasted Woodswallows (a new species for the zoo I believe) are now in the Semi-Arid Aviary! This means that there are now two species of woodswallow in that aviary and I observed several interactions between the White-breasted and the Masked Woodswallows.
- The entry gate to Buru Nura (Kangaroo Country) near the tree kangaroos and Australian Rainforest Aviary is currently closed; visitors must enter and exit through the gate near Daramu Gunya (Tree Shelter) and Gulamany Nura (Koala Country).
- Charlie (adult male Australian Sea Lion) was in with a female (not sure who) in Seal Bay. First time I've seen him with another seal in with him since the unsuccessful attempt to breed him with April last year, which makes me think they might be hoping to breed again.
Taronga has four female Australian sea lions:
0.1 April - on breeding loan
0.1 Nala (2009) - Taronga born
0.1 Tarni (2016) - wild born
0.1 Amalie (2020) - Taronga born
I’d say Tarni (wild born founder) is a strong possibility for breeding with Charlie; while the fact April still remains here suggests they might attempt breeding between her and the other male (Storm).
What is the current species list for the Semi-Arid Aviary? Didn't get a chance to see it stocked when I was last at Taronga.
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Osedax
Well-Known Member
Just off the top of my head:
Stubble Quail
Freckled Duck
Little Lorikeet
Swift Parrot
Turquoise Parrot
Mulga Parrot
Common Bronzewing
Peaceful Dove
Rainbow Bee-eater
Diamond Firetail
Welcome Swallow
Purple-backed Fairy Wren
Masked Woodswallow
White-breasted Woodswallow
Eastern Yellow Robin
Silvereye
I may have forgotten some.
No more Double-Barred Finch or Red-Headed Honeyeater?
Osedax
Well-Known Member
Double-barred Finch might still be around, but Red-headed Honeyeater I don't think worked well in the mix.
Hey everyone!
I will be visiting Taronga (and Australia) for the first time in a couple months time now. My main question was regarding the difficulty of seeing JR, however I see that question was answer about a week or so ago on the previous page! Still, if anyone has any tips for him or the zoo in general, I'd love to hear them.
My other main question is regarding their Carnaby's Black Cockatoos. I see they're listed in ZTL as having three animals, but I haven't found any evidence online that anyone's actually seen them in many years. I would presume these birds are kept off-exhibit?
As many on ZC may know, I'm someone who's interested in pretty much any and all wildlife, so if anyone has any advice on the best times to see certain species or tips on particularly hard to see animals at the zoo, I'm all ears! If anyone has any advice on any good birding/wildlife spots within the city as well, please feel free to PM me.
Thank you in advance!
~Thylo
I will be visiting Taronga (and Australia) for the first time in a couple months time now. My main question was regarding the difficulty of seeing JR, however I see that question was answer about a week or so ago on the previous page! Still, if anyone has any tips for him or the zoo in general, I'd love to hear them.
My other main question is regarding their Carnaby's Black Cockatoos. I see they're listed in ZTL as having three animals, but I haven't found any evidence online that anyone's actually seen them in many years. I would presume these birds are kept off-exhibit?
As many on ZC may know, I'm someone who's interested in pretty much any and all wildlife, so if anyone has any advice on the best times to see certain species or tips on particularly hard to see animals at the zoo, I'm all ears! If anyone has any advice on any good birding/wildlife spots within the city as well, please feel free to PM me.
Thank you in advance!
~Thylo