ReturnOfPaddyRick
Well-Known Member
That’s strange that people in Sydney view them as such. In Victoria they’re seen just as exotic as anything else, and I think I’ve only ever seen one in the state
Taronga Zoo Taronga Zoo News 2024
- Thread starter loganjmuir
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A lot of my friends and work colleagues have mentioned it. They are also fairly common in smaller wild life parks/ or were when I was growing up. But even crocodile Dundee mentions them as feral.
However if they source a couple with spectacular horns. I could see them being popular.
ReturnOfPaddyRick
Well-Known Member
I would also love to see them interact with the Rhinos, for better or for worse I guess
That would make for a dynamic exhibit.
The mix worked at western plains zoo before, hopefully it will work at taronga zoo.
I think it will at Taronga, at least initially. Hari is a young bull and while they’re a solitary species, they’re not aggressively territorial by all accounts. It’s possible as he enters adulthood he’ll continue to tolerate them and in the event he doesn’t, it’d be easy to separate them or ship the buffalo off to Dubbo.
Osedax
Well-Known Member
Or even mix them in with the camels!
Osedax
Well-Known Member
No you can't. Those are Javan Rusa deer that are feral in Sydney. There are feral Sambar in Victoria though.
They don't care about displaying camels, though, do they? And dromedaries are arguably more of a well known feral species than the buffalo.
loganjmuir
Well-Known Member
Given Hari’s age, the hope is the Buffalo take advantage and promote themselves as the aggressors in this situation, allowing safe and respectful contact between themselves and Hari. Once Hari ages and shows more signs of dominance however, there will have to be a discussion as to what will happen. Should Hari become dominant, the dynamics will greatly change and for fear of injury the Buffalo may have to move exhibit, possibly to the Camel exhibit.
I agree. It may be worth initially introducing females or juveniles so he can establish himself in this role before introducing a bull, which would have more confidence.
Yes you can, sambar were one of the original species in the royal national park. They range most of the east coast. Thanks to there penchant for getting into the national parks throughout the great dividing range. I have also seen sambar in the Blue mountains world heritage area. I have also seen wild sambar near the deer herds at western Sydney universities deer herds when I was there.
Are the camels actually popular ? the few times I've gone recently apart from kids. No one actually cares for them. And that's more because kids are more familiar and camels are more 'cute' then wild buffalo.
Unlike the buffalo the zoo isnt mixing camels with another species, they aunt trying to use them as a conservation species. They could, since wild dromedaries are virtually extinct in the wild.
While Dromedary camel are a well established feral species in Australia and common in Australian zoos, they would still have an appeal to the international market. New Zealand zoos haven’t held camels in over two decades and I enjoy seeing them when I visit the Australian zoos. They would appeal to kids too for the reason you mention and while I’d rather see something more exotic in the old bull elephant exhibit, I can understand their selection as a filler.
Their current enclosure is actually close nearby; so they are still somewhat tied to that area anyhow.
Its just rather unfortunate that they take up such prime exhibit space.
I imagine the camel will be there for a while yet. Taronga’s current project is the ARC and they’ve been planning the elephant phase out for a number of years now. Renovating their exhibit will take priority given the sizeable gap in their collection the elephants will leave. Replacing the camels with something else would be great, but there’s many higher priorities.
loganjmuir
Well-Known Member
The exhibit has gone through several minor changes to suit the camels, including large shade shelters. My current prediction is the camels will remain in this exhibit until a proper redevelopment can happen, allowing Taronga to focus more on their current projects(as you said), and display another species, something they have been struggling with as of late. Until this redevelopment can happen, no other species should cohabit the exhibit, giving the camels room to thrive. Given they are being used as an inexpensive filler, as will Hari, there shouldn't be plans to bring in a breeding male, and potentially disrupt the exhibit dynamic. Not to mention, bringing in a male will be a lot of effort, and in my opinion a lot of misdirected effort.
Before a redevelopment can happen though, the Elephant Barn will need to be either demolished or redeveloped itself. For a building of its size, it's been a terrific waste of space and money on Taronga's behalf. When you consider all of these factors, we shouldn't be expecting any changes to happen until well after the proposed Congo Precinct was supposed to be finished.
Zoo Tour Australia
Active Member
Hari is a male.
@loganjmuir was referring to Dromedary camel with regards to bringing in a male. Few Australian zoos seem to breed camels, presumably due to the availability and the placid nature of cows compared to bulls making them more amenable to work with.
By contrast three of New Zealand’s four main zoos bred camels throughout the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s (due to the lack of camels in New Zealand), with the last few dying out in the 2000’s.
The camel house/old bull barn is heritage listed. They can sort of renovate the inside. But the exterior isnt able to be moved. Its why it is such a good ungulate exhibit. The barn itself is big enough for ungulates and the yard is decently sized. Any new development will need to incorporate the bull barn as it is into it. The same as they did with the old giraffe house.
