Its fortunate that Mogo zoo became a holder of a breeding group otherwise things could look dire for the future of Gorillas within the region, also considering the age of most of the remaining females we have left its not looking good for the long term prospects for the species here unless Taronga and Melbourne are implementing some long term plan in the next few years?
Taronga Zoo Taronga Zoo News 2025
- Thread starter Osedax
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Unless a new holder emerges, I’m not anticipating any imports for at least a decade:
Taronga have a young bachelor troop, so theoretically are set for at least 15-20 years.
Melbourne Zoo have a troop of 1.4 adults, including at least one breeding female (a second if Johari breeds). They’ll likely breed Otana and Mbeli within the next 1-3 years.
About the only change within the existing population I can foresee is a transfer of Kanzi from Melbourne to Mogo. Mogo will need a new female within the decade and transferring Kanzi once she’s observed Mbeli raise young at Melbourne is the obvious solution.
Fiordland penguin chick hatches:
Fantastic news! A chick hatched six weeks ago to Munro and Moeraki, taking the zoo’s colony to eight penguins. A male chick would be great as at least four of the other penguins are female.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/572307/fiordland-penguin-chick-thriving-at-sydney-s-taronga-zoo
A six-week-old Fiordland Penguin chick is in perfect health and "thriving" at Sydney's Taronga Zoo.
The bird was born to experienced parents Munro and Moeraki, and keepers believed it could be a boy.
Moeraki and Munro have now raised two healthy chicks in back-to-back seasons. Wright said Munro has been incredibly protective of his chick.
Fantastic news! A chick hatched six weeks ago to Munro and Moeraki, taking the zoo’s colony to eight penguins. A male chick would be great as at least four of the other penguins are female.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/572307/fiordland-penguin-chick-thriving-at-sydney-s-taronga-zoo
A six-week-old Fiordland Penguin chick is in perfect health and "thriving" at Sydney's Taronga Zoo.
The bird was born to experienced parents Munro and Moeraki, and keepers believed it could be a boy.
Moeraki and Munro have now raised two healthy chicks in back-to-back seasons. Wright said Munro has been incredibly protective of his chick.
Are they trying to build up the flock with rescues?
Rescues will be subject to availability (they have 2.3 rescue founders), but yes I believe they are open to receiving more rescue penguins.
In the meantime, breeding has taken off with three surviving chicks (to two pairs) produced since 2024.
Are they held in any New Zealand zoos where they could obtain or swap birds if needed?
Not currently, but it’s a good question as Wellington Zoo have previously sent a Fiordland crested penguin (Gari) across to Taronga to join their colony.
Gari, the Tawaki prepares to cross the ditch
Potentially, more could follow.
Fantastic news! hopefully breeding will continue and we can build up a bit of a population of them.
The flock is certainly flourishing. From the 2.3 founders, there’s two viable pairs as Gari is non-breeding, but with one pair producing surviving chicks in 2024 and 2025 and the other producing a surviving chick in 2024, they have the foundations for a successful flock.
As mentioned, a male chick would be ideal at this point, but every surviving chick is a win.
Perhaps the zoo should try double clutching both pairs
The species typically lays two eggs 3-6 days apart in July and August; but even if both eggs hatch, wild pairs typically only raise one chick.
While parent rearing is ideal, Taronga could certainly handraise the second chick (if one is produced).
It was mentioned in 2024 that Munro and Moeraki had a non-surviving chick in 2023; while the other pair (Ed and Dusky) had previously produced non-viable eggs.
Many years ago I followed the capture and start of the California Condor breeding program where the last wild population had dwindled down to 22, anyway after they were paired off and started to produce eggs the zoo (San Deigo Wild Animal Park) later started to take some eggs away so they laid more eggs so they in effect started doubling egg production in the seasons in some cases they even started triple clutching them which certainly started boosting the numbers, While parent raised is ideal as you say, In cases where every egg of a rare species counts all options should be considered!
Fiorland Penguins are in no way close to that situation though - so I doubt there's any huge rush to breed as many Fiorland's as they can (despite their rarity in captivity). It would be nice to see a few other holders in the future if Taronga continue to successfully breed the species; ie. Melbourne, who used to hold a pair.
That’s really interesting. It also appears that’s what Taronga did with their Andean condors as their last breeding pair (full siblings) had the same hatch year. Auckland Zoo also do it with their flock of Greater flamingos in order to assist building the numbers up.
Increasing the numbers in the Fiordland crested penguin colony would surely enhance breeding success. Even if motivation to breed isn’t driven by flock numbers (like it is flamingo etc). to state the obvious, more penguins means more pairs/more chance of compatible pairings. It’s possible Taronga long term plan to phase out Little blue penguins in order to dedicate maximum exhibit space to Fiordland penguins. This would truly maximise opportunities for establishing a sustainable colony.
Where did I state they were in the same situation?, I pointed out that double clutching can work if needed in some cases, you assume wrong my friend
All good, I was just stating there's likely not much need to conduct double clutching at this point in time. But it is a good method if they wished to urgently expand the captive population!
Gorilla Update:
An email from Taronga confirms the intention is for their four males to remain together as a bachelor herd for the foreseeable future. However an interesting side note was made that they intend to modify the current exhibit soon to better cater to the bachelor group long term.
I myself previously stated that the current size of the exhibit is probably unsuitable for the four males in the long term once they mature; bachelor groups do need a fair bit of space. So it will be interesting to see how big the modifications end up being, and whether the actual footprint of the current complex is expanded upon.
An email from Taronga confirms the intention is for their four males to remain together as a bachelor herd for the foreseeable future. However an interesting side note was made that they intend to modify the current exhibit soon to better cater to the bachelor group long term.
I myself previously stated that the current size of the exhibit is probably unsuitable for the four males in the long term once they mature; bachelor groups do need a fair bit of space. So it will be interesting to see how big the modifications end up being, and whether the actual footprint of the current complex is expanded upon.
Taronga have a youthful bachelor troop (aged 24, 11, 10 and 8 years), so the modifications could be more around installing apparatus that will challenge them physically and enable them to burn off energy. Features that would be poorly suited (or even dangerous) to infants/juveniles or elderly gorillas. Given the demographics of the troop we can guarantee they’ll be neither of those for the foreseeable future!
On the positive side, there’s strong indications Taronga intended to retain gorillas long term. The transfer of the females to Melbourne had been a long time coming, but there’s always been that uncertainty over whether it would be a total phase out or not. With the departure of the elephants, Taronga have surely acknowledged gorillas are their biggest drawcards (along with tigers; and when he arrives, Hari the Indian rhinoceros).
My "guess" would be that Taronga do expand their gorilla exhibit perhaps to reform a breeding troop in time with an added area for a bachelor group and going back to the original African rainforest idea with Pygmy hippos and "dare I say it" eventually Okapi in the future, I really don't believe they have tossed that idea out of the window they are likely biding their time for the long haul!
I wouldn’t be surprised if the next IRA after Xenarthra is Giraffe/Okapi, so Okapi for Taronga, Melbourne and Auckland can’t be ruled out.
It appears Taronga have well and truly shelved their plans for a breeding troop alongside a bachelor troop for the time being (at least for the next 5-10 years). It’s a shame as they reportedly have plans to build a new Pygmy hippopotamus facility and those two species (plus bongo and colobus) could have made for a phenomenal precinct.