Taronga Zoo Taronga's Elephants and other news!!!

excuse the dodgey ness

BTW- Image From google earth- edited by me!

For those not familiar with the zoo, The top purple line ( as ele track 1) Is actually the main pedestrain route through centre of zoo, passing elephants, seal theatre, gorrillas, a gibbon island, and up to the new elephant exhibit.

The centre of image - above text gso- the round centre is known as palm plaze, the grey building below- is whats known as the hill side link building, as at this point there is a alrge - say 10 metre drop between the palm plaza, and the bottom. here is a gift shop, and elevators, as well as escalators.

Above the round garden in the new food and beverage precint- and extremely large area, with seating for about 500.

And in between the elephant areas in red- is the $56 mill Great southern oceans precint, with a 500 seat amithetre for seal eprformances, and 2 or 3 large seal pools (exhibits) and peguin facilities.

Blue area- option 1- is next to and down from barn, and the barn opens directly into this area- currently there is a tortise exhibit, and a condor aivary, as well to top next to bird thetre a grass area, and below as well a grassed area, with lots of trees.

Blue area option 2 - known as dog row, and eventually highland precint, currently has old or aging exhibits for a mix of animals- including meerkats, dhole, p. hippo, fennec fox and garden areas. A long and skinny area, with orad on either side.

Again, though not identifiable on map, is the fact that there is many various slopes and drops on the site. Hard to explain- but very steep in areas- get t taronga and ave a look for ya self- hence why it is hard to plan for such large exhibits, though it does add to the nature of the zoo.
 
Well torie i acually think it would work the bottom one ( though i agree i will have to look at the sky safari. ) the bottom purple line (actually really dogey) passes next to the leopard seals, and the area is very flat to do so. From memory i am not sure how the old renovated pool, and the lower entrance precint would work.

As for pedestrain troute absolutally right, but with simple people gates, that would simply be closed when ever elephant passing through, could be done effectively.

I will of course when at zoo next actually walk that whole distance and identify problems, but i think would be successful.

btw- everyone get google earth as the co-ordinates are above and see for your self the zoo.
 
the bull is going to be in the new area. The females are goingto be taken to him. Whats wrong with this idea? I 'm pretty sure that the people running Taronga aren't stupid. I would guess that ripping up large parts of the zoo to make an elephant trail isn't an option. Why don't you all relax and just let them get on with it. The new bull area isn't even ready yet. Give it a chance.
 
Boof, we know all those facts, the thing we are debating is to give the animals for variety, especially Gung, who once is in tht new habitat wont come out until hes in a jumbo sized box, or he needs to be transfered.

We are hypothetically giving option to what could be done to improve his living. Tjough he will be provided with supple enrichemnt no doubt, being able to go for long walks and to the other facility would be great.

and if you read, we wouldnt rip up large parts of the zoo, just add a fence line to exisiting pathways.
 
so if he can have access to two areas instead of one will he be twice as happy?
 
No, but he will have more variety than 1 enclosure. Would you like to live in one area all your life, or have 2 areas to visit. The females can be walked around the zoo, but being a bull he's manged protective contatct. So the idea of the ele trail is ;

A) To allow both facilities to be connected.
B) allow for gung to walk for extra excersise and enrichment.
 
if youre worried about the cost of a fence of bollards which would rise up from within the road along the shortest possible poute then, Torie, how much would you estimate the cost of zoo boys plan would be? lol
the idea of creating a circular route for the elephants accross most of the lower section of the zoo seems a little haphazard-it would effect visitor and service circulation dramatically and in some parts where the fence is proposed the road is incredibly narrow, bound by cliff faces, as in the area down from the silvery gibbons where the sun bears used to be.
my idea is more of a contingency plan-it could be used for moving the bull back to wild asia on occassions, but also if a female in the future can no longer be managed by free contact the fence would allow the cow to move down the road too.
the fence system seems to work well at the opera house and numerous other places where the technology is employed. passing through the palm plaza area etc, by day you would not even notice it was there if it was down.
 
Sorry if this has been explained before but will Gung always be handled protected contact or only when he starts showing signs of coming into musth?
 
i think. quote think. he is already being managed protectively. the keepers certainly dont seem to go in with him into the exhibit anymore. a wise precaution and it hasnt seemed to effect things too much so far
 
Ara said:
In order to link up the new elephant area with the old elephant enclosure , you are going to have to go through either the Gorilla exhibit or (gulp) Great Southern Oceans!
Click to expand...

That is exactly my point. Optimal elephant exhibit and management fine, but not at the expense of other less "MEGA" fauna that equically deserve a place in the world's zoos! :mad:
 
glyn said:
i think. quote think. he is already being managed protectively. the keepers certainly dont seem to go in with him into the exhibit anymore. a wise precaution and it hasnt seemed to effect things too much so far
Click to expand...

Thanks, probably a good idea. I was working with a Bull who's handler mahout didn't want to accept he was going into musth, a dmashed up kitchen, a hospital trip for myself and the mahout later, he realised that he may have been wrong. probably not something Taronga's keepers would be willing to try
 
boof said:
the bull is going to be in the new area. The females are goingto be taken to him. Whats wrong with this idea?
Click to expand...

Its okay if he has elephant companionship but not if he's going to be alone a lot. They must have thought of that though...
 
Pertinax, as part of Taronga Zoo gaining approval to import its Asian Elephants, one of the key rulings is that Gung have access to the females. i think it adds up to being about 9 out of every 12 months or something like that.
therefore, meeting this goal will recquire, i imagine, or should recquire some sort of infrastrucutre linking the two exhibits in order to facilitate elephant movement.
but, im sure Taronga has already thought of this.
 
From the online reports i read, the females will jst be walked up their.

he will stay put, and the girls will visit everyday. From the report the zoo did issue in realation to the tribunal, there was 26 (?) condition for taronga, they agreed and said that the girls will have a minmum (but not limited to) 9 months of access to gung.

It is also possible for say 2 gilrs to go spend the day, and be walked abck at night, and rotated, even all 4 girls spend day with him. variety is endless.
 
I wish someone would walk a few girls my way!
(Better not though; my wife would kill me!) :p

It's easy for me to be a wise-guy now, I know, but this whole "walk the girls through the zoo" scheme is a bit hairy for me. They all have nice temperaments now, but what if one or more turn out like old Burma, a bit cranky and hard to handle? Far better if they had built bull facilities adjoining the "new" elephant area.
 
well burma was given to the zoo because she was a problem animal, whereas taronga deliberately 'shopped' for nice, manageable individuals and are managed to keep them this way.
however, the bull facility is not adjacen so im sure the zoo has thought out its worst case scenario and i guess this could include a closed in walkway as weve suggested.
 
Ara, you`re exactly right, and I do NOT believe that Taronga has "thought out a worst case scenario". That the bull facility is not connected with the female facility is a mayor mistake and shows very bad planning from the very beginning. And now they are basing their "breeding program" on the hope that the females (and their potentional offspring) will always be well-behaved and easy-going. I might add that Taronga is the ONLY zoo in the western world I know who build a new elephant facility in which the females need to be walked through half the zoo to get to the bull.
 
bah . . Although I haven't seen the place yet I imagine that by redoing the old enclosure and keeping it for Gung allowed for maximum space for the girls, now they both have larger enclosures than they would have had previously. If there happens to be a problem with a cow. . . well there's always going to be dubbo and AI. Building facilites closer to the girls would have taken space away from them and I'm sure the zoo would have thought about it anyway.
 
I agree with Yassa. The notion of walking docile, friendly elephants through a major zoo in order to meet their lover Gung is bizarre and hopeful at best. Maybe there won't be any incidents, but the fact that the male elephant's exhibit isn't joined to the females' enclosure appears to be unique.
 
I wish people would stop suggesting relocating the some or all Asian elephants out to Dubbo. It is just no good and dangerous to Asian elephant vet health.

This for 2 simple reasons: a) the presence of African elephants and the danger of transmission of the herpes virus to which the Asians are susceptible and which KILLS their infants in utero or post partum.
b) the presence of elderly Asian elephants kept in very different social groupings and management settings than the ones presently kept in a stable family unit at Taronga.

Keep this in mind when throwing around your views on elephant management on site at Taronga please! :eek:
 
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