Tasmania Zoo Tasmania Zoo news

WhistlingKite24 said:
Exciting times ahead. Tasmania Zoo are expanding with an African precinct named iTazAfrica underway. Stage one were the giraffes arriving but further stages with see the arrival of more giraffe, zebras (new species) and additional African species for the zoo. From ZAA's website:

"Not even the ever-present threat of COVID-19 or weather extremes has stopped continued growth at Tasmania Zoo as they approach their 20th anniversary next year. Tasmania Zoo has seen ongoing upgrades and new developments all year round. Their major project this year iTazAfrica is a contemporary facility that houses giraffes. The facility includes off-display housing, an animal training and management area and a viewing and interactive platform. Stage one of the project has just been completed in December 2022, with further development set to take place next year. The ongoing development will also bring additional Giraffes, Zebras and other African species into the zoo."
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Exciting to see another holder for zebras; this will be the second holder within Tasmania for this species.

It’ll be interesting to see whether they look into holding a bachelor group or a breeding group; but it would be wonderful if they could act as a supporting facility to Zoodoo for breeding their Grants.
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
Going to Tassie Zoo on Tuesday. Are there any can’t miss exhibits or shows?
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If I were going, the highlights would be the Snow leopard and Mandrill.

On that note, if you get chance to ask, I’d appreciate an update on their plans to import a female Snow leopard for breeding (first mentioned in 2021); and confirmation they plan to phase out Mandrill with the death of their elderly female. The alternative would be receiving Adelaide’s father/son duo when their elderly female passes on.
 
Zoofan15 said:
If I were going, the highlights would be the Snow leopard and Mandrill.

On that note, if you get chance to ask, I’d appreciate an update on their plans to import a female Snow leopard for breeding (first mentioned in 2021); and confirmation they plan to phase out Mandrill with the death of their elderly female. The alternative would be receiving Adelaide’s father/son duo when their elderly female passes on.
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I hope they don’t phase out Mandrill…Smaller zoos the saving grace for biodiversity and I hope that. Continues with mandrill
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
I hope they don’t phase out Mandrill…Smaller zoos the saving grace for biodiversity and I hope that. Continues with mandrill
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Unfortunately the regional population isn’t viable without further imports. Adelaide’s older male is 18 years old this year, so even if he survives their elderly female; his six year old son will be left alone within a few years - which isn’t acceptable from a welfare standpoint. Tasmania’s facilitates are adequate for their elderly female, but don’t support the establishment of a breeding troop in their current state.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Unfortunately the regional population isn’t viable without further imports. Adelaide’s older male is 18 years old this year, so even if he survives their elderly female; his six year old son will be left alone within a few years - which isn’t acceptable from a welfare standpoint. Tasmania’s facilitates are adequate for their elderly female, but don’t support the establishment of a breeding troop in their current state.
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As observed in the past the smaller zoos have undertaken imports to get regional populations going again. I’m fearing Mandrill will be gone from the region forever and that is certainly not something I’m keen on
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
As observed in the past the smaller zoos have undertaken imports to get regional populations going again. I’m fearing Mandrill will be gone from the region forever and that is certainly not something I’m keen on
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I’d like to be proved wrong (I feel like I say that a lot on here with regards to our region’s zoos), but my impression is Tasmania Zoo don’t want to invest in Mandrill beyond their commitment to the elderly female they have in their care.

Since we know Adelaide are phasing them out, it’s my belief this will be the end of Mandrill in the region. A sad loss of a brilliant species!
 
Zoofan15 said:
I’d like to be proved wrong (I feel like I say that a lot on here with regards to our region’s zoos), but my impression is Tasmania Zoo don’t want to invest in Mandrill beyond their commitment to the elderly female they have in their care.

Since we know Adelaide are phasing them out, it’s my belief this will be the end of Mandrill in the region. A sad loss of a brilliant species!
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If Adelaide is phasing them out, I’m hoping they go somewhere else within the region
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
I believe they will be phased out, but I don't believe forever. I think noone has a viable population, and that down the track 1-3 zoos will start up again. One day...
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It’s hard to say. Adelaide acquired a new breeding male (born 2005) and bred two offspring in 2010 and 2011. Then they made the decision to cease breeding (the 2017 birth was an accident). Melbourne similarly ceased breeding a viable troop - with their last infant born 2009. I assume these decisions were made around the challenges of placing surplus male offspring.

It would be easy to import Mandrill from Europe. Zoos like Colchester have large troops and breed regularly; but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of regional support - which is puzzling given their appeal to the general public. Like you say, perhaps someday the interest will be there - but in the meantime, they’re clearly on the way out.
 
Just had a great time at Tassie Zoo. Exhibits are all close together and limits the amount of time walking around. Took us under an hour to see every exhibit. I’ve seen a bit of criticism of the exhibits, and they were a bit on the small side but the interior was more than adequate, and all the animals seemed content. Some of the best views I’ve ever had of these animals actually, and there were certainly a few firsts. Black crested macaque, long tailed macaque, silvery gibbon, caracal and various tamarins. I did the Binturong encounter which was a highlight, I was honestly amazed how big it was, and the popcorn smell was certainly prevalent. Unfortunately I can all but confirm the phase out of Mandrill. They said they won’t be importing any more while Lara is still alive, and I was given no indication they would get more after her death. Didn’t get a chance to ask about the snow leopard unfortunately. There are certainly still plans to breed the binturong.
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
Just had a great time at Tassie Zoo. Exhibits are all close together and limits the amount of time walking around. Took us under an hour to see every exhibit. I’ve seen a bit of criticism of the exhibits, and they were a bit on the small side but the interior was more than adequate, and all the animals seemed content. Some of the best views I’ve ever had of these animals actually, and there were certainly a few firsts. Black crested macaque, long tailed macaque, silvery gibbon, caracal and various tamarins. I did the Binturong encounter which was a highlight, I was honestly amazed how big it was, and the popcorn smell was certainly prevalent. Unfortunately I can all but confirm the phase out of Mandrill. They said they won’t be importing any more while Lara is still alive, and I was given no indication they would get more after her death. Didn’t get a chance to ask about the snow leopard unfortunately. There are certainly still plans to breed the binturong.
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Thanks for the update. Lara is 21 years old, so sadly I don’t think it’ll be long before this species disappears from the zoo. They’ve been at Tasmania Zoo for many years, which has played a valuable role in taking in surplus from Melbourne and Adelaide’s larger troops.
 
So the mandrill was housed by herself, i take it there were other solitary primates as well then? Siamang, black crested macque? Any others? I wonder if the macque could be housed with another type of macque they keep such as the long tailed/crab eating?
 
Astrobird said:
So the mandrill was housed by herself, i take it there were other solitary primates as well then? Siamang, black crested macque? Any others? I wonder if the macque could be housed with another type of macque they keep such as the long tailed/crab eating?
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I only saw 1 silvery gibbon, may have been solitary. The mandrill apparently prefers to be solitary, and has had issues in the past with other individuals. I’m not sure if the black crested macaque would do well with the long tailed macaques tbh. I only saw a singular ring tailed lemur, though I assume there were more.
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
I only saw 1 silvery gibbon, may have been solitary. The mandrill apparently prefers to be solitary, and has had issues in the past with other individuals. I’m not sure if the black crested macaque would do well with the long tailed macaques tbh. I only saw a singular ring tailed lemur, though I assume there were more.
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Tasmania Zoo only have one Javan (Silvery) gibbon. She’s name Cinta and was born 2009 at Mogo Zoo. Tasmania Zoo intend to import a male from the Greensboro Science Centre in the USA in their near future.

That’s correct re. Lara the Mandrill. As an elderly female, it’s best she remains alone in his familiar surrounds then trying to introduce her to unfamiliar individuals or transferring her to Adelaide to be with their troop. She came to Tasmania as a young animal, where she was initially housed with an ageing male.
 
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