Auckland Zoo The Zoo TV Series
- Thread starter driftaguy
- Start date
That is disappointing news!Where did you learn this, and do you know why?
I asked the production company (Greenstone TV). I have an idea that it may be due to ratings, as I kept an eye on them for the last series and they did seem down a little from the previous season.
I always thought the Zoo series could have done better, had it been rotated around the four major zoos.
When 'The Zoo' was in it's prime, they had several high profile births events including the arrival of three Southern White Rhino from South Africa in 1999 and the birth of a calf in 2001. The arrival of two lionesses in 1999 and the births of two litters of cubs in 2001, and a further two litters in 2004, the arrival of sumatran tigers, the arrival of three orangutans from Taronga Zoo, and the births of two babies in 2000 and 2005, as well as the death of a mother and baby in 2000, numerous otter and red panda litters between 2000 and 2002, the death of Tea-Party chimps in 2000 and 2004, the arrival of a new male giraffe in 1999, and a new female in 2002, and three giraffe births between 2002 and 2004. The first Golden cat kittens born in New Zealand in 2004. The move of three hippos from their home since the 1970s to Hippo River, the move of the Hamadryas Baboon from their old cages to a grass hill enclosure in 1999, the first serval kitten born in 2002, the importation of a flock of flamingo in 2001, the opening of Sea Lion shores in 2001.
Since 2005, the action has died down considerably, especially with regards to breeding. A lot of the births have been low profile or births/events that have already been covered (subsequent giraffe births, otter pups etc.). Notable exceptions have been the tiger cubs born in 2008 and the flamingo chick in 2014. This ultimately led to the series becoming stale and repetitive.
If all the zoos were covered, they could diversify a lot more.
When 'The Zoo' was in it's prime, they had several high profile births events including the arrival of three Southern White Rhino from South Africa in 1999 and the birth of a calf in 2001. The arrival of two lionesses in 1999 and the births of two litters of cubs in 2001, and a further two litters in 2004, the arrival of sumatran tigers, the arrival of three orangutans from Taronga Zoo, and the births of two babies in 2000 and 2005, as well as the death of a mother and baby in 2000, numerous otter and red panda litters between 2000 and 2002, the death of Tea-Party chimps in 2000 and 2004, the arrival of a new male giraffe in 1999, and a new female in 2002, and three giraffe births between 2002 and 2004. The first Golden cat kittens born in New Zealand in 2004. The move of three hippos from their home since the 1970s to Hippo River, the move of the Hamadryas Baboon from their old cages to a grass hill enclosure in 1999, the first serval kitten born in 2002, the importation of a flock of flamingo in 2001, the opening of Sea Lion shores in 2001.
Since 2005, the action has died down considerably, especially with regards to breeding. A lot of the births have been low profile or births/events that have already been covered (subsequent giraffe births, otter pups etc.). Notable exceptions have been the tiger cubs born in 2008 and the flamingo chick in 2014. This ultimately led to the series becoming stale and repetitive.
If all the zoos were covered, they could diversify a lot more.
Greenstone TV (the production company behind The Zoo) has about ten full episodes from seasons one and two of the show on their YouTube channel. Episodes are being regularly added to the playlist (unfortunately though, in a seemingly random order 
) but none the less, they are very interesting to watch (Zabulu's arrival in 1999 (?), Construction and opening of the hippo river/baboon complex, problems with the integration of the three hippos, etc.) especially for someone who never got to watch the early seasons of the show! 
Link: The Zoo - YouTube
And in regard to what @driftaguy said above about a web series being a good replacement option for the show, for those who are unaware Auckland Zoo now posts regularly on their YouTube channel with zoo news and updates like animal births/arrivals, new exhibit openings, as well as a 'Zoo Tales' episode every Friday. While I would still love the TV show to come back, these web videos are a great way to keep up to date with most happenings at the zoo, even though they are not as long or detailed.
Sorry for bringing back up an old thread, but I though this might be worth noting down somewhere.
) but none the less, they are very interesting to watch (Zabulu's arrival in 1999 (?), Construction and opening of the hippo river/baboon complex, problems with the integration of the three hippos, etc.) especially for someone who never got to watch the early seasons of the show! Link: The Zoo - YouTube
And in regard to what @driftaguy said above about a web series being a good replacement option for the show, for those who are unaware Auckland Zoo now posts regularly on their YouTube channel with zoo news and updates like animal births/arrivals, new exhibit openings, as well as a 'Zoo Tales' episode every Friday. While I would still love the TV show to come back, these web videos are a great way to keep up to date with most happenings at the zoo, even though they are not as long or detailed.
Sorry for bringing back up an old thread, but I though this might be worth noting down somewhere.
Greenstone TV (the production company behind The Zoo) has about ten full episodes from seasons one and two of the show on their YouTube channel. Episodes are being regularly added to the playlist (unfortunately though, in a seemingly random order
Link: The Zoo - YouTube
And in regard to what @driftaguy said above about a web series being a good replacement option for the show, for those who are unaware Auckland Zoo now posts regularly on their YouTube channel with zoo news and updates like animal births/arrivals, new exhibit openings, as well as a 'Zoo Tales' episode every Friday. While I would still love the TV show to come back, these web videos are a great way to keep up to date with most happenings at the zoo, even though they are not as long or detailed.
Sorry for bringing back up an old thread, but I though this might be worth noting down somewhere.
I've really enjoyed re-watching these episodes which are now 18 years old! Lionesses Kura and Sheeka are just cubs, Luka the chimpanzee is a cute five year old with a white tuft, Burma the elephant is in her teens, the zoo still had wombats, Chacma baboons and hippopotamus and the keepers all looked so young! The episodes also helped answer some of my questions about the Chacma baboons so I found that really interesting, not to mention fortunate that the two episodes they featured in were two of the many episodes the uploader chose to upload. Hopefully more will follow. Thanks for the link
@ZooBoyNZ!
It's a real shame Trent Barclay no longer works at the zoo. He was such an awesome guy and so great at his job. A big loss to Auckland Zoo!
zooboy28
Well-Known Member
I watched (in a skimming sort of way) these episodes, it was great to see some of the old characters (human and animal) and the zoo as it was almost twenty years ago. So thanks @ZooBoyNZ. Hopefully more episodes will be uploaded. I noticed one lacked narration, which was a bit odd. The operation to amputate the leg of the mara was interesting, although I don't recall ever seeing a three-legged mara on display, so perhaps it didn't have a long life after that.
The most interesting part for me was seeing the old exhibits, including the (very) old sea lion pool (still with 5 sea lions) and the previous wallaby walkthrough, which had only been in operation for 6 years apparently, so didn't end up lasting very long. It was also good to get the more detailed shots of the baboon cages, including aerial shots. Finally, it was cool to see some of the old cages on the upper terrace, which are now all gone, including the large serval cage, and some of the primate cages (including the glass-fronted tamarin one). I'm not sure where the red panda cage was that was featured however, I'm sure it must have been on the upper level near the primates, but I don;t recall it at all. Perhaps it was one of the cages in the centre of the zoo by the wallaby walkthorugh (as it was then), but I'm not sure when they were demolished. That would have been were the wombats were kept I would have thought.
@Zoofan15 - where did you see the wombats? I didn't see them, but I might easily have missed them if they were only in a brief clip.
The most interesting part for me was seeing the old exhibits, including the (very) old sea lion pool (still with 5 sea lions) and the previous wallaby walkthrough, which had only been in operation for 6 years apparently, so didn't end up lasting very long. It was also good to get the more detailed shots of the baboon cages, including aerial shots. Finally, it was cool to see some of the old cages on the upper terrace, which are now all gone, including the large serval cage, and some of the primate cages (including the glass-fronted tamarin one). I'm not sure where the red panda cage was that was featured however, I'm sure it must have been on the upper level near the primates, but I don;t recall it at all. Perhaps it was one of the cages in the centre of the zoo by the wallaby walkthorugh (as it was then), but I'm not sure when they were demolished. That would have been were the wombats were kept I would have thought.
@Zoofan15 - where did you see the wombats? I didn't see them, but I might easily have missed them if they were only in a brief clip.
I too was interested to see the old sea lion pool again and five California Sea Lions, Scuttles, Sinka, Kline, Keel and Kipper. I never saw it in use but I visited before it’s demolition for the 2011 expansion, while it was used for waterfowl. The Sea Lion shores exhibit was quite an upgrade. Sinka and Kline was still alive when Season 2 of the Zoo was filmed, but had passed away by Season 3, when they moved to the new exhibit in late 2001.
I also liked seeing chimpanzee at the zoo again, especially in the old orang-utan/macaque exhibit. It didn't look that small though the group was 4 adults, 1 adolescent and 1 juvenile back then. It was quite cramped when Lucifer and Luka grew up.
I remember seeing the old serval cages, up the back of the zoo and until I recently learned otherwise from you @zooboy28 , I believed this was where the old baboon cage was also. There was a couple of shots of it in the Zoo Season 1 Episode 5, one where it looked long and rectangular, and another which made it look quite square (and larger). I don’t recall this second shot, which didn’t look like it could have fitted in the area up the back of the zoo due to its size. I was trying to see what was in the adjoining cage to the left at the time of filming!
I remember seeing wombats in Season 1 when it last screened in New Zealand, but they’re not in any of the episodes currently uploaded by Greenstone. I don’t recall seeing them in Season 2 onwards so they must have passed away. Come to think of it, the demise of the last one might have been the extent of its inclusion in Season 1.
In reply to the post by @ZooBoyNZ regarding the time frame of Series 1:
Zabulu arrived in December 1998 so his arrival in the first episodes would have been some of the earlier pieces filmed. Later in the series (Season 4 or 5 I believe) when Kiri is having her hoof treated, there are clearly four adult giraffe waiting to come in (these are Kinshasa, Manyara, Kiri and Kay). There is no Zabulu. While he no doubt had a biref stay in quarantine following his arrival, I'm guessing the scene where Kiri's hoof was treated was one of the first pieces filmed but not considered exciting enough footage to debut in the first episode!
The red panda twins in Season 1 are Maya's first offspring. They were called Mungojerre (male) and Symgaryl (female) and were born in December 1998. The scene where they are shown as newborns would have been filmed either late December 1998 or early January 1999.
Hippo River and Baboon Hill opened in early 1999.
Zabulu arrived in December 1998 so his arrival in the first episodes would have been some of the earlier pieces filmed. Later in the series (Season 4 or 5 I believe) when Kiri is having her hoof treated, there are clearly four adult giraffe waiting to come in (these are Kinshasa, Manyara, Kiri and Kay). There is no Zabulu. While he no doubt had a biref stay in quarantine following his arrival, I'm guessing the scene where Kiri's hoof was treated was one of the first pieces filmed but not considered exciting enough footage to debut in the first episode!
The red panda twins in Season 1 are Maya's first offspring. They were called Mungojerre (male) and Symgaryl (female) and were born in December 1998. The scene where they are shown as newborns would have been filmed either late December 1998 or early January 1999.
Hippo River and Baboon Hill opened in early 1999.
The final series is currently being shown in the UK for the 1st time on Quest Red on Sunday evenings at 6pm. Until now the series (including repeats) had been off-air in the UK since CBS Reality dropped the series in early 2012. The most recent series they aired before that was from 2008.
Frustratingly the series UK premier has been little advertised by Quest and I was only to catch the last 5 mins of the second episode on a repeat tonight. It isn't being shown again before episodes 3 and 4 air this weekend (and they haven't bothered to put it on demand either!)
Frustratingly the series UK premier has been little advertised by Quest and I was only to catch the last 5 mins of the second episode on a repeat tonight. It isn't being shown again before episodes 3 and 4 air this weekend (and they haven't bothered to put it on demand either!)
Having seen all the seasons of the Zoo, I can honestly say it went to the dogs towards the end. I rewatched some of the first and second seasons recently on YouTube and they were far superior in content and presentation. By the time the last season rolled around, storylines had become stale and repetitive and lacking in content. I'm sure this was partly circumstantial as Auckland Zoo had a number of high profile events and births in the earlier seasons and had a bit of a lull in the early 2010s. Also all the photography/high def/slow mo shots got on my nerves in the last season.
I'd be interested to hear other people's opinions on the Zoo with regards to which seasons they prefered and what they did and didn't like...