Wellington Zoo Update on Bashi/Senja

[Joe Franklin]

Hi

Does anybody know how the breeding process is coming along for Wellington Zoo's two Sumatran tigers. It seemed so positive when they imported Bashi but things seem to be going really.....really..... slow. Have they even had contact yet (not between mesh) ?.

 

[Zoofan15]

Hi

Does anybody know how the breeding process is coming along for Wellington Zoo's two Sumatran tigers. It seemed so positive when they imported Bashi but things seem to be going really.....really..... slow. Have they even had contact yet (not between mesh) ?.

To my knowledge, they haven’t progressed beyond the protected contact introductions and exhibit swapping that began in November 2017. I last visited in 2019, so @Chlidonias (who has visited more recently) may be able to advise differently on this.

They acknowledged at the start it could take months, even years to introduce them - yet several others zoos have managed in a matter of weeks. The last litter at Taronga were conceived only a month after the new male arrived.

There’s two things I don’t understand:

1. Bashi and Senja were at the zoo for three years before Wellington received a breeding recommendation in 2017. Knowing one was coming, why not use those three years to do all the introductory lead up? That way they’d be good to go in 2017.

2. If they can’t safely introduce this pair (and fair enough, this might not be possible); or they have been introduced, but Senja has failed to conceive, then why haven’t they exchanged Senja for a new female.

The fact remains, Bashi is the most genetically valuable Sumatran tiger in the region; and given he turns 14 this year, he really should be breeding sooner rather than later.

 

[Joe Franklin]

Just recived this email from Wellington Zoo regarding Bashi and Senja. Not very helpful


Kia ora Joe,


Thank you for your email and interest in our Tiger training and introductions,


We haven’t had any updates from our keepers on these interactions, so I believe they are moving quite slowly still. Our Tiger talk time at 11 is the best time to find out information, as one of our Tiger keepers will be there and may be able to provide a more in depth update. Otherwise, feel free to share your interest on our social media channels and we might be able to provide more information there as well.

 

[Zoofan15]

Just recived this email from Wellington Zoo regarding Bashi and Senja. Not very helpful


Kia ora Joe,


Thank you for your email and interest in our Tiger training and introductions,


We haven’t had any updates from our keepers on these interactions, so I believe they are moving quite slowly still. Our Tiger talk time at 11 is the best time to find out information, as one of our Tiger keepers will be there and may be able to provide a more in depth update. Otherwise, feel free to share your interest on our social media channels and we might be able to provide more information there as well.

This is atrocious customer service. Instead of guessing (“I believe”), the person who wrote this email could:

A) Walk a few metres to the staff room and ask someone directly.

B) Fire off an email to any member of the carnivores team and reply to you with the answer.

C) Attend the carnivores talk themselves at 11am and ask the question on your behalf (if short on time, they could go at the end to catch question time).

D) Contact the person who responds to social media to answer your question, since they apparently have the capacity to do so.

For the record, last time I visited Wellington Zoo they had a visitor ranger (volunteer) doing the talks; and while he was the most helpful/knowledgeable volunteer I’ve ever met, admitted he didn’t know the answer to some specific questions as he wasn’t a keeper.