The two male Sumatrans were called Bonzo & Adriaan. The two females were Julia and Tineke. They were successful breeders as outlined above and are mentioned in Barbara Harrison's old book on the species-'Orangutan'. Specifically regarding mate preference- one of the males(Adriaan?) would only live with one of the females but the other could be kept with either. I have an old postcard of one of the males but sadly when I first visited Rotterdam this original group had already been virtually wiped out.
Zoo Losses of Tragic Proportion
The two male Sumatrans were called Bonzo & Adriaan. The two females were Julia and Tineke. They were successful breeders as outlined above and are mentioned in Barbara Harrison's old book on the species-'Orangutan'. Specifically regarding mate preference- one of the males(Adriaan?) would only live with one of the females but the other could be kept with either. I have an old postcard of one of the males but sadly when I first visited Rotterdam this original group had already been virtually wiped out.
Nicolaskey
New Member
Wiped out by what?
Andrew Swales
Well-Known Member
All in the thread, above...
Monkey Pox epidemic which is the subject of the post this refers to.
During World War Two, the japanese military ordered all zoos at the time to shoot down any dangerous animal in case of a bombing. In Ueno, three elephants had to be starved and poisoned to death because bullets won’t work.
Another tragedy I know is how a traveling exhibitor in Japan lost his animals in a fire at the warehouse he kept them in around 2011.
Another tragedy I know is how a traveling exhibitor in Japan lost his animals in a fire at the warehouse he kept them in around 2011.
Anddd right after that all stingrays in Tampa Zoo died due to supersaturation three months ago. Yikes.
The references to Sumatran rhinoceros and Amazon river dolphin are poignant. It's an enormous shame the former captive breeding program failed. It's a subject I'd like to dig into more one day. (Is there a relevant thread?)
In this thread, ZooElephantsMan drove my attention to an article discussing the loss of twenty-five flamingo and a pintail duck to a single wild fox.
The example that stands out to me locally, besides the ray pool at Brookfield, was the abrupt end of Lincoln Park Zoo's elephant program. Peaches, Wankie and Tatima arrived from the San Diego Wild Animal Park in early 2003 for the opening of Regenstein African Journey - and over a year later, Tatima died in October from tuberculosis and Peaches died under less clear circumstances in January. Wankie was to be sent away to the Hogle Zoo and died almost immediately after arriving and there was debate as to why. I was only a child but under the impression all three had succumbed to tuberculosis from sharing the same space but apparently this was never confirmed outright. The resulting criticism of the zoo lead to the elephant program ending.
It's not the same as the fox situation or the awful fire in Philadelphia, and in hindsight elephants' days at this facility were numbered, but losing three animals in a short amount of time and losing a species from a zoo that had only just returned was heartbreaking and no doubt probably for the keepers as much as visitors.
In this thread, ZooElephantsMan drove my attention to an article discussing the loss of twenty-five flamingo and a pintail duck to a single wild fox.
The example that stands out to me locally, besides the ray pool at Brookfield, was the abrupt end of Lincoln Park Zoo's elephant program. Peaches, Wankie and Tatima arrived from the San Diego Wild Animal Park in early 2003 for the opening of Regenstein African Journey - and over a year later, Tatima died in October from tuberculosis and Peaches died under less clear circumstances in January. Wankie was to be sent away to the Hogle Zoo and died almost immediately after arriving and there was debate as to why. I was only a child but under the impression all three had succumbed to tuberculosis from sharing the same space but apparently this was never confirmed outright. The resulting criticism of the zoo lead to the elephant program ending.
It's not the same as the fox situation or the awful fire in Philadelphia, and in hindsight elephants' days at this facility were numbered, but losing three animals in a short amount of time and losing a species from a zoo that had only just returned was heartbreaking and no doubt probably for the keepers as much as visitors.
Deadly Rubber Balls
Australasia’s Common hippopotamus population was decimated by rubber balls throughout the 20th Century.
At least nine hippopotami died after having tennis balls/rubber balls thrown to them by members of the public in a deliberate attempt to kill them. The hippos would swallow the ball and then die in agony as it blocked their digestive tract.
Reading through newspaper archives, there were countless near misses, where keepers managed to catch members of the public about to throw a ball into their mouths. Taronga Zoo installed netting to prevent such incidents, which appears to have been successful.
The deaths include:
1.0 Edward (Adelaide Zoo) Died 1928
1.0 Bill (Perth Zoo) Died 1930
1.0 William (Melbourne Zoo) Died 1933
1.0 Chaka (Auckland Zoo) Died 1937
0.1 Rosamund (Melbourne Zoo) Died 1945
1.0 Dimazulu (Auckland Zoo) Died 1946
0.1 Esmeralda (Melbourne Zoo) Died 1961
1.0 Rangi (Melbourne Zoo) Died 1968
0.1 Kiboko (Auckland Zoo) Died 1970
Why were people trying to kill them with balls?
Aardwolf
Well-Known Member
Something about that huge, gaping mouth just begs people to throw something in it, like shooting hoops at basketball
Corangurilla
Well-Known Member
If you want to throw a ball into a gaping mouth, play a carnival game.
And it's not just an Australasian phenomenon, either. Here's some more hippos that have succumbed to this frankly embarrassing fate:
1.0 Maikel (Frankfurt Zoo), Died 2014
0.1 Linda (Dublin Zoo), Died 2002
0.1 Nyla (Virginia Zoo), Died 1996
1.0 Raju (Patna Zoo), Died 2001
1.0 ??? (Detroit Zoo), Died sometime in the 1970's
Let's hope Maikel is the last hippo who ever dies this way.
Aardwolf
Well-Known Member
Coins are another major killer when tossed into exhibits. One suggestion that I’ve liked is for zoos to install wishing wells or fountains next to exhibits with open top pools to redirect the impulse that visitors have for throwing coins on water away from the animals and towards someplace less harmful.
It became a trend for teenage boys, who thought it’d be amusing to kill them via rubber balls. Their wide open mouths tempted them to throw something in. Unfortunately the newspapers sensationalised the incidents, so the trend developed. There were many other near misses in addition to the fatalities I listed. These days we have more harmless trends like #Gentleminions
Lafone
Well-Known Member
It became a trend for teenage boys, who thought it’d be amusing to kill them via rubber balls. Their wide open mouths tempted them to throw something in. Unfortunately the newspapers sensationalised the incidents, so the trend developed. There were many other near misses in addition to the fatalities I listed. These days we have more harmless trends like #Gentleminions
That’s utterly bizarre. I’d have said that was made up if I’d randomly come across it if you know what I mean! People can be crazy.
Sadly the newspaper coverage only served to sensationalise the event and give others the idea to do it. Aside from the hippopotami dying a painful death, zoos were losing valuable assets bought and exchanged for hundreds of dollars, that weren't bred in the region in sustainable numbers until the 1950's to 1960's.
Yes, they were incredibly expensive, and reading articles from the time, most zoos struggled to find replacements and would go years without a hippo.
It would be interesting to find out if they ever caught those that killed those hippos, and what would've happened to them.
Especially in the early 20th Century, most zoos typically held either a pair or a single hippopotamus, so the death of a hippopotamus either left the zoo without a breeding pair or no hippos at all.
To my knowledge, nobody was ever held accountable for the deaths. In some cases, the hippo died days later and the cause was only identified in the post mortem. Various accounts detail people being caught attempting to throw a ball in and being removed from the zoo.
Is this where the board game "Hungry, Hungry Hippos" got its inspiration from? If it is, I sure will have to look at that game differently now!
I haven't seen anyone here commenting about Goiânia. I believe it is the worst tragedy to have happened at a South American zoo in the 21st century.
Mortes de 81 animais no zoológico de Goiânia tiveram causas distintas, conclui polícia
148 deaths in 2009 and 2010 alone. The zoo lost quite a lot of its collection, especially of large beasts.
São Paulo also did face a huge tragedy in the early-to-mid 2000s.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjqkpuC7cj9AhUwppUCHevAAo0QFnoECAwQAQ&url=https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/fsp/cotidian/ff1307201118.htm&usg=AOvVaw3fQnmBT7Uk-DsVQhxSkbOu
Folha de S.Paulo - São Paulo: Zôo confirma envenenamento de 56 animais - 27/02/2004
Belo Horizonte had problems breeding its African elephants. A female brought from Namibia and her calf died during its birth.
148 deaths in 2009 and 2010 alone. The zoo lost quite a lot of its collection, especially of large beasts.
São Paulo also did face a huge tragedy in the early-to-mid 2000s.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjqkpuC7cj9AhUwppUCHevAAo0QFnoECAwQAQ&url=https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/fsp/cotidian/ff1307201118.htm&usg=AOvVaw3fQnmBT7Uk-DsVQhxSkbOu
Folha de S.Paulo - São Paulo: Zôo confirma envenenamento de 56 animais - 27/02/2004
Belo Horizonte had problems breeding its African elephants. A female brought from Namibia and her calf died during its birth.