new series of The Zoo » Auckland Zoo

new series of The Zoo
15-09-2008

started on tv here yesterday, replacing the last series of The Lion Man. Three stories on the programme, none of which are anything new to the people on here
They were introducing the male and female Sumatran tigers to each other for breeding.
Kashin the elephant was having more treatment for her ongoing leg problems (including an Xray and visit from an "equine horse doctor")
The meerkats had triplets.
Next week more on the tigers and Kashin, and a new otter is imported from Australia (Adelaide?)

16-09-2008

I missed it due to the epic warriors game..! Not a fan eh Chlidonias..?

Fantastic series though, I have literally worn out my two "best of" Dvd's...

16-09-2008

"wa..rri..ors"? Is that some kind of sport thing?

the thing that always grates when watching programmes like The Zoo is that the narrator and keepers always talk in catch-phrases and PC speech. Like the time they were catching an otter and had to put it into a "temporary habitat" -- which was a cat carry-box. It also doesn't help that half the keepers are like most NZers and don't know how to use English properly. It just hurts my brain.

17-09-2008

Sometimes, other years they are more like a circus act..!

Yes well I went to private school so I have a rudimentary understanding of numeracy and English literacy... Many of my public school friends are not so lucky and get state sponsored PCism drummed into them from 5..!

episode two
22-09-2008

more of the same really. The two tigers were still in the process of being introduced to each other and Kashin was getting water therapy (ie swimming). Its pretty painful watching Kashin walking with her bad legs, poor wee girl. The new male otter from Adelaide went into quarantine, and one of the Zoo's females was put into an adjoining cage so they could familiarise themselves with one another. They'll be going into the bonnet macaque enclosure at a later stage of the series.

I know its all to do with ratings but it gets irritating when zoo series' (of any zoo, not specifically Auckland) just keep concentrating on the big-name animals like elephants and tigers while the more interesting "lesser" critters tend to get relegated to the occasional fill-in shot.

Grumble over for the day.

22-09-2008

Those two otters went into the enclosure about 5 or so months ago and I remember seeing the camera crew in the macque area so look forward to that in a future episode, current episodes must have been filmed 8 or so months ago then...

28-09-2008

Tonights episode covered OZ and Molek's introduction and first matings, a Joey whose mother who'd died and the zoo's efforts to save him (ultimately unsuccessfully) and the introduction of two otter, first to each other, then to the Macques enclosure...

episode three
28-09-2008

you beat me to it (I'm too busy watching Doctor Who). That wee parma wallaby was so cute! There should be more stories like that (the less-than-regular animal I mean, not the death). I wish I was younger so I was more in the target audience for the programme -- I'm just getting so irritated with the tiger thing dragging on and on and on! Its a pity they can't film episodes and put them on air within a couple of weeks. It would make it more immediate and interesting.

Anyway, NZJeremy, what's the otter enclosure look like in real life (not the macaque one, the other one)? In the programme it looks like one of those enclosures zoos make that they think look really awesome and natural, but instead they just look really artificial

28-09-2008

I'm not sure if there still are otters in the Macque enclosure, I havent seen any since they were filming that episode...

The new otter enclosure has extensive use of mock rock which looks like concrete put in the shape of rock... The enclosure is okay, there is a deep pool with underwater viewing (both were lacking in their last enclosure)... The best thing about it is there is not a single bar, wire, mesh, fence or anything similar in the entire enclosure it is completely enclosed by glass and rock which in turn makes it very aesthetically pleasing and leads to a sense of close proximity with the animals... 7/10

episode four
05-10-2008

is this the most repetitive series of "The Zoo" ever? Four episodes in, each episode being divided into three stories on different animals -- and so far every single one of the four episodes has had tigers and three of them have had elephants! Anyone would think the Zoo didn't have any other species! At least the elephant story tonight was about one of the keepers going to Thailand to play with elephants there which was interesting. Sort of had me wondering though whether the zoo came up with that idea, if it was the keeper's own desire to do so off her own back, or if the tv producers just throw some money their way to make a good storyline.

Anyway the third story tonight was about the cottontop tamarins being moved from the rainforest to a different part of the zoo to make way for "a different type of tamarin". The rainforest always looks really good on tv -- how does it look in real life, just as good? (That question's mainly directed at NZ Jeremy). Also, what would the other species of tamarin be -- emperor? Golden lion?

05-10-2008

I missed tonight's episode, NRL final..!

Previous seasons the zoo has paid for keepers to go to Vietnam and Africa to see conservation programs they are contributing to or pick up animals (wouldn't be suprised if the producers put in a bit of dosh)...

The Rainforest is fantastic, not a single bar in sight and barely any visible mesh (except for Siamang exhibit) or wires, if they have cheap flights come and check out Auckland Zoo its very good...

episode five
12-10-2008

can you guess what the lead story was tonight? That's right, tigers! But yay, they finally had their three cubs (which in real time was back in June, of course). According to the narrator the breeding was "a miracle"; I'm not sure in which respect it was a miracle but never mind. Two of the keepers took some video footage of the cubs to prove how very very cute they were. I'd like to think that maybe now the series will move on to some other kind of animal but somehow I doubt it -- although next week the tiger bit is replaced with a lion bit so maybe there will be no more tigers.

The other stories on this episode were more elephants (in Thailand) and the first vaccinations of the meerkat triplets, which turned out to be all females.

13-10-2008

I just saw Laloba was logged in....what are the new tamarins in the rainforest that the cottontops were moved to make room for?

13-10-2008

Hiya!
The six cotton topped boys were moved to make room for 2 golden lion females (and one cotton top boy!)
Auck Zoo already had one GLT female who was housed with a male CTT for company. We then received another older female whose mate had died from Wellington Zoo.

13-10-2008

thanks for that.