2007 in review

2007 in review
21-11-2007

as 2008 draws nearer I thought it might be a good chance for us to reflect on what major things happened in Australasian zoos in 2007, particularly with reference to exotic species. to get the ball rolling....
binturong born at Taronga Zoo
death of female Indian Rhino at WPZ
death of chimpanzee and orangutan
birth of red pandas at Taronga Zoo
birth of Dhole (2 litters)
export of gorillas to Japan and Europe
import of sun bear pair from Cambodia to Perth
death of Betsy the gorilla at Melbourne Zoo
birth of hyeana and lions at Monarto Zoo
birth of orangutan at Perth Zoo
death of elephant at Perth Zoo
birth of Ruffed Lemurs and WC Gibbon at Perth Zoo
transfer of ring-tailed Lemur from Christchurch New Zealand to Australia Zoo
birth of ring-tailed lemurs at Orana Wildlife Park
birth of two giraffes at Auckland Zoo
transfer of white rhino between Auckland and Hamilton Zoo
import of Snow Leopard to Melbourne Zoo (07?)
transfer of African Lions from Cairns to Perth
transfer of Pygmy Hippo from Adelaide and Melbourne Zoos to Taronga
transfer of meerkats from Mogo Zoo to Taronga Zoo
secured loan of Giant Panda between Chinese Government and Adelaide Zoo
birth of Sun Bear at Wellington Zoo
import of cheetah from Africa to Christchurch New Zealand
export of New Zealand bred Red Panda to the USA
birth of chimpanzee at Wellington Zoo

21-11-2007

have fun guys. am expecting plenty of info to be added on, particularly from Melbourne Zoo. could also use this thread as a tool to guage the overall status of phase-out species in the region....
the death of a a Syrian Brown Bear at Cairns, for example, leads this group closer to regional extinction (yay)

22-11-2007

death of 1 syrian brown bear at Adelaide

22-11-2007

The escape of that binturong caught my attention, but that may be because it was quite recent?

22-11-2007

Not positive but I think that there were two births of WC Gibbons at Perth. Also wasn't the transfer of two female white rhinos from Perth to Orana this year. Also the death of Ricky the giraffe at Wellington.
Trtansfer of cheetahs between Hamilton and Orana

22-11-2007

new exhibits, GSO, frog exhibit taronga, new giraffe at welligton, new interactive hospital at auckland

22-11-2007

ground broken on melbournes new marine precinct.
completion of tarongas great southern oceans exhibit
arrival of 2 new leopard seals at taronga
introduction of new fiordland penguin at taronga
importation to taronga and melbourne and and export from melbourne of goodfellows tree kangaroos

22-11-2007

birth of white lions at Mogo
birth of two golden lion tamarins at Mogo.
return of de brazzi guenons to Taronga

22-11-2007

i didnt know mogo had GLT birth! when was this!

22-11-2007

it was on our local news tonight. I think they said they were born in September.

22-11-2007

Leopard seals in Taronga??
That's amazing! I didn't know this specie was kept in captivity!!
Do you know if any other park in Australia or NZ has this specie? Was there any breeding?

22-11-2007

nope, taronga is the only zoo with them, i believ in the world, a female who arrived in the nities, and 2 who amazingly were washed ashore within days of each other. taronag now has 1 male, and 2 females.

22-11-2007

Glyn sees the death of a syrian bear at Cairns during the year as cause for celebration, as it leads the species closer to regional extinction.

I on the other hand see it as further evidence of the impoverishment of Australasian zoos. (We're all different, I suppose.)

(You can fill all those empty enclosures with sun bears, but good luck getting them to breed.)

22-11-2007

i do look forward to the day when the only bear species in Australian zoos are either Sun Bears, Giant Panda or Polar Bears.
i dont think focusing almost exclusively on a highly endangered species is a sign of impoverishment, rather common sense.
but i think we place different expectations on the objectives of zoos.

23-11-2007

You're right mate, it does come down to the objectives of zoos.

Do zoos exist only for the propagation of endangered species?
Obviously that is their most important purpose, but aren't display and education also legitimate objectives?

Brown bears are the "classic" bears as far as most people are concerned, and the public enjoy seeing them. While Aussie zoos are doing the right thing focussing on sun bears, I don't think the display of a couple of old browns like Bethel and Cynthia at Taronga is going to break the bank.

Sun bears are a paradox; give them a big, interesting enclosure and they don't breed.
Give them a boring little cage and they seem to breed. Didn't Wellington zoo breed them in a fairly basic cage? I know that back in the seventies Fort Worth zoo bred them several times in what was described as concrete floored chain link pens each 6 metres long and 3.6 metres wide.