Animals Dieing out in Aussie Zoos

Animals Dieing out in Aussie Zoos
31-05-2006

Ok we all know this is happeneing, and here is were we can keep a record, i will first go through all the animals i know, (all birds, lol)

Flamingoes
1 Greater left at Adelaide, 70+ years old, Blind
1 Chilean at Adelaide, Same as greater but shes acctually 77.
2 Chilean at Taronga, non-breeding.

Curassows
2 female Razor-Billed - Different Exhibits and they dont get along
I belaive there is 1 left in New-Zealand

Palm Cockies
2 New Guinea Birds at Adelaide, Pair, are 40+ years old, have laid 5 clutches, all infertile
1 Aussie bird at Adelaide Young Male (Ben)
1 Aussie bird at Gorge Wildlife Park, Female- Adelaide dont wanna deal with it, its of shady origin



Just a reminder this is not a Bitch-about-zoos topic, just a way of US keeping track, and please feel free to edit my list, and add your own, maybe in 5 more pages we will have a complete list.

who isn't?
01-06-2006

its very hard to compile a list of this sort - because in the end virtually all of the animals in australia are at risk of dying out without constant import of fresh genes. very few animals actually exist in our zoos in decent numbers - sumatran tigers, lions, orangutans and spider monkeys would be examples of species with reasonably healthy populations.

all other species seem at some sort of risk for one reason or another. there are species such as the ruffed lemur, who despite having a decent population size here, is lacking fresh blood or members of a certain sex.

then there are all the species being phased out - animals that are purposefully not being bred. congo buffalo, de brazza's guenon, leopards, pumas, brown bears, white-fronted lemurs and many others fall under this category.

and finally there are all the species in "breeding programs" that actually are in such small numbers here that animals born into the program seem to be waiting half a lifetime for a new mate. bongo, malayan and brazilian tapir and lion tamarin are good examples of species in this scenario.

in some cases (slow loris, pygmy hippopotamus) - the zoos seem to not be interested in bringing in a mate at all, despite the animals being ragarded as in a "breeding program".

so maybe it would be better to try to mention species that are not at immediate risk of dying out!

01-06-2006

I wouldn't really count the sumatran tigers as being 'safe' in Australasia. Almost all of them are descended from a pair that was at Melbourne zoo, Frank and Poetry. The exceptions a handful that have been imported from outside in the last couple of years, and they have all been mated to Frank/Poetry descendants.
Jai

01-06-2006

that's true jay. the truth is none of our animals actually have populations that are self-sustaining long-term and many a barely viable in the short-term. most of australasia's tigers might be decendants of melbournes 2 animals - but almost ALL of the worlds captive sumatran tigers are decendants of just 8!!!

Greater flamingoes
03-06-2006

Auckland Zoo has a flock of 17 greater flamingos. Apart from a couple of aged individuals in Australia, this is the only flock of flamingos in Australasia, which were imported from Slimbridge Zoo in England in 2001.


The above is an extract from Auckland Zoo website . I hope they are successful breeders -- then Australian Zoos might be able to get some of the offspring . But also due to NZs strict biosecurity laws , this was not an easy or cheap project to obtain these birds in the first place .

03-06-2006

Yeah thanks nigel for that, i didnt know that, i hope they breed, there is only 1 greater in Aust and 3 Chilean