Changes at Taronga » Taronga Zoo

08-05-2008

That may be true pat, but still to move 4 or 5 fully grown giraffe, means 4 or 5 crates that need to be constructed, plus an alternate root in some places, as you carnt move bridges!

10-05-2008

i think it would be rather difficult to justify shutting down the electricity to move giraffes though it would have novelty value attached to it.
maybe they could combine the giraffe transfer with earth hour and roll two 'conservation' initiatives into one
personally i think taronga might keep the giraffes on site and either stagger the construction program around them OR move them elsewhere in the zoo. the current red kangaroo yards might be a good place. will be interesting to see what happens.

11-05-2008

I really do not think somebody needs to lift the powerlines to transport a fully grown giraffe within Australia. The most common way how to move such an animal is to use a special box + truck with a movable roof. After a giraffe has walked in, the roof is slowly lowered. In central Europe a minimum height of bridges, powerlines etc is 4,5m and transport of (fully grown) giraffes is nothing exceptional. A way bigger problem could be an anesthesia (if blood tests are required) and the slow and uneasy process to accustom to a new surroundings for an elderly animal.

I think only young animals has been trasported yet, because of lower transport costs.

11-05-2008

They could put them on a boat and send them to a port that has only highway in between it and wpz.

11-05-2008

is there one? how far inland is dubbo?

11-05-2008

I don't know if it would work but you can be sure that their would still be less powerlines then through the streets of Sydney.

11-05-2008

500 kms. . . and even then you have to take them through a variety of small towns. once they are this side of the blue mountains you have bathurst orange molong and wellington to get through. having said that I really can't see it being that much of a problem. It is not uncommon to see massive mining trucks towed through the streets of these cities. all that I see is needed would be a green light corridor and carefully picking the roads

12-05-2008

Surely the original giraffes at WPZ came from TZ? Allowing for some suburban build-up since then, I would think it must still be feasible to move animals between the two collections, if a tad difficult.

12-05-2008

I don't think they will be moving any Giraffes anytime soon. With the The car park being done and huge changes that are planned for the top gate. Topgate will never look the same By the sounds of things the heritage listed entrance will be all that remains. I wont say whats happening because i only just found out myself from a keeper, But it sounds like it all starts changing in a couple of months.
I doubt they would be moved anytime soon. If they were to move them internally they could have used the old elephant paddock but with the elephant pregnancy thats all changed.

12-05-2008

Are their major changes at Taronga because of Tong Dee's baby? I haven't been there since late 2006.
Congratulations to you guys, i spoke with the Melbourne keepers their jealous as hell! You can only hope for a healthy birth,

12-05-2008

Yeah theres a mad rush on to get the old Elephant enclosure prepared as they will need to separate Tong Dee from the others.
And im not a keeper, im just a TTI student(Intern Keeper) but yes I say congrats to the team involved they have done a great job.

12-05-2008

stretch andy- they do not want to separtae tong dee from the others rather gung. They will want her to stay with the group. Elpephant hbirths are very social. The otehrs will learn from tong dees birth. GUng on the other hand needs to be moved because 1. current exhibit needs for space, plus he may not be best around the babay, thoyugh he is a very well behaved bull (so far). Also, the courts told taronga they have to move him.

Melbourne will not doubt have a new arrival within 2 years in my opinion.

As for giraffe, the problem is moving adults, all of taronga's are adults. In fact all of taronga's current giraffe orginally came from dubbo, but when they were about 15-18 months, whilst they can still fit under powerlines, bridges, and able to handle a 500 km trip, and it's not all straight- you have to get a across the blue mountains, which is extremely annoying logistically due to the amount of turns, and very very very slow pace moving over the mountains. then you have about 300 km to dubbo from base of mountains, though all highway, you pass 3 major suburban towns, again slow moving. Take in accordance moving 4 adults, and you cans see it's a logistical nigth mare.

It still is an option, but another is also building a temporary enclosure at the zoo.

12-05-2008

Also, it takes about 5 hours buy car to drive to sydney, from dubbo. So take in the fact moving 4 aniamls, including all support vehicles of such a move, and more than likey green light treatment whole way, with police escotrts (which is a norm when moving large animals between dubbo and taronga.)

Then 18 months later complete the whole operation again!

12-05-2008

Alright, googled can't find anything hard, so does anyone knoew when the new bull exhibit will be done? And if so when will gung move, 10? 13?

Personally i don't think the exhibt should of been made for away from the herd exhibit, but i guess there isn't enough room, and the only room would be the old elephant exhibit.
For Melbourne zoo there is a glimmer of hope, i think. Apparently, A keeper once told me that breeding will naturally occur, he is a boy and he knows what to do. I don't think that is the case, mataining a close relationship with Mek Kapah since he was extremly young Bong Su never learnt how to mate, new girls just come and nothing big has happened, yet. Although in the wild bulls mate at around 30, but there is no competition. Then again Rex of Rockton Safari had his first calf at 36.

12-05-2008

Umm i can have a look at it when im there on Thursday. I dont think you will find anything online about it some times word of mouth on here is better.... sometimes.
Maybe they want to have some distance between the enclosures, it might cause less problems????