hyena birth - a first for australia » Monarto Zoo

23-08-2008

Just to revive an old thread: I'm extremely pleased at the "resurrection" of spotted hyenas in Aussie zoos (if only at Monarto and Perth so far.) Apparently they are going very well at Monarto.

From what I've seen of the species in the past, they make a good interesting exhibit, quite active, and very vocal around feeding time. At Taronga in the old days they were kept in enclosures with pools, and they were in and out of those pools summer and winter.

(Are you guys allowed to have them up there, Steve Robinson; or are they another Queensland "no-no?")

23-08-2008

Surprise, surprise - in Queensland they are a no, no!!! As also are Dhole, Maned Wolf and even Meerkat - but Lions, Tigers and Polar Bears are OK!

Spotted Hyena are very high on the priority wish list for the Darling Downs Zoo - we're even prepared to import animals when the time comes. But don't hold your breath waiting for that time to come. Our Government can't even grasp the thought that Leopard Tortoises can be safely kept in this "Smart State".

23-08-2008

Ugh, no wonder I left QLD, I would also love you to have hyena Steve, I fell in love with them after meeting the Monarto posse. They generally breed well, are good to manage and good display animal.

Sabi is the best thing since sliced bread as far as I am concerned!

24-08-2008

It is interesting the change of view when it comes to keeping Spotted hyaenas in Australia. Perth imported their original trio with the opening of the Savannah exhibit in the early 90s, purely for display purposes. Although they bred several times the lack of regional interest in the species meant the necessary castration of the only male. I don't believe there was ever any intention for the species to be adopted into the Carnivore TAG as a priority species. Fast forward a decade and a half and now Monarto is breeding from a large group and other collections seem to be interested in keeping them. I am glad that this revolution has occurred and had previously thought it was a pity that the Australian large open range collections didn't look closer at keeping hyaenas.