interesting zoo facts » Werribee Open Range Zoo

interesting zoo facts
27-02-2005

Not sure if this is of interest to many people or not. I am really interested in where animals in zoos come from etc so I foun this little tidbit of interest. if you have any others, please post them.

The original herd of zebras at Werribee (presumably the ancestors of the animals there today), arrived in 1980 and were from the zoo in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

rhinos and giraffes...
27-02-2005

in 1981 the werribee zoo imported the original pair of southern white rhinoceros from whipsnade zoo in the UK.

also, until recently when some zoo's started importing the rothschild's sub-species, every giraffe in australia was incredibly inbred - all directly decending from just one original pair imported to taronga zoo in 1935!
these original animals are believed to be of the nominate sub-species (giraffa camelopardalis camelopardalis). that's why now some zoo's such as monarto and western plains use surplus animals from the rothschild's giraffe breeding program to invigorate their herds bloodlines - their animals are the product of generation after generation of sibling and offspring/parent matings - yuk!