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Melbourne Zoo Melbourne Zoo 2015

Discussion in 'Australia' started by Jabiru96, 9 Jan 2015.

  1. Jabiru96

    Jabiru96 Well-Known Member

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  2. Pertinax

    Pertinax Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Ganyeki.

    I wonder if a breeding situation will be found in due course for G.Anne's son ''Ganyeki' currently at Werribee. Although his father 'Motaba' is from a well represented line, he is G.Anne's only offspring and she is the only(?) descendant of two wild-caught founders in the USA, so on the maternal side, he is genetically valuable.
     
  3. Jabiru96

    Jabiru96 Well-Known Member

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  4. persimon

    persimon Well-Known Member

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    the only problem is that he has been hand-reared, which increases the risk that he will not breed (I know, there are more and more good results with hand-reared males), making an expensive transfer to Europe less likely. If available, most zoos will prefer a mother-reared male.
     
  5. Pertinax

    Pertinax Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Agree on all your points above. Perhaps he should be first choice for a tryout if a new group was to be set up anywhere in the Australasian region though.
     
  6. Kifaru Bwana

    Kifaru Bwana Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I agree too. His genes are way too valuable for that. I rate his chances of successfully breeding as "better" than the older generation wild caught individuals that usually have had little experience ever of a social structure / family group situation and had to deal with more or less quite sterile zoo exhibits at the time.
     
  7. Astrobird

    Astrobird Well-Known Member

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    Does anyone know why Melb Zoo needed to bring in new African Hunting dogs when they already had a group of 5 or 6? Where did their original dogs go? I take it from the Zoos web site that they only have the 4 new ones from Perth. Anyone know more detail?
     
  8. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    Didn't their previous group go to Werribee? They might have shuffled them into the pack there? I don't really know why the would bring in new animals, although perhaps they wanted to display a single-sex group at the Zoo?
     
  9. Astrobird

    Astrobird Well-Known Member

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    Werribee has had an all female group (also from Perth I think) for several years, I don't know what sex Melb had previously. I don't recall them ever having bred them there, so if they were females, I guess they could have integrated them into Werribee's group.
     
  10. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    Melbourne Zoo's group for at least the last few years has only been four (all males). I haven't looked at hunting dog data for Australian zoos yet; when did the new ones come to the zoo?

    I don't know the specifics of Melbourne Zoo's situation, but hunting dogs don't live terribly long - about ten years or so - so the turn-over in zoos can be fairly frequent and new groups often replace older holdings. Also when you have a managed regional programme some zoos need to only hold single-sex groups because of the way the species breed (with just one dominant female).
     
  11. Jabiru96

    Jabiru96 Well-Known Member

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  12. PAT

    PAT Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    From what I know and have heard, you are right. The previous hunting dogs were four brothers that were getting on in life so were moved to retire (I don't know where though) and a younger same sex group were brought in.

    Also, hunting dog breeding must be a bit of a gamble because you could end up with over a dozen puppies from one pregnancy. Zoos would only want to go into it if they were certain that they'd be able to find homes for this many offspring (unless they get put down but I'd rather not think about that).
     
  13. Grant Rhino

    Grant Rhino Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I was at the zoo today and I noticed that there were only 2 black and white colobus monkeys on display (instead of the usual 5).

    What was more of a concern was that I also noticed that there were only 2 feeding stumps (instead of 5) where the monkeys are fed or have their teeth inspected by the keepers.

    I'm assuming that the mother and father are the 2 that are left and the 3 kids have been moved on?

    Can anyone shed any light on this?

    I couldn't find a keeper to ask.
     
  14. Grant Rhino

    Grant Rhino Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Yes, the 4 males at Melbourne Zoo were 4 brothers from the same litter, named Harry, Barry, Garry and Larry (but with African spelling). Larry died of cancer or facial tumours or something (he was euthanized) before the move but Harry, Barry and Garry are living out their retirement off display at Werribee Zoo.
     
  15. Osprey71

    Osprey71 Well-Known Member

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    Pregnancy for Petre

    Pygmy Hippopotamus Petre has tested positive: she’s pregnant! Her calf will be the first Pygmy Hippo calf born at Melbourne Zoo in 33 years.

    13 February 2015
     
  16. Astrobird

    Astrobird Well-Known Member

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    Another article about the Gorilla birth

    No Cookies | Herald Sun

    Melbourne Zoo gorilla Kimya due to give birth any day now

    ANDREW JEFFERSON
    Herald Sun
    February 18, 2015 7:27PM

    Kimya, a pregnant gorilla at Melbourne Zoo is about to give birth any day. Picture: Kylie
    Kimya, a pregnant gorilla at Melbourne Zoo is about to give birth any day. Picture: Kylie Else


    THERE’S no monkey business at Melbourne Zoo as staff prepare for the first gorilla birth in 14 years.

    Expectant mum Kimya is being watched around the clock, and is due to deliver her first baby within a month. Keepers have been rostered on throughout the night, monitoring infra-red cameras in Kumya’s den.

    The new baby will have no shortage of admirers — Zoos Victoria membership has increased by 90,000 over the past year to reach 217,000, more than any AFL club. And the organisation is set to record its best-ever annual visitor numbers.
    Primate Department Manager Harna Burton is part of the 24/7 Kimya watch monitoring progra
    Primate Department Manager Harna Burton is part of the 24/7 Kimya watch monitoring program. Picture: Kylie Else

    Nearly 500,000 have visited its three zoos so far in 2014-15, with a third of the financial year left. The 2013-14 total was 561,968.

    Chief executive officer Jenny Gray said she was delighted by that.

    “It speaks volumes about the value that Victorians place on wildlife and their desire to get to know not only the world’s wildlife, but also our local species that are often in need of our help,” she said.
     
  17. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    This doesn't seem right to me. 217,000 members, yet only 500,000 visitors? To three zoos? Sounds like a massive disaster to me. Or some typo/error.

    This article, posted a month ago, says 600,000 visitors have been to just Melbourne Zoo in the past six months: Melbourne Zoo visitor numbers soar thanks to free entry
     
  18. MRJ

    MRJ Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

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    Melbourne Zoo visitation has been over a million for some years now. I don't know the figures but total visitation across the three properties must be approaching 2 million
     
  19. snowleopard

    snowleopard Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

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    You are correct (1.9 million to be exact), as these are the latest estimates that I was able to locate for the number of annual visitors at each attraction:

    Melbourne Zoo = 1.2 million
    Werribee Open Range Zoo = 360,000
    Healesville Sanctuary = 340,000
     
  20. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    Gorilla Born

    I spent yesterday morning at the zoo, and noticed nothing unusual about the gorillas, but... a baby was born that evening!

    Story here: New baby gorilla born at Melbourne Zoo! | Zoos Victoria