Pygmy hippo birth » Taronga Zoo

07-11-2008

oh, And ABC just finished their report on it,

07-11-2008

Yep just saw it on teh news, very very cute

07-11-2008

Hi jay,

Is Mareeba now officially an ARAZPA institution and thus allowed to exchange pygmy hippo stock?

When was the 1.0 born at Mareeba?
Any chance of re-breeding the Mareeba female soon?

What - if Mareeba is now within ARAZPA - is the likelihood of an exchange of males between Melbourne and Mareeba?

Cheers,

Jelle

07-11-2008

Mareeba is a provisional member, i believe they have the same benefits but are not arazpa accredited
I'm sure zoopro will come and clarify

07-11-2008

Mareeba now known as Cairns Wildlife Safari Reserve is in fact a provisional member which means that the paperwork is done but they are still waiting on a site inspection. Once the site inspection is carried out and is successful they will become full members.
Until that happens there will be no exchange of animals.

The young male hippo was born 17.11.2006

08-11-2008

Cairns also keep Common hippos right?

08-11-2008

While there might not be an official plan in place I'm sure that it was always in the back of zoo officials minds to hopefully create a pairing with the young produced from the Mel/Tar pairing and the young one at Cairns.
I'm hoping that both pairs will produce more young.

08-11-2008

that makes two of us, I also wish the success in breeding of hippos,

08-11-2008

Unfortunately you will be disappointed. The hippo will not be on display as reported by some Media sources. Everybody will have to wait to get a look at Monifa. I believe she will be ready for the public in another 5 weeks or around Xmas.
I have seen her myself and can say that she is as cute as a button and has the best Surrogate parent keepers anyone could ask for. Congrats to TZ and the Ungulates Keepers.

08-11-2008

excellent news for the zoo, i was keeping an eye out for the official announcement, which caught me a bit off guard, but the coverage has been amazing.
however, whilst the media hinted at the endangered wild status of the species, little mention was made of the near extinction of this species regionally.
i would still consider the future of this species prearious at best. is it assumed or has Timmy really been sent packing? if this is the case, i am left shaking my head. taronga could be considered to have space for up to 4 adult hippos (at least two animals in the old tapir exhibit, two in the african waterhole and surely a fifth animal could be stored somewhere else, if not melbourne or adelaide zoos?), i feel Taronga should have retained the male and secured at least a second calf from the pairing before returning him. At 23 years of age he is not a young sire, and establishing his genes is essential for the health of the program. Similarly, until Cairns arranges some form of exchange things dont look hopeful. at best, the future of this program is based on just four potential founders. securing more calves from all four of these animals should be considered a PRIORITY! the loss of just one of these founders and/or either of the calves would reduce the programs baseline by a quarter.
the calf has not had the best start to life, im guessing everyone hopes she makes it. i dont think anyone can breath a sigh of relief just yet. she needs to breed herself yet, hopefully with the young QLD male.
until this happens, this program remains, along with the program for dhole, francois langur, indian rhino and bongo on very shaky ground. with quarantine as it is, about the only thing going for this species is that it is relatively long-lived. but if we are to see more pygmy hippo in zoos for the next few decades we need to get at least two or three calves from the current pairings in order to create un-related pairings for the respective holders, who could produce calves themselves without effectively being inbred!

09-11-2008

Can't the hippos at Adelaide Zoo be used for breeding purposes?

09-11-2008

That's awesome news, thanks for the update glyn,

09-11-2008

Jay, this is not correct - the report on the ABC was poorly worded. Both parents remain at Taronga, and there are of course plans to try to get the female pregnant again.

09-11-2008

oh that's a good plan, though I was kinda looking forward to seeing Timmy again,

09-11-2008

Maybe if all goes well with the two babies they could be sent at a later date to Melbourne zoo as they have a top class exhibit for Pygmy Hippos, three pairs at three zoos