Pygmy hippo birth » Taronga Zoo

12-11-2008

Me too!
We probably need ZooPro, with his unrivalled access to the records, to find that out.

All I know is that pygmy hippos were never in this country until the early 1950s when Sir Edward Hallstrom imported one from the U.S. for Taronga. It was housed in a small yard next to the larger hippos, and was the only representative of the species for many years.
Later, a few more were imported and housed in a row of concrete floored yards up where the chimps are now. (Their neighbours were a few anoa, some albino water buffalo, some elands and an old blind Malayan tapir.)

There didn't seem to be much interest in trying to breed them - at least it seemed to be a case of "if they breed; fine! If they don't; no worries." When they finally did breed , young were sent to Melbourne and, later, Adelaide. I know for sure that as late as 1975 Adelaide zoo had never had one.

There's a lot of gaps to fill in, people.
For instance, tell me about the importation from Hawaii in the 1980s, please.

12-11-2008

ok...what we know
at some point in the early 1990s taronga kept their pygmy hippo down near where the FFBS is
the zoo has lost a male to EMC virus, presumably the Honolulu male
what needs to be established is how many animals were imported, and where did the Tipperary animals come from? do they represent a fresh bloodline so to speak, or were they sourced from Pearl Coast Zoo/other aussie zoos?

12-11-2008

cairns pair are bout 20-30 years old and a young boy aged 3, i think they came from tipperary. this may halp a little.

12-11-2008

we already knew the Cairns pair came from Tipperary. What were trying to establish is their pre-Tipperary origins and their lineage.

13-11-2008

Male born 23.07.1981 at Melbourne then went to Pearl Coast in 1987 then Tipperary 1992 then Cairns 2004

Female born 31.08.1991 at Pearl Coast then as above

Young male born 17.11.2006 so only 2 years old in 2 weeks not 3 years old

Prior to Melbourne lineage from Baltimore and Cleveland

Hope this helps

13-11-2008

I can confirm part of that, anyway.
After a bit of detective work I managed to locate and contact the former Curator of Pearl Coast Zoo, Graham Taylor.
Graham was responsible for the day-to-day running of the place and is now a much respected aviculturist, living on the N.S.W. north coast. (He is one of the world's foremost authorities on eclectus parrots.)

Graham confirmed that the source of Pearl Coast's pygmy hippos was Melbourne Zoo, and they bred at Pearl Coast, but as far as he could remember the survivors went to either Melbourne or Adelaide Zoo when Pearl Coast closed in the early 1990s. (Which is not to say that they weren't then sent to Tipperary.)

The plot thickens.........

13-11-2008

To be on on topic: I presume the sire of the Cairns breeding female is the 1981 Melbourne male, but which female was the dam!???

For everyone: I remember someone saying on this thread some 4 founders are involved. What is the history and ancestry of the Taronga pairing?

14-11-2008

snappy big cat - down -

14-11-2008

Loving your work Ara. I have very little interest in pygmy hippos.
Glyn wanting to figure out the history of this animal in Australia. Now thats interesting.

__________________
Stuart R Webster
A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead

14-11-2008

zooman, imnot quite sure what your post means? is it meant to be read the way it as been written?

14-11-2008

Hi Glyn, to be clear.

I think that the journey of figuring out. The blood lines of Australias pygmy hippos, would be a facinating and challenging.

Ara "[quote] After a bit of detective work I managed to locate and contact the former Curator of Pearl Coast Zoo, Graham Taylor.[quote]
Great iniative.Great work.

Hope that clears it up.

I have asked a friend to read the post you are questioning. Apparentley it could be read to be haveing a go at you. Not my intention at all mate.

So to answer yor question. Yes in my mind read it the way it is written.

__________________
Stuart R Webster
A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead

17-11-2008

The birth of this little baby has been a real shot in the arm, not just for pygmy hippos in Aust. but also for the Aust. contributors to this board. It has really livened us all up.

17-11-2008

I guess when the three baby elephants arrive it will be another shot in the arm as well

17-11-2008

I rather think of it like 3 major shots, one in each limb, that way we'd just be limping around trying to carte for 3, 100kgs bundles of joy!

17-11-2008

Ha ha yeah, good stuff!

I'm sure many of us were hoping that the Cairns pygmy hippos were unrelated to those in the other Australian zoos but unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the case.

Nevertheless, Aussie zoos should continue on with the species. They seem to be long living animals, and we don't know when a miracle will occur and some fresh blood could be allowed in.

I'm sure many species of exotics in our zoos have a frighteningly small founder base, if only we knew it. I personally would rather see inbred animals than no animals at all, unless they are severely degenerate.

Incidentally, the hope that the Pearl Coast/Tipperary/Cairns pygmy hippos
had been obtained overseas rather than locally was not as remote as you might think, as Lord MacAlpine, when setting up Pearl Coast zoo, did manage to import quite a few ungulates despite our restrictive laws. (To do so successfully required two things; money and political clout; and fortunately he had plenty of both.) He brought in some species which have since been wasted and have died out, such as Gemsbok, and others which are now established, such as Addax, which had never been here before.