This was the move I expected. From a comms perspective, it's great for the zoos to announce this with plenty of time for visitors to bid their farewells, and also to say straight away which species is going to be going into the elephant habitat. While some would have preferred the space to get redeveloped, I for one am looking forward to welcoming Hari to Taronga.
Whilst it is sad to see the elephants finally departing Taronga for good, I still think it's very exciting to have Rhinos back at Taronga as a replacement. Indian Rhinos were floated as a replacement for the elephants at Perth; and a lot of zoos have taken this step post elephants, being the simplest replacement with minimal modifications to the habitat required. Considering the popularity of Kua during her short time at Taronga a few decades ago, I'm certain Hari will also be well welcomed following his arrival. A mixed species exhibit alongside Water Buffalos is very much something to look forward to!
I was excited for orangutans and/or an expanded Pygmy hippo facility, but they have gone for the cheaper option which is still very exciting!! The exhibit will need very few modifications.
I think this is a very positive move, Asian Elephants are obviously being phased out of city zoos and an Indian Rhino is a natural and fitting replacement, the Water Buffalo are a great bonus as well. Orangutans would have been great too, but this is a more cost effective option which allows them to spend funds on other projects.
It’s fantastic to see a second holder of Indian rhinoceros in the region. It’s an interesting point of notice that Taronga are the only one of the four city zoos phasing out of elephants to publicly confirm a NEW species as a replacement for their elephants!
It’s awesome to see Taronga are taking this route. Not only are they maintaining their dwindling Ungulate/ hoof stock population, but also keeping up with Sydney and properly challenging them. I hope the zoo plans to breed Buffalo in the long term, they would be the only zoo in the region if I’m not mistaken. I was hoping for Rhino, and as it is the cheaper alternative, I should have anticipated it. Whilst it will be hard seeing Pak Boong and Tang Mo go, it definitely opens up greater opportunities, and sets Taronga apart if they do end up breeding Buffalo.
No city zoo in the region is currently breeding buffalo, so it would be great to see Taronga undertake this and potentially lead to other zoos such as Werribee holding them long term. Bearing in mind Sydney Zoo have hyena and orangutans on site already and are considering gorilla and rhino will be invaluable in Taronga’s bid to close the point of difference gap.
Great to see taronga going down this route, it still does make me wonder what melbourne will be doing as it was speculated that indian rhino were the most lickely replacment
And they won't even need to change the size of the shovels!! Seriously though - this is a good move - for Dubbo as well.
This is such exciting news!! I'm so excited - a one horned rhino, and water buffalo, in a mixed exhibit?! I love it, and I can't wait to meet Hari. It's bloody wonderful to see Taronga with some new species added to the zoo. It's also really nice to see the elephant girls moved to a new, bigger space and bigger family. Good for them
This is a good move for taronga and western plains, it simultaneously gives Dubbo extra space while Taronga gets a large spacies to replace the elephants. It will be interesting long term to see what they do. With the elephant house having multiple hold areas. If they will eventually split the habitats lower and upper areas and get hari a mate. Split the lower area to redevelop. Or keep it exactly as is.
Sydney Zoo actually do already have a male white rhino, Tino, who arrived from NZ (Hamilton I believe) a couple of years ago. Ever since he arrived, they have been taking advantage of the fact they have "Sydney's only rhino" in their advertising. By the time Hari arrives at Taronga, Sydney Zoo will no longer have that distinction, and "Sydney's only white rhino", "Sydney's only African rhino" or even "Sydney's only two-horned rhino" just doesn't have the same ring to it and won't get the same appreciation from the general public! Although, they will be able to say they have Sydney's only elephants.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they split the habitat. Aside from assisting in introductions of the Indian rhinoceros and Asian water buffalo, it’ll be a useful capacity for separating them if they can no longer remain cohesive long term. Apologies, my post needed a semi-colon (it wasn’t very clear) to denote Taronga acquiring a rhino would be one less point of difference for Sydney. Yes that’s correct, Tino came from Orana Wildlife Park. He was their last surviving calf (born 2015). Their other two surviving calves (also bulls) are also in Australia.
Sydneys only elephants won't have the same ring to it, while taronga is phasing out elephants due to space issues. Once the dust settles I imagine it will work better.
If that's the case they should send the buffalo back out to Dubbo. While yes they are an asian species that mixes with greater one horned rhino in the wild. They are a domesticated species and lack lustre display in and of themselves, for such a central part of the zoo.
There are two sections of the current Asian elephant exhibit; a lower and upper section of the paddock, with a gate in between which is usually open for the elephants. This would be beneficial as if it comes down to it; separations can be accommodated if required.
That would be ideal. The infrastructure required for housing Indian rhinoceros and Asian water buffalo versus Asian elephants isn’t wildly different, which is a huge advantage here and likely influenced the choice of rhinos. It’s reflected worldwide with rhinos being a common replacement for city zoos phasing out elephants.
It would have been costly removing the Barn and the core parts of the exhibit, including in assuming the tower overlooking it. And judging by Taronga’s recent projects I’m guessing funding would have been an issue. Should a redevelopment have happened, you would be looking into the 1-2 Billion dollar region. At the end of the day, this move was inevitable, I’m just glad we’re seeing Rhino return to Taronga.
