Longleat Safari & Adventure Park Southern Koala and Hairy Nosed Wombats coming to the UK!

*Please do not reload your Webpage or adjust your screen. You are reading this post correctly*

Longleat (of all places) has unvieled plans to import, not one but SIX SOUTHERN KOALA (1.5) direct from Australia.

Construction on a brand new exhibit for them is near completion. The import will also include a pair of Hairy Nosed Wombats. They are expected to arrive in the Spring of 2019 and be onshow for Easter

Koalas of Longleat: Six marsupials making history by being flown 10,000 miles to England safari park | Daily Mail Online

 

And the Australia boom continues!

 

Now, that is some very exciting news coming from Longleat now!!! I assume Cleland Park will ship these out.

Please note: these are the southern subspecies unrelated to the other koalas in Europe.
So, no mixing up!

 

A big win for Longleat it should bring in lots of the public

 

Well that’s really peaked my interest in the collection am I right in saying that Edinburgh is currently the only koala holder in the uk?

 

Looks like Edinburgh won't be the only UK zoo currently housing Koalas now that Longleat are getting them!

Same goes for Hamerton Zoo as well (now that they also have a Wombat in the UK)

 

Wow! This might precipitate my first ever visit to Longleat.

 

Some facts:

1. Southern koalas are not endangered. They are so common that if they were not koalas they would be culled. The idea of setting up a "conservation project:" to protect the species is ridiculous and green wash at it's worst.
2. Even if it was to be a conservation project, having 1.5 animals shows those involved have not the slightest concern for species management.
3. The "International Koala Centre of Excellence" does not exist, it is currently only a proposal. No doubt a "patron" has to make a substantial donation. In effect these koalas are being "bought" by Longleat.

 

Glad someone is pointing this out haha. Not to mention how terribly inbred South Australian koalas are... Though Longleat's koalas could still be used to raise awareness about koalas in general, so I think there is still a benefit.

Much more exciting to hear about the southern hairy nose wombats, a FAR more interesting species imo.

 

This is so frustrating, I'm due to visit Longleat the day after tomorrow and THIS has just been announced

Looks like I'm going to have to book another visit......... especially for those wombats!

 

By inbred do you mean the entire captive population or the entire subspecies

 

The subspecies.

 

I did a quick google in to the "International Centre of Excellence" after reading a quote attributed to its "inaugural director" in the Adelaide Advertiser today.

According to the Cleland website "The purpose of the Centre is to enhance the management and conservation of the Koala. The Centre aims to establish Adelaide as the ‘home of the koala’ by funding and directing ground-breaking research into our understanding and conservation of Australia’s best loved species." but it "does not have a current physical presence, the vision is that one day a koala research centre will be located at Cleland Wildlife Park."

It appears to be operating as a board dedicated to funding research in to koalas though it also seems following today's announcement that some of the donations will come from sending koalas to foreign zoos in exchange for funding.

Further information on the centre and its board is here -http://www.clelandwildlifepark.sa.gov.au/about-cleland/international-koala-centre

 

I would concur that inbreeding be an effect of severe habitat loss and fragmentation. Not to mention the effects of drought, disease (the koala one ..) and large scale deforestation. As a species koala are scored (2014 data assessment by IUCN) as VULNERABLE, even the south Australian ones.

BTW another note of caution over koala conservation: IUCN found …. "A recent parliamentary inquiry concluded that the national conservation and management strategy was largely ineffective (The Senate Environment and Communications References Committee 2011)."

Rather more sobering than what you suggested earlier.

 

Like I said elsewhere, I'm really excited about the Hyaenas.

 

It might even encourage me to return after my first visit in 2012. I'll start saving now!!

 

Just to clarify some of the points made above.

• Southern and Northern populations are not separate subspecies. Historically three subspecies were recognised, one each for the states of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. This was largely political and it was recognised that what existed was a cline which reflected Bergmann's Rule with the smallest animals in the north, increasing in size to the largest in the south. Broadly speaking, captive populations have either come from the northern populations or the southern populations so zoos have mostly kept the populations separate. The size difference is very noticable.
• Koalas are threatened in New South Wales and Queensland, the major threat the massive amount of land clearing still taking part in those states. This is not the case in Victoria or South Australia, where populations are robust and growing with koalas occupying pretty much all suitable habitat. Indeed most populations in South Australia are feral. The biggest problem is that without predators koala populations grow to a point they destroy their habitat then starve to death. This has lead to disagreement between wildlife authorities in northern and southern states with the former wanting koalas to be listed as threatened and southern states resisting this as this would make management of overpopulation difficult.
• The inbreeding in koala populations relates primarily to over hunting for the fur trade prior to the 1930's, which saw koala populations plummet. This was compounded by the fact that many reintroduction animals in Victoria and South Australia came from the French Island population which itself is descendant from 6 animals that were introduced to the island early in the 20th Century.

 

Chlidonias, thanks for clarifying.

 

What doesn't make sense is why Longleat have invested in importing Southern koalas, when everywhere else has Northerns?