Thank you for that update. Good to hear that one of the pups is a female, the first surviving female pup since 2003! Any news on a name for Rukiaya's calf? It's a shame they don't follow the naming convention of using the mother's first name as the first letter. Eg. Kinshasa - Kiri (1984), Kay (1986) etc. With (R)ukiaya and (K)iraka, it wouldn't be overly difficult, so many 'K' names in swahili.
a few days ago 945 giant weta bred at the zoo were released on Motuhorapapa Island in the Hauraki Gulf. (From the zoo's Facebook)
In the biggest Auckland Zoo news this year, Anjalee the elephant has arrived and has begun the settling in process. She will be introduced to the Zoo's other elephant, Burma, and the pair will hopefully go on display together in the near future. See this thread for further information: http://www.zoochat.com/17/new-elephant-anjalee-403650/#post883828
Auckland Zoo is celebrating 92 years of elephants with an exhibition in the old elephant house featuring photos of past elephants. From 27 June to 19 July. Event information - Elephant Memories - a photographic exhibition
Kiraka has given birth to the first male giraffe at Auckland Zoo since 2010. Auckland Zoo welcomes baby giraffe | Stuff.co.nz
Orange-fronted Parakeets on Display From the Zoo's Facebook page today: AFAIK, this means the zoo now has four of NZ's six Cyanoramphus species.
a blink-and-you'd-miss-it comment by the zoo under a photo on their Facebook page has revealed that their new male capybaras (two, which will be coming from Chester Zoo in the UK) will be on show by December. I am very glad that they are getting some unrelated animals to pair with their Australian-bred females. Makes a nice change
Giraffe Kiraka son has been named Mtundu. https://www.facebook.com/AKLZOONZ/photos/a.212836436983.131549.57062666983/10153168848891984/?type=1
Here are some photos of the new Orange-fronted Kakariki; they prefer to keep their distance, the first photo is actually through the aviary mesh.
Intresting conservation project in which the Auckland Zoo cooperates : https://www.instrumentl.com/campaigns/ecology-conservation-of-the-carrizal-seedeater/
Auckland Zoo's male Capybara Kosh has arrived. https://www.facebook.com/AKLZOONZ/photos/a.212836436983.131549.57062666983/10153215346446984/?type=3
oh cool. I thought they were getting two males, but I must have been misinformed or mistaken. I find it strange that even though the capybaras have proven to be very popular there has literally been nothing in the media about them getting a male for their two females, except this almost in-passing mention on Facebook. It's just like "our male has been introduced to the females..." as if "oh yeah, everybody knows we have a male capybara".
Auckland Zoo has anounced plans (in its newsletter) for the departure of three of its Bornean Orangutans on the 12th of November. They are heading to an unspecified Zoo in the US - does anyone know where? The animals leaving are Isim, Madju and Gangsa (2.1). This will leave the zoo with three orangs - Borneans Charlie and Melur (Madju's mum I think), and hybrid Wanita, and will mean that now the zoo has a surplus orang enclosure. Auckland has been trying to relocate its Orangs overseas (to the US to join that breeding programme), in order to join the Australasian programme for Sumatrans. In 2009, another trio of Orangs (Intan, 20, her mother Indra, 28, and her father Horst, 31) were sent to Busch Gardens in Florida.
Confirmation that all three will be going to Los Angeles initially for 30 days of quarantine: Isim and Gangsa will then remain in LA whilst Madju travels on to Busch Gardens in Florida. Work on the empty enclosure in Auckland will start in 2017 before Sumatran Orangutans join the collection sometime after that.. Three of Auckland Zoo's best-loved characters are departing overseas. Bornean orang-utans Madju, Isim, at right of picture, and Gangsa, left, will leave New Zealand on November 12 to join breeding programmes in the United States. It will be an emotional departure for Madju, who turns 10 just three days before saying goodbye to his dad Charlie, mum Melur, and his "aunt" Wanita. "Madju is at the age when orang-utans leave their parents and he is already showing signs he is getting a bit boisterous and testing their boundaries," the zoo's primate team leader Amy Robbins said. "For a while we expect they will miss him. "They will wonder where he has gone but will soon realise they are enjoying the peace and quiet." A team of more than 20 people - including keepers, vets and nurses - will help get the three primates into custom crates for a 12-hour flight to Los Angeles. The orang-utans will be awake during the trip in the hold of a passenger jet and will have lunch boxes and drinks for the journey. After a month in quarantine in California, Isim, 21, and Gangsa, 25, will stay on at Los Angeles Zoo and Madju will transfer to Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida. "It will be sad to see the orang-utans go after so many years. Some staff spend more time with them than they do with their own families," Robbins said The orang-utans were always scheduled to leave as part of an international breeding programme, Robbins said. "They will be instant superstars in America where their genetic stock is of an extremely high value," she added. Three remaining orang-utans will stay on at Auckland Zoo. Work will begin in 2017 on a new facility for the zoo's primates, before the arrival of Sumatran orang-utans. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfmc_id=1&objectid=11534670
