Thanks for posting this @ZooNZ. It’s good to have a decent update on this project. I’ll admit that from watching the video of the new exhibit, I was a little underwhelmed. However, some of the aerial shots were old footage; and it wasn’t until I saw the footage at the end, that the impact of the planting/vegetation growth really showed. Due to the orangutans settling in, they understandably didn’t have full access to the exhibit; which didn’t show the full scope of what will eventually be on offer: “A key aspect of our South East Asia Jungle Track is the creation of an expansive network of aerial pathways that can be re-routed in multiple ways. These start within their forested habitat and extend out and all the way across our central lake.” Some things to consider: 1. Hamilton Zoo have recently started work on a refurbishment of their already excellent chimpanzee exhibit. One of the aims is to create an exhibit that will allow the apes to remain outside during inclement weather. I didn’t see much evidence of this kind of planning in Auckland Zoo’s exhibit. If it rains, they’re just gonna lurk in that raceway (at 10.31 on the video). 2. Outside of a feeding demonstration, this is the most active I’ve ever seen orangutans. Once the novelty of a new exhibit wears off, so too will their activity and visitors might not see much (with so many places for the apes to hide). Auckland Zoo’s colony once numbered nine orangutans; hopefully there’ll be some new imports soon so that this exhibit remains the hive of activity it is at the moment.
Auckland Zoo’s three-month-old zebra foal has been euthanised due to long-term mobility issues in his front and back legs. Security Check
That’s sad news, but not unexpected given his outlook; and Auckland Zoo are to be commended for their openness surrounding this unfortunate turn of events. Clearly the right call was made. Hopefully we’ll see a new foal from Layla this December; as well as a first foal from Dalila. It’d be great to see a thriving herd establish at Auckland, like the one at Hamilton Zoo. Current Herd: 0.1 Itika (1992) 1.0 Carlo (2007) Monty x Itika 0.1 Layla (2011) 0.1 Dalila (2013) 0.1 Eve (2018) Carlo x Layla
Auckland Zoo has welcomed five more baby Bolivian Squirrel Monkeys! So far the zoo has had seven squirrel monkeys born this year. Auckland Zoo
Make that eight! Auckland Zoo welcomed a baby Bolivian squirrel monkey to Ratteplan on 19 April 2020. Ratteplan (born 2005) is an experienced mother. She gave birth to offspring at her previous zoo; as well as Cheche in June 2012 - the first infant born at Auckland Zoo since the troop’s import from Europe that year; and has had several infants since. The troops founders were: Ratteplan, Mooi, Romy, Tito, Picaro, Benito, Poco and Iago. Two additional founders (males Jimini and Nino) were imported from France last year. Covid 19 coronavirus: Auckland Zoo: What's it like for the animals during Covid-19 lockdown?
Auckland Zoo has transported ten Orange-fronted Kararikis bred at the zoo to the Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust in Christchurch in preparation for their release into the wild. From the zoo's Facebook page: Auckland Zoo
When is white rhino Jamila due? Link: A rhino-sized introduction for Jamila and Inkosi | Auckland Zoo News
Jamila is due in August 2020. It will be the second Southern white rhinoceros calf born at Auckland Zoo; and the first in 20 years! Their exhibit has increased in size since then; while the number of rhinos has decreased to three. With the bulls kept separately, the rhinos will be housed in three groups once the calf is born. This pregnancy is significant as eight year old Jamila will be the first rhino bred in a New Zealand Zoo to produce a calf of her own. Cabelle’s daughters - Imani (2007) and Savannah (2011) are still yet to breed. Jamila is also only the second female Zambezi has successfully bred with. He produced four calves with Cabelle between 2002 and 2007; but never succeeded in breeding with Moesha or Kito, both who conceived to Kruger soon after his arrival.
So, the female Jamila bred with Zambezi (and not his son Inkosi)? I wonder why - if he has been so unsuccessful at mating other cows he is still being used that way? Age as well as no competitor bull may also be a factor! Any suggestions there?
Yes, Zambezi is the sire of Jamila’s calf. The Southern white rhinoceros breeding programme promotes pairing cows with founders unless all available founder options have been exhausted. Zambezi’s only relatives in the region are his 2.1 surviving offspring; whereas Inkosi’s mother has a total of seven surviving offspring. Zambezi’s failure to breed with Moesha and Kito was partly attributed to his small size for a bull; and their comparatively large size as cows. Caballe was a small cow; as would have been Jamila through virtue of being an adolescent. Zambezi is 29 years old, so he should still have a decade plus of breeding potential ahead of him. One theory is that having a second bull on site can motivate the breeding bull to mate with the cows. This has been done successfully at Monarto Zoo. The presence of his son (housed separately; but with shared use of the exhibit) may have motivated Zambezi to exert himself!
To tell you the truth incrementally older rhino bulls perform statistically not so great compared to a younger mature bull (9-12 years of age) and his son Inkosi in not exactly the best match as a competitor bull. I do understand they planned to have bred Zambezi for demographic reasons, but you can kiss goodbye to him being able to breed for another 10 years or so! I would think his physical fitness and build and presence in general are not exactly helping things either, so even less of a chance there. It would be critical to have his 3 current offspring become breeders themselves! What is the current stats for both the cows Moesha en Kito in the region?
New Zealand has decent success with breeding older bulls like Zambezi. The last two calves at Orana were sired by two different bulls - both in their late 20's; while Kruger at Hamilton Zoo (aged 31) is still fertile and siring offspring. I've just had a look at the stats in the Southern white rhinoceros studbook however, and agree with you that younger bulls yield better results. There's eight records of a calf sired by a bull aged 40 or over, and they were all to the same bull - suggesting he was something exceptional. You'll be pleased to know that Zambezi's second offspring, 1.0 Mtoto (2004), has recently gone into a breeding situation; and Hamilton Zoo are trying to breed with his third offspring, 0.1 Imani (2007). Moesha (1994) has to date produced two calves - 1.0 Kifaru (2009), who is now the breeding bull at Werribee; and 0.1 Jamila (2012), who is pregnant with her first calf. Hamilton Zoo are hopeful Moesha will breed again, but it's unlikely in my opinion given the fact she hasn't bred in almost a decade. Kito (2000) has produced three calves - 1.0 Ubuntu (2010); a stillbirth (2013); and 1.0 Samburu (2016). She is expecting her fourth calf. Neither of her two sons are in breeding situations at present.
I think the first male that Orana Park bred (back in the late 1990s) has sired at least one calf of his own? The subsequent birth was at Monarto or Werribee. I can't remember which without checking
That was Ibutho (born 1999). He was the first Southern white rhinoceros born in New Zealand. He was sent to Monarto Zoo in 2004, but has not sired any calves to date. He is the only offspring of his mother - born at San Diego. His father sired two more calves (both male) with Tamu from Perth Zoo in 2010 and 2015.
I can't help but notice that we haven't heard anything more of January's flamingo eggs. A video about Auckland Zoo's flamingos was posted to their Facebook page on the 26th of April, and the zookeeper in the video made no mention of the eggs. Is it likely that they were all duds, or is it time to phase out the flamingos and give their enclosure to a pair of mute swans?
The Greater flamingo eggs were sadly unsuccessful. The incubation time is around a month, so any chicks would have hatched in February. The flock isn’t doing too bad. Granted, they took over a decade to breed; but they’ve since produced seven chicks (six surviving) - which includes the 2014 milestone of being the first zoo in the world to breed from an entirely hand reared flock; and in 2018, hatching the first flamingo chick to be reared under natural circumstances in Australasia. When the last chicks hatched in 2018, it was noted: “This is the first time the hand-reared flamingo flock has reliably shown such promising and encouraging paternal behaviours, such as incubating their eggs at night, inspiring our keepers to give the birds a chance to raise their own young. In the past the flamingo eggs were incubated in an artificial setting, and hand-reared by our keepers until they became independent and were ready to be accepted into the flock.” It’s reasonable to assume the zoo are keen to encourage natural breeding, even at the expense of less chance of success - since there’s issues with breeding/rearing from hand reared flamingos. In the latest masterplan, there was the idea to move the flamingos to a new aviary type exhibit. Although their exhibit is looking small and I agree they could do with an upgrade, I hope this doesn’t put them off breeding. The conditions they’re in now are obviously working (to a point).
Uh, this is nonsense. Hand-reared flamingos are as successfull and good at breeding and rearing their own chicks as parent-reared flamingos. Several American zoos have flocks that originated from eggs collected from feral Hialeah Park flock or from other zoos and they breed without problems. (This is very different from for example Marabous who get imprinted when handreared and thus become useless for breeding.) I´m the last person who would usually defend hand-rearing of birds if not neccessary. But this flamingo colony, the only one in Australian/NZ area, is an exception. In my opinion, keepers should try every possible or impossible trick in their sleeves to increase production of chicks to bring the colony to good numbers. Let females lay a second or third clutch, hand-rear every chick in next few years. Build the numbers up. Flamingo wellfare is so strongly connected with size of the flock they live in. Their feeling of security, their pace of life, the number of hours they spend active during the day, their mood to breed, intensity of coloration, their possibility to find a perfect mating partner are so different once they get to live in a large colony. Auckland flock is slowly moving in the right direction, but painfully slowly.
Ref the Flamingos ... spot-on Jana. I would agree with everything you said. Our Greaters have followed exactly that route. Numbers and choice are the key. We hand-reared for the first couple of years following years of 'failures' (which were probably part of the natural build-up cycle of the flock). Now we have 40+ they breed every year and are bomb-proof when nesting. I was cutting grass with a ride-on lawnmower within a metre and a half of the nests just this week and not one bird even stood up! Ref the Marabous - you are wrong. Our breeding male (which had bred successfully before unfortunately he died last winter) and who we'd had for 17 years before his female arrived, was a full imprint.
