Auckland Zoo Auckland Zoo News 2022

Auckland Zoo incubating New Zealand Fairy tern eggs:

Wild weather disrupts tara iti breeding season

Auckland Zoo has received New Zealand fairy tern eggs from the Department of Conservation for rearing at the zoo.

The wild population of the New Zealand subspecies of the Fairy tern stands at less than 40 birds.

 

On the note of bird eggs and incubation, any news on the flamingo colonies breeding season so far? I imagine they must be nesting and laying by now.

 

Their nesting season has begun. No chicks have been announced and given hatchings are usually announced within the first two weeks, we can probably assume there were no successful chicks for November.

In the past, the majority of their chicks have hatched in January, so I’m still confident they’ll be news a month from now. Breeding success has increased in recent years with Auckland bred birds maturing and pairing up.

 

Auckland Zoo are celebrating their centenary today:

Auckland Zoo celebrates a century of wild life with opening of 100th exhibition | News

It’s been a momentous centenary year for the zoo with the following events being highlights:

- Greater flamingo hatching in January
- Bornean orangutan infant Madju born in March
- Galapagos giant tortoise hatching in March
- Asian elephant Anjalee leaving in March
- Sumatran tiger Sali arriving in April
- Sumatran tiger exhibits opening in April
- Hamadryas baboon infant born in June
- Giraffe calf Jabali born in August
- Southern white rhinoceros Amali calf born in September
- False gharial Malu and Sumpit arriving in September
- Tropical Dome opening in October
- Asian small-clawed otter exhibit opening in October
- Sumatran tigers Ramah and Zayana arriving in November

 

A sea krait was found on Takapuna Beach on Tuesday and is being temporarily held at Auckland Zoo, but there is no word regarding whether it is likely to survive.

Live venomous snake found on Auckland beach

 

As mentioned by @Matt_C in the Hamilton thread, 0.1 Sali the Sumatran Tiger has returned back to Hamilton after a short stay.

Auckland still have 1.1 Sumatran Tigers (Ramah and Zayana) who will soon go on display.

 

I’d assume Sali’s stay at Auckland was only temporary as a way to fill an empty exhibit. It meant separating her and Kirana, which isn’t ideal as now they can’t be reintroduced - but it was done with the intention Hamilton will be pairing Kirana with a male.

As a handraised tiger, I’d have assumed Sali would have thrived in Auckland’s exhibit but the times I saw her, she was as far away from the glass as possible - so I’d assume a better adjustment may have supported an argument to keep her at Auckland.

Auckland’s complex can house up to seven tigers in three groupings; but they’ll now have even more room, which will be beneficial to them.

 

I got the impression Hamilton were a bit surprised and not thrilled she had returned. Hamilton didn't give a clear reason why she was unsuccessful at Auckland and seemed sheepish on the issue.

 

It would have really thrown a spanner in the works if Hamilton are planning to receive Scout from Orana anytime soon.

Hamilton can accomodate a maximum of three groupings long term, with a fourth tiger potentially confined to the dens of the smaller exhibit (not suitable for long term housing).

The only way this could work is if Scout can quickly be introduced to Kirana to form a pair (with Kirana on contraception); with breeding delayed until either Mencari passes or this third exhibit is built (which doesn’t appear to be happening anytime soon).

 

Success with breeding Brown teal for release:

From socials:

Success! These Brown teal ducklings will soon be moving to the next stage of their wild release!

We currently have two breeding pairs of Brown teal whose offspring contribute to this recovery programme. Since 2013, we’ve been able to successfully breed and release 130 ducklings to the wild!

The three ducklings you see here are currently in one of our behind-the-scenes aviaries; once they reach eight weeks of age, they’ll head to Christchurch where they will be flocked with other Brown teal before release.

 

Highlights of 2022

Auckland Zoo have posted a video of their 2022 highlights here: And that's a wrap...2022! | Auckland Zoo News

A summary of highlights for 2022 can also be found in my post above (Post #224).