Australasian Zebra Population - Research/Discussion

A resent (8 months ago) Youtube video shows only 2 zebra being held at Australia Zoo

 

Yep, they would be:

1.0 Spartacus (30/09/2017) Zinty x Zavannah, arrived 06/06/2019 Darling Downs
1.0 Lucas (2015?)

I do need to know Lucas's origin and parentage though if anyone knows.

 

That’s correct, @Steve Robinson reported that:

Spartacus was born on 30/09/2017 at Darling Downs Zoo and moved to Australia Zoo on 06/06/2019 to join their remaining Zebra, Lucas.

Spartacus is a purebred Grant’s zebra - so it’s a shame he’s in a bachelor herd.

 

It seems at the present time, DDZ are working towards obtaining a new Grants stallion (presumbly from Zoodoo) to be paired with some of their younger mares and form a second group. Hopefully this eventuates and we see more breeding; the more purebred Grants zebras, the better.

 

I guess there's no point in over crowding the exhibit!

 

A bachelor group's really the best they can do with the space and also the habitat they share (coexisting with breeding groups of both Giraffes and Rhinos).

Australia could accomodate a few more males, but it really depends on availability.

 

ZooDoo have two surplus males - born 2019 and 2021, so are long overdue to transfer these out.

ZooDoo should also consider transferring out their four year old mare if they have no intention of acquiring a new stallion - as their current males are her father and brothers. Potentially, Darling Downs Zoo could swap a mare for her - which would also provide ZooDoo with a second breeding mare (one of their founder mares appears to be infertile).

 

Actually there's quite a bit of room for more zebra with the giraffes, they also have large holding areas off exhibit. The rhinos are not coexisting with the zebra or giraffe they are separated

 

6. Monarto Safari Park

This is a little bit of tricky one as I know they have a decent amount of zebras. I have contacted them, but getting all the info is quite tough, but this is what i've been provided with so far. Hopefully some of you will be able to fill any gaps.

Their stallion is a male named Storm (2012) who arrived in 2013 from Werribee.

They have three mares:
0.1 Kenya (2005) born at Monarto
0.1 Gina (2007) born at Monarto
0.1 Thembala

They also have a female named 'Kali', daughter of Kenya, but i'm unsure when she was born.

Recent foals:

0.0.1 foal (2019) x Thembala
0.0.1 (2020) x Gina
0.0.1 (2020) x Kenya
0.0.1 (2021) x Gina
0.0.1 (2021) x Kali
0.0.1 (2021) x Thembala
1.0 Kariba (2022) x Kenya
1.0 Kabili (2022) x Kali

Names of some of the foals would be nice.

They also have four males on the african plains :

Zambesi-ncarne (2000) at Adelaide I believe
Timbavati
Intengo (2018) at Monarto
Umbani

The origins and year of births for some of those males would be nice, alongside any parentage.

 

Hamilton Zoo - Updated Information

Hamilton Zoo have updated the zebra listings on their website:

Okavango and Delta (colts) have been removed from their listings i.e. left the zoo.

Pebbles is now listed as a colt (misexed as a filly).

The colt born in January 2022 has been named Nguvu.

Their holdings are therefore as follows:

1.0 Malawi (12/03/2012)
0.1 Marbles (06/10/2003) Due Jan 2023
0.1 Zalika (30/11/2011) Due Nov 2022
1.0 Pebbles (10/01/2021) Malawi x Marbles
0.1 Wednesday (31/10/2021) Malawi x Zalika
1.0 Nguvu (20/01/2022) Malawi x Marbles

 

Interesting; where to? i presume maybe Keystone?

 

I emailed Monarto but unfortunately we've reached a roadblock.

Monarto currently hold 22 zebras (Counting the four males mentioned in the post above). They have a breeding group of about twelve, which leads me to believe they have another non breeding group too.

I was also told most of the zebras have in house names which aren't made public (but i'm not sure if that's just the administrator's way of saying they don't want to list all 22 native language zebra names). Being a local, maybe @Swanson02 could find out at least some of the names for us on their next visit? That would be an incredible help, as otherwise we won't be getting much from that perspective.

 

I will make it my mission next time I visit to get all 22 names and DOB's if possible . All I was aware of was the 4 bachelor males on the Savanna, 12 member breeding herd in Wild Africa, and another bachelor herd off display. There might also be some retired mares off display too who might have been incompatible with the main breeding group.

 

Thank’s incredibly.

Monarto did have some older mares; but these individuals would probably be deceased now, they were all born in the 90’s. So I’d assume the other group of about six is another off display bachelor group as you mentioned to accomodate the males who’ve been born at Monarto in the past.

 

Update: Information still needed

I've almost completed the list, but there are still some gaps that hopefully will be filled. If not, i'll just post the list without them, but it would be preferable to get as much filled as possible before I do so.

1. Monarto's Zebras : Their breeding group consists of a stallion (Storm) and four mares (Kenya, Gina, Thembala and Kali). Then they also have the younger foals (I think six or seven) but I don't have names for these guys. There's also the four bachelor males; but that leaves about six or seven other zebras that must be apart of another non breeding group. @Swanson02 did you manage to find out anything?

2. Australia Zoo : Just need Lucas's parentage. I've emailed them directly and hopefully we can get a response this way. He's either from the National Zoo or Mogo i'm assuming.

3. Darling Downs : Just need the name/age of the Mogo mare and also the mother of young Zion who was born last year. I believe there was also a foal born this year too; it was mentioned in the news thread but I haven't managed to find anything else on that. @Zorro might be able to yield some additional info being a frequent visitor?

4. Melbourne Zoo : Haven't managed to find where Zaire (2015) arrived from. Definitely not Werribee, and I don't think he came from Hamilton too. Could possibly be Dubbo but like Lucas, could also be the National Zoo or Mogo too.

4. Gibbs Farm : Does anyone know which zebras currently reside here? I remember reading a comment that they held too on the forum, but i'm not sure how long ago this was.

All help would be much appreciated to hopefully getting this population list up and running by 2023.

 

Unfortunately I am not a frequent visitor, I would suggest you contact the zoo for details.

 

I have, unfortunately no response.

 

Sorry mate my last visit was with family, so wasn't able to ask many questions. Although I did see the bachelor group of 4 in a paddock near the waterhole, 2 young female zebras in the black rhino exhibit, and another group of 5 adults in the off-display area without any foals. I didn't manage to see the breeding herd as they are off in Wild Africa.

I wonder if the two yearling fillies in the black rhino exhibit were removed from the breeding herd to avoid breeding with their father Storm? I know they were put on display during the holiday period as Monarto can't currently place the bachelor group in the waterhole as they'll harass the new Eland and Giraffe calves.

 

That seems likely. While it’s more common for this species to conceive at two or three years of age, fillies are capable of conceiving as young as one - so it’s common for zoos to transition them out of the main breeding herd promptly.

Hamilton Zoo does this (though usually around the age of 18-24 months) - previously housing three fillies in isolation from the main herd; followed by two colts from the next cohort.

 

That's all good, thanks anyways

The two young females would've likely been offspring of Storm's. I assume they'll possibly be sent elsewhere in the near future.

The group of five off display would be older individuals from Monarto's past breeding group.

So that would leave 11 zebras apart of the Wild Africa group which makes sense; the five adults plus six young foals.