Felids in Australasian Zoos – News, History and Discussion

Sumatran Tigers - some recent news articles indicate that the new litter at Taronga have now been sexed..

....two girls and a boy

 

News articles were claiming they were a litter of 1.2 since they were three weeks old; though of course sexing of cubs is only reliable from six weeks of age. Dreamworld initially thought their last litter of Sumatran tiger cubs were 1.2; but found out at the six week check they were 0.3. Either way, 1.2 cubs makes a nice change from the more common 2.1 ratio in the Australasian region.

The cubs are expected to make their public debut soon. From what I hear, queues for that damn plane will at least be useful in marshalling the crowds into an single file line.

 

They are onshow from today Taronga Zoo Sydney

 

The 1.2 cubs at Taronga were given some very unique names. An interesting change.
Mawar (F)
Meaning ‘rose’ in Indonesian.

Tengah Malam (F)
Meaning ‘midnight’ in Indonesian.

Pemanah (M)
Meaning ’archer’ in Indonesian.

 

Taronga Zoo have always excelled at choosing unique names. I really like the meanings of all three names.

Personally, I would have shortened Tengah Malam to either Tengah or Malam though as the whole name is a bit of a mouthful. Australia Zoo did this with Maneki. Maneki is short for Maneki Neko (which means 'Good Luck Cat').

 

Oldest Living Sumatran Tigers in Australasia:

1. Malu (F) at Mogo Zoo born 10/12/1996
2. Assiqua (F) at Adelaide Zoo born 18/05/1999
3. Mencari (F) at Hamilton Zoo born 10/01/2000
4. Binjai (F) at Melbourne Zoo born 30/08/2002
5. Dumai (M) at Perth Zoo born 04/04/2003

After this, the eldest tigers are Dumai (2003) at Orana Wildlife Park; Jumilah (2003) at Taronga Zoo; Oz (2004) at Hamilton Zoo; Satu (2005) at Ballarat Zoo and Satu (2006) at Taronga Western Plains Zoo.

The record for longevity in the region for this species is 22 years and 7 months (Kemiri at Adelaide Zoo).

 

Australia Zoo’s recently-arrived female cheetah have been named ‘Bonnie’ and ‘Barbra’.....
Australia Zoo
The zoo also currently holds males, ‘Josh’, ‘Lawrence’, ‘William’ and ‘Chase’.
I’m not sure if any of the orginal four cheetahs are still alive (the website lists 14yo male, ‘Foxtrot’ but I wouldn’t trust their website).

 

I had hoped they would of bred some young at some stage also built a public exhibit for them so not sure where they are going with the species?

 

Is it me or do Australia Zoo suffer from a chronic lack of imagination in naming their animals?

Andean condor: Chief
Komodo dragon: Fat Boy
Southern white rhino calves: Mango, Winston and Humphrey

Barbra just doesn’t suit a young female Cheetah!

That aside, they now have an ideal population for breeding, with multiple males for the females to choose from. Not sure if they have the space though. Their exhibits look quite small.

I don’t know if Foxtrot is alive sorry. Their website is ridiculously out of date. I’m still waiting on the 2017 International Cheetah Studbook to be available online. It used to be released annually for the previous year but it was aged ago the 2016 version was released.

 

Are they housed in the small enclosures in the tiger holding area? If so would be surprised if breeding would ever happen

 

Yes, they are out back/off display at the Tiger Temple.

I’ve just found this video (there is footage of their exhibit at the start):

7 News Wide Bay

It additionally states the Cheetah have come to the zoo as ambassador cheetahs (meet the public etc) so it implies they will never be bred from.

There’s a better video here, which shows more of the exhibits (housing two of the males):

Animal Planet

 

Since they don't have much in the way of African animal exhibits one would believe by adding one for the Cheetahs to be on view to the zoo going public that would then show them as full time ambassadors and not just taken out for just some lucky member of the public who happen to be there at the right time and in the right place. I had thought a few of these animals had been imported from South Africa over time which would of given them perhaps some new bloodlines that could have been used in any breeding program within the country!

 

I couldn’t agree more. While many zoos (e.g. Orana Wildlife Park) have a large population of off display Cheetah; this is for a reason (i.e. they’re breeding them) and even then, they have at least a couple in an on display exhibit (usually a couple of non breeding males). Why such an exhibit couldn’t be built at Australia Zoo I don’t know. Of course, a decent sized exhibit would be even better. I suppose they’re harder to house communially than the tigers, being naturally skittish cats, which explains why there’s no ‘Cheetah Temple.’

Wouldn’t it be exciting if we could import new bloodlines of Sumatran tigers from Indonesia as readily as zoos import Cheetah from South Africa.

 

You are correct. Three of the males they currently hold were imported from South Africa. The other male, ‘Lawrence’ was born at TWPZ and was handraised due to his mother rejecting him.

 

For the big entry fee they should be on exhibit even if its only two at a time. In regards to tigers I believe they did import 3 from Indonesia a few years ago not sure how much breeding has been done with this line!

 

1.2 Sumatran tigers (born December 2007) were imported as cubs from Indonesia.

One female (Kaitlyn) gave birth to 2.0 cubs in 2013; and 1.1 cubs in 2016. One of the 2013 cubs sired 1.2 cubs at Taronga Zoo in January.

The other female (Maneki) gave birth to 1.0 in 2016.

The male (Bashi) was sent to Wellington Zoo. He’s been paired with a female, but has sired no cubs to date.

 

Taronga Zoo Sumatran Tiger Cubs

In many media releases it has been stated 21 Sumatran tiger cubs have been born at Taronga zoo since 1980.

The following 17 tiger cubs were successfully reared to adulthood:

1) Mandau (M) born 1980
2) Musara (F) born 1980
3) Sinta (F) born 1983
4) Usha (F) born 1985
5) Shiva (M) born 1985
6) Kali (F) born 1985
7) Jambi (M) born 1988
8) Kemiri (F) born 1994
9) Juara (M) born 1995
10) Ramalon (M) born 1995
11) Lari (M) born 1995
12) Dumai (M) born 2003
13) Sendiri (M) born 2003
14) Jumilah (F) born 2003
15) Kembali (M) born 2011
16) Sakti (M) born 2011
17) Kartika (F) born 2011

With the new litter making 20 tiger cubs:

18) Pemanah (M) born 2019
19) Mawar (F) born 2019
20) Tengah Malam (F) born 2019

I’m guessing the 21st (missing cub) is:

21) Lunka (F) born 1985 (died 1985)

There have been 15 Sumatran tigers cubs born at Taronga Zoo that were either stillborn or died in infancy; but only one of these (Lunka), lived long enough to be named.

It would therefore be more accurate to say 36 Sumatran tigers have been born at Taronga Zoo since 1980; or that Taronga Zoo have successfully reared 17 Sumatran tiger cubs to adulthood since 1980.

I don’t know why Lunka died; but it appears she was handraised alongside her littermate Usha, after their mother rejected them. They were part of a litter of four cubs. The other two died either at birth or in their first month (see Post #2).

Here are some photos of Usha:

Ady D' Ettorre a Taronga Zoo nursery keeper from Balmain with Usha... News Photo | Getty Images

Taronga Park Zoo, of sumatran tiger cub, Usha rejected by mother and... News Photo | Getty Images

 

The Wild Cat Conservation Centre at Wilberforce, NSW imported two caracal, Kato and Kaia, from South Africa in 2017. They also keep serval and cheetah. You have to book a tour to visit the facility.

Wild Cat Conservation Centre | Wild Cat & Cheetah Conservation

 

Following the import of the two sisters to Wellington Zoo in 2014; and the import of this unrelated breeding pair in 2017, I was hopeful we'd see a breeding programme supported by several other zoos in the region. To date, no breeding has occurred and they remain the only holders. I know we already have breeding programmes for Fishing cat and Serval; but surely the region could handle managing a third small cat species.

 

Sumatran Tigers

Assiqua (1999) at Adelaide Zoo has just had a health check:

Zoos SA Veterinarian Oliver Funnell said while Assiqua was presenting some age-related issues, he was pleased with her overall health.

“As tigers enter their golden years and become less active it can be common for their claws to grow into their paw pads, so we gave them a trim today before it starts causing her discomfort,” Oliver said.

“She’s certainly getting to an age where we’re seeing her start to deteriorate slightly, so we’ll be keeping an eye on her but overall, we’re happy with her health.”

School holiday visitors watch Sumatran Tiger health check - Adelaide Zoo

The article also states:

Assiqua, who will celebrate her 20th this week, is one of the oldest Sumatran Tigers in Australia.

This confirms that Malu (1996) at Mogo Zoo is still alive and well. In August this year, Malu will surpass the previous record of longevity in the region (22 years 7 months).