This is very good news indeed. Many of the public would be unaware of the back of house breeding program that the zoo has going.
I can officially confirm darling Downs zoo has received caracal from this post Log into Facebook | Facebook
Very exciting news. Caracals fit in perfectly with the zoo's climate and collection, complementing the Servals nicely.
It was a smart move of DDZ to import multiple Caracal. So often do zoos in our region start out with a single breeding pair of a small cat species, which are soon established to be incompatible. I understand within the quintet are an established breeding pair, but the import of the additional three offer contingencies to the exisiting pairs within the region. I look forward to hearing of further breeding success and seeing more facilities within the region acquire this charismatic species.
That is great news, so glad DDZ went with the decision to house Caracals and you're totally right WhistlingKite they do compliment one another by living adjacently with Servals. Thanks ZooFan for the info too about the specific individual numbers. It makes complete sense for individual Zoos these days who have the spatial and financial means to keep 4-5 (or more) when possible as it helps with other Zoos coming on board with the species later on (it's good to know too that Darling Downs isn't the only Zoo in the region with Caracals), but whats great too is DD can potentially send pairs born from different pairs to other Aus/NZ Zoos in the future.
Definitely. Back when Melbourne’s zoo was still a zoo, they founded their Temminck’s golden cat colony with 2.3 cats (all unrelated to each other). One pair produced several non surviving kittens before being killed by the male; one female didn’t breed; the other female had two litters (one with each male). Only one litter survived, so from these five cats they had one successful pairing. A sixth import then formed a (very successful) breeding pair with that young cat.
Quite right, It was a smart move to have a larger import of this species which sets well for the future. Since the Hunter Valley zoo resently obtained a young female perhaps the young male (which I believe maybe the young of one of these pairs) now at DDZ might end up going there to form a possible pair. I believe its some what a shame that the two caracal females in New Zealand are unlikey to ever see a male it seems a waste really
I know it’s not totally DDZ related but just in relation to caracal, Hunter Valley have received one of the males from this import with the intention to pair up with Australian born female Kora the zoo received earlier this year.
The arrival of the Caracals has now been officially announced by Darling Downs Zoo. They now house two pairs of the species imported from Hamerton. This is the zoo’s fifth felid species: Log into Facebook | Facebook
While I’m not aware of the zoo having any intention to breed these females, it’s worth noting their exhibit is adjacent to the Serval exhibit (which contains an elderly sibling pair). When the Serval pass on, the zoo could easily remodel the Serval exhibit for Caracal. Whether there will be time to breed with these females however remains to be seen (they’re eight years old already).
Darling Downs Zoo have finished their tropical reptile house refurbishment for their Komodo Dragon, Boa Constrictors, Burmese Pythons and the only Yellow Anaconda in the Australasian region. The zoo have added new lighting, heating, substrates and electrical wiring/switches. Information from their social media page.
Excellent news. They are putting together a really interesting reptile collection and perhaps have the largest Tortoise collection in the region.
Awesome news from Darling Downs zoo, Two Maned Wolf pups were born on July 3rd. This makes the first breeding for this species in Queensland. What wonderful news.
What fantastic news. Only Altina Wildlife Park, Hunter Valley and now Darling Downs have bred them in recent times in Australia.
Great work @Steve Robinson and the team at DDZ! Another species revived and sustained in the region by the initiative of the small zoos.
I agree the smaller regional zoos are doing a outstanding job keeping some diversity with our zoo collections, Also importing new bloodlines for species that were badly needed for a number of species in the region. If some of our public funded major zoos had the same amount of enthusiasm there would be some excellent collections out there instead of the retracted dwindling amount of species which are on their last legs within the region.
