Hey Steve - hows about an update on everything/??? Hows Africa coming along? Heard you got some capuchins.... where did they come from??? how many did you get??? can you breed them in sunny QLD? Danale
G'day Danale, Had wondered where you had got to!!!! lol Exciting times out here in the wild and wicked west! We've missed all of the damaging rain events on the Coasts but have had enough rain to keep the gardens coming along well. Animal wise we have had baby Blackbuck, Camel, Red-tail Black Cockatoo, Rhesus Macaque, Blue and Gold Macaw, Bettong, Red Kangaroo, Bettong, Red-necked Wallaby, Bettong, Blue-tongue Lizard and, did I mention Bettong [?] born recently. Llama, Common Marmoset, more Macaws, possibly African Greys, Hahn's Macaws and Broad-shell River Turtles are on the way - I hope. The Lion cubs are doing really well and moved to a new enclosure this week. We acquired quite a group of Black-capped Capuchins from a park that closed down. Some of these have gone to other zoos and we have brought three young males up here - just in time for the Easter school holidays. This transaction was initiated in our pre-ZAA days when our priorities revolved around our own collection and the collections of other independent zoos. Nowadays we are part of a much bigger picture and have to plan our collection accordingly. BC Capuchins are now a managed species although the regional population is not very genetically diverse. Therefore we have offered to import some females to breed with our males. We are allowed to breed this species at the Darling Downs Zoo. Our African Savannah has seen lots of plantings in an endeavour to establish worthwhile trees before the livestock moves in. The waterhole is full and holding water well. No sign of the instability that had us concerned early last year. Life is good in this part of sunny Queensland. We feel for our colleagues in other parts of the State where they are having the same sort of problems that we had last year. Thanks for asking.
That's great news Steve. Looks like the zoo is growing and improving every day! I really need to get myself up there and take advantage of those animal encounters.
I visited the zoo agian just a few days ago. Every time I return there is always something new, another exhibit or a new baby - it's great! The lion cubs are growing (so much bigger than the last time i was there). The three girls still have their spots and were even staking me at one point! lol 13th generation bred here in Australia and still cant breed out nature lol Stayed watching Rameses the Hamadryas baboon for a while - such a stunning specimen he is - I really like this species. The highlight of my day would have to be the new baby Rhesus Macaque. She is only a few months old and was just hilarious to watch. Mum (whom im assuming is an experienced mother) was pretty relaxed with the newborn, letting her explore and play with another younger female in the troop. But she would always run back to mum for support. Very entertaining, and from what I heard from the rest of visitors that day - this baby was probably a highlight for most! I have put a few pics up in the DDZ gallery from my trip - enjoy! Thanks again Steve for another top 'zoo-fix'
Thats great news Steve.... Importing some females... that will be AWESOME for BCC in Oz.... Glad everything else is going well..... Congratz Danale
Sounds great. Hope to get there one day. What sort of Bettong? Eastern? Northern? I imagine Eastern bettings once roamed the Darling Downs, help keeping the soil healthy with their diggings. Would be great to release some onto the plains but the same threats that saw their demise would get them again (with now the added threat of getting in the way of coal seam gas machinery). Anyway, back to more pleasant thoughts, are there any wild sanctuaries in Queensland that the Bettongs can go to if the breeding success continues?
Rufous. We have supplied many Parks throughout Australia with this species. Ours breed like - well, Bettongs! Easterns would be relevant for us here but they are not the TAG recommended priority species and there is only one facility listing as holding them - with no indication of any available surplus animals. Brush-tailed Bettongs are the regional priority species and, one day, we may well be involved with this species
Ah I see, one person's Bettong is another's rat kangaroo As an aside, I note the Brush-tailed Bettong was probably the only Australian terrestrial threatened species considered for de-listing because it's numbers in the wild were increasing (i.e. rather than just because of better data/survey effort)....and then they started disappearing again...hence we still have no really great success stories in this country for a threatened terrestrial species to have an improved conservation status!
Congrats to Steve on the import of two Baboons from Warsaw and the acquisition of two more from Alma Park. Great progress Steve. sorry if this has already been mentioened, i searched and couldnt find anything. On another note i managed to convince a family to make the trip to you from toowoomba. very keen on lions and our encounter had sold out. they havent been before but did say everyone they know loves the place
