I am currently volunteering at Gorge and thought I would give everyone an update on new arrivals. A baby spider monkey was born about a week ago. 6 coatis came from Melbourne Zoo a few months ago and are out on exhibit. Tree shrew are now on exhibit. The Reptile house has opened and is quite intresting as it has nocturnal exhbits, aquariums and reptile exhibit The species I can identify are -Rhinoceros iguana -Boa constrictor -Sugar glider -Saratoga -Gila Monster -Bull Ant -Blue Tongue Lizard -Bearded Dragon -Spinifex hopping mice Another 1/4 of the building is yet to open so there will be more species on display soon and I am not sure on all the species so there is currently more. If you have any questions feel free to ask and I will see what I can find out.
Does anyone know if coatis have been sent anywhere else around the country? It won't be long until they're everywhere at the rate Melbourne Zoo have bred them.
That's O.K. with me! Animals don't have to be rare to be interesting. I'm the guy who laments the fact that there are so few Rhesus and crab-eating macaques around any more. I'd also like to see binturongs in every zoo (large and small) too.
This. 1000 times this. I'm probably more interested in seeing coatis than I am some obscure subspecies of antelope that no other zoo has. Not saying there's anything wrong with rarity collections - I just think there's a reason some species are ubiquitous.
And due to import restrictionsand red tape we will just have to make do with the few species that we already have in Australia.
I feel like I might have to make a substantial trip over to South Australia soon. I've only been to Adelaide Zoo but I'd really like to see Monarto, Gorge, and Cleland in the near future.
Just found this online, http://nswfmpa.org/Husbandry Manuals/Published Manuals/Mammalia/White Fronted Brown Lemur.pdf "White fronted brown lemurs (Eulemur fulvus albifrons) are held in only one institution within the Australasian region; Taronga Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo. The species is listed as delete by attrition and is represented by 1.2 individuals. The species is unlikely to be transferred out of the region and new individuals are unlikely to be transacted in."
It seems likely that the White-fronted Lemurs from Western Plains Zoo have gone to Gorge, as they are no longer listed on their census.
What does "delete by attrition" mean? Does it mean 'phase out'? And if so, why would we want to phase out a species that is probably endangered?
It means let them die out at the zoo in question, rather than actively phasing them out by sending them elsewhere. It does not neccessarily mean phase out, as species not being phased out in the region could still be deleted by attrition in an individual zoo. In this case, the species was only held by one zoo (TWPZ) and in very low numbers. The TAG decided that, for now, two lemur species (Ring-tailed and Black & White Ruffed) are all that the region can succesfully manage, as there is good support for both species in the region's zoos, and they are already well-established. As such, all other lemurs (which were just the group at TWPZ) became phase-out species. The fact that they are endangered (IUCN vulnerable) doesn't really come into it, its more a case of rationalising the region's collections to maximise support for certain species. The same sort of thing is happening with the gibbons, with White-cheeked, Silvery and Siamangs being prioritised and other species (Lar, Muller's) being phased out. This allows larger populations to be maintained by the region's zoos, which has many benefits.
Cheers guys. It sounds like it's a case of trying to utilise the limited resources in the best possible way. It's a shame that we will only be able to see two lemur species in australia in a few years.
no because when the ruffed and ring-tailed populations here are filling all the zoos, then the ZAA will decide their priorities lie with white-fronted lemurs, so they'll phase out all the ruffed and ring-taileds and import two pairs of white-fronteds to start up an Australasian-wide population of those instead
Since becoming a member of ZAA I have discovered that you can't really blame the Association for situations such as you describe. Decisions are made by the members - not the Association itself. I would imagine that the Association has had to cringe sometimes at some of the members' decisions - however, the majority [usually] seems to rule. It is certainly true that the membership can be fickle in their alleigance to some species - think species such as Dhole and Maned Wolf for example. But, when enough members take a strong interest in a species they have proven to be capable of doing great things with that species. The trouble can be that senior management - CEOs, Curators, Life Science Directors etc - can change over time and many newcomers arrive with a new broom ready to sweep the zoo clean or a personal favourite species that they want to see in "their" zoo. Other decisions have failed because of unforseen factors completely out of the members' control - failure of overseas programs or individual zoos to make available enough suitable animals, new quarantine protocols, unforseen budgetary constraints, all that sort of thing. Like most of you, I would like to see a greater diversity of species in our zoos. I am confident that will eventuate. However, now is the time to consolidate what we are working with at the moment and then gradually add those new species as the membership develops the capability to manage meaningful numbers of them. Still sceptical? Think Bolivian Squirrel Monkeys!