Hamilton Zoo now has two Australasian Brown Bitterns on display, which I found out accidentally while browsing zoo Facebook pages. The one they already had in their walk-through aviary is the female Matuku who went on show at the start of 2015. The more recent one is also a female, named Werowero, but I don't know anything else (the Facebook post was from July). Both birds had been shot and are unreleasable.
Hamilton Zoo have named their male White Rhino calf Samburu. Hamilton Zoo names baby rhino | Stuff.co.nz
I wonder if this was also part in tribute to curator Sam Kudaweh, who tragically died last year. She was the first keeper to discover Kito had been born in 2000 and had been involved in curating this rhino for most of it's life. As studbook coordinator, she arranged for Kito's transfer to Hamilton Zoo in 2004, and when she and Moesha failed to breed with Zambezi, she made the brilliant decision to swap Zambezi for Kruger, leading to both females breeding successfully. Sam Kudaweh wrote several papers on the rhinos at Hamilton, including one on the post natal care of Ubuntu (Kito's first calf), who suffered temporary blindness due to a difficult birth, and one on the rhino breeding programme in Australasia. The rhinos were one of her favourite animals, in particular Kito, and this calf was likely to have been the last white rhino birth planned by her in her role as species coordinator.
Spring babies have begun to appear at Hamilton Zoo, notably the zoo's first ever breeding of pygmy marmosets, as well as meerkats and a ring-tailed lemur. Story here: Conservation Week - Hamilton Zoo
indirectly relating to the above: Rhino sculpture unveiled on anniversary of zoo curator's death - National - NZ Herald News
Mr Branco the Brazilian Tapir at Hamilton Zoo has been put down due to age-related arthritis and kidney and liver function issues. Farewell Mr Branco - Hamilton Zoo
that is sad. There are quite a few old remnant mammals in NZ zoos which will probably be disappearing over the next few years.
Very sad indeed Also sad that the director say there will be no more imported, I guess tapirs are fairly far down the priority list.
Extremely sad news to hear. I think that tapirs would be a great addition to NZ zoo collections, and very nice exhibits could easily be made for them, but so unfortunate that importation of tapirs is currently prohibited.
A new viewing area is being built for the smaller Tiger enclosure. Hamilton Zoo - Timeline | Facebook
Another zebra foal has been born at Hamilton Zoo this week, to mum Marbles and dad Malawi. News via Zoo's Facebook page (with photos).
