Hamilton Zoo Hamilton Zoo News 2021

Hamilton Zoo have since welcomed a further three Ring-tailed lemur infants (including a pair of twins) over the last week, taking the total number of infants to five.

 

The new porcupine house construction is completed and the tidy up of the enclosure is underway. The house looks very well done, with plenty of heating. A big one way window should allow for good views for the public.

The new tuatara exhibit is complete, they are just waiting for the tuatara to become active again to make the opening more of an event.

Other developments include the refresh of the cotton top, pigmy marmoset and sun conure enclosures which is progressing very slowly, the massive entry precinct redevelopment, the new Nyala enclosure which is coming together fast and the ever-problematic eel pond which apparently remains a drama as was designed as a pond not an fish tank and has inadequate filtration.

 

Five North Island Kaka and two Brown Teal from Hamilton are being prepared for release at various locations. 150 Hamilton-bred Brown Teals have been released to date. The zoo's two pairs of teals currently have seven ducklings and five eggs respectively. From their social media:

"With Spring here, one of our favourite moments of the season is seeing the native birds we have hatched and raised, released to the wild. When it comes to this journey, it is all hands-on deck . With our dedicated keeping team working hard on site, it sometimes means pulling in others at the zoo, to do the all-important drive and drop off of this precious cargo.

On Monday our fabulous Zoo Business Coordinator Fiona jumped in the zoo ute and headed off to Taupo. Here she met up with fellow conservation champion John, and handed over five of our kākā, and two pāteke (Brown Teal) ducks. Four of the kākā birds were then delivered to Cape Sanctuary on Cape Kidnappers Peninsula, with the fifth heading to Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre at Mt Bruce, Wairarapa. The pāteke were destined for the stunning Peacock Spring at the Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust in Christchurch (“bootcamp” for young birds bred in captivity, readying them for wild). Here they will be flocked with other ducklings before their release to the wild. All of these locations are stunning environments, you could not ask for more perfect places to ready these precious birds in / release into.

The pāteke in particular are a great success story for us. In the past 10 years Hamilton Zoo has bred for release around 175 pāteke, of which 150 have been released into the wild. Currently we have seven more ducklings that will be sent for release in about a months time, and we have a pair who have laid another five eggs. When you take into account that we have another two breeding pairs at the zoo also, well the future is looking bright for the pāteke."

 

Does hamilton zoo release birds locally? I am always surprised by the number of 'wild' kaka on zoo grounds, I don't remember any several years ago and rarely see them elsewhere in the city.

 

Some more info from the keepers and a host I talked to at Hamilton zoo:

The meerkats (2.0) and porcupine (0.1) have been released into their new enclosure. There are no plans at this stage to get more of either species though it seems likely.

The younger hunting dog female is pregnant, the zoo is being cautious as infanticide is common with first time mums apparently.

Lastly Hamilton has secured a male tiger from Orana Park for when the older tiger (mencari?) passes.

No news on when (if) a male red panda is arriving, though it sounds like that was the plan prior to the current lockdown.

 

That’s great news that Itanya the African wild dog is pregnant. These will be the first (surviving) pups in 13 years and follow a number of unsuccessful pairings over the last decade.

Mencari is the eldest Sumatran tiger. She turns 22 in January. The male will most likely be Reggie as he’s one of the most genetically valuable tigers in the region.

 

That makes sense, the keeper was very cautious about Itanyas pregnancy, it sounds like she is around 3 months along and they are worried about losing the pups.

For the tigers I was told the Orana tiger has been waiting a while, and will be paired with the daughter. Sorry I'm not sure of the names.

I did ask about the otter enclosure which was mentioned in council recently (discussing future zoo funding) but neither person I asked seemed particularly interested in it. Sounded like infrastructure might be the next investment.

Oh and the two younger male zebra are definitely in the yards at the rear of the zoo, presumably they won't be staying at Hamilton?

 

African wild dog gestation is approximately 70 days, so she must be close to giving birth. Pups can emerge from the den as early as three weeks, so all going well they could be seen from next month. The infanticide risk is high. The last female to breed (Rukiya) never successfully reared pups.

Re. Sumatran tigers - that would be Kirana (born 2014). Her mother, Sali (born 2008), is at the end of her reproductive lifespan.

Re. Plains zebra. Those would be the two colts born in December 2019. They were likely coming into conflict with the stallion, who’s getting on in his years. Hamilton Zoo have never retained colts. In the past they’ve been sent to other zoos in the region; as well as a few to a private farm in New Zealand.

 

I just checked their the Facebook post about the African wild dog mating and it was dated 5th July, so along with the keepers comment they must be very close to term. Fingers crossed for a successful outcome.

The keeper mentioned infanticide risk was higher with female pups?

 

I’ve never heard that and can’t find any research to support that. According to studies, the first litter will usually contain more male pups than females. This is an evolutionary response to this being a female dispersal species i.e. when the pack is starting out, it needs male pups who will remain in the pack and contribute to the rearing of subsequent litters.

In the past, zoos in our region have selectively culled all but two to three pups in the litter (which can number up to 16); but more recently, open range zoos have produced litters where all the pups were allowed to survive, with surplus sent to smaller zoos as non breeding animals.

 

A male Eclectus Parrot has hatched at Hamilton Zoo. From their social media page:

"We know it’s been a bit of a challenging week again, with changes in alert levels, but here at the zoo we just thrive on finding positive and joyful stories to bring you, to put a smile on your face and a spring in your step. With that in mind we present to you our newest baby, this teeny tiny eclectus parrot! Team Leader of Birds and Ectotherms, Jano, was overjoyed to see that it is a baby boy, which we haven’t had for a while! Right now, he has only small patches of green starting to show, but in the coming months he will blossom to be beautiful."

 

1.0 Eclectus parrot has hatched.

This takes their population to 3.2 birds:

1.0 Phillip (2004 approx)
1.0 Peter (13/02/2015)
0.1 Poppy (15/09/2014)
0.1 Ellie (18/08/2018)
1.0 Unnamed chick

Source: Hamilton Zoo’s social media

 

Update on Phase One (Entry Precinct) of Masterplan

Ratepayer-funded $1.8m injection confirmed for Hamilton Zoo project

City councillors agreed on Tuesday to boost the budget for stage one of the project to $7,725,000 – an increase of $1.8m on the original budget. The funding increase was first signalled by council in August.

Incoming council chief executive Lance Vervoort said the new budget will allow features on the Waiwhakareke side of the shared entry precinct to be completed.

These features include a 10-metre tall viewing tower, a walkway and a covered canopy. Aspects of the precinct project are expected to be completed by December.

As well as improved connections between the two sites, the first stage of the zoo/heritage park project also includes the construction of a visitor arrival centre, a public café and toilets.

Stage two of the project includes the construction of a shared car park, and access and road improvements.

The final stage will feature the construction of an education/function centre.

 

A Duvaucel’s gecko was born in April:

Hamilton Zoo posted about their eldest Duvaucel’s gecko and their breeding success over the decades. Four young have been born in the last two years - the most recent of which was born in April this year.

From Hamilton Zoo’s social media:

Meet Koro, our 65yr old Duvaucel’s gecko (also known as the Giant gecko). Born in 1956, Koro has played a huge role in the continuance of his species. Countless babies have been born over the decades, including four in the last two years alone (the most recent been in April 2021!)

Duvaucel’s gecko are an extremely long-lived species, with ages of over 50 years reported. Therefore, by all accounts, Koro is an elder statesman and living a thoroughly long life.

 

Buried in a Facebook post from the zoo is a not on the difficulty they have faced moving animals this year. They have completed 5 of 14 international transfers (9 still pending) and 48 of 72 domestic transfers (24 still pending). No word on the direction or species for the international transfers though one is hopefully a red panda

 

The five completed international transfers would be the recent import of the male Siamang and the four male Cheetah.

I’d be fascinated to know what the nine pending international transfers are. The obvious imports needed are a male Nepalese red panda and a new zebra stallion (ideally a Grant’s zebra); while the young Southern white rhinoceros bull was due to leave last year. Last I heard, his destination was Halls Gap Zoo.

Obvious domestic transfers include a male Cape porcupine (from Auckland Zoo), zebra colt transfers and new meerkats (their colony has dwindled to two middle aged males). Wellington has bred many litters in recent years, so could easily supply these.

With Australian zoos (and Orana) receiving an unflux of Southern white rhinoceros, I imagine some of their existing cows could be coming to Hamilton.

 

My memory wasn't up to scratch with the domestic transfers, correct numbers were 42 complete and 28 pending for 70 total.

On the international transfers the only newer rumour that I have heard was that they were looking for exotic lizards to go into the small greenhouse currently housing leopard tortoises (who would go back into the parrot court).

 

A Plains zebra foal was born 31/10/2021 to Zalika:

Hamilton Zoo animals ready for much-missed attention as Covid-19 restrictions ease

 

Popped down to the Hamilton zoo this morning and there has been a bit of construction over lockdown. The ring tailed lemur babies were out in force, with four on display. One of the agouti appears to be about to give birth, and is in its own enclosure. The zoo hosts were informed around 80 days ago of the wild dog pregnancy and she was out and about today so it would seem for whatever reason the pregnancy was unsuccessful. The younger male rhino is being crate trained again, apparently heading to Sydney. The Nyala enclosure is nearing completion, it is an odd enclosure, split into two fenced sections (about 2/3 & 1/3). There also appears to bea new feature going in the chimp ensure in memory of Sally, down by the window where she often spent her time.

 

Thanks for the update. That’s a real shame the hunting dogs have been unsuccessful. Hamilton Zoo have had such a run of bad luck with this species over the last decade.

I hoped when they imported Itanya (a young female) and paired her with Romeo and Kudu (two youngish males) that would have finally led to some success. By the time Kudu was removed, Romeo was middle aged and is now well into his senior years.

Wellington and Hamilton both had success with their packs in the early 2000’s - which were founded with young dogs around 18 months of age.