How old is Hamiltons remaining red panda? She must be getting on a bit. They seem to be holding a number of older animals at the moment.
Jamuna is seven years old (born 22/01/2015), so she’s past her reproductive prime given this species can breed from 18 months old. Jamuna comes from a well represented line on both sides and her parents had eight surviving offspring, some of which have in turn bred within the region. Auckland and Wellington’s breeding pairs are each formed from her elder sisters and unrelated males. Personally, I’d have thought Hamilton Zoo would maintain her as a non breeding panda, but if they wish to breed they still have around two years to do so. Auckland Zoo once attempted to breed with a 10 year old panda without success, so I’d assess around then as the upper limits for reproduction.
I think this is pretty awesome since there are a lot of nature places in the Waikato area, (Otorohaunga, Maungatautari, especially since they are getting kakapo in the next year or so, the many forest and marine reserves locally and really be a benefit to the zoo)
Mencari the Sumatran tiger to set new longevity record: Today Mencari attained the regional record for longevity of her species of 22 years 7 months and 10 days. As of tomorrow she will set a new record for longevity for each day she’s alive. Congratulations to Mencari and Hamilton Zoo.
Update from my Visit (04/09/2022) ————————————— African wild dog: The smaller African wild dog exhibit (savannah end) is now empty. The two brothers have been reintroduced and live together in the larger exhibit (tiger end). The volunteer I spoke to isn’t aware of any plans to acquire more dogs in the near future. I imagine given the brothers are 10 years old and the lifespan of this species is 8-12 years, they will allow them to pass on before bringing in more young dogs. Sumatran tiger: A ramp has been installed in the small Sumatran tiger exhibit to allow the elderly tigress (Mencari) to climb up onto the platforms. As mentioned in the post above, she’s now exceeded the regional longevity record - though appears to be in reasonably good health. Plains zebra: Marbles and Zalika were both visibly pregnant. Approximate due dates are November 2022 (Zalika) and January 2023 (Marbles). Black-handed spider monkey: No pregnancies are known, though the zoo are hopeful of breeding this species again in the future. Black and white ruffed lemur: The Black and white ruffed lemur have been separated from the Ring-tailed lemur. They live in male and female groups in the two old cages in the rainforest walk (which have held a variety of species over the years including small cats, Nepalese red panda and Himalayan monal). Southern white rhinoceros: I wouldn’t be surprised if Kito was pregnant. She was looking noticeably wider than the other two adult females. Her last calf was born March 2020, so a new calf next year wouldn’t be statistically unusual given the inter-birth interval for this species is around two to four years. The six year old bull, Samburu, has wisely been separated from the main herd. This has reduced tension and all six rhinos appeared calm and relaxed on my visit. Fencing has been erected to isolate the upper end of the larger paddock. This is so a new shelter can be installed. New Zealand long-fin eel pond: Work on this is still ongoing. Apparently there’s some sort of drainage issue. ————————————— Photos from my visit can be found here: Hamilton Zoo - ZooChat ————————————— Aaaa
@Zoofan15 Really cool to read man, glad you got to have a visit to HZ (hoping to get to TZ Tuesday or Thursday). Congrats to Marbles and Zalika about their expected foals thats really awesome. Really cool about lovely old Mencari with her impressive age and her regional record. Hope she is having a pleasant and peaceful time which am sure she is with doting keepers. The rainforest walk sounds really interesting, would especially have been interesting for seeing the various residents of the precinct over the years for return visitors like you. So were the B+W Ruffed Lemurs co-habitating with the zoo's Ring-tailed Lemurs until recently? Did I read your writing correct that they are now in gender divided groups/troops in two exhibits in that part of the zoo? Always happy when hearing about Black-Handed Spider Monkeys still residing at a zoo in our region (same with the Southern White Rhino and the NZ long-finned eels - the latter being very interesting to hear about for this grumpy old Aussie who is still desiring (burningly) to visit NZ someday (want to so much). Hearing about the two remaining African Hunting Dogs really jolts my memory about these two female Hunting Dogs at PZ (lol here I go again about PZ, I know I know lol) who were to my understanding the last survivors of the small pack which took up residence in the zoo's Savannah precinct in the early '90s, or were more likely amongst the litters born to the founders that came in the early '90s based on the timeframe. One was named Scar and the other her sister, (not sure if littermate sisters or not, feel bad cos use to remember her name too) but Scar was the dominant one. Scar and her sister never did get to appreciate the brand new exhibit (still current one, decent size by PZ's enclosure dimensions) for their 'African Painted Dogs' (as the zoo switched to calling them around mid '00s) that opened in March '05. Scar and her sister had their autumn years in what was formerly the Lions exhibit, adjacent to the (time-shared between 1.0 & 0.2) Persian Leopards exhibit/later additional Sumatran Tiger exhibit. I vividly remember seeing Scar and her sister running tenaciously (but charismatically) from one end of the exhibit to the other..but was instantly noticeable the reduction in the pack size (and having just learned to count to two lol jokes). It was seeing there were a duo left which was how I learned about the horse meat contamination which wiped out the rest of their pack in late '98 (learned about Scar and her sister by name and gender from an article on the zoo website circa early 2000s). When it came to the species swapping exhibits the Lions really got the 'Lion's share' moving into the Hunting Dogs former exhibit in the Savannah area. Scar and her sister not so much with the ex-Lion exhibit (though there was a brief stint in the exhibit which has held the zoo's Spotted Hyenas now for over 23 years, that exhibit was site of the contaminated meat tragedy). Scar and her sister were scaled down in exhibit size again with the move to their last (on public-display) home sometime in 1999. The reduction of the pack through the tragedy meant the 2 survivors got moved to a smaller exhibit. So PZ brought in new Hunting Dogs (2.1 if memory serves) from Monarto for the opening of the new exhibit in '05. Not sure exactly when Scar and her sister passed away but fairly sure it was late 2004 or early early 2005, perhaps they were euthanised? (zoo-justified by their advancing age?). Would love to find out when they were born/exactly how old in years they were when they passed. There was about a two year period from '02-'04 where the sisters were kept off display while Sean the Sun Bear had that exhibit before his move to Wellington Zoo in '04, but the Hunting Dog sister duo were back running around when I visited PZ again in September or October '04 (and last time I ever saw them). Sorry big tangent, we're talking about Hamilton Zoo here lol; so sounds like the older duo currently at the zoo (hope they reach maximum longevity with minimal aging discomforts) will live out their time and then Hamilton will look to acquiring new individuals in the future rather than merging anytime soon into a pack right? PS Heaps nice to be back on a NZ thread too btw, think its been a couple of months, last time was enjoying reading through your Auckland Zoo visit (felt like was almost walking through with your descriptive writing and photos).
Thank you for your kind words. Yes, the Black and white ruffed lemur and the Ring-tailed lemur had shared for the best part of a decade. In the 2000’s, they Black and white ruffed lemur lived separately in one of the old rainforest exhibits up the top, but they were merged into the large, open air exhibit around 2011. The females ruffed lemurs were later removed. The ruffed lemurs now live in seperate male/female groups as female ruffed lemurs can become aggressive to each other when males are around. Their respective exhibits have housed a variety of small cats over the years - the original occupants in the 1990’s being Temminck’s golden cat and Leopard cat from Melbourne Zoo. I’d assume the last hunting dogs from Perth’s pack would have been at the upper end of their life expectancy by then - based on the age of Orana’s males, who came from Perth in 1998. Perhaps they were the mother and aunt respectively of those males? 8-12 years is the average lifespan for this species.
Another couple of points I missed: Hamilton Zoo is still working on their New Zealand long-fin eel pond. It's been under construction for the past two and a half years now due to a drainage issue in the liner. I believe the best course of action re. The African wild dogs is to start afresh with young (18 month old) founders. They've tried numerous breeding combinations involving middle aged dogs over the years and none of them have yielded success. Their males are now 10 years old.
Hamilton appear to be still planning to breed from seven year Red Panda old Jamuna (from Facebook) The breeding programme here at Hamilton Zoo has been a huge success. While breeding pair Chito and Tayla died in 2020, in the 10 years they spent together they welcomed eight babies and seven have transferred to other zoos around the world where they are having their own babies. Jamuna remains here and is the future of our breeding programme - when she finds a boyfriend. Typically solitary in the wild, Jamuna is living her best life with the special care and attention of her keepers and the habitat space to herself.
They need to hurry up given this is a species that’s sexually mature in their second year. This year’s breeding season has now passed and Jamuna turns eight in January, so at the earliest she’ll be giving birth at the age of nine years in the 2023/2024 season. The eldest dam at first birth in the region was Amy at Wellington Zoo, who was eight years old upon the birth of twins in 2007. Auckland Zoo tried to breed with a ten year old female (first time breeder) in 2010, which was unsuccessful due to her age. For comparison, Jamuna’s mother gave birth to the last of her four litters at the age of seven years in January 2015.
I thought it all seemed a bit optimistic, surely it would be easier to bring in at least a young pair- could the male be rotated between two females in separate enclosures? Otherwise it will be a typical Hamilton problem of mis-matched pairings due to age and deaths.
In many cases a male-female pair can live together amicably, so theoretically an imported female could be housed separately from Jamuna (they’d fight) with the male housed with the non breeding female except during the annual breeding season. If they can import a male in the next few months, I’d attempt breeding from Jamuna first and then be prepared to import a second female when it was deemed to be unsuccessful. Males are fertile into old age, so as long as they don’t import an elderly male, there’s not the same rush to import a second female. On the subject of repeated mismatches re. age, I’ll be watching with interest where they go with their African wild dogs. Cutting their losses and importing young founders appears the obvious move.
Two minor changes at Hamilton: the red panda has been moved to a new enclosure while the former enclosure is 'under development' - fingers crossed for a male coming in soon. Also, the lower (father daughter?) Saimang enclosure is currently closed with a note saying the saimangs are currently unwell, hopefully it is nothing concerning.
Hopefully all is well with the Siamang. They’re a grandfather/grandaughter pair and the elderly male turned 38 years old this week, so is by no means a young animal. The female Nepalese red panda will be eight years old at her next breeding season (2023), so they really need to import a mate ASAP.
Hamilton zoo has two additional miniature horses, yay. Otherwise not much going on at the zoo. Many empty enclosures. Siamangs have been off display for two months now due to 'ill health'. The red panda exhibit is being refreshed with the impending import and the entry precinct is inching closer to completion.
They’ve been stagnating for years, which I’d attributed to a lack of funding - but even with recent funding, the progress has been poor. The entry precinct cost $7.5 million and consists of a new toilet block, a kid’s playground and an admin building that still sees people enter through a single entry point (congestion). The gift shop is still small and the cafe still overpriced. The masterplan released in 2014 was uninspiring, but revisions sound even worse with New Zealand’s biggest petting zoo being the next big project. Not sure who thought New Zealanders would be interested in paying to see what they can see for free down on the farm. I consistently hear parents complaining about exhibit after exhibit of goats, pigs etc. so it’s not just us ZooChatters who resent seeing domestic species in a zoo.
This site quotes around 140,000 per year: Hamilton Zoo founder given royal tribute | Hamilton City Council I’d imagine even prior to Covid, the vast majority of visitors to Hamilton Zoo were local (Waikato region). Auckland and Wellington receive many visitors from outside their respective cities; and the former has a decent international following from the publicity generated through their TV series in the 1990’s and 2000’s.
