I would just like to know everyone thoughts on the 2 Nile Hippo's living at Adelaide Zoo not being moved up to Monarto, some of this is because of lack of water which i understand, but the Government doesnt seem to want them there because of the fact they could pollute the murray if any hippo ponds were connected to the 2 streams that 'run' through the park that connect to the Murray 16km away (the creeks are drying up) Personally i would like to see the Hippos out on the main Savannah (which has the largest water body) with the Lock Aways underneat the Giraffe Veiwing Deck, it is also PLanned for the Colobus to live in the Mallee Behind the Giraffe Veiwing Deck. Which would be nice aswell, does anyone know anything about keeping Colobus in a Dry environment i have always thought of them at Rainforest Animals?
sounds good as long as having the hippos dont pose any serious risk to the local environment. although im sure that any potential impacts on the waterways could be mitigated by proper environmental filtration systems..,
with the colobus they seem to adapt well to environements other than tropical, i mean european zoos which display these animals outside all the time, and their temperate climate could be considered the opposite extre to dry.. does monaro have a problem with ticks though? mareeba lost some primates to ticks near the start, so could this pose a risk?
I saw a zoo program yesterday on Melbourne and Werebee zoos which showed the hipos at werebee being moved into their new area. I was suprise that all the hipos except the mother and calf (wh is nealy full grown) are kept in seperate areas. Are Adelaides a male and female. would they be better near other hipos. Are hipos like white rinos and breed better in a heard environment. With the large area at Werebee it would be good to have a large herd of hipos.
they would have, but again mareeba diditn give up animals singulary. werribee was going to have the new exhibit for the mareeba animals, and the old originals in the same lake system as before. that zoo crew is great i knew about it months ago, and i am in one episode about elephants, just sitting wataching meka pah swim. i love werribees new exhibit. i got to see all the new behind scences facilityes, they are great, 3 stalls and a huge quarrintine barn with indoor pool. i carnt wait till the exhibit is in full function, all the walls in edu centre open up to reveal hippos training area, with scales and a disply in the visitor area showing how much the hippo ways. and evettually the zebra and kudu will come to drink at waters edge, will be good.
it looks good from th epics you took Zoo_Boy. i'm supprised you said werribee had no intentions to breed their animals at the present - i would have thought the new space offered room for more. the male also hasn't yet successfully bred with one of the females correct? guereza colobus are not exclusively rainforest animals. whilst common in the jungles, they are also found in savannh/woodland type habitats in eastern africa.
i believe they do fight. from memory the female primrose has killed the the other females calf in the past.....hippos can be nasty things! obviously in the wild they live in family groups though, though thy no doubt fight in the wild just as much. not sure why adelaide have never bred their pair or if they intend on doing so when the move them to monarto. hippos are very long-lived. they may prove to be quite old! despite the import ban i am very much hoping we can secure a future for the species, with groups of commons at the open-range zoos and pygmies in all the city zoos.
yea primrose killed a calf, not sure if it was her own. well im not sure as yet on breeding, but no time in near future. and yes patrck, i like the idea pygmys in city, and commons in open range, dubbos look great when they are cruising around such a huge space.
Primrose killed Brindabellas calf a few years ago, also accidently crushed to death one of her own calves
from the photos posted by zooboy it looks like the hippos at werribee now have a sandy beach that they enjoy resting on. dubbo looks like it has something similar that is used just as often by the resident hippos. it used to be very hard to see the hippo in the old drive-thru exhibit, they rarely left the water... does anyone know if the sand on these artificial "beaches" actually encourage the hippo to bask outside the water more often?
Hippos Aucklands hippos have not had a good relationship amongst themselves -- they have now been split up -- a solitary female , and a male/female pair I think that the zoo are no longer breeding them ( but I may be mistaken ) Do zoos in Australia not have to treat all effluent ?
Hey Patrick - you have a great knowledge and/or memory!. He is indeed castrated. He was born in Auckland in 1988. I have a great photo of him when he was a youngster. I'll scan it and post it on here in a minute....
thanks zoopro, i do have a weird miraculous memory for this stuff!! whenever my friends go to the zoo, they ask me to come so they get a guided tour. i actually hate it cos i know so much i start to overcook my brain... its especially hard when, after discussing the ins and outs of the new elephants from thailand for 45mins someone asks "so are these african or (tentatively) a, a, asian elephants?".... arghhhhhh!!!!
great! thanks mate.. was the castration to stop aggressiveness or was it to avoid inbreeding with the other two hippo?
and one of my fondest zoo memories was being able to assist the zookeeper feeding ole' bigmouth here ...... He opened up his mouth -- really big You aimed a large cabbage at where his tonsils would be CHOMP !!!! cabbage gone just like that
