Melbourne Zoo has successfully bred Baw Baw frog eggs in captivity ( I thought they had already ). Zoos Victoria
Here is a video filling in the details regarding the successful breeding of the Baw Baw frog. Zoos Victoria
According to this article he has 58 descendents. https://thewest.com.au/news/australia/the-kiss-giraffe-grew-up-to-be-fine-dad-ng-y
I visited Melbourne Zoo today, and there have been some exhibit changes lately: -The Cotton-top Tamarins are not currently on display, with the pathway past their enclosure now closed. -The Pygmy Hippo is now in the first of the two enclosures for this species in the African Rainforest trail, replacing the Peccaries that were held there. -The second hippo enclosure is being renovated, with signs up for the Brazilian Tapir, who will be moving in soon. -There is now a Cassoway in the old Mandrill enclosure, presumably the bird from the Great Flight Aviary, which no longer has signs for this species. This is definitely an improvement, the Cassowary is much easier to see and is viewed from ground level as opposed to being looked down on.
I heard that the cotton top tamarins were now in the arboreal primate walkway exhibits - can anyone confirm that?
They are not on display anywhere at present. There are no signs of them moving into the Tree Tops exhibit.
Melbourne Zoo’s three male lions have moved to Monarto Zoo for breeding- quite a surprise! The zoo will recieve two adolescents from Werribee in the coming weeks. Zoos Victoria
Great news! Indeed a suprise! The two adolescents will probably be the two males from the 2016 litter, Ndidi and Zuberi. Offspring of Johari and Nairobi.
Just a thought, but won’t the male’s that are being sent to Monarto be related to the females at Monarto zoo. Kubwa, Kashka and Kito’s father is Johari. His mother is Kuchani. Kuchani has half siblings who were born 3 years after her birth ( Kuchani and her half- siblings shared the same mother but had different fathers). Two of her half- siblings, Tiombe and Kibara were sent to Monarto to breed in 2006 along with Kuchani’s neice’s Zalika and Kiamba. Tiombe had four successful cubs there: Three males, Jelani, Husani and Inkosi and one female, Nia. Kiamba had three successful cubs there too: One male, Mlinzi and two females Jahzara and Makena. This said, means that Kubwa, Kashka and Kito are related to all the lions at Monarto. With their export there, this could only mean that Monarto will be importing lions with new genetically valuable genes from outside the region.
Jahzara went to Mogo earlier this year. The youngest of the remaining Monarto female's are 7/8 years old now (middle aged) so I would suspect your theory about new imports being on the cards seems likely. Even if it doesn't happen for 2/3 years
Here is an article on it: Melbourne Zoo's lion brothers fly the coop | Zoos Victoria On Wednesday, Melbourne Zoo transferred three of its most handsome animals - lion siblings Kashka, Kubwa and Kito - to their new home at Monarto Open Range Zoo in South Australia. The trio, born at Werribee Open Range Zoo in 2015, join a pride of nine lions at Monarto, including seven lionesses. As very important breeding males, they will contribute their valuable genes to the regional breeding program, which plays a critical part in protecting the species from extinction. Melbourne Zoo Director Kevin Tanner said the boys would be missed, but the carnivore team were now busy preparing Lion Gorge for the arrival of two new lion brothers. “Although Kashka, Kubwa and Kito had only been under our care for a relatively short time, having arrived just last year from Werribee, they had become firm favourites with visitors, members, staff and their keepers,” Mr Tanner said. “However, we hope the boys will build a healthy and genetically viable pride of lions at Monarto. “We are now looking forward to welcoming two new residents from Werribee - lion cub brothers Zuberi and Ndidi – who will be settled into their new residence in time for Christmas visitors to meet them.” Zuberi and Ndidi turn two years of age on December 13 – an age where a lion would naturally move away from their family pride in the wild into a bachelor group. Both Melbourne Zoo and Werribee Open Range Zoo have a proud history of caring for African lions, stretching back as far as 100 years in the case of Melbourne Zoo. “Both the Melbourne Zoo and Werribee Open Range Zoo carnivore teams have spent many months crate training both groups of lions in preparation for their transportation,” Mr Tanner said. “This approach of giving animals choice means they are calmly loaded and unloaded, ensuring both animal welfare and safety.”
I visited the zoo for the first time today as part of my trip to Melbourne. I was overall quite impressed and thought I’d share some random notes/ questions/ highlights. I will post some photos in the gallery in the coming weeks. - I appreciated that the zoo had well-planned trails, this made it easier to navigate around the zoo ( the map condenses a lot). - The Frog House and path to the Orangutan Sanctuary were closed for renovations. - The Razor-billed Curassow was my absolute zoo highlight. I saw and photographed her on my first (and only) visit to the Amazon Aviary. I was very lucky! Also seen in the aviary were Green-winged Macaw, Buffon’s Macaw and Red-fronted Macaw. - I only saw four peccaries in their enclosure next to the tapir. - What orangutans are in each enclosures? - Is the female giraffe a pure Rothschild’s? -Reptile House highlights included Twist-necked Turtle, Phillipine Crocodile, the Milk Snakes and Taiwan Beauty Snake. - Wild Sea and Growing Wild were adequate, but at times childish (particularly Wild Sea). I do appreciate that they had underwater viewing for their Little Penguin. -I particularly liked the coatimundi exhibit in the Carnivores trail, it had good height and nice viewing opportunities (maybe because it was my first time seeing the species). This trail reminded me of Australia Zoo for some reason. - The Butterfly House was excellent and was very popular, I think more major zoos should add one. - The Great Flight Aviary was looking a bit tired but is still a wonderful structure. - The Tree Top Apes / Monkeys was nicely done, and offered many vantage points. Some of the enclosures were nicer than others. I got some photos of the Spider Monkey baby- adorable! They seem to be down to two Colobus monkeys. Although Melbourne Zoo had some faults, I believe it’s still a very nice facility.
In answer to your questions: 1. The zoo rarely rotates the Orangutans around from enclosure to enclosure. You will tend to find, Santan (41 year old male) in the outside netted enclosure, Maimunah (32 year old female) and her daughter Dewi (8 year old female) in the day room and Menyaru (17 year old male), Kiani (40 year old female) and Kiani’s daughter, Gabby (28 year old female) in the outside open enclosure. On the rare occasion, Maimunah and Dewi may swap with Santan and take the outside netted enclosure while Santan goes into the day room. 2. The zoo actually has 2 female giraffes at the moment, after the death of their male, Makulu in October. Their youngest giraffe, Nakuru was born at Auckland in 2012 to Zabulu and Rukiya, making her pure Rothschilds whilst the older female, Twiga i’m not so sure. I cannot seem to find a track of where she was born or whom her parents where but I do know she arrived from Holland in 1997 to breed with Makulu. Hope this answers all your questions, @WhistlingKite24
