Would the De Brazzas monkey the last of them were moved to the National zoo and the Lion Tailed Macaque (last one or two at the Rockhamton zoo) from Melbourne zoo?
Maybe by the time they’ve reached maturity, Wellington Zoo will have renovated their old sun bear exhibit for this species. It’d be great to see this species thrive in the region’s zoos as it once did - alongside the Sri Lankan leopard of course.
There’s always the possibility of a new hold in Tasmania zoo, who onlast few years have welcomed lions, tigers, cheetahs etc, and I’d be imagining that billabong will be looking at future plans to replace their elderly trio, obviously this is a speculation.
There's also Mogo Zoo, thought they will probably phase them out. They have two elderly non breeding cats.
I hope not. The two elderly non-breeding Snow Leopards at Billabong are 1.0 Sabu and 0.1 Kamala. They born at the Taronga Zoo in 2005 to Leon and Samarra (making them half-siblings to Sundar at MZ, as they share the same father, Leon). Apparently they weren’t part of the breeding program because of eye-defects inherited from their father, Leon. This would be why Sundar (at MZ) has never bred. It dosen’t make sense to me why MZ would take on Leon to breed with Meo, when they knew any of his future cubs couldn’t take part in the breeding program. They would’ve been better off importing another male from overseas! EDIT: Kamala has since passed, and Billabong also has another pair Khumbu and Samarra.
Yes Sabu lives at Billabong Zoo and Kamala has since passed away. They also have an unrelated elderly pair (Khumbu and Samarra).
Mogo Zoo have a female Snow Leopard named Tenzin (born 2003 to Manga and Lena) and a male named Ilyan, who came from Nordens Ark in Sweden in 2010. They have never bred. Khumbu is the littermate of Tenzin. I think Tasmania would be more suitable for Snow Leopards than Mogo and the others because of it's colder temperatures.
Yes, I remember watching a documentary on the move of Khumbu to Billabong. He was moved the year after Ilyan arrived, probably to give the new pair space to breed, and to contribute further in the regional breeding program. It’s quite a shame both pairs haven’t bred. It’s a waste of genetics that could have benefited the region. Instead Leon bred successfully; even though none of his cubs could be part of the regional breeding program. It would be great if Tasmania got Snow Leopards. With the rate they’re going, I wouldn’t put it out of reach!
I would say that at 17 female snow leopard at Mogo Zoo is well passed breeding age and even when the male arrived from SVERIGE in 2010 her age was not the best. It would have been nice in another much younger female would have been available for breeding. And even now: that would be a good option. I agree Tassie Zoo will be a better environment climate wise. Also, I think quite a few of the Kiwi zoos like Auckland or Wellington are climate wise more suitable.
Melbourne Zoo has welcomed the birth of a Hamadryas Baboon. The baby has been named Quilton. Security Check
Melbourne have had great success with their Hamadryads Baboon breeding program. I believe their troop now numbers about 30. Hopefully they can export some of their youngsters in the future to other zoos in the region, which are struggling with genetic representation.
I believe the Darling Downs Zoo has the second largest group after Melbourne zoo also having imported two females a few years ago from Poland both have had off spring
Yes, Darling Downs would probably be the only other zoo in the region doing well with Hamadryads Baboon. MZ have increasingly well, considering before 2014, they only had a non-breeding troop that hadn’t bred since 2000. The adding of two males from overseas, and some females from Wellington, has proved a success in kick-starting their breeding program once again.
On my last visit Darling Downs Zoo had a troop of eleven baboons (with two pregnant females). I don't know Auckland's or Perth's numbers but I guess they would indeed have the second largest group in region.
