Freeflight aviary reopens: The freeflight aviary has reopened with the following species: Eight Red-crowned parakeet Three New Zealand pigeon Two New Zealand bellbird Affect
The giraffe calf born last year is progressing well and has now joined the rest of the herd on display as his fractured leg is healing well: Log into Facebook | Facebook
Giraffe pregnancies: From a photo taken by a visitor of Orana’s giraffe herd, it appears two of the cows are pregnant. This would come as no surprise, given the bull succeeded in breeding with Shira prior to his death. The other cows are: 0.1 Harriet (Harold x Tunu) 26-11-2012 at Orana Wildlife Park 0.1 Mdomo (Zabulu x Kiraka) 15-11-2013 at Auckland Zoo 0.1 Kamili (Armani x Kitoto) 07-03-2018 at Perth Zoo
Exciting news. A pair of Orange-crowned Kakarikis have now moved on-show at Orana. The retired breeding pair are housed in the walkthrough aviary. Information from their social media.
Ostrich deaths: From social media: Orana Wildlife Park have farewelled their two elderly ostrich, Gregory Peck and Moana due to ill health. The male was imported as an egg from Australia in 1994 and at the time was one of only five ostrich in New Zealand (all at Orana Wildlife Park).
Native bird update: Following the conclusion of breeding season and the release of young captive bred Blue ducks into the wild, Orana’s breeding pair of Blue duck has returned to public display. They can be seen in the walk through aviary. The zoo has participated in this programme for several years and over the last decade, the number of breeding pairs has increased from 298 to 863. The zoo have welcomed a pair of Brown teal from Hamilton Zoo. They’re on display in the Brown teal aviary outside the Kea aviary.
Kiwi breeding update: Orana has welcomed five kiwi chicks this season, with the chicks transitioning to the native aviary to learn skills for when they’re released into the wild. Orana Wildlife Park currently has three breeding pairs of North Island brown kiwi.
Orange-fronted parakeet breed and release: From social media: Our natives team had a special task to do this week as the last of our Orange-fronted parakeet are ready to be taken to The Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust prior to being released at The Brook Waimarama Sanctuary in Nelson. These chicks were reared at Orana as part of the Orange-fronted parakeet breed for release program. This season we have released a total of 36 chicks to the wild.
Good news. With only a handful of Waterbuck in the country kept across two zoos, every birth counts. Hopefully Auckland Zoo will see results with their herd in near future.
Yes, Orana have previously imported a bull from Werribee and Hamilton Zoo imported semen from Dubbo in 2013 to attempt AI. Unfortunately this was unsuccessful.
An IRA dated March 2021 can be found here: https://www.mpi.govt.nz/dmsdocument/44470/direct It aims to allow imports from Australia, Canada, the USA, South Africa, Japan, Singapore and Europe. Most excitingly, giraffe are included in this long awaited IRA.
Giraffe calf update: From socials: Beautiful Jasiri is 6 months old. Our not so little giraffe calf is now over 7ft tall (He can now reach the adult hay feeder) and weighs more than 200kg! Yesterday he had an x-ray to check how his leg is healing and our vet is pleased with how it is looking. We still need to monitor him as he continues to grow but for now he is keeping his mum and aunt on their toes with his antics. Jasiri was the first calf of his species to be born at Orana is nine years; and the first male calf in thirteen years.
Kiwi update: From socials: Tomorrow, 24 May, our kiwi house will be closed as we introduce two new kiwi to the facility and transfer the current birds out. The new birds, Frosty and Jellybean, hatched at Orana last season. They will be slowly transitioned into the nocturnal house and it may take them a few days to explore their new environment. Our two departing kiwi are heading off on new adventures. Sonic (male) is being released to the wild and Maru (female) is being transferred to Willowbank as part of our involvement in the captive component of the kiwi recovery programme.
1.0 White rhino, Stumpy has died as reported by @WhistlingKite24 in the White Rhino population thread.
That is sad for the zoo and keepers who cared for the him. Without making light of the loss, it might open an opportunity for Hamilton to rehouse one of their bulls? They have been having issues for a whoke now.
Orana taking on Samburu would definitely be of benefit to Hamilton Zoo. Like you say, they’re at capacity and urgently need to shift him on. The South African import isn’t far away and I imagine Orana’s preference is receive a founder bull and at least one cow to restart their herd. A mature bull would give better chances for breeding results than the adolescent Samburu and an additional cow would supplement the female herd which has been reduced to a single viable cow. Long term, Orana would want a second bull to act as a stimulant bull. This probably wouldn’t be needed initially with multiple founder bulls imported soon; but following the transfer of the surplus to Australia, either the retention of a second founder bull or the son of the first founder bull would be likely imo.
