what is going on with auckland zoo orangutans ? anyone give me the news i havent seen the zoo in ages and thats how i keep uptodate with the orangs so give some news on them !
Orangutans in Auckland Well I'll trya nd put you out of your misery....from what I've seen of The Zoo they now have two groups of orangs. They shipped the chimps to Hamilton Zoo. Three orangs arrived from Sydney Zoo, one of whom is a hybrid (crossed between Bornean and Sumatran) and is merely along because she's pals with the other two - she's called Juanita. The others are Melur and Gangsa. One of the females, Melur, gave birth to an unexpected baby last year and he's now one and called Madju. I think Charlie is his father and Horst (the other male) lives with Indra, Itam and another beginning with I! Indra still seems to be battling with health problems. Not sure if that's what you wanted to know but there you go....!
Which Sydney ZOO is it because Taronga has never had orangs by those names. and they didnt have three girls to sned away in the first place? did Mogo have Orangs?
mogo has never had orangs and taronga currently have only hybrids. auckland keep borneans so they are unfortunately not part of the regional orang program, but it possible that taronga sent borneans there many years ago as i know the regions purebred sumatrans were consolodated to australia and the borneans to new zealand.
I have seen the ep cloth cat is referring to, mainly cause she sent it to me lol. and yes they did come from taronga. back in about 2001 maybe? Maria Finnigan was head of primates at the time.
I know paperwork is in process for one of the females to go to a zoo in Florida over the next few years... Can't eloborate any further though...
Hiya I'm one of the Orangutan keepers at Auckland Zoo so can fill you in on whatever you'd like to know...
At this point no sorry I'm not at liberty to comment on any transfers that may or may not be happening But I can tell you about our orangs, who's who, how many, ages, personalities, etc. I can say that obviously in the Waaaaay long term (as in decades) Auckland Zoo would like to be able to take part in the region's breeding programs which would mean we would need to focus on Sumatran orangs (we are the only zoo in the region to hold Borneans so is difficult or impossible to do swaps etc)
Yes, you also have one hybrid, correct..? Is it still set up with a male in either enclosure, one male in the old Chimp enclosure and the other with the remaining females (including Madju) in the larger enclosure..? If so, is this set to remain long term..?
Hiya Yep we have our hybrid (Wanita) who is paired up with our 14 year old male Isim as one group. They share the larger exhibit with the male Charlie, girls Gangsa, Melur and Madju the baby. Then the old chimp exhibit has our other male Horst, and Indra and her grown daughter Intan. IN the long term we'd like to be able to have more space for our orangs and are hoping to also do major renovations to both enclosures, but nothing definite planned at the moment.
Renovations would be good... I believe the larger enclosure was built in 1987 and was the first one at the zoo to cost over 1 million and the smaller enclosure was built for the Giant Panda's in 1988..?
Hi Laloba, Can you elaborate how it works in the ARAZPA programme for orangs? The pure bred Bornean (sub-)species being confined to NZ, the Taronga hybrids on a no breeding rec and all other zoos in Australia involved in pure-bred Sumatrans. Is Auckland for its Borneans tied to the SSP or EEP (import and exchange wise)? Perhaps, at this point with 2 youngsters you do not yet have to move any orangs, but will in the next 4-5 years. Can you brief us on how old each and every orang is at Auckland? Much obliged, Jelle
Wow, this site is awesome. I love the Orangutans at Auckland Zoo! Here's some information on them: Group One (share large enclosure with group 3) Charlie is the doimnant male of the largest group. He was born at Singapore Zoo and came to Auckland in 1984. He is the father of Intan, Isim and Madju. Gangsa is in Charlie's group. She is quite shy. She was born in 1989 and came to the zoo from Taronga Zoo in 2001. She is yet to breed. Melur is the other adult female in Charlie's group. She was born in 1988 and also came to Auckland from Taronga in 2001. She has a 2 and half year old son Madju with Charlie. Madju is the youngest member in Charlie's group. He was a suprise but clebrated birth to Melur and Charlie in 2005. Group Two (use small enclosure) Horst is the dominant male in this group and the only male! He was born in 1978 and to my knowledge has never bred. Indra is the older of the two females in Horst's group. She is the mother of Intan and Isim. Indra was born in 1980. Intan is the youngest in this group. She was born in 1989 at the zoo to Charlie and Indra. She is the same age as Gangsa. Group Three (share large enclosure with group 1) Group Three contains just two Orangutans. A male and a female. Isim is the male. He is fourteen and was born to Indra and Charlie in 1994 at the zoo. He is the younger of Indra's two babies so he stayed with her and Charlie for a long time, therefore he is only jus starting to grow cheek pads! Wanita is the female and was born in 1979. She is a bornean/sumatran hybrid and so not allowed to breed. She came to the zoo in 2001 with Melur and Gangsa from Taronga Zoo to keep them company and she is now providing company for Isim. Another Orangutan called Dara was part of the original four Orangutan's who were brought to Auckland Zoo (Dara, Horst, Indra and Charlie) in 1983-1884. Dara had a son Datuk born in 1989 (I'm not sure who the father was, probably Charlie!) who went to Taronga Zoo in 1995. He died soon after sadly. Dara's second offspring was born in 2000. The father was Charlie. Dara had septicemia following the birth and had trouble feeding the baby, sadly she rolled on the baby killing it. Even more tragically Dara died a couple of days later under anaecestic.
HI Sam I am impressed how much you know about Auckland Zoo's Orangs, may I ask how you know all this info? All your facts and figures are spot on except for the fact that we aren't 100% sure who the father of Madju and Isim is. We are currently working on DNA testing to find out for sure.