Sumatran tiger 'Melati' has had a health check (in August) before her departure to the UK later this year. Does anyone know her exact ancestry? Also, does this leave Perth with no Sumatran tigers?
She will be heading for ZSL London then... Previously revealed some months back that they intended to import a pair to fill the upcoming new exhibit which will open in 2013, with the other half of that pair being sourced from USA Melati was born in August 2008 at Perth to Hari and Setia (Setia's brother, Tenang already being resident at Paignton, UK) Hari by co-incidence was born at London (the last cub they bred)
Any idea on the other half (one coming from the US) arriving at Perth and from where? Good to see some intercontinental cooperation between 3 different zoo association regions'! Now for the encore, when will Indonesia come on board?
They are... Setia (F) - Mother of Melati and Satri. Setia was born at Perth in 2000 to Malu and Calang. Malu moved to Mogo in 2003 and Calang died 2006. Her littermates were Berani, who's now at National Zoo in Canberra and Tenang who went to the UK. Dumai (M) - imported from NaturZoo Rhiene, Germany in 2004. Has never bred with Setia or any other tiger Satri (M) - Brother of Melati and also born at Perth in 2008 to Hari and Setia Melati (F) - Brother of Satri Hari came on loan from Cairns between 2007 and 2008. He sired two litters, the first was Sali who was handreared before later sent to Dreamworld (and eventually Hamilton) and the 2nd being Melati and her brothers (the 2nd male from that litter, Jaya died in December 2009) The male for Melati will come to London from the United States. No further details revealed on him just yet. All being well they will both be in London by the end of 2012 and the exhibit fully opened in March
Perth has had some breeding success with Asian short clawed otters recently: -4.0 have been born to breeding male 'Tuan' (imported from Denmark) and female 'Asia' (from USA). -2.2 have been born to breeding male 'Doan' (Tuan's brother) and female 'Boo' (from UK). The first family group is displayed opposite the red pandas. The second family group is off-display and is being moved to Adelaide Zoo later in the year. These are the first otter births at Perth in 18 years.
Video update of released orangutan Semeru: Update on Perth Zoo Orangutan Semeru in Sumatra 2012 - YouTube
One of the best Zoo stories I have come across, it shows what can be done with Orangutans and I hope other zoo-bred ones, perhaps from US. or European Zoos, will be able to follow this example.
It shows what's possible but really, isn't there more of a future in protecting what's there and rehabilitating current rescues?
All that too. What I am saying is I would like in the future to see some 'surplus' young animals bred in European Zoos perhaps released if there is suitable safeguarded habitat. There must be a capacity level for Orangutan numbers kept in Zoos but they are still being produced. And I would rather see at least some zoo-bred orangutans of the latest generation having a future like this and help to bolster the wild populations, than be doomed to live all their lives in the often still substandard zoo enclosures that the current and past generations have been kept in. To my mind this is the outstanding species that most Zoos still fail to provide really good accomodation for- perhaps they never will be able to.
Couldn't the same thing be said for the Aspinall gorilla re-introduction program or the South China tiger breeding and eventual re-introduction program? Otherwise, I do completely agree with you.
I believe that, where possible, reintroducing zoo-bred animals to augment or help bolster wild populations has an important role to play, alongside the release of 'rescued' animals that have never left their native country. Obviously, protection of the habitat is paramount as without that, releases of the animals, whatever their sources, is not going to work. The relocation of a whole Gorilla group from Port Lympne is certainly breaking new ground here- not just using single individuals or a group of younger handreared animals put together for this purpose, but a cohesive, ready formed breeding group. Potentially it should stand an even better chance of success as a result. Howletts/Pl have always had relocation/repatriation as part of their aim, though so far it has been relatively limited, to some orphaned Gorillas and the Black Rhinos. It is good to see this being taken a stage further. I think Perth's experimental release of the two Orangutans is equally important and a laudable achievement. Such releases, of captive-bred large primates, are still comparatively in their infancy.
2.0 zebra 'Kamalu' and 'Zaafir' have arrived from National Zoo and Aquarium and are already on display with the female zebra and the giraffes. Both were born at National Zoo and Aquarium around 2009/2010 I believe.
as reported in the posts above: Baby otters make Perth Zoo debut - The West Australian Two new zebras for Perth Zoo - The West Australian
Do meerkats have the same concept and appeal in Australia/NZ as in the UK, where longterm media exposure through advertising for online Insurance(comparethemarket.com) have made them a Household name as cute humanised personalities, so that nowdays they are an exhibit 'must' at every Zoo. Or are they still just a 'small animal' in your Zoos?
They certainly gaining popularity and the Australian population is being boosted with new genetics recently from New Zealand (Dubbo), South Africa (Melbourne) and UK (Perth).
