Hamiltons Giraffes Hello Nigel The Rothschild giraffe was born on 2 Nov 1999 and acquired from Orana. The other 4 are subspecies hybrids. Dates of birth of the giraffes born at Auckland Zoo are 27 Nov 02, 2 Dec 02 and 4 Aug 04. The giraffe from Wellington Zoo was born on 22 May 1998. They are all males. Hamilton Zoo would not consider selling a giraffe - if any were required for breeding, they would be transferred to another ARAZPA zoo which was part of the Australasian Species Management Programme. I cannot direct you to a specific person at MAF - I simply comply with regulations imposed by both Australia and New Zealand when an animal is exchanged between the 2 countries. MAF Wellington may be able to assist you. straight from the horses mouth .....
thnx zoopro can you email them again(since you get a reply lol) and ask in the future will they breed, as weribbe zoo in australia is now the regionals bachelor holder. or something like that
I didn't email them, Nigel did. Hamilton have no plans to breed at this stage, just hold a bachelor group. There's no reason why there can't be more than one bachelor group of any species in the region, especially due to the cost and logistics of moving giraffe around, it makes complete sense to have a bachelor group in New Zealand and one in Australia.
yea sorry zoopro, tht was directed at nigel, i was saying thnx for the other answer. it would make sense tht yes, but i wasnt sure weather the zoo would send them around, to make room for another breeding grioup, i was told that werribee would be the regions bachelor holder, so i wasnt sure. and yes it would make sense to have to, due to your reasonings. i was simply inquiring to whether there would be 2.
ok here I go again with my fixation. I was thinking about the roths and giraffes in general and the lack of fresh genetic bloodlines. I know that Australia can only import them from NZ (why is that ok for giraffes and not for other ungulates - or is it?) and I think that NZ can import them from overseas. I also know that there are logistical problems with shipping giraffes out (size wise) and it would be expensive. Especially if the cost was borne by just one zoo. But perhaps we should really think like a region. New blood is going to benefit all the zoos in time so why shouldn't they all bear some of the cost? If each of the major zoos in Aust and Nz chipped in for say, half dozen animals to be brought in (for arguments sake I'll make them roths) This way each zoo would pay for half an animal. To go with this arguement I'll make it two males and four females, all as unrelated as possible. Both Auckland and Wellington zoo have ageing giraffes, and for some reason females aren't born very often over there. (something in the water? hehe) Two of the cows could go to Auckland, they already have a bull roths so that would be good. A bull and cow could go to Wello and the remaining pair could go to Orana. Good old Harold could be retired to Hamilton, he has sired plenty of calves (8 or 9). Eventually, in the next generation, unrelated animals would be sent over to Aussie zoos, Melbourne Perth and Mogo could receive fresh roths and continue to breed the pure subspecies, other scould go to Dubbo, monarto etc and bring in fresh blood to the hybrid population. The whole process would take a couple of generations and certainly Aussie zoos wouldn't see any return on their investment for a while but.... I see four responses to this. 1. The zoos haven't thought of it 2. They have thought of it and it isn't feasable for some reason 3. It is feasable and the zoos intend on doing it sometime in the future. 4. It is feasable and for some reason the zoos don't want to do it. Can those who are more knowledgable comment on this?
im not, hehe, but that is the best response, making the most sense i have read in ages, good one mate
Importation of Giraffes ( and other animals ) The main issues with NZ zoos would be (1) The immense amount of red tape required by MAF and other biosecurity agencies (2) The fact that NZ is so isolated from other countries . I think that each animal species , and each country of origin has to be taken into account on a one to one basis for the biosecurity issue -- my understanding is that the zoos in NZ and MAF have a good working relationship with each other and I know that zoos can get white rhinos into zoos in NZ -- if they want to pay for it , and do the mountains of biosecurity prep work Jay , you have seen the videos of Auckland Zoo that I have sent you . You have also recently discovered that it is not a large zoo in area . And yet I am sure that you would say it is a good zoo from what you have seen . I am sure they have their valid reasons for doing ( or otherwise ) what they decide . I will visit MAF sometime and see what I can find out about importation of wildlife into NZ . NZs Biosecurity arrangements are the toughest in the world , and have recently got tougher . Even if you have no biosecurity risk on entry , you still go through at least 3 biosecurity checkpoints in the arrivals processing area of the airport -- you go through MORE if there is ANY possiblity that you have anything that may attract attention . It took me over an hour to clear the requirements when I came back from Fiji , and I didnt have anything that was of concern . If I came back from , say , India , it will be a far different story ! Just to give you an example ; If an aeroplane ( Air new Zealand )loaded up with airline food (which included satchets of honey) at Auckland Airport , and the plane flew to Sydney Airport , the airline food still remaining on the plane was NOT taken off the plane at Sydney . Then 2 hours later the plane flew back to Auckland . On arrival back in NZ the unopened sachets of honey will be removed and destroyed by MAF !! No bull !! Australias biosecurity is pretty strict , but it is PEANUTS compared to NZ . So imagine what needs to be done if you wish to bring in a live Dikdik from some other zoo .
My point exactly Nigel, it is damn hard but it still can be done. This is why no one zoo should have to shoulder the burden alone.
hey guys on another note.... rothschild's giraffe. personally i'm not a huge fan of common names being named after a person, so walter rothschild was the first white guy to notice that giraffes in uganda had a slightly different pattern... woop-de-do! baringo giraffe has a more exotic ring to it. it goes well with other giraffe types - masai, somali, nubian, rhodesian.... i don't expect anyone to change, i probably won't, just wondering....
It's like the rothschilds mynah isn't it? I do get confused with the modern changin of names for aust. marsupials being called by their aboriginal names, instead of Rufous hare wallaby it's the mala. Most of the time I read these new names and have no dea what they are talking about. I can picture a hare wallaby, can relate it to a banded hare wallaby but cannot connect a munning with a mala
