Someone asked for some photos of silvery gibbons recently - I've just uploaded a couple of photos of Taronga's pair. Apologies for the wire in the foreground, but there's not much you can do about it!
great photos! thanks zoopro. gibbons have got to be my absolute favorite primate. they make excellent exhibits as their acrobatic skills are second to none and they have heaps of character. i'm almost postive melbournes male white-cheeked gibbon actively "shows off" when he gets a crowd. becuse of these reasons and aslo their high conservation value, i am really pleased the region has decided we have enough room for three species and developed programs for silvery, white-cheeked and simang gibbons. and i would even argue that you couldn't have picked a better three representations either. each come from a distinctly different part of asia, has a distinctly different physical appearance and represent the three different gibbon families. i am yet to lay my eyes on a silvery gibbon in the flesh, but from photos they look absolutely gorgeous!!
Melbourne's male white-cheeked gibbon absolutely loves a crowd - he always has. While the female is more reseved, with people that she is comfortable with, she'll come right up to the glass or mesh, and make sure that the male doesn't get any of the attention! I have a load of pics of the silvery's - I'll email a bunch to you if you like, Pat.
that would be great. melbournes white-cheeks are considered a non-breeding pair now arn't they? i know recently their last offspring (a female) was sent to adelaide, so they have spread their genes, but anyone know why that is? i heard a zoo volunteer once say that the female was diabetic. breeding a health issue for her maybe? in any event, being a long-lived species i imagine it'll be a long, long, time before melbourne replaces them with a younger breeding pair.
i was on this point disappointed with melbourne annual report, no hiden messages into part of the zoos futures, nor really any overview of the past years operations, now tarongas is a good one, a great read, uploaded on to there site today!
When I was last at Taronga I got the impression that the silverys weren't too keen on each other. One would always move, very quickly, away when the other approached. Are they getting on better now?
What Melbourne's anual report has to do with silvery (or other) gibbons, I don't know, but an annual report is designed to report on the events of the past year, and is not a masterplanning report about future plans. I think it's a great report of the past financial year - maybe not as creative as it could have been, but the content is fine.
When I visited this morning they were both out and quite active, and although they were both feeding most of the time, they certainly interracted with each other, with no visible signs of aggression. The female was more outgoing and active than the male, but they both seemed to be making use of the length of the exhibit, with no bad interractions between them.
Pat, Melbourne's white-cheeks (Tieu and Vang), are now about 33 and 36 years old respectively. This pair has produced at least seven offspring, with four of these being transferred to other zoos in the region. Although both of them were wild-born, their genes are very well represented in the regional collection already. I suspect this is why this pair is not being bred any more. Vang is an amazing animal, and I couldn't resist uploading a pic of her as a youngster - just for you Pat!
Didn't someone post a thread about one of the silvery gibbons at Taronga having a disease that may prevent it from breeding? Does anyone have any info about this?
awwww! she's smiling . thanks heaps zoopro. whats that old exhibit they she's in? yeah they are gorgeous animals and even on a quick zoo visit i can never resist a speedy walk through the african rainforest so that i can watch them for a bit. last i saw their most recent daughter was still black and i was hoping that i would get to see her (presumably quick) transition into the golden coat of a matured female. the contrast between the sexes is pretty astonishing. i'm hoping we soon see these guys transferred into a larger exhibit. personally i would like to see them move to an island - the old siamang exhibit/island has all the facilities but is currently sitting empty. of course it would mean not being able to view them so close - but i'm sure they would love the open air and the larger space in which to show off their skills. those can do some damn amazing stuff!!! are they dangerous? i know the much larger siamangs can be, but are the white-cheeks at melbourne more placid in nature?
thats good to hear. is their much likelihood of another australasian zoo aquiring javan gibbons anytime soon or will australias involvement remain with just the two intitutions having involvement with the international program? melbourne listed them in their last regional plan from memory but it looks like their is a very limited number of them available (around just 55 i think!) in zoos.
yep. didn't go to the zoo for awhile there and last i vere saw of her she was still black with white cheeks...
Good news, but why did someone post it if it was not true. It just turns into ammo for the anti-zoo crowd. Lets be careful with our posts, because i bet it's not just zoo lovers reading these posts.
Boof, I couldn't agree more with you. This forum is a great place for exchange of "The News on Zoos", and also a great place for healthy debate, where people's opinions can be posted, discussed, agreed with, or alternative views posted. But let's try to keep "facts" factual. Nothing annoys me (and I suspect, a great many other people) more than reading posts about any subject where the facts are wrong. And when anyone posts a response that provides additional or more correct details, let's all be thankful that we are getting more up to date or correct information, rather than complain about it. After all, I'm sure we all want to rely on the News on Zoos that is posted here. My two cents worth!
Really liked your photos Zoopro, I would love to see as time permits a pair of Silvers at each main Aussie zoo, man that would be great, I hope we can run about three species at our zoos (more would be better), great animals.
I don't think it was posted as if it were true but rather that someone had heard about it and wondered what the true state was, just as you did previously
