Taronga Zoo Taronga Zoo News 2022

A new Australian Sea-lion has arrived at Taronga Zoo from Sea Life Sunshine Coast temporarily. April, a female sea-lion has been transferred to Taronga for breeding purposes as part of a six-month stay. Interestingly, it is hoped she will be introduced to a male for breeding and then be moved back to Queensland once confirmed pregnant: April the Aussie sea lion in bid to boost population numbers

 

New Zealand fur seal transfered to Sea Life Sunshine Coast

Also mentioned in that article is that female New Zealand fur seal, Birubi, has been transferred from Taronga Zoo to Sea Life Sunshine Coast. She was born at Taronga Zoo to Keke and was the first of her species both at Taronga Zoo in over 20 years.

Hopefully both species of pinniped will be successful in breeding at Taronga, though given the embryonic diapause phase is lengthy, it’ll be difficult to confirm pregnancy ahead of transferring April back to Queensland.

 

Taronga Zoo plan to transfer elephants to Dubbo:

Three baby elephants are soon to be born at Melbourne Zoo. And a move to a new open-plains life at Werribee may be next.

We FINALLY have confirmation Taronga Zoo plan to transfer Pak Boon and Tang Mo to Dubbo:

Some of the world’s urban zoos, including Detroit and San Francisco, have given up their elephants on ethical grounds, while Taronga plans to move its two Sydney-based elephants, who live on just half a hectare, to Dubbo, which has seven elephants on four hectares. The zoo states it will create “a centre of excellence for elephant care, conservation and guest experience” at Dubbo, but can’t say when this will happen or if it will be bigger.

It’s good to have confirmation of what we’ve long suspected was Taronga’s intention to have Pak Boon and Tang Mo rejoin the matriarchal herd at Dubbo.

There’s no mention of a timeline for this transfer, but will likely be once the new facility is up and running - which will include a heated barn capable of holding the matriarchal herd indoors for an extended period.

We can’t take this as confirmation Taronga Zoo plan to phase out elephants full stop (they may receive bulls in their place), it’s all but implied in line with references to phasing out elephants from city zoos for ethical reasons and it’s indeed my assumption they will be phasing out elephants.

 

@Zoofan15

Best thing for Pak Boon and Tang Mo, good thing that Dubbo plans to upgrade their Elephant facilities, hope they enlarge them significantly. Half an acre by todays standards really wouldn't be satisfactory for a lone male bull Asian Elephant either so am guessing Putra Mas when he leaves Perth won't go to Taronga but to Werribee or Dubbo.

Think the Orangutan facility concept is the best suggestion you made for the use of the land when Pak Boon and Tang Mo leave for Dubbo.

 

I’m fairly confident it will be a total phase out of elephants for Taronga Zoo. It will concede a significant point of difference to Sydney Zoo, but there’s plenty of exciting alternatives that don’t attract the negative publicity holding elephants in city zoos brings.

I think Snow leopard could also work well. Considering what a popular attraction they were for Taronga Zoo, I still struggle to understand their rationale behind phasing them out.

 

I think something like Snow Leopards may be a good fit for the current elephant enclosure. I think Taronga may have phased them out purely for the fact that they're not well suited to Sydney weather, where it can get quite warm in the summers unlike down in Melbourne.

Another option might be to use the current elephant area for the Congo precinct; and use the space for new Pygmy Hippo habitats, or even for Okapi if Taronga wish to import them. This would be better use of the current enclosure, without any renovations needed. Another benefit is half of the current elephant enclosure is pretty much hidden down a hill, so would provide the seclusive Okapi with the space they need.

 

Visit to Taronga 18/11/2022:

• The lions are still off-display following the escape earlier in the month. That means that the loop of the African trail is split in two - you have to backtrack if you go down to see the chimpanzees on the top side or the meerkats/lower savannah view on the bottom side. They're hoping the issue will be fixed soon.
• The zoo's lyrebird, after being featured in the media during the week for mimicking the evacuation alarm following the lion escape, is proving quite a hit. Quite a few families were keen to spot him in the Blue Mountains Bushwalk aviary (he's not in the walk-through part, but behind mesh in an area which can be seen from the walkthrough part).
• The red kangaroo joeys in Backyard to Bush/Kids Trail have grown quite a bit. Still smaller than their mothers, but well and truly out of the pouch by now and starting to look more and more grown up. There was a show happening at the bush amphitheatre (below the emu exhibit) displaying lizards, an echidna etc, which I hadn't seen before.
• Construction continues on the new Reptile and Amphibian Centre. Excavation has progressed since I was last at the zoo six weeks ago, although actual construction of the building hasn't yet commenced. Clear plastic windows have been added to the temporary fence outside the tamarin exhibit opposite, making it easier to view the exhibit from the main path.
• I saw both Pygmy Hippos. Kambiri was in the first exhibit near the langurs, and Fergus was in the second exhibit with the underwater viewing - on previous visits they were the other way around. There seemed to be temporary barriers blocking Kambiri's access from the pool.
• The Seal Cove exhibit (which often houses the Australian Sea Lion bull, Charlie) was being refilled and its inhabitant off-display. Not sure if the bottom entrance was open or not, I didn't check. The old leopard seal exhibit was housing four animals - Kiki the New Zealand fur seal, two Australian Sea Lions, and another animal which I think was a young sea lion - given I saw Nala in the seal show pool, I gather these were April, Amalie and Tahni.
• The figtree tiger exhibit was empty, with signs indicating that some sort of work was being done on the exhibit. I didn't see any work being done at the time. I saw three tigers in the first exhibit on the left, so I gather that exhibit was holding the cubs, and I didn't go into the ranger station.
• I've noticed this before, but the Binturong brothers from Perth sure love the big tree in their exhibit. It's a little blink-and-you'll-miss-it, but they climb so high that they're level with the Sky Safari. Conveniently today one was up the tree, and the other was in one of the shelters, awake in full view.

 

Thanks for the update @Abbey, in addition to the bull (Charlie) - Taronga has four female Australian sea lions, the youngest of which is Amalie (two years), so she must have been the small one you saw.

0.1 April - on breeding loan
0.1 Nala (2009) - Taronga born
0.1 Tarni (2016) - wild born
0.1 Amalie (2020) - Taronga born

 

Yep, Kambiri’s usually in the second exhibit so it seems they’ve done a little swap.

The barriers is exciting as it could potentially indicate a calf on the way - and they usually use the first enclosure for the calves when they’re younger, as the pools more suited to them depth wise.

Charlie was off display back when I visited this Easter, so they’ve been renovating that exhibit for a while now. Charlie’s off display behind the former Leopard Seal enclosure- if you’re tall enough you can peek into their back quarters and catch a glimpse of him back there.

That’s interesting. Kartikas usually with the cubs too- but sometimes is given a break, so I assume she was on her break whilst you visited. She (or Clarence) would’ve probably been in the Ranger Station exhibit. Kembali has only ever been in the first exhibit during my visits; apparently he likes that specific enclosure.

I’ve noticed that too. During my last visit I saw one way up, almost out of view.

Melbourne’s Red Pandas also use their trees in a similar manner; climbing ten plus metres up the tree to the point where they’re just little lumps of orange up there.

 

Pygmy Hippopotamus Pregnancy

Taronga Zoo have posted an exciting update on their socials.

After the sad loss of their calf in December 2021, Kambiri has recovered and staff have observed a successful mating between her and Fergus.

Kambiri has been putting on weight and staff are hopeful for the safe delivery of a calf in the near future.

Congrats also to @Abbey for noting the change of exhibits on your recent visit.

 

Hopfully if they have another calf its another female!

 

With the regional population numbering just 3.2 Pygmy hippopotamus, any healthy calf would be a valuable addition - but yes, a female calf would be fantastic with two of the three bulls currently unpaired and no indication this long awaited Hippopotamus IRA is on the horizon.

 

Very exciting. Fingers very crossed for a female - a male would be a great addition (considering we only have five in the region), but then could only be paired up in the future for breeding with his own mother; whereas a female will have multiple options of pairings down the line.

 

I believe the Hippo IRA is still under consideration, I assume it could be completed (I hope) within the next couple of years!. I believe the Pygmy hippo population could of been handled much better over the years. Going back some years, the few remaining individuals within the region were scattered and isolated in their respective zoos for a long time with time wasted with little breeding.

Other point was the wasted female that escaped in the northern territory and existed feral for about 6-7 years only to be shot by a local pig hunter. What a waste of a potentially reproductive female from the regions limited population.

Next the export of a number of pygmy (and river hippos) to Indonesia, which considering importation was impossible a bad mistake. So my take is it all could of been handed a Lot better!

 

A male calf could be potentially be paired with two females - his mother and his sister; while a female calf could potentially be paired with three males - her father or her uncles. The latter represents the most distantly related pairing, so would be preferable.

Down the line, it may be worth swapping Felix and Fergus. Kambiri is clearly a successful breeder - and it’d be preferable if all her offspring weren’t full siblings. Pairings between half siblings (albeit sired by brothers) would again be preferable to full sibling pairings.

 

I agree - if this calf is a male then the following could occur:

Pairing this calf with Kambiri at Taronga (his mother’s only a 50% genetic match compared to his full sister) - and then pairing Kamina with Felix at Melbourne; with Fergus potentially replacing Kamina at DDZ.

If the calf is a female though (which is preferable), more options will arise:

This could enable Kambiri to be sent to Melbourne to be paired with Felix (and create a new line from Fergus). The female calf could then either be paired with Obi at Adelaide, if they have the facilities to breed them, or she could remain at Taronga and be paired with her father, Fergus.

 

Taronga Zoo to exhibit Dingo:

It appears Taronga Zoo are acquiring Dingo.

They’ve teased us on socials that they have a special announcement (i.e. something exciting is coming soon) along with a photo of a Dingo’s paw.

On a side note, I assumed they already had Dingo, but nope.

 

That’s exciting news; another new species for Taronga.

I believe Dubbo may have held them in the past; but neither them nor Taronga have done so recently.

I assume they’ll be displayed somewhere within the new Iyora Australia precinct that is scheduled to open next year.

 

Taronga Zoo exhibited Dingo up until 2009/2010 when their exhibit was demolished ahead of renovations near the entrance.

This photo was taken of their exhibit in 2007 by @Baldur:

 

Here's an official announcement:

"Taronga Zoo Sydney is delighted to announce the arrival of two, five-month-old adorable Dingo pups. The two pups will be making their public debut these summer school holidays, where guests can meet the duo at a brand-new Dingo Keeper Talk or in a specially curated behind-the-scenes Dingo encounter.

The two Dingoes, one male and one female, have both been given Indigenous names from the region they were born. The male has been named Kep Kep which means ‘sweet’, or ‘sugar’ in Wathawurrung language of Victoria, and the female has been named ‘Warada’ which means ‘beautiful’ in Dharug language. The word waratah, which is the floral emblem for the state of New South Wales is derived from the Indigenous word Warada."