ZOO MOURNS PASSING OF LAST AFRICAN ELEPHANT IN AUSTRALIA Taronga Western Plains Zoo is deeply saddened to announce this morning’s passing of elderly African Elephant, Cuddles, the Zoo’s longest residing animal and the last African Elephant in Australia. Cuddles, estimated to be 46 years of age, was a well known resident of the Zoo and much loved by staff, volunteers and visitors alike. We are all mourning the loss of this beautiful animal. Cuddles arrived at Taronga Western Plains Zoo the year the Zoo opened, in December 1977, from the United Kingdom with two other female African Elephants Yum Yum and Cheri. Keepers and veterinary staff had been monitoring Cuddles closely over the past week after she presented unwell. Following veterinary investigations Cuddles was treated for digestive health issues, with vets providing treatment and supportive medications to relieve pain and discomfort and promote food and drink intake. Despite every effort, Cuddles’ condition continued to gradually deteriorate and the heartbreaking decision was made to put her to sleep to prevent any further suffering. Older elephants are susceptible to many aged related illnesses. The Zoo’s keepers and veterinary team had a special aged care program in place for Cuddles, which continues for the Zoo’s elderly Asian Elephants Burma and Gigi, to ensure on-going quality of life in their twilight years. Cuddles was a gentle natured animal. She loved being the centre of attention and interacting with zoo keepers, and had even perfected the art of getting extra treats like banana and lucerne. She was dearly loved amongst our staff and volunteers who have worked alongside her over the years. We are all struggling to come to terms with the loss of Cuddles. She will be greatly missed and her passing represents the end of an era for African Elephants in Australia. Cuddles will be buried in Zoo grounds. Cuddles was an exceptional ambassador for African Elephants. She told the story of the threats that African Elephants face in the wild due to poaching and habitat loss.
Article on Cuddles, including keeper's memories of her: Taronga Western Plains Zoo farewells African Elephant Cuddles
The ring-tailed lemur babies (two babies to two mothers) are six months old and have been named Avelo, Sava, Bean and Rambo. Not sure Bean and Rambo are the most inspired names I've heard so far. Auckland Zoo always excelled at naming their Ring-tailed lemur offspring, choosing place names from the island of Madagascar (Toliara, Mitsio etc). The introduction process seems to be quite slow, with two adults still to be introduced. Ring-tailed Lemur babies learning to climb
Taronga Western Plains Zoo install nest boxes for native fauna: New homes for native wildlife In total 18 nest boxes have been installed to provide areas for mammals and birds to nest, which in turn will help maintain populations of particular species in the area including Masked Owls, Little Lorikeets, Micro-bat species, Brush-tailed Possums and Sugar Gliders.
Porntip is pregnant! Zoo expecting second Asian Elephant calf Taronga Western Plains Zoo is excited to announce that Asian Elephant Porntip is pregnant and expecting her second calf in July 2018. Porntip was artificially inseminated in late 2016 with semen collected from Perth Zoo’s bull, Putra Mas.
Cheetah cubs make media debut: Cheetah cubs make debut in Dubbo Taronga Western Plains Zoo’s three Cheetah cubs along with their mother Kyan will make their media debut today on exhibit. Born on 20 October 2016, the three Cheetah cubs, one male and two females, have been growing and developing well behind the scenes under the watchful eye of mother, Kyan. “The cubs are just over five months old now and are thriving. They are all developing quite distinct personalities and growing in confidence every day,” said Keeper, Jordan Michelmore. Keepers have named the three Cheetah cubs, with ‘Obi’ meaning heart in Nigerian chosen for the male, and ‘Nyasa’ meaning water in Malawi and ‘Zahara’ meaning flower in Swahili chosen for the females. “It has been a real pleasure watching them grow so far. Obi is very shy whilst Nyasa, the smallest of the trio, is actually the bravest and usually is the first to try new things. Zahara is also quite confident,” said Jordan. “Kyan is becoming a little more relaxed now that the cubs are getting older. She is still quite protective and always keeps a watchful eye on them. “The trio are completely on solid food now and generally prefer to spend time together and in close proximity to their mother.” “They have just started to venture out on to the exhibit and whilst they are a little shy at present, they will continue to grow in confidence and spend more time playing and exploring over the coming weeks,” said Jordan. The school holidays are a great time to see the cubs as they are at a really playful, active stage of their development. The best time of the day to see them is in the morning. Cheetahs are classified as vulnerable, so every birth is extremely valuable to the global population given their low numbers in the wild
Refurbished Sumatran Tiger Exhibit Open Refurbished exhibit open Taronga Western Plains Zoo has spent a large part of the past year refurbishing one of the Sumatran tiger exhibits which has now been re-opened for visitors to enjoy. The new look exhibit now features a new viewing fence and shade shelters for visitors along with additional landscaping in the area. Some new logs have been added to the exhibit as well as a new waterfall with a small pool for the Tigers to enjoy on those hot summer days. The moat wall has also been refurbished as part of the project. The first Sumatran tiger to explore the new exhibit was Sakiti. He went straight out in the morning, ate his breakfast and then spent plenty of time exploring and scent marking the exhibit. Sakiti was quite curious about the changes to the exhibit. Following the autumn school holidays the second Sumatran tiger exhibit will be closed for a few weeks whilst it has the public viewing area is replaced with a new fence and some refurbishment is undertaken to the exhibit. During this time visitors will be able to still see a Sumatran Tiger on the other exhibit. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before Taronga Zoo's new Sumatran tiger experience is open and some of the tigers they sent to TWPZ can return.
At last, female Kufara seems to have given birth. Had been waiting for some form of confirmation sometime earlier. I assume it has passed the critical period? Hopefully, this will signal a new era of black rhino breeding at TWZP!
3.1 cheetah bred at Hamerton (UK) have arrived at TWPZ via Darling Downs Zoo. DDZ were supposed to be getting cheetah this year, but the following article from last month doesn't say whether all the cheetahs went to TWPZ or if any stayed at DDZ. Actually the article isn't clearly worded as to whether the cats were going to two separate places, or just via DDZ. Hamerton Zoo Park - Animal Park Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire EDIT 29 June: here's a post from DDZ which is more specific. Only one of the four new cheetahs is going to TWPZ (but is actually still at DDZ contrary to my post above), and one of TWPZ's other cheetahs is going to DDZ in return. Darling Downs Zoo
Lion Cub Update: Lions cubs growing up It’s been six months since Taronga Western Plains Zoo welcomed its second litter of Lion cubs, born on 19 November 2016. The four male cubs have grown from a birth weight of between 1.5 – 2kg each, to now weighing between 25 – 30kg each! Their diet has increased gradually over the past few months. The cubs currently receive an average of 2kg of meat per day and are being fed alongside their mother Maya behind the scenes each afternoon. Father Lazarus can be seen on exhibit with mum and the cubs every second day. According to Keepers, the cubs are very keen to go onto exhibit each day and seem particularly interested in interacting with their older female siblings, Makeba and Zuri. They climb on and fall off their big sisters and play with the tufts of fur on their tails. Although older male sibling Baako is not sharing a space with the cubs currently, he does have fence contact at night with them and the cubs often show some real brotherly love towards Baako, which is great to see. This behaviour includes stalking him and biting at his mane when he happens to stick it through the fence when resting. The cubs are weighed weekly on some large scales that they walk over as part of their daily routine. With their juvenile enthusiasm the scales often read in excess of 100kg, as all four often plonk themselves on them at once! Little do they know, their current home is now only temporary and towards the end of the year the pride will all be relocated to the new African Pridelands exhibit, currently under construction towards the end of the Zoo circuit. The best time to see the Lion cubs is in the morning when they are most active. Visitors can learn more about the pride at the daily keeper talk at 12:45pm.
Awesome news. I understand this is the third calf for Cuddles. She had a calf that did not survive in 2013, a second calf in 2014 and now a new female calf. Does anyone know if her 2014 calf was male or female? I can find a trillion news articles soon after it's birth, all saying they didn't know the gender but nothing since announcing it's gender, name or where it is now. Are Mana and Cuddles the only Common Hippoptomus are TWPZ (except for their offspring)?
