Werribee Open Range Zoo Werribee Zoo Zebras

I have decided to do some research on Werribee's zebras and Werribee's history of keeping them. There are still some gaps, and so far, I don't have much info on Werribee's zebras going back past a decade ago.

Feel free for those who have any additional info to share. All the help will be appreciated.

Here's what I do have thus far:

Info from > 2012

Werribee first imported a herd of 2.6 Chapmans Zebra in 1980.

They imported a Chapmans stallion (Christou) from Singapore in 1997.

Werribee had 23 zebra as of Aug 2007. Not much info on individuals aside from that.

That same year (2007) two males, Zuri and Chozi, were born. These two were later sent to Melbourne and still reside there. They're half brothers, and sons of Christou

In 2011, 3.0 Zebra were sent to Australia Zoo. They were a stallion (born 1990) and two boys ( born 1996) - both of whom were neutered. Presumably all three were offspring of Werribee's original Chapmans stock (2.6).

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Info from < 2012

As of June 2012; Werribee had the following 9.10 Zebras across three groups

The main breeding group (a group of 3.4 lead by Christou) was held in the waterhole enclosure.

The other two groups were held in the lower savannah.

One had a single male and around six females (lead by Sabe); these were older/non-breeding animals. Presumably Sabe was a son of Christou and the females were all offspring of the former Chapman's stock. Werribee began to hybridise by moving they're Singapore born, Chapmans stallion into a group with hybrids circa 2010.

The other group was an all bachelor group of five animals (lead by Bill). These animals were also likely surplus males from the previous Chapmans breeding program.

Both of these groups didn't come into contact at all with each other, coexisting entirely separately which was interesting.

Christous group

1.0 Christou (arrived 1997 Singapore)
0.1 Shani (born 2005 Dubbo, sent to Taronga 2006, arrived at Melbourne sometime in 2010)
0.1 Myra (arrived from Monarto 2009 Zambesi x ? - * born circa 2007)
0.1 Kitale (unknown origins - possibly older female offspring of Christou's)

0.1 Shamwari 2011 ( Christou X Myra) sent to Auckland 2012
1.0 Mandelha 2011 (Christou x Shani) possibly still at Werribee?
1.0 Storm 2012 ( Christou x Myra) sent to Monarto 2013
1.0 Melako 2012 (Christou x Shani) still at Werribee - current breeding stallion

By the end of the year, Werribee had just 18 Zebras. They welcomed Melako, meaning they lost two Zebras during this time; one of which was one of the bachelor males.

They had 9 zebras on display lower savannah end of 2014 (this was out of both the former bachelor group and the non breeding group). This means a further pair had died following 2012.

In 2016, 6 individuals lived in the upper savannah - remnants of Christous group; this proves Christou, his three fillies and two sons were still alive.

The following year (2017), Melako was moved to the lower savannah, joining the elderly non breeding herd and some new breeding females.

As of 2019, six zebra lived on the lower savannah (Melako, Mandelha, one of the older females (Shani/Myra or Kitale), Zaide, and her two offspring, Ziwa and Mudhe). By this time, the remaining non breeding zebras had been taken off display. There were about five left by this time.

Two zebras died during an exhibit transfer in 2020. Presumably they were two of the remaining members of the previous non breeding herd that had been moved off display.

Furaha (2015) Bwana x Kijana at dubbo, arrived around 2019/2020. Presumbly Dafina was also Dubbo born and they arrived together.

Foals born since the rejuvenation of the breeding program with Melako as stallion:

0.1 Ziwa (2017) x Zaide
1.0 Mudhe (2018) x Zaide
0.1 Zari (2019) x Zaide
0.1 Zola (2020) x Zaide
0.1 Falah (2021) x Furaha
0.1 Dajan (2021) x Dafina
1.0 Zintlanu (2022) x Zaide

Werribee had 13 (4.9) Zebras as of June 2021. All 2.5 foals listed above, 1.0 Melako, 1.0 Mandelha, 0.1 Zaide, 0.1 Furaha, 0.1 Dafina and and the other female (Shani/Myra/Kitale).

There is a female at Altina named Shani, and apparently Altina founded their stock from Werribee, so it's possible she was sent there soon after 2013. I'm thus, assuming the other female is Myra, due to her young age (she would be fifteen now).

I'll also tag @Astrobird who's expressed their interest on Werribee's zebras on the forum in the past, and may have further info on Werribee's group.

 

Nice list. Thank you for compiling this.

Werribee Open Range Zoo held 12.9 zebra as of July 2011.

Between then and June 2012:

2.1 were born
0.2 arrived
2.1 died
3.1 departed

Combined with your information, we know the two colts born were Storm and Melako.

I don’t know where the two new females arrived from, but would assume they were fillies for the breeding herd. Since Zaide has been mated with Melako repeatedly, it’s reasonable to assume she wasn’t Werribee born and therefore was one of these fillies.

The filly transferred out was Shamwari, who was exported to Auckland Zoo; while the three males are the stallion and two geldings you mentioned that were transferred to Australia Zoo.

I’m said to report Shamwari died of injuries sustained not long after her arrival at Auckland Zoo.

 

Who's the next Zebra holder on the list.

 

I believe this is a standalone list of Werribee’s zebra, but perhaps one day if @Jambo is up for a challenge he might take on Dubbo or Monarto?

I have some more information to continue my history of Auckland Zoo’s zebra; as well as some info on Hamilton Zoo’s zebra, which I may combine with this in the New Zealand zebra thread.

 

I did plan to create a regional population list eventually once we could sort out some of the holdings, origins ect. I'll create the thread eventually (possibly sometime next week depending on how far I get with the holdings info). @Zoofan15 if your planning on a NZ thread, I could do an Aus thread, but I think a combined population list will be much more efficient. All we'll need for that thread though is just the current holdings, so you could still create the other thread based on history ect.

 

That would be awesome

 

You're very welcome.

Mandelha was apparently born in early 2011, so would've been present at the time of the first counting. The two that arrived were presumably Zaide and possibly Kitale? She never breed afaik, but this may have been due to her arriving near the end of the breeding program with Christou as stallion.

The 2.1 that died were presumably individuals from the lower savannah (two of the bachelor males, one of the older females).

Alongside Shamwari, the trio of males that departed, were the trio sent to Australia Zoo (previous members of the large bachelor group).

 

I’ll need to check none of the other population thread holders have got a zebra population thread in the works, but assuming they haven’t (or aren’t very far into it), you’re welcome to do one for Australasia as a whole. It does indeed make sense to list holdings by region since this is what we’ve done for prior threads.

My information is more concerned with the history of New Zealand’s zebra (not the current holdings), so they’ll be no clashes if this is posted in a separate (historical) thread.

 

So, as July 2011, the 12.9 Zebra were:

1.0 Christou
0.1 Shani
0.1 Myra
0.1 Kitale
1.0 Mandelha

1.0 Sabe + six fillies

1.0 Bill + eight bachelors (including trio later sent to Australia Zoo).

They then had 9.10 by June 2012.

They were:

1.0 Christou
0.1 Shani
0.1 Myra
0.1 Kitale
1.0 Mandelha
0.1 Shamwari
1.0 Storm

1.0 Sabe + four fillies

1.0 Bill + four bachelors

Then, there were also the two recently arrived females.

Within this period of a year, two of the older fillies and one of the bachelor males died.

Also, Shamwari wasn't sent to Auckland until October of 2012, so she wouldn't count as the female transfer from that year.

 

Thank you for providing this comprehensive list, it's always great to learn more about this species.

Australia Zoo housed a zebra named Zambezi who died around 2019. His ill health and eventual death was covered on Crikey! It's the Irwins during the second season (During the earlier seasons, the timeline was more linear, hence my approximation of Zambezi dying in early 2019. From Season 3 onwards, the episodes started implying that the Sumatran Elephants were arriving at the same time as the Irwins found out the sex of Bindi's unborn baby, events which in reality would have occurred a year apart).

While I don't know for sure, it's more than possible that he would have been one of the zebras which had been from Werribee originally.

 

Zambezi came to Australia Zoo in 2012 via the National Zoo.

Re. the zebra transferred to Australia Zoo, it was mentioned in this video that the head of the herd was a 21 year old male, with the other two aged 15 years old - placing their DOB as approximately 1990 and the other two around 1996. This means they weren’t Christou’s offspring would have been born 1998 onwards; and that they were likely offspring of the previous stallion.

 

Then it appears they have never to date held any female zebras

 

No, which is interesting as Terri stated in the video an intention to acquire females. According to @Jambo, the younger Werribee males were geldings, so possibly they found a bachelor herd easier to manage given an intact stallion with mares would have been potentially problematic with other ungulates.

As we know, Australia Zoo had a high level of success with their rhinos and giraffes (especially the giraffes), which are their main focus.

 

Your very welcome.

Zambezi arrived in April 2012 from the National Zoo, after his genes became well represented there. That was the reason for him being retired to Australia Zoo.

Interestingly, he spent all of his time alone, away from the Werribee boys. Apparently he liked his solitude, and so was often used in up close encounters ect.

 

That's pretty typical of this species. After leaving their natal herds, colts join coalitions before acquiring their own herds around the age of six.

Going from the stallion of a breeding herd to a bachelor herd of unfamiliar males would have been an adjustment and clearly a bond never formed. From the perspective of the Werribee males, they already had each other and had no need for his company.

 

Yes, the stallion though didn't share a same sire as the two geldings; meaning it's likely the stallion was of the offspring of one of the original Chapmans stallions imported from Rotterdam in 1980, and the two geldings (born 1996) were the offspring of the other, who was inserted into the group once the other stallion had become quite represented. These two geldings were possibly the last offspring of this male with Christou arriving the following year from Singapore.

By 2015, Australia had only their two geldings remaining, so it's likely the stallion (who was in his early 20's) died soon after his arrival, leaving the two neutered males, meaning Australia couldn't found a breeding group of course. Those two geldings would be 26 now so quite old! Not sure if both are still alive.

 

Thanks @Zoofan15 for clarifying Zambezi's history.

Once again drawing on my Crikey! It's the Irwins knowledge, I believe that when Zambezi died, he was the oldest zebra which Australia Zoo held, so as far as I'm aware, the geldings have already passed away (prior to 2018/19).

Zambezi's death left them with a single younger male zebra, who was then joined by another male zebra as a companion. One of these animals was named Lucas, if I recall correctly.

 

Considering how much off exhibit area and yards they have for the zebra I believe its unlikely any problems could not have been dealt with with ease

 

That spunds likely. The geldings were born around 1996 so would have been middle aged when they came to the zoo on 2011. Mid to late teens is a typical lifespan for this species, with a few living into their 20's.

 

That's very true, though the aim of the zoo is to have as many animals on display as possible, with those unsuitable for display due to being shy (e.g. many small felids) or aggresive with other species often phased out from the collection.

A compromise could be to have the stallion off display and the mares and foals integrated.