lets go right around Australia now and try to figure out which of our zoos had the last of which species.... the last wildebeest anywhere in Australia died in February 1977. im interested to know about other species, like capybarra, giant anteater etc. if anyone knows just add on....
Anoa were on display at Taronga at the same time as the last wildebeest and died out about 1978 or 1979. The last sloth bears in Australia, as far as I'm aware, were 2 males at Melbourne, and they died out about 1971. Black-backed jackals were also last seen at Melbourne, and they disappeared in, I think, 1976. I recall seeing an ancient brown hyaena at Adelaide zoo in 1972 and he was no longer living when I went back in 1974. I'm pretty sure he was the last in Aust.
I doubt it Jay - she lived in an off limits area of the zoo for the last few years of her life. She died in 1981, and I think the male died in the late 70s.
yeah of course! the last confirmed animal died in an australian zoo (the then existing hobart zoo) in 1936... i know melbourne zoo did display the species (and possible was the only zoo to ever breed the species also). no doubt taronga and adelaide all had them too at some stage...
Not sure when they died out, but Adelaide zoo between 1963 and 1976 bred a total of 32 ocelots, to the third or forth generation.Then they stopped, possibly needing new blood. Nowadays, none. (depressing!)
Sorry to be picky again Ara, but I'm a stickler for not having mis-information about our zoos! There are in fact three ocelots at Crocdylus Park just outside Darwin. You be thrilled to know that the species is being phased out though, to make room for additional animals for the struggling serval, golden cat and fishing cat programs. I fear an argument about to brew.....
would i be right in guessing at least one of those ocelots at crocodylus originates from melbourne? we had a couple there until quite recently...(though i think one died?)
I must be slow on the uptake today, ZooPro, I just "got" the second part of your post, about the phase-out of ocelots. No, no argument from me. (I've given up trying to champion diversity of species in Australian zoos. It'll be nice to know that if you visit one Australian zoo you won't need to visit any others, because they'll all have exactly the same animals on display.)
ara, was thinking the same thing today, but tell me how many of the more than 5 million people who visit our 4 major zoos every year will go to taronga, melbourne, adelaide and perth zoos in one year, let alone 5 or even ten? and stand there, thinking, god, i saw the same type of elephant, giraffe, lion and zebra last month in NSW? the zoos will never look the same, for one thing there will be the select, individual native species which characterise the zoo, like Perth with its numbats, etc. and the zoos are all moving in fairly different directions. long-term, both melbourne and taronga may be similar but i dont think perth and adelaide will resemble them ultimately. taronga for one will always have the premier range of great apes in this country. they will also end up with representative eco-systems of most continents. but perth and maybe adelaide will lack extensive south american exhibits, marine super exhibits etc. adelaide wont have elephants, but may be able to strengthen its SEA collection in other areas. and if it ends up that most Australian zoos have pretty much the same collection plan, then surely thats not a bad thing. its a sign theyre acheiving their goals. im over the stamp collecting mentality. thankfully, so too are our zoos.
I find your posts interesting Ara - sometimes, it sounds like you are involved in regional management issues "I've given up trying to champion diversity of species in Australian zoos", and then I read other statements such as "It'll be nice to know that if you visit one Australian zoo you won't need to visit any others, because they'll all have exactly the same animals on display" which make it sound like you don't really get the idea of regional collections at all
hey ara, the points you bring up are ones we have heard before on the forum. indeed many of us probably made similar comments when we first started posting here. however, as we all blabbered away over the years we have all actually learnt a lot more about zoo and what it is they are trying to do and where they need to go. i don't think you'll find a single one of us know that argues we need not reduce our collection sizes, and rather than complain that "all the zoos look alike" your more likely to find pondering why it is perth has not yet aquired binturongs like the other zoos.... if you seriously are sick of "dead end" breeding programs like those of the de brazza's guenon, then you should be all for our zoos having identical collections. after all, that shows are zoos are coperating with eachother to ensure a viable breeding program. i think in time you'll see that its vital.
Glyn, ZooPro, Patrick, I know deep down that you guys are correct in what you say, and I have great respect for your knowledge and opinions. I'm gradually coming round to your way of thinking, but I don't have to like it. I remember the zoos of my youth as places filled with wonderful, rare and unusual animals, but if I'm halfway honest I've got to admit that today's zoos are much nicer for the animals, even if there are fewer of them. I love this site. I'm learning so much from it, even if the unavoidable truth is mucking up my preconcieved notions!
congradulations my young padawan, you have just taken the first step from becoming a zoo fan to a zoo fanatic..... your stuck here now with the rest of us....
(Just thought I'd tack a bit more onto this thread) Dunno when they died out, but the following is a list of birds which I saw at Taronga when I was young (and conscientiously recorded in my notebook.) I believe they are species which are no longer in Australia. (Please correct me if I am wrong.) I'd love to see some of these again; Bennett's cassowary One-wattled cassowary (A keeper was killed by this bird.) Jackass penguins (South African) Red billed toucan Great hornbill Pesquet's parrot Touraco (species unknown - just labelled touraco, unfortunately) Kagu Crowned crane Stanley crane Marabou Black necked swan (South American) Bar headed goose Snowy owl Virginian eagle owl Turkey vulture Vulturine fish eagle Griffon vulture Hooded vulture Painted stork Picazura pigeon (South American) Solitary or collared lory And the following species of bird-of paradise: Prince Rudolph's Blue Count Raggi's Empress of Germany's Ribbon tailed Princess Stephanie's Lesser sickle billed Greater sickle billed Blue manucode Six plumed Greater six plumed Lesser Wattled Magnificent Lesser superb "phew"
A great photo of nutria in the gallery by sebbe67 reminded me that Taronga had a small colony of these animals ( labelled "coypu") until the late 1960's when they disappeared, presumably died out.
coypu is actually the "correct" name. Nutria was invented by the fur trade (it means "otter", and was intended to make the fur more marketable than if they called it "big aquatic rat")