orangutans » Auckland Zoo

12-07-2008

Thnx 4 the information ! hope gangser falls pregnant soon !

12-07-2008

Hiya.
Gangsa won't be falling pregnant anytime soon (touch wood!) All our females are on birth control of some kind or another as we are at maximum capacity for Orangs and don't want to breed anymore for the time being.

As for Indra, Intan and Isim... I wasn't at the zoo back then but it is a very good questioN! I will talk to my colleagues and look through the zoo records to find out for you.

__________________
Man however well behaved, at best is only a monkey shaved.

21-08-2008

Hi there

Just wondering if you know anymore about Intan and her kids?

22-08-2008

The current situation of three different groups of orangs (pure Sumatran, Bornean and hybrids) in Australasia stems back to the 80s when DNA testing conclusively showed differences between the two populations, and elevated them to subspecies. In the late 90s the two became seperate species. But as a consequence of the lack of previous knowledge many zoos ended up with hybrid individuals (I'm sure not only a problem in Australasia), which for breeding programs became worthless. And worse, because they live so long, the hybrid orangs take up valuable holding space for a long time. Perth was the most successful zoo breeding orangs in the region and concentrated on Sumatrans. Auckland had mostly Borneans (obtaining some from Taronga). Melbourne and Adelaide decided to move towards Sumatrans, and Taronga concentrated on holding just hybrids, with the aim towards obtaining Sumatrans in the future. The recommendation from the orang ASMP is for the region to concentrate on Sumatrans, but it has been widely acknowledged that Taronga and Auckland were not likely to make big changes quickly. As far as I know this has been the status quo for the last decade.