Gorillas at Taronga » Taronga Zoo

20-01-2008

those sorts of comments hark back to an era when zoo collection planning principles really sucked. the reality of the situation is, that gorillas faced, up until the mid 1990s the same future as many other species in this country. to quote peter stroud, the viabilty of the Melbourne program really shifted dramatically only when Taronga imported its group.
in spite of the fact that there has been absolutely no exchange of animals between Sydney and Melbourne the fact that two zoos in the region are actively participating secures the future of gorillas here. the 'unique' mentality is simply not sustainable.
in terms of public relations the gorillas are one of the most important attractions at Taronga. this is borne out in media coverage, sponsorship deals, private support and polling (ZPB NSW ANNUAL REPORT 2001).
finally, we covered the perceived flaws of the exhibit in the approtriately titled thread for elephants but i think when you consider both Melbourne and Taronga have bred roughly the same number of gorillas when Taronga has had less time to do it in that the exhibit cant be too bad.

20-01-2008

I don't think the enclosures have any bearing whatsoever on the breeding success/failure rate at either zoo!! My only comment on that is that Taronga's is rather small for the size of their group.(I know why...)

Considering that Taronga imported a fully integrated and established group that was already breeding previously at Apenheul, there was far more potential for breeding and I'm actually surprised they haven't had more births at Sydney.

Contrast with Melbourne- they started their group with two females and Buluman who turned out to be sterile, then added additional animals from other sources(Jersey) so a cohesive breeding group took much longer to achieve at Melbourne.

But and if I'm correct, the females at BOTH zoos have been on contraceptives for much of the time, it makes comparisons between their breeding success rates impossible.

28-08-2008

Taronga has announced the birth if a new male gorrilla to Mouila. that makes two males in the last year (with Fuzu born in december 2007)
very cute!
Baby gorilla makes public debut at zoo - SBS World News Australia

28-08-2008

taronga also confirmed today that Pornthip, the matriach of the Asian Elephant herd is pregnant. She was inseminated earlier this year with semen from Bong Su in Melbourne. The breeding program is chugging along nicely now with three calves expected by 2011

28-08-2008

3? what other cow is pregnant? I knew about the one the young bull got to. Did he get another one or is it another A.I?

28-08-2008

Three refers to the one at Melbourne shoes name escapes me

28-08-2008

O.K. Didn't know about that. Thank you.

29-08-2008

as it stands Bong Su, who is the worlds most fertile bull elephant has got two elephants pregnant, both through AI. Gung has impregnated naturally one cow in Sydney.

30-08-2008

There was an article in a local rag about Auckland Zoo planning its future Elephant strategy... Maybe softening up the ground to fill the empty stall currently at Auckland with one of these little ones..?

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30-08-2008

Auckland could of tryed an AI on its younger elephant female before she reached her presant age maybe it was a case of too little too late

30-08-2008

perhaps at the time Auckland didnt have the money to fly the experts from Berlin in. There may also have been quarantine issues with obtaining sperm too.

01-09-2008

They did, they stopped because she found it "uncomfortable"... Auckland won't commit to any elephant until they know she is going to very placid...

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01-09-2008

Shame it did not work for her, was it done by the same team who did the AIs in Oz?

02-09-2008

Sorry MARK I have no idea... I know they got out an American specialist to deal with Kashin's foot problems five or so years ago so they would probably have used someone good... PM Nigel maybe..?

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