Komodo Dragons » Australia Zoo

22-03-2006

taronga currently keeps tuka who came from an indonesian zoo in 1982. i remember as a kid before serpenteria was built that there were two komodos in an exhibit in what is currently the koala photo spot. but i cannot find any record of her now.
in the past taronga had a pair of dragons, the female died of salmonella shortly after getting to the zoo but the male apparently held the record for the longest lived komodo in captivity.

23-03-2006

the amle does hold the record and he is going strong, he a kind old thing and great with the keepers, but not to the ladies, he kills all partners he has had. i got confirmation from an ex keeper

Death of female Komodo
23-03-2006

Ironic that she died of Salmonella -- thats how Komodos kill their prey -- one bite will be all that it takes with all the bacteria in their teeth .
Its good that the male has a good rapport with his keepers , though .

24-03-2006

well the male is actually very smart and when the exhibit originally opened he manged to op-en the lock, and he walked right into the public, he didnt harm anyone and went for astroll, the keeper came up nad sat on his back and told the public all about him, but he has killed all mates tht have been introduced to him

'asian' komodo dragons
27-03-2006

i really love the indoor/outdoor thing at tarongas serpentaria especially the freshwater crocs and of course the komodo dragon. its funny that all our zoos keep building exhibits for komodos in their "asian rainforest's" when technically komodo dragons are not really asian or rainforest animals. they are found open grasslands and forest on a few small islands in western indonesia that is actually, biogeographically speaking, more australian than asian. these islands are called the lesser sundas and as a region are known as wallacia, after the naturalist alfred wallace. he drew an imaginary line through bali and lombok that ran up between sulawesi and borneo. east of the line is (geographically) southeast asia, to the west is australiasia. wallacia is known as a bit of a mix zone between asia and australia, but some islands are definately more one than the other. sulawesi for example has mostly asian fauna (primates and dwarf buffalo etc..) but still a couple of possum species (some scientists therfore dismiss sulawesi as not part of wallacia). nonetheless as far as mammalian fauna goes sulawesi is the exception and if you take out the introduced animals, wallacia is all possums, australian rats, bandicoots and lorikeets. the islands are all remnants of what was once a larger australian continent - one that had many giant goannas!

so really, komodo dragons belong in the australasian section of a zoo!
well sort of. maybe we should push for a wallacian section!

any komodo for Steve ?
28-03-2006

If Komodo dragons are as threatened as some zoos make out , perhaps this is something that the berst known keeper in Australia could have in his zoo

Or does he already ? I get a little confused sometimes about who has what -- blame it on my medications ....

but Komodo dragons are really something AWESOME , and I am sure that he can attract alot of visitors to Australia Zoo if they can display , and breed , these huge lizards .
And as the Island where they come from is similar in climate etc to Australia , he wont need to build a climate controlled enclosure .

I am surprised that NZ has the last remaining dinosaurs .... I mean , these dudes are at the top of the food chain . Surely the komodos would be the dinosaurs instead of the tuatara ......
I have stroked a living adult tuatara --- I wouldnt be doing similar with a Komodo quite so easily .... !

28-03-2006

yeah he's got the only real breedable group in australia, in outdoor enclosures - check out the begining of the thread.

28-03-2006

Just a note on Komodo dragons, the biggest one that i could find that was kept in a zoo was ten foot two inches long and weighed 166 kgs,wow. ( Berlin zoo around cric -1938)

The breeding pens at Australia zoo are off public dispay, one pen houses the biggest male and two females, there is one on show for the public. from what i have been told the breeding areas are quite large, also i read there will be several stages in the complex, i think they are on stage two at presant.

30-03-2006

patrick i agree with your wallacia concept. another way of tying in other 'mixed up' species would be to create an 'islands in danger' precinct?
any exhibit with this theme could be strongly interpreted towards australia being an island too, just a big one. it could also orientate around resource conservation, introduced species etc, using easter island and it's lost civilisation as a graphic example.
such an exhibit could trace the movement of the aboriginals and polynesian people through the pacific and their ensuing impact, showcasing indiginous architecture and examples of seafaring alongside wildlife displays like tuatara. fijian iguanas would also be a focus, as would 'south american' galapogas tortoise, aldabran tortoise. there are many other reptile species from the west indies, pacific and madagascar present in australian zoos.
mammal wise i'd include tree kangaroos, lemurs (who dont really belong in africa) and long-beaked echidnas. you could even chuck in silvery gibbons and orangs, with bird exhibits of asian lories, swinhoes pheasant, etc.
obviously, this generic presentation of an asian forest with komodo dragons is repeated throughout our zoos, particularly with our indiginous fauna. tasmanian devils dont belong next to crocodiles!!!

30-03-2006

yeah glyn your "sislands in danger" idea is actually part of the wellinton zoo masterplan as uses madagascar, australia and new zealand as examples.

i think if the best way to subdivide a zoos regions would be as follows;

AFRICA PRECINCT
african rainforest (gorillas, guenons, colobus, bongo pygmy hippo, etc..)
african savannah (you know the who...)
north african desert (baboons, barb sheep, oryx, addax, fennec fox etc..)
madagascar & the indian ocean islands (lemurs, aldabra tortoises etc..)

ASIAN PRECINCT
southeast asian rainforest (you know who..)
indian terai (rhino, bengal tigers, all the hoofstock, elephants etc..)
himalayan temperate forest (brown bears, snow leopard, red panda, tahr )

SOUTH AMERICAN PRECINCT
amazonia & atlantic forests (you know who..)
pantanal wetlands (anteaters, maned wolves, capybara, anaconda, caiman)
patagonia (condor, guanaco, peccary, cavies, rhea)

OCEANIA PRECINCT
australian southeastern forest (tas devils, koalas, platypus, wallaby)
australian southern desert (HN wombats, YF rock wallaby, red roo, emu)
polynesia (birds, iguanas, coconut crabs, bats, LHI stick insects, reef fish)
new guinea (tree-roos, echidnas, cassowary, fruit bats, cuscus)
wallacia (komodo dragons, lories, macaques, babyrusa, bats, cuscus)

the sulawesi species could be in the SE asia section as its a mostly asian island with the exception of a few possums and stuff or then again wallacia could be merged with new guinea.

of course you could divide differently (i have left out mongolia) and there are plenty of species crossovers. some exhibits could only be at open range zoos etc...

and i'm glad australia is phasing out europe and north america all together...

i like the idea of an indoor polynesian island exhibit which is essentially
a cross section of a coral atoll. you could have reef fish in the sea, a beach with giant coconut crabs and palms, and then a forest with fruit bats, reptiles and birds.

all under a glass dome.

21-04-2007

They have done an Islands in danger exhibit at chester and have bred Komodos. Well the female had a virgin birth.

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