Taronga Taronga Taronga » Taronga Zoo

02-08-2008

The group was spilt last year and the girls sent to Perth Zoo with new females replacing them. have they now sent those girls away too? or are you thinking about this previous swap?

i noteced that too when i was there about a month ago. what happened to the old ones anyone know? maybe they are just reusing the sign from when the Dholes first came rather than printing a new one? bit of a mystery

02-08-2008

Hi guys,

Meerkats:
end of last year tarongas females were sent to perth zoo, and new females were sourced from mogo.

Dean

03-08-2008

I agree with Thorney_Devil; any time you visit Taronga there seem to be many enclosures/areas with signs saying essentially, "closed" or "off exhibit today - come back another time." It's a bit rich really, considering how much it costs to visit, and indicates to me that Taronga administration takes visitors for granted.

Twice my daughter has come down from Brisbane and taken her kids to Taronga and on neither occasion were they able to see the gorillas. (She jokes that they don't really have any!) On one of those occasions they couldn't even get near the enclosure - it was barricaded off.

This wouldn't have happened at Melbourne zoo.
As a Sydney-sider born and bred I hate to say it, but Melbourne zoo seems to have its act together; Taronga doesn't.

03-08-2008

No doubt at a time just after a baby had been born (it might be worth checking when your daughter was down, and see if there was a baby born at that time). For the first week or so after a birth, the enclosure is always "barricaded off", just to stop those pesky visitors seeing the animals. Oh, and it might just help the group settle down a bit, and ensure a close family bond, before allowing the mother and baby out into the exhibit .

Really? You mean Melbourne would just open up the exhibit, and allow a new-born gorilla out with it's mother and the rest of the group right away? Great for the visitors, if they get to see the baby (which I would doubt very much), but perhaps, not so good for the new baby or the stability of the group.

I actually suspect very strongly that Melbourne would keep a new-born gorilla and it's mother, and quite likely, most of the group, inside for a few days after the birth.

Clearing few things up
03-08-2008

The gorilla story, that would happen at any zoo. Those measures must be taken for the safety of the animal, especially when dealing with a very shy animal such as the gorillas. With the dholes, few issues been going on in the family, the two females are in the holding yards down behind b2b and the two males are in the kodiack bear dens seeing as they only need one den out of 5 at this point in time. The meerkats have a full group after females arrived from mogo.

04-08-2008

That sounds like just unfortunate timing really.

We visit Taronga at least 5 - 6 times each year and have never had trouble seeing the Gorillas. Not that this means terribly much I know.

04-08-2008

Well ZooPro and Sim, you both make valid points; and as usual ZooPro you have given me food for thought.

There really is a conflict of interest between what visitors want and what is best for the animals at times, isn't there?

04-08-2008

Indeed. Thankfully though, more and more zoos are slowly educating their visitors about the fact that animal welfare often comes before visitors' needs. Melbourne Zoo, for example (contrary to your earlier post) have no problems whatsover letting their visitors know that sometimes, they might nit be able to see the gorillas. If they are being introduced to new animals, and that's happening inside the dens, then sorry visitors, it's bad luck that you won't get to see the gorillas that day.

Likewise, with the vegetation in the gorilla exhibit at Melbourne Zoo, and the various hiding places, visitors might walk around the exhibit and not see any gorillas, even if they are on display. The animals have an opportunity to "escape" from the visitors, and do their own thing, and aren't forced to be sitting out in the open as it were.

When more visitors realise that animal welfare is a primary role of good zoos, they might understand just why they aren't always going to see every animal in every exhibit. Some animals just don't enjoy sitting around, unable to hide and feel secure. And besides, the visitors can always pop back a couple of times during their visit and see if the animals are around.

04-08-2008

Also there are usually published feeding times or keeper talks, which are good opportunities to see animals which may have not been visible at other times.

I know this is not always ideal as there is usually a huge crowd of people to deal with (which is why I usually avoid these events), but if the animals aren't visible at other times, it can provide the opportunity for viewing them.

04-08-2008

maybe the reason why taronga barricades off its exhibit when it has babies n melbourne doesnt seem to is because most of melbournes arent parent-raised. which says to me maybe they could look to taronga and learn about creating group stability

08-08-2008

The newly updated zoo guide said: the females were sent to perth zoo and new females were being brought together from adelaide & mogo zoo in hope of future babies...

It also said Taronga had only two Orangutans Willow & Jantan what happened to the other female? Also Leon the adult male Snow Leopard was sent to Melbourne Zoo in hopes of future cubs. Asquitta the female Sumatran Tiger has gone to Adelaide or Perth for future breeding the very lonely male was on exhibit... It may be old news sorry?

08-08-2008

AS Zoopro rightly point out.

[quote]Likewise, with the vegetation in the gorilla exhibit at Melbourne Zoo, and the various hiding places, visitors might walk around the exhibit and not see any gorillas, even if they are on display. The animals have an opportunity to "escape" from the visitors, and do their own thing, and aren't forced to be sitting out in the open as it were.

The design of Tarongas exhibit although the off exhibit/night quarters are comendable. The actual outdoor exhibit leaves no room for "escape" from the crowds. I understood that the enclosure was to be enlarged obviously this was put off for some reason???

The comparison of the two groups is impossible given that Sydney was given there group on a "silver platter". Compared to what Melbourne has had to work with. I would have thought melbourne had more experiance creating group stability for this reason alone.

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Stuart R Webster
A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
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08-08-2008

You are absolutely correct. Taronga received a fully cohesive social group from Apenheul and have never had to do anything with them except put the females on contraceptives if they don't want too many babies. Melbourne built their group using adult individuals from different backgrounds and its perhaps not surprising these females haven't so far reared their babies.

As far as having Gorillas 'offshow' for whatever reason, I think any zoo should announce(written sign or whatever) at the entrance if NO Gorillas(or any other high profile species) can be seen on a particular day- that gives anybody who wants particularly to see that species the choice to come back and spend their entrance fee on another day, and also avoid disappointment once in the zoo. That's not the same as having an exhibit where the animals are there but may be hiding- then its up to the visitor's patience if they see the animals or not.