MONTHS 2001
January	February	March	April	May	June
July	August	September	October	November	December

NEWS FEBRUARY A critically endangered White Cheeked Gibbon (Hlyobates leucogenys) was born at Perth Zoo. The tiny baby, weighing 568 grams, was unfortunately abandond by its mother. It is now being raised by the Keepers. Perth has two breeding pairs and they can also be seen at Melbourne and Wellington Zoos. On the 25th a new immigrant from Berlin, Germany arrived at Adelaide Zoo. The male sumatran tiger has joined the breeding program at Adelaide.

MARCH

• Werribees herd of Addax (Addax nasomaculatus), have increased in number by three. The calves are healthy and cared for by their mothers. The herd now numbers fifteen. The Addax can also be seen at Monarto

APRIL

• Hamilton Zoo opened its new Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) Display with three youngsters born at Wellington Zoo.There are two female cubs, Molek and Mencari and a male called Jaka. Jaka will eventually be moved to another home and an unrelated male will be found for breeding.

• Queensland has started a breeding program for the endangered Mahogany Glider. This species was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in North Queensland in 1991. The breeding project is sponsered by the State Government and is occuring somewhere on the Gold Coast.

• Polar Bears in Queensland? Sea World on the Gold Coast has opened its latest attraction with a Polar Bear World, costing $6 million. Ping Pong and Kanook are the two residents. Ping Pong is a 5 year old male from Beijing and Kanook a 16 year old female from Reif Park Zoo in Tuscon, Arizona.

• The Brisbane Forest Park has completed the Platypus Breeding Centre. In conjuction with the University of Queensland and Fleays Fauna Park, its aim is to furth research into this unique species.

• Four young cheetahs have arrived at Taronga Zoo from South Africa, the first to be seen at the zoo in twenty years. The eight month old cubs, two male and two female, are destined to find a home at Western Plains Zoo in a few months. They will form part of the Captive Breeding Program there. Western Plains has one cheetah at the moment.

• Healsville Sanctuary has continued there success in breeding platypus. A male has emerged from its nesting hole and can now be seen on display. This is the third time platypus have been successfully bred at Healsville, the only place to have done so. The parents, Koorina and N. successfully raised twins in 1999.

• A baby hippo was born in mid March at Victorias Open Plains Zoo (Werribee). Its mother, Brindabella was also born at the zoo in 1990. There is constant monitering of the mother and calf as only 1 in 3 calves in the wild survive. According to the zoo a similar rate exists in Open Range Zoos.

• Bambuti, a seven year old female gorilla from Melbourne Zoo is now on her way to a new life at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust on the island of Jersey. The young gorilla is a daughter of Motaba by Betsy. It was decided to send her to Jersey as the only male gorillas at Melbourne were her father and brothers.

• Adelaide Zoo, previously lionless, now has begun its lion program with the arrival of two young males. The 18 month old lions were born at Melbourne Zoo in 1999 and are now in their adolescence. Adelaide is now looking for lioness to create a pride of their own, to enable the zoo to participate in the regional lion program.

MAY

• Chitumba, an eleven month old Rothschilds Giraffe is sailing to New Zealand. Born at Perth Zoo to parents, Anthony and Misha, the youngster is on his way to Hamlton Zoo where he will become a member of their breeding program.
• Four adorable lion cubs were born Auckland Zoo on May 5th. The cubs, born to Kura, have yet to be sexed and have no names. Auckland zoo is happy to receive suggestions at lioncubs@netbyte.com.
• A rare Malaysian Sun Bear, Madu, born at the Wellington Zoo died during surgery on a broken tooth. Madu was one of twins born at Wellington two years ago and was to be sent to Australia to participate in the Captive Breeding Program there. An autopsy discovered that he had a hole in his heart. His twin, Arataki will travel to Australia instead.

JUNE

• The New South Wales Zoological Parks Board have released the details of the future plans for Taronga and Western Plains Zoo. One of the more contoversial details is the plan to reintroduce elephant rides at Taronga. Apparantly the rides were discontinued in 1976 because of the retirement of the keeper responsible for the walks.
  Other plans include
  1. the retirement of the two resident elephants to Western Plains and importation of four young ones.
  2. Swimming with the seals
  3. greater emphasis on habitats, allowing visiters immersion in natural habitats rich in biological diversity
  All up some $22 million will be spent on the upgrade.

• Ping Ping, the five year old male Polar Bear at Sea World on the Gold Coast, underwent some major tooth surgery. Intensive root canal was needed on a canine tooth which he had chipped.

• A baby otter boom has occured in the Australian Zoo world with both Adelaide and Taronga Zoos resident breeding pairs producing triplets. Though the six youngsters were all born in March, it is only now that we are able to view the lively balls of fun. The otters are Oriental Small Clawed Otters, an endangered species of the otter family. Adelaides trio , 2 males and a female, recently had microchips inserted into their skin, so that accurate records of the identical, at least to human eyes, triplets could be kept. Tarongas trio are also two male and a female.

JULY

• Hopes are high that Perth Zoo will soon hear the the thump of little rhino feet. The zoos male White Rhino, Memphis, has taken quite an interest in one of his female partners, Katala. Keepers have recorded intense mating activity between the two. If Katala does become pregnant, the baby would be born in about 16 months, or around November 2002. It would be the first birth of a white rhino, in Australia, for sixteen years. The previous birth occurred in New South Wales, probably at Western Plains.

• Steve Irwin, owner of the Australia Zoo, at Beerwah in Queensland has announced his plans for the future. A total of $40 million will be spent to transform the Australia Zoo into one of the best zoos of the world.
  At the moment Australia Zoo concentrates on Australian Fauna, plans for the future include increasing the exotic component, probably to include such well known mega fauna as Rhino, Lion and Gorilla. The Australia Zoo has already undergone many changes in the last 20 years and is constantly upgrading its facilities.

• An endangered Matschie's Tree Kangaroo youngster has taken his first steps outside of his mothers pouch. After ten months in the pouch, keepers watched anxiously as he made his cautious way to a food bowl. Adelaide zoo has bred 16 of the tree kangaroos over 20 years.

• A pair of rare African Wild Dogs have arrived at their new home at the Monarto Zoo. The females will eventually be joined by males, as soon as a suitable pair are found. This is the first time that Wild Dogs are exhibitd at Monarto and joins other African animals including giraffe, cheetah and in the future, lions.

• Monarto Zoo has also celebrated the birth of yet another giraffe. Humbakahle is the second calf of the female, Shasa and male, Ketabi, and was born on the banks of the zoos African Plains habitat. Monarto Zoo has a prolific breeding group of the giraffe, Giraffa camelopardalis, the main sub-species. In December 2000 Ketabi fathered a youngster by Milaika and in August 2000 a female by Mutanda. Mutanda was herself born at Adelaide Zoo in 1993, while Ketabi came from Melbourne Zoo in 1989. As of May 2001, Monarto Zoo had a population of thirteen, (7.6.) giraffe.

AUGUST

• Crocodylus Park, in the Northern Territory, has received two females of the endangered Persian leopard. There are only six individuals in Australia, this pair came from Perth Zoo where they were born. Perth has kept a male, who is the father of the siblings, Ishtar and Tiamat. At the moment Crocodylus Park has no plans to breed the leopards.

• Taronga Zoo, in conjuction with McDonalds, has created a webpage all about their gorilla family. The Web Site can be found at the Taronga Zoo Webpage. The website is designed as an educational tool for schools. It also enables people to e-mail the staff any questions they may have about the gorilla, Gorilla gorilla gorilla. There has been some controversy over the addition of the McDonalds Logo on the website. As McDonalds has sponsered the page it is only fair that the logo is included.

• There are hopes that soon there will be cheetah cubs born at the Monarto Zoo. Cheetahs are notoriously difficult to breed in captivity so any births will be greatly welcomed. Monarto has a population of eight (5.3) who arrived either in 2000 or 2001.

• Nine years ago, the second gorilla to be born in Australia, Buzandi, made his first appearance at Melbourne Zoo. Now the feisty male gorilla is set to find a new home and start a family of his own. Hannover Zoo in Germany has a family group of three adult females, three young females and two young males but no adult male and so Melbourne offered their youngster Young males usually leave the family group at about this age as the mature silerback won't tolerate any competition. Buzandi will be a valuable addition to the breeding group in Europe. His sister, Bambuti also left Australia for Europe in April.

SEPTEMBER

• Worried that captive bred numbats, released into the wild, are disapearing, Perth Zoo has instigated a training school for them. The numbats, living a life of ease in captivity, appear to have lost their natural wariness when it comes to predators. To help prevent this, predator-awareness training classes have been started. Being a species active through the day, numbats are particularly vulnerable to birds of prey. To help counter this the animals are exposed to silhouettes of wedge-tailed eagles and the alarm calls of birds. The training has already paid of with a higher survival rate of the animals released in December 2000.

• The seventh of September 1936 was the day the last living Tasmanian Tiger, or Thylacine, died in a small zoo in Hobart, Tasmania. To highlight the plight of all endangered species, this day, the day the thylacine became, officially, extinct, is now known as Endangered Species Day.

• A Penguin Cam has been opened on the Taronga Zoos website, showcasing a bundle of small fluff which is the Fairy Penguins latest resident. The chick is newly hatched and people will be able to watch as both parents take it in turn to care for it.

  Some Items From Auckland Zoo, New Zealand
  

  • In May 2001, four female lion cubs were born and a competition was held to give them names. The winners have been announced and the cubs new names are
    • Amali, African for hope
    • Amira, meaning Princess
    • Kataza, translating to Cross One,
      and
      
    • Kuchani, or Far Away.

  • Also to do with lions, the four sisters were joined by three more cubs. These new cubs were born on 20 August 2001 and are not yet on display.

  • Auckland Zoo has successfully incubated and hatched a North Island Brown Kiwi. This is the first time that an egg, taken from its parents, has been hatched. The zoo needed to take the egg away as the parent birds always broke their eggs. The chick has been named Tohu Nui, meaning 'milestone'.

  • Two female Golden Lion Tamarins arrived in June, the beginning of a breeding program for the endangered species at the zoo.

  • On September 22nd, the zoo will be opening its latest display, the Bluebird Sealion and Penguin Shores. From the zoos description it sounds wonderful with visiters arriving over a dune to reach a beach. As well as sealions there will be a walk through aviary where typical shore birds can be seen, including dotterals and little blue penguins. For more information about this new exhibit visit the zoos website.

• Jai, a white tiger from Dreamworld, on the Gold Coast, Qld, has died after receiving a kidney transplant from another Bengal tiger, Rakhan. She is he second of the white tigers to have died, Kyla died from an internal haemorrhage in 1996. The kidney transplant had been the only option available to try and save Jais' life, she would have died without it.

• Western Plains Zoo, in N.S.W. will soon be opening a new exhibit called - 'The Indian Rhinoceros Tropical Lowland Forest'. The first of four Indian Rhinos will be imported in early 2002. He will be joined later by another male and two females. When they arrive, Western Plains will be the only place in Australasia where you will be able to see three species of Rhino.

• Wellington Zoo, in New Zealand, anounced the birth of a female giraffe, Giraffa camelopardalis, on September the. The first time parents are Riki and Tiza. The zoo are looking for a name for her and apparently she will be moved to Hamilton Zoo before she is a year old.

OCTOBER

• A Malayan Tapir born at Taronga Zoo, has arrived at her new home in Melbourne. The two year old female tapir is called, Semangka, which is Indonesian for watermelon. Young tapirs when they are born, are covered with white spots and stripes, which give them the appearance of a water melon.

• Kusomona, a five year old Black Rhino, Diceros bicornis minor was the first of his species to be born at Western Plains Zoo. Born on the 25 May 1996 to the female, Kalungwizi, he is now on his way to the Fossil Rim Sanctuary in the United States where he will become part of the breeding program there. Western Plains Zoo has bred four black rhino but apparently only two of the survived.

• Auckland Zoo in New Zealand has received a flock of Greater Flamingos. The eighteen young birds were born at the Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in the UK. Though the species is common they are vulnerable to habitat destruction and the huge flocks seen in the wild may not always be there.
  Flamingos can also be seen at Taronga who have three, very old, Chilean Flamingos.

• The Brisbane Forest Park has successfully bred a litter of the Spotted Tailed Quoll, the first time this endangered species has been bred in captivity in Queensland. The Quoll has declined dramatically in numbers throughout Queensland, the causes including predation by foxes, habitat destruction, the animals eating the poisonous Cane Toad and sometimes killed on roads as they ate from road kills.

• Seaworlds Polar Bear Shores< will soon be welcoming two new inhabitants, just in time for christmas. The two new bears, Lia and Lutik, are cubs that were born at Leningradski Zoo in St Petersburg, Russia. The brother and sister cubs will be one year old when they arrive.

• Also celebrating his first birthday this month is Tambo, the young Rothschilds giraffe born at Melbourne Zoo.

• Perth Zoo will soon be opening its new Orangutang super-home. Soon the ten Sumatran Orangs will move into the $1.5 million exhibit which is designed to give the apes diverse behavioural enrichment oppurtunities. Visiters will be able to see the apes from a tree top level with an elevated walkway.

• Five new koalas will also be making a new home at Perth Zoo with the opening of the renovated Australian Bushwalk Exhibit. The five koalas are:
  • Fritz, a five year old male, and four females
  • Rosa,aged 7
  • Fleur, 4
  • Medusa, 3
  • Kathy, 2.
  The koalas are from Queensland, a climate which is similar to Perths, so the animals should be able to adapt better that their southern cousins. Western Australia is the only mainland State that does not have native koalas.

• Melbourne Zoo marked its 139 Birthday this month. It is the oldest zoo in Australia

• Six Malas, small native marsupials were released back into the wild after a successful captive breeding program by Earth Sanctuaries, a commercial conservation enterprise. The small animal is one of the most endangered species with only about 500 individuals, down from an estimated 10 million 200 years ago.

• Perth Zoos only cheetah, three year old Kitoko was flown to Adelaide Zoo where she will be artificually inseminated. Perth Zoo are unable to keep more than one grown cheetah and so are co-operating with other zoos in the region to breed the species.

NOVEMBER

• A tragic death by poisoning of a rare sumatran tiger has robbed Wellington Zoo of its breeding male. Jambi was fed beef laced with an euthanasia drug and fell into a coma, dying four days later on 1 Nov 2001. Jambi had been born at Taronga zoo and had sired six cubs, one of whom, Malu is a mother of three.(Tiger Family Tree) The death of this tiger has left Wellington zoo without a breeding pair, their two remaining tigers being mother and son. The female tiger, Cantik and a lioness, Manta also ate the poisoned food but were saved from death.

• Celebratory news at Adelaide zoo though, with the birth of a baby siamang, the first birth of its species at the zoo in ten years. The little gibbon, gender unknown, is the child of father, Ulysses, who was born at Adelaide zoo in 1987 and mother, Mang, who arrived from San Francisco Zoo in 1997. This youngster was actually born on October 20th.

• Wellington Zoo in New Zealand has lost a second big cat in a week. A 14 year old lioness called Mara was put down on Saturday 10 Nov after eating contaminated meat that also killed male Sumatran Tiger Jambi Apparently four big cats were fed meat laced with an euthanasa drug, the remaining two, a female tiger called Cantick and a lioness, Manta have survived.

• Adelaide Zoo is the news this month, with lots of positive information. Something which Wellington Zoo wished that they had I'm sure. Ed McAlister, Adelaide Zoos chief executive has been elected President of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Dr McAlister has run Adelaide Zoo since 1991 and is the first person from Australasia to be elected President of WAZA since its foundation in 1946.

• Adelaide Zoo has also had a successful breeding season. Along with the Siamang (see above), there was also the birth of 16 Blood Pythons, the first time this species has been bred in Australia. This python is an endangered species from South East Asia.

• As well, Adelaides resident sea lions, Shara and Birri are parents of their first pup, which is thought to be a male.

• Dreamworld, on the Gold Coast, has two new residents with the arrival of two cute Bengal Tiger cubs. The brother and sister were born at Bullen's Wildlife Sanctuary in New South Wales and have joined six other tigers at Dreamworld. They will be part of a breeding program of the tiger sub-species.

DECEMBER

• Two young polar bears have journeyed all the way from Russia to find their new home in Australia. Lia and her brother Lutik are the two new residents of Polar Bear Shores at Seaworld on the Gold Coast. For the moment they are in quarantine but visiters will be able to view them from Boxing Day.

• People can be stupid! Why steal a baby Quokka? Melbourne zoo are desperate to find the young animal which was stolen overnight on the second of December. The young animal is still reliant on its mother for milk and will die if it isn't returned soon. Theft of animals from Melbourne zoo is rare but distressing whenever it happens. Let's hope the youngster is returned before it is too late.

• Some catch up news from Taronga and Western Plains Zoos
  1. Ten Year old Shinda and eight year old Kijivu are two of Taronga Zoos young female gorillas. They are now sexually mature and a new home for them has had to be found. Their father is Kibabu, the dominent Silverback of the troop. All the other males are their brothers. So as with Melbourne Zoos recent departures, (see August and April news), the two young females have been sent to Europe to be integrated with unrelated gorillas at Prague Zoo.

  2. Recently four young cheetahs were sent to Western Plains Zoo, after spending a Quarantine session at Taronga. The cheetahs are 17 months old Jala, Kifani and Shakkari and 16 months old Masuka. A third female was also to be sent from South Africa with these four but she broke her leg before the trip. Arrangements have been made for another female to be sent and she should arrive soon.

  3. Western Plains zoos female maned wolf, Ytamby gave birth to four cubs in August, the first cubs to be born in Australia since 1998. Ytambi was hand raised as a cub and it was feared that these cubs would also need to be hand raised. Instead Ytambi became the first Maned Wolf to raise her own cubs at Western Plains and is a faultless mother.

     For the first time at Taronga Zoo a Striated Grasswren has been hatched and raised. These little birds are not very well known and the zoo has been able to record behaviour not previously known. The can be seen at the Australian Bird Lawns.

  4. From the 7th December an Indian Rhino can be seen at Taronga Zoo, the first of its species in Australia. The two year old male is Dora and was born and raised at Nagoya Higashiyama Zoo in Japan. He will stay at Taronga Zoo for a few months, next to the pigmy hippo enclosure. Dora will then be sent to Western Plains Zoo where a state of the Art Rhino breeding complex is waiting for him. The zoos aim at obtaining a further three rhinos, (presumably 2 female and another male.) and begin a breeding program. Western Plains already has the two African species of rhino.

• Polar Bear Twins, Lia and Luticc are now on display at Sea Worlds Polar Bear Shores. The twins are the third and fourth residents of the exhibit.

• Walkabout Creek at Brisbanes Forest Park is an excellent place to discover Australias native fauna. They are also involved in breeding programs for several endangered species. They have recently achieved success with the Tiger Quoll, a small carnivourous marsupial which is becoming rarer in the wild. It is beleived that they prey on and are poisoned by the Cane Toad. Tiger Quolls were last seen in Brisbane Forest Park in the 1960's, about the same time as Cane toads reached the area.
  Quolls are difficult to breed in captivity. The normally solitary animals need to be seperated quickly after mating as the powerful male will sometimes kill or injure the female. Five youngsters were recently born at Walkabout Creek in a specially built exhibit.

• Recent forest fires in New ZSouth Wales and the ACT have destroyed homes, farms and bushland. They have also had an impact on captive animals. The National Zoo and Aquarium in the ACT was in danger of being incinerated. The human stff were evacuated but unfortunately the animals had to be left behind. To give them a chance most of these animals were released from their enclosures so that they could try to escape the flames. Thankfully the fire was averted and none of the animals came to harm. Instead returning staff had the large job of rounding up the roaming animals. In the midst of this a marmoset actually gave birth to a healthy youngster.

• Orana Wildlife Park in New Zealand have announced plans that they will become involved in the Captive Breeding Program for the endangered Sumatran Tiger.

• Seaworlds Polar Bear Shores exhibit has come under fire by several animal rights and conservationist campaigners. Sue Arnold, the co-ordinator of Australiand for Animals, an animal rights group, claims that it is ' the ultimate sickness to bring these animals from the arctic to a subtropical climate'. The Democrats animal welfare spokesman, Andrew Bartlett has also questioned the relevance of keeping polar bears captivity, saying that it is inappropriate to keep these animals for entertainment in the 21st Century.

• In April I mentioned that the Queensland Government had started a breeding program for the endangered Mahogony Glider. A female called Blossom has started the program with the birth of two youngsters in July, the first to be born in captivity. Since then a second female has given birth to two young.

• Orana Wildlife Park has announced the birth of a Rothschilds giraffe. The young male was born in November to the female, Nath and father Harold. Harold has sired two other youngsters at Orana Park.

• Two of Australias billinaires have expressed an interest in creating Africa Style Wildlife Parks. Kerry Packer and Warren Anderson are famous in Australia for their money. Now they wich to become conservationists and to breed endangered species. My question is why? Perhaps Sue Arnold and Andrew Bartlett should look into this?

• Victorias Open Range Zoo has welcomed a very special foal. Kyakhta is a Przewalski Horse, the first foal to be born at the zoo since the arrival of their species in October 2000. The zoo has a small herd of three adult females and a male, Godan, making the little foal a very important addition. She was born on November 29th.

• Finally to finish of the news section of 2001, a very special birth in a Japanese Zoo. Mei Mei is a female Panda living at Ueno Zoo. On December 17th she gave birth to a healthy male cub, her second birth. This is the fifth panda to be born in Japan and brings the number of these animals in Japan up to six.