NEWS
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.
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