Baby Seahorses

See the first brood of baby seahorses that were born at the Westpac Envirodome at Adelaide Zoo.

Meerkat Pups

Three baby meerkats were born at Adelaide Zoo in September 2009. Come and visit them as they busily investigate their new home and learn about the world around them!

 

Chimps & More Chimps

On the 27 August, 2 male Chimpanzees (Boyd and Gombe) from Wellington Zoo joined our 2 boys at Monarto Zoo. They are currently in quarantine in the Chimpanzee House, and getting to know Sandali and Tsotsi while doing quarantine.  This is going above all expectations according to the keepers.

Mr Percival

Mr Percival, the pelican who featured in the 1976 Australian movie Storm Boy, died of old age this week. He was a favourite amongst staff and visitors since arriving at Adelaide Zoo in 1988 and will be fondly remembered by all.

Listen to one of our bird keepers talk about his memories of Mr Percival.

Memorial Statue

Adelaide Zoo is planning to erect a memorial statue of Mr Percival, as a tribute to the place he holds in all of our hearts. If you would like to donate to Mr Percival’s memorial statue, visit the donate page and enter "Mr Percival" as the cause you would like to donate to.

Any additional funds raised will be put towards our long term pelican conservation program. Click here to read more about this program.

Zinzi

Hear the full story about Zinzi, the male lion at Monarto Zoo who was recently euthanased due to an ongoing health issue.

Tasmanian Devil Joeys

Meet the newest additions to the Tasmanian Devil population at Monarto Zoo. These animals are part of an important national captive breeding program to help save Tassie Devils from extinction. Click here to find out more.

 

Regent Honeyeater transfer

This week Adelaide Zoo sent 6 endangered Regent Honeyeaters, that were bred here in 2008, to Taronga Zoo, NSW.

These will be housed with other Regent Honeyeaters in preparation for release to the wild in Ironbark forests within the riverina districts in Victoria and New South Wales. Adelaide Zoo, as well as other Australian zoos, have bred for release previously in 2008.  

Update on Wellington Zoo Chimps

Final touches has been put on preparations for the import of 2 Chimps from Wellington Zoo. This included the approval of the facility by AQIS (Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service) to import and quarantine the animals at the new facility at Monarto Zoo.

Last Wednesday, officers from AQIS inspected the facilities and provided feedback on the documentation to finalise this import.

We expect to be able to import the chimps on August 27. The animals will be quarantined inside the building (with the existing 2 animals). Once released from Quarantine we expect to be able to introduce the 4 animals to the outside area.

 

Gert

Oscar

Oscar was born in October 2000 at Wilkawillina Gorge, Flinders Ranges National Park.

He came to us as an unfurred joey, and was cross-fostered into the pouch of resident Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby, ‘Wobbles’.

Cotton-top Tamarin baby update

One of the Cotton-top Tamarin triplets started looking a bit weak on Sunday 5th July. One of the zoo watchers noticed it slipped off dad when being swapped over to mum. It fell to the ground and was immediately picked up by dad and everything seemed fine for the rest of the day.

One the Mon 6th July a volunteer noted another fall (we can only assume that it was the same individual). On the Tuesday 7th July a baby fell again but this time the others were not able to pick it up as it was unable to hold on to them.

Baboons on the Move

On July 17, two  young male baboons that were bred in Adelaide Zoo boarded a plane for New Zealand.

They have been at Monarto Zoo for pre-export isolation for 30 days prior as required by New Zealand requirements. They will be joining a group of females to start up a new group in Auckland Zoo.

This is an example how species are managed and how Zoos work together in the Australasian region.

 

Gert

More Cotton-top Tamarins Babies

Matilda

Matilda died on 23rd April 2009. It’s been really hard thing to talk about and has taken me a long time to talk about her death. She died pretty quickly. The night before she died she was acting a bit odd, wasn’t drinking very well and in the morning she was making a pain kind of noise. So I brought her in on my day off and Lynley (one of the vets) operated on her straight away.

Matilda had a torsion (a twist in her gut). She died during the operation, they brought her back the first time but the second time they couldn’t bring her back. It’s a high risk operation, especially as she was so small, it’s very tender area and it’s hard to monitor koalas under anesthetic.

Levi

One of Monarto Zoo’s African Lions, Levi, sadly passed away recently after a week of deteriorating health.

Levi underwent numerous tests and x-rays to try to determine the cause of his lack of appetite and dehydration but the results failed to indicate a direct cause for his ill health. Unable to raise himself one morning, our vets decided urgent action was needed and exploratory surgery was performed. Levi survived the surgery, which uncovered an enlarged spleen that was removed, but despite staff efforts he did not survive the night.

Sumatran Orangutan (Pusung)

25 February 1978 – 15 April 2009

Pusung was born at Perth Zoo on 25th February 1978 and was hand raised from the age of 1. In 1989 he went to Singapore Zoo, where he fathered five young. He returned to Australia and began living at Adelaide Zoo in October 2000, as part of the international breeding program.

Our Baby Siamang

These photos were taken on 30th January 2009. As you can see our baby siamang is thriving! Why not come and see the family in action at Adelaide Zoo?

Lola

August 2007 – November 2008

Lola was a juvenile Victorian Koala that came into our care on 4th January 2008 from Cleland Wildlife Park.

The history of her mother was not known, but she was handed in as an orphan in quite a sorry state.  She was only just furry, dehydrated and very listless. From her weight, we were estimating Lola to be about 6 months old and definitely unable to look after herself.

New Sealions at Adelaide Zoo

Adelaide Zoo now have Sealions on display again. Earlier this week we received a pair from Western Australia which now can be seen in “Sealbay” .

Animal Transfers

Adelaide Zoo has received two new animals from Taronga Zoo in Sydney , both here to start a Family - in fact we sent two animals to Taronga in return with the same aim there.

Baby Bilby twins

Two baby bilbies were born at Adelaide Zoo in November 2008. Bilbies may breed throughout the year, depending on rainfall and the amount of food available. Females have 1-3  young who develop in a backwards facing pouch. After a 14-day gestation period the young are carried in the pouch for 75 days.

Baby Siamang

A baby Siamang was born at Adelaide Zoo on 5th January 2009. First time parents, Irian and Suli, are taking great care of their new baby boy. In particular, Suli has taken to motherhood really well and seems very relaxed about the whole thing. Although a first time mum she is familiar with the whole process, having learnt her mothering skills while growing up with her family group at Mogo Zoo.

Collection Development

Birth, Death and Marriage Blog is dealing with the always changing collection at Adelaide and Monarto Zoo. Adelaide Zoo have around 1850 animals and Monarto Zoo over 500 individuals, so there are always changes. Some animals are born, some animals die and some animals are moved in or out of the zoos for breeding purposes “Marriage”

Let me introduce myself: I'm Gert Skipper. As Curator, Collection Development for Zoos SA I have the overall responsibility for keeping tabs on animal records, animal transfers and collection planning. And in this blog I will keep you updated with the more interesting happenings within our collection. My typical day is a day where nothing is typical , I may be reviewing records, be in a meeting, discussing options for an overseas transfer, meeting with AQIS ( Australian Quarantine Inspection Service) about an import or driving to the airport with a keeper to pick up a new Orang-Utan.

Cotton-top Tamarin twins

Our Cotton-top Tamarins gave birth to twins on the 7th November 2008. Like most tamarins, Cotton-top Tamarins usually gives birth to twins, although single births and triplets do occur.

Regent Honeyeaters

Three Regent Honeyeaters were hatched at Adelaide Zoo on 12 November 2008.

Baby Barbary Sheep

Two female Barbary Sheep were born at Adelaide Zoo on 16th and 21st November 2008. Both lambs are healthy and settling in well with the rest of the herd. They are growing up quickly, becoming more playful and confident as they get older.

Orange-bellied Parrot

A female Orange-bellied Parrot died on 6th November 2008.

Syrian Brown Bear (Eli)

Eli was born at Artis Zoo, Amsterdam on 22 January 1976 and arrived at Adelaide Zoo in 1978. He always had a relaxed manner and rarely showed any signs of aggression. In the morning he often acknowledged his keeper by waving his big paw in the air.