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Karla, a female orangutan at Adelaide Zoo gave birth to her third baby in late April. Karla is not a good mother, her previous two babies having died from mis-mothering. This was to be her last chance. In 1998 she was sent to Perth Zoo for seven months to interact with the successful colony there. Hopefully she would learn mothering skills from the experienced females. When it was discovered that she was pregnant staff hoped furvantly that third time lucky. Unfortunately it was not to be . The baby was discovered dead a few days after the birth.
So now she will not be breeding again. Genetically this is unfortunate as she is unrelated to any of the orangs in the region.
- It appears that the site of the old Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart will be redevolped as a Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. This will be a place where people can visit to see injured wildlife nursed back to health, as well as learn about Australias wildlife. It will not be a zoo and the aim is have all the aminals released back into the wild.
- The National Zoo and Aquarium has three new residents. The cheetahs, Shasa, Tanzi and Robi have just arrived from South Africa. The Zoo is expanding its grounds, turning it into more of an open range zoo. The cheetahs will soon have a large exhibit to roam in.
- Two young lion cubs are on their way from South Africa to Auckland Zoo. The two 10 month old males, Lazarus and Ngala will strengthen the bloodlines of lions in the region. After the successful raising of two litters of cubs, Auckland Zoos original male pair have been sent to Melbourne Zoo. The two cubs will replace them.
- Lulu the cheetah may be pregnant. After a spell at Werribee zoo, the female from Monarto was sent back home. There she showed quite a lot of interest in the resident males and 96 days later the staff at Monarto are waiting to see if cubs are on the way. Cheetah pregnancies last from 90-95 days so it can be any time soon. Lulu is showing a glistening coat and a rotund belly.
- Visitors to Western PLains Zoo were treated to the birth of a giraffe on May 15th. The female, Mutangi, gave birth to her seventh calf whilst on display. The male calf is the first calf sired by male, Nakuru. Nakuru is a Rothschilds giraffe born at Perth Zoo. The female is not a Rothschilds.
- It has been a tragic month for Auckland Zoo with the unexpected deaths of a couple of animals. Kiri, a female giraffe gave birth last November to a healthy male calf, Masamba. Unfortunately she had to be put down. After an incident where she turned sharply to avoid an electric fence, Kiri develpoed lameness in her right front leg. Initially there was no swelling and staff couldn't tell where she was injured. but eventually swelling began to appear around her upper leg. She had injured the bone between the elbow and sholder joint. Specialists could only confirm that this type of fracture was not repareable. Giraffes also don't take well to anesthesia, as Hamilton and Werribee have both shown. (see previous news items). Due to both these problems it was decided that it would be best if Kiri was put to sleep. Kiri was born at Auckland Zoo in 1984.
- Iuru, the female spider monkey had only recently given to birth to twins at Auckland Zoo. This birth surprised staff as she had a two year old youngster that was still dependent on the mother. It appears that there was too much pressure on Iuri and she turned on the twins. IBerani, the female, suffered severe injuries, including back and leg bites which caused internal injuries and nerve damage. Her condition worsened and eventually had to be put to sleep. The male twin, IWani, received less severe injuries and is being hand raised by staff.
- Monarto Zoo in South Australia are happy though. Their female cheetah, Lulu has given birth to three, possibly four, healthy cubs. The first time mother appears to be nursing and caring for the cubs well. Staff are monitering her on camera, rather than disturbing her with their presence. This is the first birth of cheetahs in South Australia and also the first birth in Australia since the death of the cub at Perth Zoo.
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