Wild Life magazine Spring 2013

Spring 2013 • Taronga Zoo, Sydney • Taronga Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo • $4.95
CREEPY
CRAWLIES
Step behind the scenes and
enter the micro world of bugs
WHITE RHINO SUCCESS
Meet Macheo, the miracle baby
A BRAZILIAN ADVENTURE
Tracking tapirs in the Pantanal
CONTENTS
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8
There’s exciting news from
our Gorilla Forest.
Spring marks the move of our wonderful
Silverback Kibabu to Mogo Zoo on the
New South Wales south coast. With him
will go Kriba, Mouila, Mahale and Kipenzi,
maintaining the stable social structure of that
gorilla group, while Taronga’s new Silverback
Kibali will take the vital role of alpha male in
our ongoing breeding program.
Winter has delivered a torrent of newborns
at Taronga Western Plains Zoo including
giraffes, zebra, a koala joey, wallaby joeys,
Eland, Addax and Barbary Sheep.
I’ve recently returned from Indonesia with
Senior Keeper Natalie Dunn, where we visited
Sumatra’s Way Kambas wildlife sanctuary
along with a number of other zoos through
the International Rhino Foundation. Taronga
supports Way Kambas and the impressive work
of its rangers and vets to protect all wildlife
from poaching and conflict.
We also ran workshops with Ragunan Zoo
in Jakarta and checked on the old Sumatran
Tiger from Surabaya that was in very poor
condition. It’s been moved to Taman Safari
Park veterinary hospital and was calm and had
put on 6 kilograms.
In late July the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd,
announced a $10,000 sponsorship of Taronga’s
bilbies as part of Australia’s national gift to
Prince George, the son of Prince William and
the Duchess of Cambridge. The gift raised
global awareness about the bilby’s plight.
By summer the magnificent Lemur Forest
Adventure exhibit will be close to completion
and we expect visitors to begin to experience
the first stage, including its internationally
designed playground, during the Christmas
school holidays.
Cameron Kerr
Director and Chief Executive
SEND US YOUR
SNAPS AND WIN!
Turn to page 19 for info on how to enter.
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Contents
MIRACLE BABY....................................... 4
MAKING A DIFFERENCE ................... 15
The arrival of White Rhino calf Macheo
brings joy to staff at Western Plains.
Find out how Taronga is helping to save the
Cross River Gorilla from threat of extinction.
BIG BUG BONANZA.................................. 8
DOWN BY THE BILLABONG.............. 16
Step inside the infamous Insect House, but
only if you dare!
We get up close and personal to Aussie and
Asian animals at Billabong Camp.
SOUVENIR POSTER ............................ 11
NEWS BRIEFS ....................................... 18
Hang a colourful chameleon on your wall.
Catch up on all the latest Zoo news.
K-ZONE ................................................. 12
BEHIND THE SCENES ........................ 22
Wild Life visits the animals with the biggest
and best wardrobes.
We track down Senior Carnivore Keeper
Justine Powell after her recent adventure.
Wild Life is the magazine of Taronga Conservation
Society (ISSN 1443-7376)
Taronga Zoo, Sydney Tel (02) 9969 2777
PO Box 20, Mosman NSW 2088
Taronga Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo
Tel (02) 6882 5888
PO Box 831, Dubbo NSW 2830
Zoo Friends Tel (02) 9968 2822
Published on behalf of Taronga Conservation
Society by The Pacific Plus Company Pty Ltd
(ABN 80 101 323 791), Level 4 West Media City,
8 Central Avenue, Eveleigh NSW 2015
Tel (02) 9394 2944
pacificplus.com.au
The Pacific+ Company – A Pacific Magazines
Company. Printing by Offset Alpine ©2013
Director and Chief Executive: Cameron Kerr
Executive Editors: Jennifer Walter and
Kirsty Deane
taronga.org.au
taronga.org.au/zoofriends
All rights reserved. Reproduction or distribution in any form, in whole or
in part, without written permission is prohibited. Taronga Conservation
Society Australia is not responsible for the views and opinions of
contributing journalists. To the maximum extent allowable by law, Taronga
Conservation Society Australia assumes no responsibility for errors and
omissions appearing herein.
Editor: Nicole Macdonald
Art Director: Katherine Cordwell
Publisher: Abby Cartwright
Cover Image: Michael Kennedy
3
WHITE RHINO
WHITE RHINO
YOU WOULDN’T
THINK IT TO SEE HIM
NOW BUT TARONGA
WESTERN PLAINS
ZOO’S NEW WHITE
RHINO CALF MACHEO’S
ARRIVAL WAS FRAUGHT
WITH ANXIETY.
Miracle
baby
Story: Gillian Samuel
Images: Leonie Saville and
Shallon McReaddie
Senior Veterinarian Dr Benn Bryant
checks up on little Macheo.
“H
e’s gambolling about like a misshapen baby
horse!” says Taronga Western Plains Zoo’s
Senior Veterinarian Dr Benn Bryant of the Zoo’s
newest White Rhino. Much to the delight of visitors Macheo –
pronounced Ma-Che-O; his name means ‘sunrise’ in Swahili – is
always on the move.
At six weeks the little guy is sticking close to mum Mopani but
he also likes to go for a gallop around the paddock, according to
keeper Pascale Benoit. Benn says he’s a good baby: “He spends a lot
of his time asleep, he’ll feed and sleep hour by hour during the day
and sleep through the night,” but Pascale thinks Macheo is already
showing signs of being quite mischievous.
Last year after all the other female White Rhinos died of a
mysterious disease and only pregnant Mopani was left standing,
the Zoo brought in another female, Likewizi, to keep her company.
In the wild White Rhinos live in small groups of females, so there’s
always plenty of aunties to look after young calves. Since Likewizi
is the only auntie available at Taronga she sometimes needs a bit
of peace and quiet and orders Macheo to leave her alone. Then,
Pascale says, he starts crying and protective mum Mopani swoops
in and “throws her weight around”!
The young rhino has also started munching on grown-up rhino
food (hay) in addition to his mother’s milk and at 140 kilograms
has gained around 1 to 1.5 kilograms a day from his 50 to 60
kilogram birth weight.
“Like all babies, White Rhinos grow rapidly for the first nine
months of their lives, then slow down before going through
another growth spurt at adolescence at around 15 months,”
»
Mopani and Macheo enjoy their
breakfast on a foggy winter morning.
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RHINO POACHING
CRISIS
Sadly, rhino poaching in Africa has
sharply increased over the past few
years, fuelled by demand from Asia.
Well-funded international poaching
syndicates are fully armed with nightvision goggles, darting equipment,
silencers and even helicopters. They
go to extraordinarily cruel lengths to
collect the rhino horn, often leaving
the animal half-alive with the horn
cut from its face.
Rhino horn is highly sought
after for use in traditional Asian
medicine, even though there is
zero scientific proof of its healing
properties. The horn is either ground
into a fine powder or made into
tablets, as treatment for a number
of ailments including nosebleeds,
strokes, convulsions and fevers.
This is despite the fact that horns
are made of keratin: the same type
of protein that makes up your hair
and nails!
5
WHITE RHINO
WHITE RHINO
Pascale explains. “Macheo will continue to
grow until he’s about six years old, when he
will weigh in at 2.2 to 2.5 tonnes.”
PLANS IN PLACE
When Mopani came to Western Plains at
18 she had never been pregnant. “In spite
of being the most numerous rhino species
White Rhinos are the most challenging
to breed and many zoos struggle,” Benn
explains. “We have been particularly good
at White Rhino breeding. Statistically less
than 50 per cent of ex-wild White Rhinos
breed in zoos and we have had 100 per cent
success. Our contribution to the region’s
breeding program is very important.”
Macheo is the ninth calf to be born to
the White Rhino breeding program since
2003, when five White Rhinos arrived from
Kruger National Park in South Africa to
help create greater genetic diversity in our
region’s population.
WHITE... WHAT?
RHINO BABY
FACTS
Gestation: 16 months
Births: usually single calves
Behaviour: calves stand within
one hour and immediately attempt
to suckle, although they’ll be
unsteady on their feet for 2–3 days
Wean: at two years
Family group: mother and ‘aunties’
Leaving home: male calves usually
separate from the group at around
four to five years
WHAT’S IN
A NAME?
The scientific name
of the White Rhino is
ceratotherium simum.
In Greek, ‘cerato’ means
‘horn’, ‘therium’ means
‘wild beast’ and ‘simus’
means ‘flat nosed’.
If you’ve ever looked at White Rhinos
and Black Rhinos and thought they
looked exactly the same colour, don’t
worry, you’re not going blind!
White Rhinos aren’t white in colour,
their name comes from their ‘wide’
upper lip, which in Afrikaans is ‘weit’.
They use this wide lip to easily cut
and eat grass, as they only eat ground
vegetation. Black Rhinos, on the other
hand, have a curved, pointy upper lip
that is perfect for curling around low-
hanging vegetation and yanking the
tasty leaves inside their mouths.
They might be of similar colouring
but there’s another big difference
between the two species. The Black
Rhino is the smaller of the two and
measures approximately 1.6 metres
at shoulder height, adult males weigh
up to 1.35 tonnes and females up to
0.9 tonnes. White Rhinos can measure
1.8 metres at shoulder height and
they’re much heavier: adult males can
weigh up to 3.6 tonnes!
THE BIG DAY ARRIVES
Rhinos have a 16-month gestation so when
a mysterious rhino disease struck, killing
all four of the other females, anxious Zoo
staff could do nothing but wait and see
if infected Mopani and her unborn calf
would survive.
“Because we didn’t get a diagnosis it
was difficult to know what to expect. All we
could do was monitor her,” Benn says.
As the time of the birth approached
the Zoo made sure there were supplies of
rhino milk available. Mopani quietly calved
overnight on 14 May, without any fuss. “It
is moments like this that you become a zoo
keeper for,” says Pascale. “To see Mopani
being such a fabulous mother to her first
calf is just amazing; she is gentle and caring
and seems to be quite proud of herself!”
The Zoo’s General Manager Matt Fuller
couldn’t be more delighted. “My respect for
the guys is incredible. To care for Mopani
through her illness to deliver a healthy calf
says a lot about our expertise, experience
and animal husbandry, and shows that we
are among the best in the world at it.
“What really brings our success home is
the international media coverage the birth
has received. We got rhino headlines in
Dubbo, Australia, all the way over to Cape
Town, South Africa!”
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TO SEE A VIDEO OF MACHEO IN ACTION, VISIT TARONGA.ORG.AU/BLOG/WHITERHINO
TARONGA.ORG.AU
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7
BUGS
BUGS
Left to right: a Red-back Spider
shows off its stunning markings;
a female Funnel-web is all talk;
Joseph Robert Haddock.
I
magine a room where 39 Funnel-web,
eight Red-back and a dozen Huntsman
Spiders live side by side with stick
insects and Giant Burrowing Cockroaches.
Is it your worst nightmare... or does it
sound fascinating?
For Joseph Robert Haddock, the scenario
falls firmly into the fascinating camp. Joe
has worked in zoos overseas and in Australia
for an impressive 46 years and has been
on Taronga’s Backyard to Bush exhibit for
the past five years, until his retirement in
July. He conducted daily spider talks for
Taronga’s visitors and spent a good deal of
time in the Backyard to Bush off-exhibit
holding area – nicknamed the Insect House
– which houses a variety of invertebrates.
Big bug
bonanza
ENTER THE INSECT HOUSE
Inside you’ll find the Phasmid Room,
which is kept at a steady 26 degrees Celcius.
Phasmid (or stick insect) eggs hatch here,
then keepers rear the youngsters until
they’re big enough to move to the Backyard
to Bush display area. “Phasma means ghost,”
says Joe, ever full of intriguing tidbits of
info. “It’s where we get words like ‘fantastic’,
‘fabulous’ and ‘phantom’ from.” There are
also giant rainforest snails, slugs, scorpions
and hundreds of tiny locusts.
Next door is the combined kitchen and
workroom, where food is prepared and the
WILD LIFE STEPS BEHIND THE SCENES WITH A VETERAN BUG KEEPER
TO GET THE INSIDE WORD ON SOME FASCINATING INVERTEBRATES.
Story: Nicole Macdonald Images: Michael Kennedy
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invertebrates’ exhibits are handmade. And
next door to that? The Spider Room, where
the aforementioned Funnel-web, Red-back
and Huntsman Spiders reside.
Red-back and Funnel-web Spiders aren’t
bred at the Zoo. The Red-backs come from
within Taronga: they’re native to the area
and easy to find. The keepers look for big
ones with bright red backs although their
colouring varies dramatically; some have
orange or brown markings and visitors
don’t believe they’re truly Red-backs!
Female Funnel-webs can live up to 10
years; there are several in the Insect House
that were fully grown adults when Joe
arrived five years ago. Some are brought in
by local residents; recently a man brought
in five he’d discovered in one afternoon
spent gardening. Only the females are used
for talks, while the males are sent to the
Australian Reptile Park at Gosford where
they’re milked for antivenom.
ERUPTION!
One of Joe’s duties was to breed Banded
Huntsman Spiders for display and to show
during the talk. “If I went out and collected
them myself I’d probably get some nice
specimens, but chances are, just as you’re
about to do the talk, you’ll find your prize
specimen has exploded with some hideous
parasite that’s been eating it alive for the last »
SPIDER
WRANGLING 101
Got a spider strolling through your
living room? Don’t freak out! The
easiest way to send him home is to
carefully place an upside-down glass
tumbler or plastic container over the
spider, slide a piece of thin but sturdy
cardboard underneath, then take it
outside and set him free.
“You can do this with any spider,
no matter how evilly it is looking at
you!” says Joe. “They’re very delicate,
so you have to be careful not to
damage them.”
9
BUGS
NATIVE GIANTS
Giant Burrowing Cockroaches are the largest cockroaches
in the world and are native to Australia. They’re mostly
found in tropical Queensland, where they play a vital role in
the ecosystem by consuming dead eucalyptus leaves and
recycling other matter. True to their name they can burrow
up to 1 metre below the surface.
Taronga has been breeding Giant Burrowing Cockroaches
to display during future talks and demonstrations and
currently has a new mother in the Insect House. They’re
unusual in that females give birth to, then raise, their
offspring. “The babies remind me of a bunch of little
piglets; you might be thinking I’m totally whacked but they
do look cute,” says Joe. “If you can imagine a dark brown
Volkswagen that’s given birth to a whole lot of other dark
brown Volkswagens that crawl all over it, that’s exactly
what it looks like!”
few months,” says Joe quite matter-of-factly.
“It’s quite common. Have you ever seen the
first Alien movie? Exactly like that.”
Apparently breeding the spiders indoors
stops the parasites from getting to them.
After I’ve recovered from that mental image
we press on. “There’s also a small colony of
communal Huntsman Spiders, very unusual
because they live en masse. It might be an
arachnophobe’s vision of hell but it does
look very spiffy seeing this moving mass of
spiders, all different sizes!”
Did I mention I’m an arachnophobe? I’m
keen to know how Joe got so comfortable
with spiders. During the photo shoot
he spoke to them softly, called them
‘sweetheart’, remained calm as they crawled
over him (except for the Funnel-web,
which he handled with a pair of forceps)
and was conscious of not letting them get
stressed. “Put it this way, I used to look after
elephants,” he explains. “Spiders are little
things and don’t really register on my radar.
“They’ve been around a long time;
they’re ancient, as old as the dinosaurs, so a
lot of things have learned how to eat them.
If you’re a spider you’re a constant bundle
of nerves, thinking about all the bad things
that can happen to you. The spider can’t see
you, all it registers is a gigantic mountain
of air pressure and vibration – it has every
reason in the world to be apprehensive of
you, not the other way round!”
“Phasma
means ghost.
It’s where we
get words like
‘fantastic’,
‘fabulous’ and
‘phantom’ from.”
LIKE TO GET CLOSER? TAKE THE AUSTRALIA’S CREEPY CRAWLIES TOUR, EXCLUSIVE TO ZOO FRIENDS.
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Chameleons
can rotate and
focus their eyes
separately to
look at two
different objects
at the same
time.
TARONGA.ORG.AU
Image: Michael Kennedy
APPLAUSE
A ROUND OF
WHO WON A
TO EVERYONE
WORX PACK!
COOL WOOD
DID you know?
When the snow starts
falling, brown bunnies
and stoats stick out like
sore thumbs. So what do
they do? Don their purewhite winter coats and
strut their stuff!
SUNNYSIDE UP
You’ve seen military camouflage in khaki and
maybe even desert grey but have you considered
going white and yellow? If you were a Goldenrod
Crab Spider that lives on daisies and sunflowers
you’d be all over it. These tricky arachnids produce
a pigment that turns them snow white or bright
yellow over a period of days so they can pounce on
prey without being spotted by predators.
’Ten shun!
DID you know?
Animals change their
appearance for a bunch of cool
reasons including: camouflage
to hide from predators or prey,
as a warning to others to
back off, or advertising to
potential mates that
they’re open for
business.
FEELING
BLUE? PINK?
YELLOW?
Ever wish you could change
what you look like? Well, if
you’re a Chameleon you can. As
well as posing as a rock, stick or the
bark of a tree, these quick-change artists
can turn pink, blue, red, orange, yellow, green,
black or brown. And unlike other shapeshiftin’
critters they do it to stand out to their Chameleon
buddies or simply to make themselves look more cute.
They’re show-offs fo’ shiz!
LAUGHING
FROG FOLLIES
The Peron’s Tree or Laughing Frog isn’t
afraid of people. This crazy cackling
Joker of the frog pack can be found all
over Australia, even in areas of human
habitation. That’s because this happy
hopper can change its colour in less
than an hour: from white to grey to
brown, usually keeping its yellow and
black legs and emerald spots. Reckon
it’s just clowning around? Then try
finding one!
Elizabeth Whelan, 4
Rose Gladstone, 6
Max Williams, 6
Steven Horrocks, 7
Cailey Byrne, 10
Isaac Grace, 5
EIGHT-ARMED HOLD-UP
You might think that Mimic Octopi have a few
too many limbs to pull off a convincing snake
impersonation but these mad-smart cephalopods have
been caught pretending to be 15 other marine creatures,
including stingrays, flounders, giant crabs and jellyfish,
by rearranging themselves into similar shapes. And
how do they do a sea snake? By burying their extra
six arms in the sand and making the other two writhe
pretty darn convincingly!
QUIT BUGGING ME!
Want a free pass in the insect world?
Disguise yourself as a ladybird!
Maybe the magnificent Golden
Tortoise Beetle just gets sick of being
mugged for its bling ’cos its favourite
disappearing act is turning its shell
red with black dots via a cunning valve
mechanism that works a bit like tinting
a window. Once it’s de-pimped its ride
it goes slumming
with the other insect
civilians. Ssh, don’t
tell anyone!
Dominique Bergman, 11
Jack Diffey, 6
Lana Goodall, 6
WIN LEGO
CASTLE
DRAGON
MOUNTAIN!
Send us your drawing of your fave colour-changin’,
shapeshiftin’ animal to win one of 10 brilliant
LEGO Castle Dragon Mountain sets thanks to LEGO
and Wild Life.
Entrants must be 12 years or younger and have prior permission from
a parent or guardian to enter. Entrants may enter the competition by
sending their drawing, age and contact details to ‘Extreme Makeover’
competition, GPO Box 7825, Sydney, NSW 2001. Entries
cannot be returned. Competition opens 6/09/13 at
9am AEST and closes 1/11/13 at 5pm AEDST.
Total prize value is $699.90 as at 9/08/13.
The winners will be judged at the Promoter’s
Find more
premises on 4/11/13 at 11am AEDST. Winners
fascinating
will be notified by mail and their names will be
animal facts at
published online at bit.ly/IT6Qx6 on 8/11/13. The
Promoter is Pacific Magazines Pty Ltd (ABN 16
097 410 896). For full terms and conditions
please visit bit.ly/IT6Qx6
CONSERVATION
Making a Difference
FOREST FRAGMENTATION AND HUNTING HAVE PUT FOUR SUBSPECIES OF GORILLA UNDER THREAT OF
EXTINCTION, INCLUDING THE CROSS RIVER GORILLA. HERE’S HOW TARONGA IS HELPING.
Story: Louise Grossfeldt and Monique Van Sluys Image: Andrew Dunn
Raise
your hands!
Schools surrounding Cross River
National Park have taken part in
conservation activities that include
making compost stations for
school vegie gardens, creating
tree nurseries, and tree
planting to rehabilitate
degraded areas.
H
ow can snail farming protect
gorillas? The Great Ape Survival
Program (GRASP) is exploring
every avenue in its efforts to conserve the
increasingly rare Cross River Gorilla.
Changes in habitat and hunting are
two of the main risks to this critically
endangered gorilla. Sadly, it’s estimated
that fewer than 300 survive in the wild
in West Africa where the Cross River
flows between Nigeria and the Cameroon
border. In 2008 Taronga Zoo, assisted by
Ueno Zoo in Japan, established a fiveyear partnership with GRASP and the
Wildlife Conservation Society to support
their conservation.
These organisations’ main objective
is to protect the remaining population
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of Cross River Gorillas through guarding
against poaching and reducing hunting by
educating local people about conservation,
and finding alternative sources of income
such as beekeeping or snail farming.
During the partnership more than
50 anti-poaching patrols guarded areas
known to be populated by Cross River
Gorillas in the Cross River National Park,
the largest area where the gorillas are
found in Nigeria. The patrols covered
more than 3,000 kilometres and removed
1,000 bullet casings!
As well as implementing the patrols,
another way the program works to
protect the gorillas is by raising awareness
locally. Transboundary conservation
workshops with Nigerian and Cameroon
conservation partners work on the best
strategies to achieve this. Outreach
activities are focused on communities
living near gorilla sites, often in very
remote locations.
The original school-based program
has been expanded to include community
meetings, tree planting and using film
and radio communications. Villages too
remote to receive radio transmission
watch BBC-produced documentaries on
portable audiovisual equipment and then
discuss the conservation issues raised.
Another initiative is to train hunters
how to farm snails and keep bees, which
gives them a new potential income source,
as well as adding some tasty variety to
their usual diets!
15
ANIMAL EXPERIENCE
ANIMAL EXPERIENCE
We spotted quokkas and echidnas
feeding below, Ring-tailed Possums
hiding in the roof and sleeping koalas
curled up in the trees.
A RARE OPPORTUNITY
L
aden down with sleeping-bags we
made our way to Billabong Camp,
located on the far side of the Taronga
Western Plains Zoo circuit. At 4pm on the
dot we ‘checked in’ to our tents, sturdy olivegreen contraptions that faced the still waters
of the billabong. After unpacking (chucking
our bags in the tent), introductions were
made and we were on our way.
First it was off to see a pair of five-yearold dingoes, who perched on a rock and
regarded us calmly as we pulled out our
cameras and started snapping away. Keeper
Elaine explained that it takes a while for a
dingo to get used to a person. They’re very
shy, scare easily and are more opportunistic
than aggressive when it comes to finding
food. “They’re certainly not your average
dog!” she laughed. And the dingoes’
favourite activity? “They love rolling in the
dungheap out the back – they especially
love the zebra poo!”
We headed back to camp for cheese,
nibbles and drinks. It was time for the
van Goghs and Picassos among us to
shine, as everyone was asked to decorate
their name tag with a drawing of their
favourite animal. “If you’re no good, try a
snake!” suggested Jodie, one of our hosts.
My guinea pig was less than a complete
success: “It looks like a caterpillar wearing
glasses,” one of the kids remarked.
Down by the
billabong
TARONGA WESTERN PLAINS ZOO’S NEW OVERNIGHT
EXPERIENCE IS A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY TO MEET
AND GREET THE WILDLIFE. Story: Nicole Macdonald
Discovery Host and tour guide Helen
Harris has lived in Dubbo for years. “It’s
the best of both worlds: away from the
city but still big enough to have all the
amenities,” she told me. And what does
she think is the main appeal of Billabong
Camp? “We have so many Aussie animals
that are unique but not valued – this is the
perfect opportunity to highlight them.”
Cheese devoured, we headed up to the
Australian Walkthrough, armed with a bag
of corn. “Now before we go in, remember
some of our friends have long tails so watch
where you step!” Helen instructed. No
sooner had we passed through the double
gates than Jolene the Red-necked Wallaby
bounded up with some friends, eager for
a treat. The wallabies took the corn from
our hands and licked them clean when
they were done.
As the darkness descended some other
furry natives beckoned. We climbed the
walkway to the quokka viewing platform,
emus scattering in the near distance. Using
a special red-light torch, which is softer
on the animals’ eyes, we spotted quokkas
and echidnas feeding below, Ring-tailed
Possums hiding in the roof and sleeping
koalas curled up in the trees.
Dinnertime! My plate piled high with
steak, sausages, marinated chicken, salad,
potatoes and freshly made damper, I made
my way back to the long wooden tables to
eat with the gang. There’s something about
spending a day out in the open that gives
you an animal appetite, so after seconds
(and thirds for the voracious eaters), it was
time to digest at the Education Centre.
There we met Gumnut the Shingleback,
Braun the Bearded Dragon and Kernel the
Corn Snake. Kernel was smuggled into the
country by some doofus who thought he’d
get away with wearing a sleepy snake as
a belt! Luckily, the plan went awry when
Kernel woke up. A few frogs, a baby croc
and a python later, bed started calling.
The action-packed first day ended with
the group sitting around the camp fire
swapping tales, with mugs of steaming hot
chocolate and toasted marshmallows to
keep us company.
PANCAKES AND APES
The ducks started quacking at the crack of
dawn. We got up, wolfed down pancakes
and packed up our tents, then set off to
see some Asian animals on our morning
walk. Discovery Host Casey Towns led us to
see the Oriental Small-clawed Otters, who
ducked in and out of their enclosure while
our backs were turned. These little critters
have an interesting family bonding ritual:
everyone poos, then they all roll around in
it together. “The family that smells together
stays together!” Casey joked.
A few minutes later we were at the
Sumatran Tiger night yard. Seventeenyear-old Juara stalked back and forth
beyond the wire mesh, never taking his
eyes off us. I never realised how big tigers
are until I got up close! Casey fed him with
a pair of tongs and it was thrilling to see his
big teeth and long pink tongue make short
work of breakfast. After he was done he
turned his back, raised his tail and squirted
us. Thanks for letting us know how you
really feel, Juara!
One more stop: monkey town. The
Siamang Apes were up and swinging
around the ropes – and none too pleased
to see us! It wasn’t long before they started
singing their unique family song to drive
us away. “I like to leave while they’re still
calling so they think they scared us,” grinned
Casey – so off we went!
FANCY SPENDING A NIGHT UNDER THE STARS? HEAD TO TARONGA.ORG.AU/BILLABONGCAMP
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NEWS BRIEFS
NEWS BRIEFS
Stars spotted at the Zoo
Story: Michael Shiels and Monique Van Sluys
O
ne of New Zealand’s rarest birds recently made a big
move, and Taronga’s Bird Supervisor Michael Shiels
was on hand to help.
The New Zealand Stitchbird, or Hihi, became extinct in the
North and South Islands by the end of the 19th century, with
a small population retreating offshore to Little Barrier Island
north of Auckland. The Hihi Recovery Group was created to
establish five viable satellite populations, with the most recent
addition being Bushy Park, a 100 hectare fenced sanctuary in
the Wanganui-Manawatu region, which is 90 per cent forest,
and free of mammalian predators and pests, except for mice.
The sanctuary has previously successfully introduced North
Island Robins and the rare Saddleback.
In 2011 the Bushy Park Trust won a Taronga Field
Conservation Grant for the translocation of Hihi to the
sanctuary, and in 2013 Michael was awarded a Zoo Friends
Fellowship to travel to New Zealand to help with the project.
Over seven days 44 Hihi were mist netted and fitted with
transmitters, then transported to their new home from Tiritiri
Matangi Island. Since their three-month radio tracking
ended, around 21 birds have been spotted, mostly visiting
the specially made feeder stations that are proving popular
with some regular Hihi visitors. Because of the park’s forested
terrain there are bound to be more Hihi hiding in the bush!
Helping our
water wildlife
A conservation breeding program for native animals that
encourages young people to become ambassadors for local
species in crisis, Taronga’s Project In-situ, has been awarded
funding by the Wilson HTM Foundation for the third year in a row.
The funds will be used to support this year’s Project Water
Rat and Project Platypus. These programs put kids in charge
of getting people to think differently and change what they do
in and around rivers. “These funds will go a long way towards
engaging students and communities to make a difference,”
said Taronga People and Learning Manager Paul Maguire.
Congratulations to mum Rachel and
her daughter Cerise, the first winners
in our Wild Life photo competition. The
dazzling duo recently visited Taronga
Zoo’s Giraffe exhibit and snapped a
pic with the magazine, and have won a
Giraffe feed for eight people.
If you’d like a bite of the prize, simply
visit Taronga or Taronga Western
Plains Zoos in September or October
and take a photo of yourself in front
of your favourite exhibit to go in the
running to win. Don’t forget to include
this issue of Wild Life magazine with
the Banded Huntsman on the cover.
Email your high resolution
photo and contact details to
Wildlife.Magazine@zoo.nsw.gov.au
before 31 October 2013. Conditions
apply, for more information see
taronga.org.au/wildlife/photocomp
O
ne of Taronga’s marine
mammal experts will
accompany polar specialists
Active Travel aboard a research ship
to Antarctica in March 2014. During
the 10-night expedition the group
will explore towering icebergs, visit
ice floes in zodiac boats and study
seal colonies, penguin rookeries and
historic huts.
Sound interesting? Then come
along to a free information evening
at Taronga’s Great Southern Oceans
exhibit on 25 September to find out
Lifelong support
Mr and Mrs Neelemaat came to Sydney from the
Netherlands nearly 50 years ago. Mr Neelemaat was a
skilled building engineer, Mrs Neelemaat loved animals.
Their generous donation enabled the establishment of a
gorilla exhibit at Taronga Zoo and in June Mr Neelemaat
attended the unveiling of a special plaque commemorating
his dearly loved wife. The unveiling was attended by
Taronga Zoo’s CEO Cameron Kerr.
Mr Neelemaat is a valued and important friend of
Taronga and we appreciate his continued support of our
vital conservation work.
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WINNER
TARONGA.ORG.AU
ANTARCTICA AHOY!
more. To RSVP phone 1300 783 188
or visit activetravel.com.au
Active Travel will donate $500 to
Taronga’s conservation efforts for
every Zoo supporter who books this
fantastic tour.
TARONGA.ORG.AU
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NEWS BRIEFS
NEWS BRIEFS
PP
O
E
Taronga Zoo’s young female Pygmy Hippopotamus
Kambiri, who turned three in June, has a prospective
breeding partner who’s just arrived.
Four-year-old Fergus is from the Shambala Zoo
in Cairns, which recently closed down. “We always
planned to acquire him and then the opportunity came
up,” says Renae Moss, Unit Supervisor Ungulates.
Hippos are normally solitary creatures so the two
young hippos are living in enclosures side by side
while they get used to each other. “Once we have
determined when she is in oestrus we’ll look at
putting the two together,” Renae says.
TARONGA.ORG.AU
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SEAL
Story:
David Blissett
Image:
Ben Gibson
Image: Ben Gibson
HI
TH
20
IN
Zoo Grooves will take on a
different format this year,
featuring four separate
events that each
showcase a different
style of music. Taking
place at Taronga
Western Plains Zoo’s
picturesque free access
area, visitors will be able
to enjoy food and drinks
from Bakhita’s Cafe while they
sit back and watch the show. Zoo Grooves Spring
Sessions will take place on Sunday 13, 20 and 27
October, and finish with a performance by local
bands and choirs coordinated by the Macquarie
Conservatorium on 3 November. For more
information visit taronga.org.au
W
E
N
E
Story: Darill Clements Images: Leonie Saville
US
BOOM
SA X &
W
hat do you get when you mix an Elephant Keeper,
a saxophone and a Leopard Seal? Answer: the latest
enrichment project at Taronga Zoo’s Great Southern
Oceans exhibit.
Casey is the world’s only Leopard Seal in human care and
has been the subject of many research projects by the Australian
Marine Mammal Research Centre (based at Taronga Zoo)
examining why Leopard Seals sing.
These projects have involved listening to the kind of songs
Casey sings and then playing him other noises to see how he
responds, Marine Mammals Supervisor Ryan Tate explains.
“We know that Leopard Seals sing to attract mates and
possibly to establish territories. They learn from the noises they
hear in their environment so we have been including sounds as
part of our environmental enrichment program for Casey.”
Since Elephant Keeper Steve is something of a legend on the
saxophone Ryan got him to play jazz saxophone to Casey down in
the Leopard Seal underwater observation area. And the response?
“Casey was very interested by Steve and the saxophone,”
Ryan says. “We did it at a time when he doesn’t usually have a lot
of interaction with keepers, and he was interested in Steve, the
sound and the shine of the instrument.”
And while Casey has yet to sing back, keepers will be listening
for a response later in the year, which is typically when males
begin to sing.
HO
TWPZ BABY
T
aronga Western Plains Zoo has babies galore right now.
Like most newborn zoo animals they arrived overnight
without fuss and were delightful surprises for keepers
on their early morning rounds.
The Barbary Sheep twins born in April are now enjoying
adventurous play on the rocky ledges of their exhibit.
An Addax calf was born in late May and, as it would in the
wild to hide from predators, stayed out of sight in its first weeks
of life. But now the long-legged calf with its pale creamy coat
can be seen enjoying the spring sunshine with the rest of the
herd. Keeper Jackie Stuart says the birth of this female calf, now
named Prea, meaning brave heart, is particularly important as
the Addax from the deserts of North West Africa is a critically
endangered species of antelope.
Not one but two giraffe calves were born in late June and
welcomed into the herd by their inquisitive relatives. Tulli
gave birth to a male calf, and two days later Asmara surprised
keepers by producing her male calf. These diminutive giraffes
are thriving under their mothers’ care but will be recognisably
new arrivals for some time to come.
Jackie also has an American Bison calf to keep an eye on. The
tan, woolly newborn, which arrived on 21 May, looks very small
compared with the massive adults in the herd and is staying
close to his attentive mother. Eventually the calf will grow to a
height of 2 metres and could weigh up to 1,600 kilograms.
Four Eland calves born only weeks apart are playing together
in the herd. The elegant Eland, for which Taronga Western
Plains Zoo’s herd has long had a successful breeding record, is
the world’s largest species of antelope.
The Zoo’s Australian native animals have not been outdone
this spring, with a shy Swamp Wallaby, Red-necked Wallaby and
a toy-like koala joey just beginning to peer out from the safety
of their mothers’ pouches.
Loggerheads’
lost years decoded
Two little Australian Loggerhead Turtles are revealing
part of the secret of their ‘lost years’: the 30-year
interval between juveniles leaving our waters and
returning to their nesting beaches as adults.
After spending some time at the Wildlife Hospital
being rehabilitated from becoming entangled in or
ingesting plastic debris the young turtles had sat tags
fibreglassed to their carapaces, Senior Veterinarian
Libby Hall reports.
Zigzagging across the Pacific, one turtle travelled
4,476 kilometres over 237 days and the other 6,360
kilometres over 370 days, both ending up in the
waters above the tip of New Zealand’s North Island.
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ZOO FILES
ZOO FILES
BEHIND THE SCENES
E
WILD LIFE CATCHES UP WITH SENIOR CARNIVORE KEEPER JUSTINE POWELL, WHO HAS JUST
RETURNED FROM A TAPIR-FILLED BRAZILIAN ADVENTURE. Images: Justine Powell
ighteen-year Taronga veteran
Justine Powell has worked with
Aussie mammals, primates and
carnivores over the course of her career,
but her heart will always belong to
Taronga’s Brazilian and Malayan Tapirs.
Why were you in Brazil?
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How many tapirs did you
capture altogether?
There were seven capture events in 14 days.
Six of those animals were recaptures but
there was one new younger female tapir
that was named Justine Taronga after me!
How do Taronga’s resident
tapirs behave?
Tapirs are highly adaptable; in human care
they are quite sociable. We can easily brush
18-year-old Malayan Tapir Berani
down and he’ll roll over just
like a big dog. They can also
be unpredictable so you
have to be careful. They’re
If we can save the largest
capable of doing damage
land
animal
in
Brazil
through
if they’re cranky. Like a
Take us through a
our
conservation
efforts,
horse
they might try to
day in the field.
then
everything
else
bite
you,
which makes
In the afternoons we’d set
will follow.
sense as their closest living
up nine box traps with large
relatives are horses and rhinos.
amounts of salt. When the tapir
Or they might run at you. They run
walks into the box it starts licking
first and think later; they’re a couple of
the salt, which is attached to a stick that’s
hundred kilos, they don’t care what’s in
attached to a rope, which shuts the door
their way!
behind it. Every now and then we’d catch
In the wild they are different – as soon
a cow or a peccary.
as they see or hear a person or a car they
The next morning at quarter to seven
vanish into the bush as quick as they can.
we’d head for the traps to see if we’d
caught any tapirs. If we had it was all hands
on deck to get the job done and let the
What was the highlight?
animal out. The tapir would be darted with
Touching a wild tapir for the first time. It
anaesthetic, then the vets would measure
was a dream come true really, after working
the animal, check its teeth and eyes,
with them for 18 years. My passion has
and scan it for ticks and remove them.
been tapirs for a long, long time.
Image: Lowland Tapir Conservation Initiative, Brazil
Clockwise from top: Dr Pati Medici and Justine
(right) inspect their latest catch; Hyacinth
Macaws soar above the Pantanal; Caio the tapir
poses for the camera; the road to Baía das Pedras
is bumpy and often waterlogged; South American
Coatis bound through the tall grasses; a capybara
relaxes in a patch of wildflowers.
One of the projects that Taronga helps
fund is the Lowland Tapir Conservation
Initiative in the Pantanal. I went over to
Brazil in late May for two weeks to assist
head researcher Dr Pati Medici with a
capture expedition.
There are four species of tapir. Three are
endangered and the fourth is vulnerable,
mainly due to habitat loss, hunting and
competition with domestic livestock, but
luckily they’re quite safe in the Pantanal
and the locals don’t hunt them. Pati has
been studying their genetics, health and
behaviour with the help of a couple of vets,
a darting specialist and now me!
The expedition took place on Baía das
Pedras, a 17,000 hectare cattle ranch about
six hours drive away from the nearest
major town. Because of the time of
year it was quite flooded; on
one occasion, one of our
four-wheel drives got
bogged in the mud!
If they had scratches they’d spray them
with antiseptic. Blood would be taken so
we could study the genetics of each animal
and work out who was related to who, and
finally we’d either check them for, or fit
them with, radio collars.
In the afternoon it was time to study
the samples back at the lab. I helped by
going through the camera-trap images.
Anything that crosses the path of the
camera trap gets its photo taken, so you
can imagine how many cattle we had
on there! You’d also see pumas, giant
anteaters, foxes and all kinds of wildlife.
Justine’s
goal
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