Monarto Zoo celebrated World Environment Day on 5 June by launching the revamped Herd, located at the Southern White Rhinoceros exhibit, with a recycling theme.

National Volunteer Week is Australia's largest celebration of volunteers and volunteerism. Today there are approximately more than six million people volunteering annually in Australia. Zoos SA is proud to support more than 500 volunteers, who are the lifeblood of our organisation and provide countless hours of service performing a verity of essential tasks across Adelaide and Monarto Zoos.

In celebration Zoos SA recently held a special cocktail function at the Santos Conservation Centre to recognise the commitment of our volunteers and thank several long-serving volunteers for their dedication to conservation and outstanding service.

Treat your mum to an amazing day out at Adelaide or Monarto Zoo this Mother's Day. We're excited to partner with The Advertiser and Sunday Mail to exclusively provide readers with a 'mums go free' special offer this Mother's Day Sunday 12 May.

To spoil mum and redeem the offer, pick up a copy of the paper on Saturday 11 May or Sunday 12 May and collect the entry token on page two. This offer is strictly available to The Advertiser and Sunday Mail readers only.

Unique Mother's Day Gifts

Spoil mum this Mother's Day with a unique zoo gift! Treat her to an annual membership so she can enjoy the zoo year around or an animal experience where she'll have the chance to get up close to some of the zoo's remarkable residents. Or why not adopt an animal in her honor? Click the button below for more information.

Monarto Zoo is celebrating yet another breeding milestone with the arrival of three African Lion cubs born overnight on Wednesday 24 April to veteran mum, Tiombe, one of the zoo's five lionesses.

The birth follows a recent string of breeding success for the zoo with several high profile births including six Cheetah cubs, two Spotted Hyena cubs, a Chimpanzee infant, a Southern White Rhino calf and a zebra filly.

Zookeepers knew the big day was close when they observed Tiombe spending prolonged periods of time in the den. They were very happy to find no trace of Tiombe last Thursday morning and knew instantly a very special surprise was in store for the zoo.

Tiombe (far right) is tucked away in the den with her three cubs. Photo by Dave Mattner © Zoos SA

In a difficult decision for Monarto Zoo male Cheetah, Askari, was humanely put to sleep on Thursday 4 April as his quality of life had rapidly deteriorated due to acute renal failure.

Let your imagination run wild at Adelaide and Monarto Zoos these school holidays as we celebrate mythical creatures! Have fun with the weird and wonderful while you learn more about the zoo's real residents.

The fantastical fun at both zoos includes a specially-themed activity trails, magic shows, musical entertainment, arts and crafts, roving entertainment, extra zookeeper presentations and much more. Zookeeper presentations and animal shows will demonstrate firsthand how zoos care for and preserve countless threatened species ensuring these remarkable creatures do not become mythical themselves.

Hop into Adelaide and Monarto Zoos this Easter long weekend, 29 March to 1 April, to enjoy exciting activities including visits from the Easter Bilby, Haigh's Chocolates giveaways, fun with our animal friends and the opportunity to win yummy prizes!

Both zoos are open every day of the long weekend with special guest the Easter Bilby on site to meet visitors. Extra Zookeeper Presentations and animal feeds will provide a jam-packed schedule of entertainment with delicious Haigh's Chocolates giveaways across the weekend.

Photo: Dave Mattner

Monarto Zoo is celebrating the public debut of a Spotted Hyena cub following the first ever hyena caesarean in Australia.

The amazing procedure was performed on first-time mum, Forest, as she struggled to deliver her cub naturally, with zookeepers and veterinarians knowing they had to step in after her labour lasted nearly three days.

Monarto Zoo's newest addition. Photo: Claire Geister. 

Zuri hit the six month mark at the end of February, wow how time has flown! Each and every day Zuri is gaining confidence and exploring her surroundings more and more. Zombi is always close by but is giving Zuri the time and space to learn the necessary skills required to be a chimp. Zombi is gradually moving a few metres away from Zuri so that she can develop her crawling skills. She is also letting her climb up onto the mesh areas of the exhibit where she spins and hangs from one arm!

You looking at me?

There's a new species on display at Adelaide Zoo this week with two female Highland Cattle, the first to ever reside at the zoo, joining the family.

Highland Cattle hail from the highlands of Scotland. Photo: Dave Mattner

I would like to take this opportunity to advise you that Zoos South Australia will cease business operations at Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary effective 1 March.

In line with the Zoos SA 5-Year Business Plan, introduced in July 2012, the ZSA executive team in conjunction with the Board began a detailed assessment of our business operations, which included reviewing the business at Warrawong. A number of scenarios were considered and ultimately the decision came down to the fact that we are no longer in position to realise a sustainable return on investment from the property.

Monarto Zoo recently welcomed a young Bongo male from Melbourne Zoo. His name is Isaac and he will eventually be a companion animal to our current male Bongo, Rafiki. Rafiki has been living a solitary life at Monarto with the occasional visit from our two castrated male Blackbuck, Chop and Mr. Burns so the arrival of Isaac is very exciting for keepers as well as for him. Isaac arrived safely on Monday 21 January at 6:00pm and was unloaded into one of Monarto's ungulate quarantine yards where he will spend some time until he is cleared by vets to meet his new companion.

Welcome Isaac!

Isaac celebrated his first birthday on his last day at Melbourne Zoo, being a young animal it was decided to give him a companion while he is in quarantine and after discussions it was decided we would use Leah, a friendly hand raised Eland. Leah is in the yard next door so they have fence contact and the two of them are getting along well. Isaac is the offspring of the Bongo pair that left Adelaide Zoo in 2008, Binti and Ndugu, and he is one of only five male and three female Bongo in the region.

Anna

Team Leader – Ungulates and Carnivores, Monarto Zoo

The past month at the chimp building has been an exciting time with plenty of busy days on the platform and many opportunities for visitors to get a great look at Zuri out and about. Our youngest chimp is becoming more adventurous with each passing day!

The primate and education teams at Monarto Zoo would like to say a huge thank you to the many visitors who contributed to the chimpanzee small change campaign over the school holidays. Five weeks in we have raised $2,300 and the forest full of chimp leaves has been the highlight of the campaign thus far!

The forest of hope.

After nine years of hard work and dedication Monarto Zoo will again have a litter of Cheetah cubs on display with the public debut of mum, Nakula, and her five cubs born in October last year.

As of today, 15 January, visitors will have the opportunity to see the cubs after spending the first 14 weeks of their life in an off-limits facility.

Cubbies!

In the early hours of Tuesday 8 January critically endangered Sumatran Orangutan, Karta, gave birth to a stillborn infant.

Adelaide Zoo is extremely saddened and disappointed that Karta's infant didn't survive as its passing marks a sad end to a pregnancy that has seen great anticipation and excitement for all involved.

Zoos SA Veterinarian, Dr Jenny McLelland, said the exact cause of death will be determined in the coming days however initial observations indicate the umbilical cord was wrapped around the infant's neck.

2012 has been a great year for the Monarto Zoo primate department! We have seen Tsotsi grow into his alpha position and become the clear leader of the chimp group.

From ice blocks filled with meat, fish or fruit to water misters and wading pools these are just some of the methods zookeepers at Adelaide Zoo use to keep its animal residents cool during scorching weather.

Adelaide Zoo's resident giraffe enjoys a carrot filled ice block. Photo: Dave Mattner

Sumatran Tiger, Tuan, takes a nice cooling dip. Photo: Dave Mattner

Spring can be a busy time here at Monarto, endeavouring to complete the many tasks required prior to the heat of summer. The annual medicals for many of our native animals happen around this time, with moves into new enclosures ready for the coming breeding season.

These cute joeys recently had their first ever health checks!

It's been very busy in Monarto Zoo's carnivore department lately. Last week saw us take an opportunity to anaesthetise the Spotted Hyena cub for a health check, micro-chipping, vaccination and DNA sampling. While all of these procedures are necessary, the DNA sample is the one keepers have been waiting for so we can finally stop referring to the cub as 'it'! Since both male and female Spotted Hyenas display very similar looking genitals, the females have a pseudo-penis, DNA is essential to confirm the sex of the cub. So, as it reaches six months old, visually we are almost certain 'it' is a male, but we wait for DNA results to confirm.

Cute cub!