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Check out our little foal who was born at Monarto Zoo last week :)
More exciting baby news at Monarto Zoo... one of our female lions, Kiamba, gave birth to a cub on Tuesday, 3 May. Mum and baby are doing well, they will be off-exhibit for awhile but stay tuned for regular updates and photos (these two photos were taken when the cub was only one day old!)
Our female rhino, Umqali, gave birth to a male calf, which we found looking adorable and strong on the morning of ANZAC day.
All is going well so far and we hope to have him and mum on exhibit shortly. Stay tuned!
Beth
Curator of Living Collections, Monarto Zoo
Hi All,
You may have heard that Galatea, one of our female chimps at Monarto, broke her arm a couple of days ago. Not sure exactly how it happened; could have been collateral damage from boisterous displaying by the boys or simply an unfortunate misadventure.
Keepers first noticed the injury as they were let out to the exhibit to feed - so it was a while before they could get them back in... Galatea went around feeding as usual!
Over the last couple of weeks it seems as though two of our male chimps, Tsotsi and Gombe, have been competing against our oldest male Boyd for the top job in the chimp group. Trying to over throw old Boyd is not an easy task.
It’s not Boyd’s style to respond in violence and aggression; he would rather have a big “tantrum” lying on his back kicking and screaming until the other chimps give in and leave him alone or come back and offer him reassurance!
Hi all, well it is the start of a new year and let’s hope this year is just as exciting as the last with the Chimps.
The girls seemed to have settled well into the Aussie lifestyle, enjoying being outside, new food items and the Aussie males (chimps not humans!).
They had their first summer Christmas, and thanks to the Zoo volunteers they all got Christmas baskets and wrapped presents for the day.
Check out our chimps' first day together at Monarto Zoo :)
Since the last blog update all of our lovely chimps have been doing great!
Of course being a Chimpanzee is very political, so there has been a few adventures, fights and love! Most of the time our new chimpanzee group gets along very well. Everyone in the group still needs to find their place, so there has been a few disagreements, but nothing too big.
Hi all,
We had a surprise on Friday, 21st May when we arrived at work to see the first zebra foal born at the Monarto Zoo since 2005.
The new Zebra is going very well. The young male has taken to herd life very easily and is doing all that a young Zebbie should be.
The mum “Kenya” has recovered well from giving birth and following a short course of anti-biotics, for a small infection, is back to normal. She is never far away, making sure her new arrival is well looked after.
As the colt grows we are reminded just how well Zebra foals blend into the trees and the others within the heard. It is sometimes hard to pick which one is the foal due to his very long legs.
The young man is yet to be named officially but the keepers call him “Kenny” after mum “Kenya”.
Both Mum and baby are now on exhibit so that visitors can say hi.
Here’s to more foals to come soon…….
Tony Austin,Senior Keeper
Check out these gorgeous photos of Sandali taken by dedicated zoo volunteer, Angela Black.
Footage: Robi Watt
Here more about how our two chimp boys, Boyd and Gombe, are settling in to their new home.
Footage: Robi Watt
Today the vet Dr Lynley Johnson and myself performed a post mortem on a Barbary Sheep.
For these procedures, the vet is required to take certain samples which get stored in formalin and then sent to the pathology lab for testing. All animals that pass away at the zoo get autopsied as this helps us monitor for any emerging infectious diseases, and to establish a cause of death. Results are usually back from the lab within a week.
It can be quite sad having to open up an animal that has died, but the benefits of lab testing are many and this is why we do it.
Mishelle
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.
Chief Executive Officer of Zoos South Australia, Dr Chris West said, “It’s very sad, thankfully he has fathered the cubs at Monarto Zoo. The team are mourning his death but they did all they could... it’s a sad fact that our animals don’t live forever.”
Born in November 1999 at Mogo Zoo, Levi came to Monarto Zoo in July of 2003 with his brother Leroy. The pair were introduced to four female lionesses- Tiombe, Kiamba, Zalika and Kabira - to form a breeding group and pride at Monarto Zoo. Levi was an important part of the pride and fathered two cubs in September 2007.
Known for his fiery temperament and dominant personality, Levi will be sorely missed by all who knew him.
