Blog Archive

Posts for August 2010

ZIMS

Adelaide and Monarto Zoo are amongst a select few Zoos around the world selected to be first users or early adopters of the Zoo community’s brand new all encompassing records program Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS).

It replaces a handful of older outdated stand alone programmes and integrates them all in a web based, real time record and management system that enables zoo staff to share a huge amount of animal data instantly.

Ady & Tasko Update

Well, the most exciting news would be that Ady is pregnant (see video blog), due any time in the next couple of months. Yes, I am going to be a Sea Lion auntie! Words can not describe how happy our team is.

Ady is doing very well, steadily putting on the kilos; she has gone from a trim 83 kilos to 100 kilos, making movement a bit slower and she does a very pregnant waddle. She is a little less active at the moment, as any pregnant lady is allowed to be, so if you are looking for her she may be sleeping on the rocks, having a day off exhibit or hanging out in the maternity pool.

African Wild Dog Enrichment

You can probably tell from my other blogs that I love enrichment, however I am finding that what I think the animals will love is not always the case!

Recently I saw Gary, one of our great BEEZA (Behavioural and Environmental Enrichment for Zoo Animals) volunteers, with a shopping trolley full of paper mache balls for the Tasmanian Devils at Monarto Zoo. I took one look at them and thought they would be the perfect size for our African Wild Dogs. Gary happily agreed to make six and also put some dry kibble and dried liver treats inside, not only making the ball rattle but a nice surprise inside for the dogs.

Orangutan Birthdays (part 2)

The orangutans had a brilliant day for their birthday bash! Kluet and Karta shared a party celebrating their birthdays, which are only 4 days apart. The wonderful Zoo volunteers prepared them a huge birthday box that was filled with other boxes and cardboard rolls which had all sorts of treats inside like sultanas, peanuts and some popcorn (unsalted and unbuttered of course so it is nice and healthy!) .

They both gobbled up the treats quickly but that did not mean the fun was over!

Sea Lion Surgery

Find out about the recent surgery on our female Sea Lion, Ady.

 

Sunbears vs Pumpkins

Zookeepers use various methods to enrich the lives of the animals in their care.  These enrichment items can vary from scatter feeds, scent trails or markings to novel items such as balls or boxes, and helps alleviate boredom or stereotypic behavior, encourages natural behavior and often just challenges the animal with something ‘new’ to deal with.

We recently had some huge pumpkins donated to the zoo

A Little Bit About Our Other Carnivores

It has been about 2 months since I started on the Mixed Carnivore Round and it has been, and still is, an amazing learning experience. As I said in my previous blog I had not worked with most of the animals on this round so there has been a huge learning curve. So I thought I better write down some things I have seen so far...

I will start off with the smallest and I must say the most elusive carnivore on the round…the Dwarf Mongoose. In winter they are little bit hard to spot but they do love to bask in the winter sun. These guys love their insects and it is very funny watching them chase and pounce on cockroaches and crickets…they can be very fast when they want. Fast enough even to take on and bite a greedy seagull trying to steal their food.

Orangutan Birthdays (part 1)

Hi everyone

Kluet and Karta, our two beautiful Sumatran Orangutans, have both recently celebrated birthdays.

Kluet celebrated his birthday on the 18th July and Karta celebrated her birthday only 4 days later on the 22nd. At 28 years of age, Karta is middle aged but Kluet is still only a teenager as he has only just turned 15. While Kluet is already a bit bigger than Karta, he has a lot more growing to do and he will probably put on another 30 or 40 kilograms before he is fully grown.