National Zoo & Aquarium celebrating loved-up animals. Lions, otters, giraffes, and zebras who’ve participated in breeding programs
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NewsTranscript
00:00 [Music plays]
00:09 So this Valentine's Day we are using today to talk about relationships here at the Zoo
00:13 and the role that National Zoo plays in the regional breeding program.
00:16 So we're part of many regional breeding programs that includes non-active breeding
00:21 as well as active breeding or breeding in the past.
00:24 So most of those species are managed as a communal population
00:28 between Australia and New Zealand and that means that we wait for recommendations
00:32 to breed certain animals at certain times just to make sure that we're maximising genetic diversity
00:36 and that we're not breeding too many animals or not enough animals.
00:39 So some of our current breeding programs at the moment include our Plane Zebra.
00:46 We've also had some really good breeding success with our Giraffes as well.
00:51 We have some recommendations underway so hopeful pregnancies in the future that includes Lions.
00:57 We've been trying to breed our Rough Lemurs for the last little while.
01:01 They have been very successful in the past but have had a breeding break
01:05 and our Otters have bred in the past as well.
01:07 So sometimes we're not a breeding institution but we're part of the program.
01:10 So it's really important that we're holding those animals that aren't yet ready for breeding
01:13 or have potentially already bred and are now retired from breeding.
01:18 So it's really important that everyone has those roles to play
01:21 because if everyone was trying to breed at the same time we'd just end up with too many animals
01:24 and not maximising the genetic pairing that we need to.
01:27 Probably our Giraffes have been a huge highlight.
01:30 They take quite a long time to breed.
01:32 It's a 14-month pregnancy so you're waiting quite a long time to get those calves on the ground
01:37 and our Giraffe pair have bred five offsprings so far
01:41 and done a really good job at getting their genetics out into the rest of the population
01:45 with some daughters in other zoos now that are hopefully going to be breeding
01:48 in the next couple of years as well.
01:51 So yeah that's a really great one for Canberrans to come and see.
01:54 You know every time we have a Giraffe calf we really encourage people to come and see them
01:57 when they're little because they grow really quickly
02:00 and they're quite active and playful to watch when they're little as well.
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