Born the size of a jelly bean, koalas travel to their mother’s pouch where they stay until they are old enough to cling onto her back.
Taronga's contributions to elephant conservation programs
As well as participating in our region's first co-ordinated breeding and conservation program for their species, our elephants are here to inspire the imagination of all our visitors. In doing that, Taronga Zoo is able to create awareness and provide information about elephants and the threats and dangers to their future survival.
The problems facing elephants are manmade and only we have the power to fix them. If logging, poaching and the clearing of forests by the human population is not addressed then their will be no wild habitat for any elephants.
Taronga Zoo has a long history of providing funds and support to many conservation projects for Asian Elephants around the world.
Some of these projects include :
1. FFI Aceh Conservation Response Unit.
Funding provided under The Taronga Foundation's Field Conservation grants to help with education to mitigate human-elephant conflict.
2. Biodiversity & Elephant Conservation Trust - Sri Lanka Youth Awareness.
With funding from Taronga Zoo The Biodiversity & Elephant Conservation Trust launched an awareness program to generate support in Sri Lanka to resolve human-elephant conflict which currently kills 120 elephants and 65 humans each year. This was aimed at young people in Sri Lankan schools addressing the value of elephants, the causes of conflict, how to minimize it and the need for conservation. The sessions have been successful in changing children's attitudes in studies already undertaken.
3. Cites Mike.
Taronga Zoo has already contributed $16,200 in funding to support the Thai Government and international conservation agency efforts to stop the illegal killing of wild Asian Elephants in the region. This is through the Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) program Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) established to assess the areas of conflict and the reasons why elephants were being killed to assist in resolving the issues.
4. Elephant DNA Program.
Provided base levels of DNA for comparison with wild elephants for Flora and Fauna International project in Cambodia. The DNA was collected from Taronga's breeding group using mouth swabs.
5. Elephant Veterinary Centre - Mahidol University.
Taronga & Melbourne Zoos built at their cost the quarantine centre and related facilities at Mahidol University which was the site our elephants began their journey prior to coming to Australia. This was handed over on the elephants' departure to the University for use in the care of elephants and other wildlife, becoming the first national centre for elephant health.
The zoos have contributed over $150,000 to this centre and has been officially named by Thai authorities as "Haven of the Elephants".
6. Micro-Chipping Domestic Nepalese Eelephants.
In 2004 of Taronga and Western Plains Zoos' veterinarians helped the Nepal Government place identifying microchips in all the country's domestic elephants and helped train veterinarians in the scanning process this helps prevent illegal cross-border imports of wild-caught elephants from Myanmar. Taronga Zoo Veterinary staff have been regular visitors to Nepal for over a decade, working with local veterinarians to improve health care for elephants and other wildlife in Nepal.
7. Mahout Support Program to Introduce Trust-Based Management Techniques.
Following an approach by the Thai mahouts who worked with zoo staff on the arrival and integration of the Thai elephants, the Zoo and its Elephant Management team committed to support these mahouts in their plan to introduce these modern trust-based techniques at Thai elephant training centres. The goal is to replace the more common traditional system which is more discipline-based.
8. Conservation Funding For Thailand.
Taronga and Melbourne Zoos have committed to contribute AUD $100,000 each to an elephant conservation project / program within Thailand when Thai authorities identify where this is most needed.
9. Public Donations.
Both Taronga and Melbourne Zoos have visitor donation facilities that encourage their 2.5 million (between both zoos) visitors annually to contribute to these and other projects for wild elephants.
