Last Man Standing

Just recently back from my trip to three Australian Zoos, I haven’t had too much time yet to reflect on what and who I saw. One thing that has stood out though, is that there were but a few enclosures that did not have the words “critically endangered” written somewhere on the info wall. Sobering facts about the dwindling numbers of animals within our most precious species are now so common at zoos that it seems almost pointless pointing it out. We may as well just assume the animal is endangered unless told otherwise. When I got to the last enclosure - the White Lions at the National Zoo & Aquarium in Canberra, the info got even worse! White Lions are technically extinct in the wild and have been since the last sighting in 1994. They now only exist in captivity, other than a small number that have now been re-released in a wildlife reserve in South Africa (but more of that soon).

This is the future we’re facing - entire species of animals that will only exist in captivity. No more Sumatran Tigers (heck there’s only 500 or less of them left altogether in the wild), Orangutans, Gorillas, Lions….. What then, of the fate of the various species that are difficult to breed or happily raise in captivity?

It was at this point I began considering the last two Flamingos in Australia - most likely the last two Flamingos we will ever have due to stricter quarantine restrictions. While there are millions of Flamingos world-wide, they are still listed as threatened (not quite endangered but close to it) due to (surprise) man. Their breeding sites are vanishing, down to an estimated 30 locations worldwide. One of the reasons Adelaide Zoo’s Flamingos will be the last is because it proved quite difficult to breed the Flamingos in captivity. Why? Because they often will only happily breed in their natural environment - this generally meaning flocks of thousands (or at least many more than ‘two’) and appropriate gender ratios. Taronga Zoo in Sydney tried putting a whole bunch of mirrors in their enclosure to make it seem like there were thousands (and this has worked in other zoos) but nothing happened despite the creativity of their solution.

While thankfully the Flamingo is not close to vanishing from the planet, they will soon vanish from Australia. If you are near Adelaide, check them out - they are a delight to watch and photograph.