Red Panda - Halls Gap Zoo
Halls Gap Zoo - Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby
Meerkats - Halls Gap Zoo

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Halls Gap Zoo News – February 2011

February 1 in New Animals, Zoo News by | No Comments

Animal Activity

The main activity with animals this month has been outgoing rather than incoming. As part of the captive breeding management plan, Jasper & Hans (two of our Black-handed Spider-monkeys) have moved to Darwin to make room for a new male, Renaldo, to go in with Heather to hopefully start a family; more females to join them soon.

Zoo Grounds

The zoo weathered the January downpour reasonably well with the main casualty being the pathways; nothing that several truckloads of gravel and many hours of labour haven’t been able to fix and we were only closed for one day. We would like to thank David Martin for getting those loads of gravel here as soon as the road from Stawell was open.

Renovations in the monkey area will provide space for some new displays over the next month.

Opening Hours

Halls Gap Zoo will now be open every day of the year, except Christmas Day, 10am-5pm.
Sponsors

We would like to thank Shelley Waldron, Education Officer at Melbourne Zoo for her continued support of the Yellow-footed Rock-wallabies.

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HALLS GAP ZOO NEWS – SPECIAL EDITION

January 18 in Zoo News by | No Comments

HALLS GAP ZOO IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Yes we are open. Following the recent weather events we have been quite fortunate with only being closed for one day while waiting for water levels to drop and to make some major repairs to the pathways for them to be wheelchair and pusher friendly again.

This extreme weather has certainly thrown some challenges to many residents and businesses in this region as well as those further afield. With the Grampians National Park currently closed with damage to roads and infrastructure attention turns to what attractions and activities are there in the region for the locals and visitors to enjoy.

As well as enjoying a trip to the zoo, visitors to Halls Gap can still view the grandeur of this magnificent mountain range while enjoying the ambience, observing the local wildlife while devouring their favourite ice-cream or relaxing with a cuppa in the main street. The region can boast to having some of the best wineries in the state as well as the award-winning Brambuk Aboriginal Cultural Centre. And how long have we all been waiting for sufficient water in our lakes to enjoy some decent fishing or water sports?

Please visit and take pleasure in all Halls Gap has to offer one day soon!

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Halls Gap Zoo News – January 2011

January 4 in Zoo News by | No Comments

2010 Year in Review

It’s that time of the year when we reflect on the past twelve months. We have just celebrated three years as the owners of Halls Gap Zoo, Victoria’s largest regional privately-owned zoo.
During this last twelve months we have concentrated on the upgrading and development of enclosures and have added many new species including Meerkats, Spotted-tailed and Eastern Quoll, American Alligators, Spencer’s and Lace Monitors, Mertens Water Monitors, Barn Owl, Black-headed Flying Foxes, Przewalski’s Horses, American Bison, Diamond, Woma and Black-headed Pythons, a two metre Freshwater Crocodile, Bearded Dragons, Cunningham Skinks, Shingleback Lizards and most recently, the Red Pandas. We would like to acknowledge The Stawell Times-News for the recent story on the Pandas and the need to source bamboo and a special thank you to those who have responded to our need.
We would like to thank our major sponsors The Ararat Bakery and Rotary Club of Ararat as well as our numerous minor sponsors – Four Clowns IceCream Palour, bsk Adventures, Boroka Downs, Ararat VIC Volunteers, Haircutters Workshop, Lake Fyans Holiday Park, Tim’s Place, Grantley & Helen Thomas, PETstock Stawell, Reppers Rural Merchandise, Sheila Vernon, Pykes Pets & Cycles and Corella Rise B & B, and supporting businesses – Howdens of Stawell, Careys Covers, David O Jones Mitre 10, Grampians Furniture, Safeway and Bakers Delight.
Open hours over the school holidays are 10am – 5pm every day.

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Halls Gap Zoo News – December 2010

December 6 in Zoo News by | No Comments

Halls Gap Zoo - Red Panda

Red Pandas

It has been a very exciting end to November with the arrival of two male Red Pandas.
“Pemba” and “Mani” have been relocated to Halls Gap Zoo as part of the overall management of this species in Australia by the Zoo Aquarium Association.
Red Pandas are in danger of extinction in the wild from illegal hunting and deforestation with only 2500 estimated to remain in the wild; they are CITES Appendix I listed.

Anniversary

We have just celebrated our 3rd anniversary of owning Halls Gap Zoo. It has been a year filled with numerous additions and changes. New species include the Meerkats, Przewalski’s Horses, American Bison, a 2metre Crocodile and of course, the pandas.
The public can now have a close encounter with the meerkats, alligator, chameleon, snake or dingoes. We had our first wedding, a visit from Channel 9 “Postcards” and have added to staff numbers.

Summer Holidays

Now the weather is warming up and the holidays are upon us just a reminder that the best time of day to visit is in the cool of the morning. We will be open every day during the holidays 10am – 5pm. Closed Christmas Day.

Sponsors

This month we would like to thank Haircutters Workshop, Stawell for their on-going support.

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Halls Gap Zoo News – November 2010

November 2 in Zoo News by | No Comments

Snakes, Lizards and Crocodiles

The Lizard Pit is completed with its new inhabitants settling in very well.  If visitors spend a little time looking around and in the logs and rocks they will see Bearded Dragons, Cunningham Skinks and Shingleback Lizards. On the nearby slope is the Red-bellied Blake Snake in its enclosure. We have taken the two young alligators off display to show you our latest crocodilian; a two metre Freshwater Crocodile, but you can still get to see and hold one of the young alligators with an Alligator Encounter.

Youngsters

The other great excitement amongst our visitors at the moment is spotting the babies including ducklings and joeys. We are most excited at the successful hatching of Bush Stone-curlews chicks as these our one of our endangered species breeding programs.

Sponsors

We would like to thank local artist, Grant Thomas and wife Helen for their continued support. Grant has some of his spectacular apes on display in our art gallery and is sponsor for one group of the Cotton-top Tamarins.

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Halls Gap Zoo News – October 2010

October 7 in New Animals, Zoo News by | No Comments

This last month there has been a hive of activity. We have new enclosures being constructed that will appeal to the reptilians out there. There is one for our mid-sized lizards – Cunningham skinks, Bearded dragons, Blue-tongues etc, one for venomous snakes, one for Perenties and another two monitor pits to go in.

Perfect weather for the school holidays has seen lots of people enjoying time out at the zoo. Over the holidays there have been photo opportunities for visitors to be up close and personal with not only the meerkats but also the dingoes, alligators, snakes and chameleon.

We had our first wedding ceremony with Chantelle and Jonathan tying the knot and having lots of photos taken with a selection of animals.

Another special event during September was a visit by Giaan Rooney and some of the team from Channel 9’s “Postcards” show which should air in the next few weeks.

We would like to thank Pomonal Bobcat Services for their continued support and welcome onboard new sponsor BSK Adventures.

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Halls Gap Zoo News – September 2010

September 22 in Zoo News by | No Comments

National Threatened Species Day

National Threatened Species Day is held on 7th September each year to encourage communities to help conserve Australia’s unique native fauna and flora. It was first held in 1996 to commemorate the death of the last Tasmanian Tiger in captivity in 1936 in Hobart. The concept was developed to bring an awareness of the predicament of our threatened animals and plants. There are quite a number of Australian animals and plants now known to be extinct with many more classified as either endangered or vulnerable. We can all help in preventing further extinctions by finding out what threatened species are in our backyards, what they need to survive and to help meet this need. For more information go to www.environment.gov.au We have several threatened species in breeding programs and on display at the zoo including Cassowary, Brush-tailed Bettong, Quoll, Bandicoot, Tasmanian Devil, Bilby, Rock-wallabies and Przewalski’s Horses.
This month we would like to thank Boroka Downs (Five Star Luxury Accommodation in the Grampians) and Lake Fyans Holiday Park (Grampians accommodation options to suit all budgets) for their on-going support.

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Halls Gap Zoo News – August 2010

August 1 in New Animals, Zoo News by | No Comments

AMERICAN ALLIGATORS

Saturday 31st July saw the arrival of two young male American Alligators that were sourced from The Australian Reptile Park at Gosford, NSW. They currently measure nearly 1 metre in length and will eventually grow to over 4 metres.
American Alligators are better equipped to deal with cooler conditions than any other crocodilian however we have constructed a heated pool for them (with the help of Grampian Pools and Spas) and they will have the choice of indoor heating or for those sunnier days there is an outdoor basking area.
The American Alligators join the 450 plus other animals at Halls Gap Zoo, including the ever popular meerkats who have proven to be a hit with all ages.

Sponsorship from several business, service clubs and private individuals is very much appreciated and this month we would like to thank Howdens of Stawell and Designs n’ Signs for their on-going support.

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Halls Gap Zoo News – July 2010

July 7 in New Animals, Zoo News by | No Comments

Wow, what a month we have had! Our most exciting news is our success in breeding bilbys. We are part of the Zoo Aquarium Association “Breed and Release Program” for this endangered species. One of our two precious joeys will be released into a protected area in the wild and the other will be used in the captive breeding program. Other animal activity is the arrival of three Northern Quoll who are part of a breeding program to save this endangered species and six Black-headed Flying Foxes.

Work Experience

It has been a hive of activity with several work experience students spending time with us including Ellie and Nicole from England. These two girls are undertaking a National Diploma in Animal Management at the College of West Anglia, Wisbech and they decided that for their workplace component they would venture downunder for an experience of a lifetime.
We have also had the benefit of the retired head curator from Werribee Zoo here working with everyone for a very informative and hands-on learning experience.

Sponsorship

We would like to thank Sheila Vernon and family from Brighton for their support by sponsoring one of the koala enclosures and for the on-going support of Reppers Rural Merchandise.

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Halls Gap Zoo News – June 2010

June 1 in Zoo News by | No Comments

No new species this month but we still have some new additions for you to see. Sandy and Jedda, a pair of dingoes, have taken up residence in the new dingo enclosures located near the koalas. We are relocating all our dingoes so we can turn their existing area into Tree Kangaroo and Panda enclosures. We have also added to our Himalayan Tahr numbers by moving Taronga Zoo’s (Sydney) males here until they are required for breeding in two years time. This is another example of the partnerships we are building up with many zoos across Australia.

Red Pandas

We have been asked to display two Red Pandas later this year and a major part of their diet is bamboo. So, we are asking for anyone who has a stand of bamboo who would be willing for us to harvest a percentage of it from time to time to contact us so we can build up a list of available places we can use while we are waiting for the plants we have put in here to grow large enough to harvest.

Meerkats

The meerkats all have names now – Tiny, Cody, Buddy and Mika. Lots of people are taking the opportunity to experience a close encounter with the meerkats. These have been popular as a birthday present for a friend or family member.

Sponsorship

This month we would like to thank Pykes Pets & Cycles and Catnip for their continued support.

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