International Union of Zoos (Roleplay)

[FlameWizard492]

Greetings from us at the T. J. Oakland Park Zoo,
We have recently completed construction of the habitats in our woodlands-themes area. Construction of our Central Asia area is already underway, but we need a few recommendations for animals.

Animals we already have in the area:

• Saiga
• Bactrian Camel
• Przewalski’s Horse
• Red Panda
• Chinese Pangolin
• Sloth Bear
• Himalayan Brown Bear

Asian Animals being planned for our Highlands area:

• Snow Leopard
• Sichuan Takin

We are open to any suggestions.

 

[Firestar97]

Greetings from us at the T. J. Oakland Park Zoo,
We have recently completed construction of the habitats in our woodlands-themes area. Construction of our Central Asia area is already underway, but we need a few recommendations for animals.

Animals we already have in the area:

• Saiga
• Bactrian Camel
• Przewalski’s Horse
• Red Panda
• Chinese Pangolin
• Sloth Bear
• Himalayan Brown Bear

Asian Animals being planned for our Highlands area:

• Snow Leopard
• Sichuan Takin

We are open to any suggestions.

We've heard that Saigas are incredibly difficult to keep, so our Team wishes you lots of Luck with it. Maybe you'll manage to provide useful Information to allow us to keep the Species too at Sapporo Wild Animal Kingdom someday

 

[FlameWizard492]

We've heard that Saigas are incredibly difficult to keep, so our Team wishes you lots of Luck with it. Maybe you'll manage to provide useful Information to allow us to keep the Species too at Sapporo Wild Animal Kingdom someday

Thank you, and of course we’re happy to help. We’ve even had a dome constructed to protect them from the harsh winters in our region.

 

[Firestar97]

Thank you, and of course we’re happy to help. We’ve even had a dome constructed to protect them from the harsh winters in our region.

The cold Temperatures shouldn't be a big Problem. But it might be useful to protect them from the Heat

 

[Chuditch]

IUZ APPLICATION
Facility title: Southwest Sanctuary
Location: Western Tasmania, Australia

Southwest Sanctuary is a proud member of the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program​

G'day IUZ! I manage a small native wildlife sanctuary located in the far west of Tasmania, south of Queenstown and directly adjacent to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. I'm not going to reveal exactly where it is, because we're currently unopened, but it's pretty remote country either way, tucked amongst some of the largest remaining expanses of temperate wilderness in the world. The surrounding land is quite mountainous, cloaked in dense tangled bush topped by imposing rocky peaks, but our little sanctuary sits neatly within a small and rather flat glade at the base of a valley. Because of our remote location, we're usually not able to access the internet out here and bad weather during the cooler months sometimes makes getting back to civilisation difficult, so apologies if our engagement is sometimes a little slow and infrequent!

Anyway, about the Southwest Sanctuary itself. We started as a private breeding facility for the Tasmanian devil back in the 2000s, part of the Save the Tasmanian Devil program, but recently we made the decision to convert our property into a wildlife experience open to the general public. We are currently midway through the renovations of our previously private facility, and wish to share our progress with the IUZ as we work towards our goal of providing visitors with a chance to get up close and personal with Tasmanian devils, as well as some of our island's other most iconic species. While day trips are also viable, the sanctuary is designed with overnight stays in mind, with a campground being set up in rear portion of the property and a network of walking trails through the surrounding bush providing ample opportunity to explore and experience the beauty of Tasmania's wild west.

In our alliance with the IUZ, we hope to give expert advice on the management of Tasmanian devils and other native wildlife in captivity, and eventfully also provide a source of ambassador devils that may be sent to international zoos once our breeding program recommences.

Kind regards,
Colby Gibson, CEO of Southwest Sanctuary

 

[Firestar97]

IUZ APPLICATION
Facility title: Southwest Sanctuary
Location: Western Tasmania, Australia

Southwest Sanctuary is a proud member of the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program​

G'day IUZ! I manage a small native wildlife sanctuary located in the far west of Tasmania, south of Queenstown and directly adjacent to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. I'm not going to reveal exactly where it is, because we're currently unopened, but it's pretty remote country either way, tucked amongst some of the largest remaining expanses of temperate wilderness in the world. The surrounding land is quite mountainous, cloaked in dense tangled bush topped by imposing rocky peaks, but our little sanctuary sits neatly within a small and rather flat glade at the base of a valley. Because of our remote location, we're usually not able to access the internet out here and bad weather during the cooler months sometimes makes getting back to civilisation difficult, so apologies if our engagement is sometimes a little slow and infrequent!

Anyway, about the Southwest Sanctuary itself. We started as a private breeding facility for the Tasmanian devil back in the 2000s, part of the Save the Tasmanian Devil program, but recently we made the decision to convert our property into a wildlife experience open to the general public. We are currently midway through the renovations of our previously private facility, and wish to share our progress with the IUZ as we work towards our goal of providing visitors with a chance to get up close and personal with Tasmanian devils, as well as some of our island's other most iconic species. While day trips are also viable, the sanctuary is designed with overnight stays in mind, with a campground being set up in rear portion of the property and a network of walking trails through the surrounding bush providing ample opportunity to explore and experience the beauty of Tasmania's wild west.

In our alliance with the IUZ, we hope to give expert advice on the management of Tasmanian devils and other native wildlife in captivity, and eventfully also provide a source of ambassador devils that may be sent to international zoos once our breeding program recommences.

Kind regards,
Colby Gibson, CEO of Southwest Sanctuary

We from the Team of the Sapporo Wild Animal Kingdom enjoyed reading about your Facility and seeing the Picture of the Entrance.
We've noticed that there's a Platypus on the Sign, which let's us assume that there's a Enclosure for them in your Park. We are also currently planning the Construction of a Platypus Enclosure in the Underground Area of our Discovery Center where Guests will also learn how the Platypus can navigate underwater. We would appreciate helpful Tips about their Care

 

[Chuditch]

We from the Team of the Sapporo Wild Animal Kingdom enjoyed reading about your Facility and seeing the Picture of the Entrance.
We've noticed that there's a Platypus on the Sign, which let's us assume that there's a Enclosure for them in your Park. We are also currently planning the Construction of a Platypus Enclosure in the Underground Area of our Discovery Center where Guests will also learn how the Platypus can navigate underwater. We would appreciate helpful Tips about their Care

Thanks for reaching out! We do indeed have plans to exhibit platypus in the sanctuary, but they're actually the one species present in the final plans for the park that is not already being kept on the property - I have a friend at the Platypus House in the Tamar Valley who is caring for two rescue platypuses, and they will be brought over once the platypus exhibit has been constructed. Platypus also occur wild in some of the creeks around the property, so we're quite familiar with them here regardless.

Platypus present a number of unique challenges to keep in captivity, so I cannot possibly go over all of them here. Here are some of the main pointers however, referenced from the very helpful factsheet provided by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance:

• Something many would not expect is the amount of food that platypus require. Despite having a low metabolism for a mammal, platypus require a great amount of live food every day - the average individual will consume 13-20% of its body weight in a day, while a lactating female may eat as much as 100-150%. This is partly why transporting platypus over long distance is so difficult, given they are not only very vulnerable to stress but also rely on having a large amount of live food available throughout their journey.
• Vulnerable to underfeeding, overhandling and stress from noise, vibrations and temperature fluctuations.
• They respond well to maintained routines in their care and become accustomed to particular keepers, so avoid changing things around too much.
• Platypus are more escape-prone than you'd expect, and are even known to climb over fences, so make sure that your enclosure is very secure!
• Submerged and partially submerged branches, substrate on the tank bed, artificial water movement (such as by a waterfall or bubbles) and complex burrow designs are recommended for enrichment's sake, replicating some of the conditions they'd experience in the wild.
• Adult male platypus are territorial and should never be housed together, and keeping platypus together in any other arrangement (male/female or female/female) requires special considerations such as ample space to avoid aggressive encounters. Keeping them solitarily outside of the breeding season may be necessary in some cases, but it depends on the individual and housing conditions.

I hope these tips are useful and wish you luck!

Cheers,
Colby Gibson

(also @Orkan just a quick note, you typo’d Southwest Sanctuary as Western Sanctuary in the list of registered zoos)

 

[Orkan]

(also @Orkan just a quick note, you typo’d Southwest Sanctuary as Western Sanctuary in the list of registered zoos)

Shoot, thanks for the pointer! I’ll have that fixed

 

[Firestar97]

Vulnerable to underfeeding, overhandling and stress from noise, vibrations and temperature fluctuations.

Thanks. That's really important Information. It's already warm in our Discovery Centers Underground Area due to our Egyptian Fruit Bats being kept there and we'll place Warning Signs and Cameras at the Enclosure. The Barrier will also be made out of a special One Way Glass

Platypus are more escape-prone than you'd expect, and are even known to climb over fences, so make sure that your enclosure is very secure!

We've already planned to have the Glass Barrier reach up to the Ceiling of the Cave, so the only Possibility should be the Entrance of their Enclosure

Submerged and partially submerged branches, substrate on the tank bed, artificial water movement (such as by a waterfall or bubbles) and complex burrow designs are recommended for enrichment's sake, replicating some of the conditions they'd experience in the wild.

We'll think of that. Rocks and Branches will also provide a great Way of showing of their great Navigation Skills to our Visitors

Adult male platypus are territorial and should never be housed together, and keeping platypus together in any other arrangement (male/female or female/female) requires special considerations such as ample space to avoid aggressive encounters. Keeping them solitarily outside of the breeding season may be necessary in some cases, but it depends on the individual and housing conditions.

Don't worry. We didn't expect for this to work anyways.

We hope that we can soon reveal the Building.
The Underground Area is already looking absolutely gorgeous and lots of awesome Things for our Guests to learn, but the Rest of the Building is still in its Construction Phase.
By the Way: If any Zoos could send us Specimens of Astyanax jordani, we would be very happy because those little Fish would be a perfect and easy to keep Example to show our Guests how Species can change over Time from living in a dark Environment

 

[Orkan]

Eastborro Zoo Newsletter
December 30th 2023

Eastborro Zoo is taking a few more steps in its development of its master plan. We have recently opened a habitat for the endangered Przewalski’s Horses. We plan to breed them in part of our species survival plan, but we need a female. Any zoo that has one in their possession is encouraged to consider sending us one so we can ensure the survival of the species.

As well as this news, our Sun Bears have been moved backstage temporarily. Sloth Bears have moved into their habitat and we plan on constructing a new one for them soon.

 

[Britches]

-----------Telegram from Amundsen-Scott-Zoo:------------

...is this working? Hello? ... We're cut off from satellite connection due to heavy weather. If anyone ever gets this message: We're fine and will be back once the connection is working again. ... Iris? .... How much are telegrams these days? ... whaaaaaaa? ... well, I guess won't build the planned gift shop then... Hey, what do you mean, they're still writing down what I'm sayi----

-----------Telegam End---------

Spoiler

Since ASZ is a franchise zoo, I'm not able to play due to the massive server problems atm x((

 

[Orkan]

Attention IUZ Members

Eastborro Zoo is having a vote on what section of our master plan to build next. The options are:
a. African Valley
b. Unnamed SA section
c. Adaptations Outpost
d. Something else? Add an idea!

 

[synthetase]

African Valley!

 

[FlameWizard492]

Attention IUZ Members

Eastborro Zoo is having a vote on what section of our master plan to build next. The options are:
a. African Valley
b. Unnamed SA section
c. Adaptations Outpost
d. Something else? Add an idea!

Could you elaborate on what the Adaptations Outpost will be? We want to know what sort of animals the area will contain. What will the theme be?

 

[Chuditch]

Happy 2024, IUZ! In the spirit of the new year, I thought I'd show off some of the progress we've been making here in the Southwest Sanctuary since my introductory update.

First off, we've done a significant amount of work refurbishing the interior of the old head office and preparing it as a functional park entrance. Of course, we don't have any visitor service workers employed yet given we're still at least a few months away from being ready to open, so we just had two people from our husbandry team dress up and get behind the desk for this photo!

One of the walls in the room leading out into the park itself has been decorated with this mural honouring the tragic extinction of the thylacine, which also serves as a reminder of what's at stake for the devils we work so hard to protect.

Speaking of Tasmanian devils, we also completed our first devil habitat. Most of the enclosures planned for the sanctuary are at least partially built at this stage, but this is first to have been fully finished. Currently we have 17 devils under our care, with additional space needed for breeding and any unexpected rescue individuals that are given to us by the public, so this is only the first of many devil enclosures that will be present upon opening.

Currently this enclosure is home to three of our devils, young females Tanya and Purinina and male Toby. The two girls were both born in 2022 here at the sanctuary, while Toby is a previously wild devil from north-western Tasmania who was brought to us a couple months ago after being struck by a car. With any luck, he should help introduce some new genes into our captive population when the breeding season begins in a couple months!

2024 should be a big year for us at the Southwest Sanctuary, and I look forward to seeing what it holds for the rest of the IUZ as well!

Cheers,
Colby Gibson

Spoiler: Credit: Workshop items used in the zoo so far

Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) graphic 2 by ElectricMonk
Mud Walls by PachaKamak
Climbable dead trees by Cesar Creates
Nesting boxes for small animals by Zimfira

 

[Orkan]

Could you elaborate on what the Adaptations Outpost will be? We want to know what sort of animals the area will contain. What will the theme be?

Something like World of Adaptations at Roger Williams or Wildlife Explorers Base Camp at San Diego

 

[Orkan]

Happy 2024, IUZ! In the spirit of the new year, I thought I'd show off some of the progress we've been making here in the Southwest Sanctuary since my introductory update.

First off, we've done a significant amount of work refurbishing the interior of the old head office and preparing it as a functional park entrance. Of course, we don't have any visitor service workers employed yet given we're still at least a few months away from being ready to open, so we just had two people from our husbandry team dress up and get behind the desk for this photo!

One of the walls in the room leading out into the park itself has been decorated with this mural honouring the tragic extinction of the thylacine, which also serves as a reminder of what's at stake for the devils we work so hard to protect.

Speaking of Tasmanian devils, we also completed our first devil habitat. Most of the enclosures planned for the sanctuary are at least partially built at this stage, but this is first to have been fully finished. Currently we have 17 devils under our care, with additional space needed for breeding and any unexpected rescue individuals that are given to us by the public, so this is only the first of many devil enclosures that will be present upon opening.

Currently this enclosure is home to three of our devils, young females Tanya and Purinina and male Toby. The two girls were both born in 2022 here at the sanctuary, while Toby is a previously wild devil from north-western Tasmania who was brought to us a couple months ago after being struck by a car. With any luck, he should help introduce some new genes into our captive population when the breeding season begins in a couple months!

2024 should be a big year for us at the Southwest Sanctuary, and I look forward to seeing what it holds for the rest of the IUZ as well!

Cheers,
Colby Gibson

Spoiler: Credit: Workshop items used in the zoo so far

Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) graphic 2 by ElectricMonk
Mud Walls by PachaKamak
Climbable dead trees by Cesar Creates
Nesting boxes for small animals by Zimfira

Oh wow that habitat is beautiful! Great job!

 

[Swjosdotschka]

To the IUZ Mail List

Dear Members of International Unions of Zoos,

the direction and team of UNITY would like to wish everyone a happy, healthy and successful 2024!

While we took a building break in UNITY due to weather conditions, the situation seems to be enough under control now that we took the risk to start building again.
In the meantime, our indian elephant feemale Kareena has had her bull calf Zayan. Our start into 2024 is therefore hopeful and already full of joy!

We look forward to more cooperations with the members of IUZ.
Kind Regards

Linda XXX

Founder of UNITY

 

[FlameWizard492]

Dearest members of the IUZ,

Happy New Year to all of you! We are happy to announce that all of our habitats have been fully constructed, and we are now working on constructing guest infrastructure, such as restrooms, food locations, merchandise shops, and so on.

Now, we have four main areas:

• Oakland Gardens
• Wild Woodlands
• Central Asia
• Unnamed Highlands Area

If any of you are willing to help us name the Highlands Area, we are open to any suggestions.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year,

T. J. Oakland Park Zoo Management

 

[Orkan]

Dearest members of the IUZ,

Happy New Year to all of you! We are happy to announce that all of our habitats have been fully constructed, and we are now working on constructing guest infrastructure, such as restrooms, food locations, merchandise shops, and so on.

Now, we have four main areas:

• Oakland Gardens
• Wild Woodlands
• Central Asia
• Unnamed Highlands Area

If any of you are willing to help us name the Highlands Area, we are open to any suggestions.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year,

T. J. Oakland Park Zoo Management

Our team at Eastborro Zoo was going to use Himalayan Heights for our concept highland area, but the plan never worked out the way we hoped. You may use the name if you’d like.