They’re new to the zoo and a little on the prickly side – two Cape Porcupines have arrived at Adelaide Zoo! Brothers Walter and Winnie are the first ever Cape Porcupines to call Adelaide Zoo home, making the trip from Monarto Safari Park on Thursday 2 May. Transporting porcupines can be spiky business but fortunately it all went off without a prickle. Keepers carefully guided each porcupine into a special transport crate for their journey, with plenty of encouragement in the form of sweet potato treats. Born at the park in August 2023, the time had come for the pair to part ways from mum Rita ..read more

Prepare to step back in time as dinosaurs, puppets and lights collide at Universal Kingdom: Prehistoric Nights from 4 July 2024. Brought to you by Adelaide Zoo and Illuminate Adelaide, with presenting partner SA Power Networks, the night will showcase the evolution of the first creatures to crawl and roam the planet. Prehistoric Nights will take place over three winter weekends, starting Thursday 4 July – Sunday 21 July (Prehistoric Nights runs Thursday – Sunday, 6.30pm – 9.30pm with two sessions). “We are so excited to present Prehistoric Nights at Adelaide Zoo. We know from our animal-loving ..read more

Ropes, high climbing towers and tree top hang-outs; the new Orangutan Forest Canopy Trail at Adelaide Zoo has opened for public viewing thanks to a generous donor! As a conservation charity, Zoos SA relies on visitation and generous donations and grants to build and update both its sites and the new Orangutan Forest Canopy Trail is no exception. “The wonderful Orangutan Forest Canopy Trail was made possible by a very generous donation,” said Dr Phil Ainsley, Director, Adelaide Zoo. “While the donor wishes to remain anonymous what I can say is that we are truly grateful for their support. “We c ..read more

There’s only one thing more likely to capture the attention of the animal loving public than a Red Panda – and that’s a Red Panda cub! Adelaide Zoo is therefore thrilled to share that plans are underway to breed its two Red Pandas, as part of a regional breeding program to save the species. Female Red Panda, Mishry, is about to come into her breeding season and keepers are preparing to introduce her to male Red Panda, Ravi. Red Panda Keeper, Jemma Cleere, said introducing Red Pandas is a delicate process. “Female Red Pandas come into breeding season for just a few weeks at the start of winter ..read more

Adelaide Zoo is the go-to for a fun activity during Gather Round! Footy fever has taken over Adelaide Zoo for the AFL Gather Round! Keepers and the BEEZA volunteer team have been busy combining footy with the enrichment program at the zoo to get in on the footy action. Animals across the zoo predicted winners for the games while interacting with the decorated enrichment boxes. Sumatran Tiger, Delilah, picked stripy friends Richmond Football Club and Giant Panda, Wang Wang, stayed loyal to black and white in choosing Collingwood! These themed enrichment boxes are one way keepers make every day ..read more

Keepers are going green for all things amphibian this World Frog Day! Lollihop, Yoda and Wallcott are among the 13 frogs leaping into the spotlight today to enjoy a tasty cricket. To celebrate, Keeper Kasey Fenwick shared her top three most ribbeting frog facts… Frogs swallow using their eyes! “Frogs can’t swallow food like you or I can, they swallow using the backs of their eyes! “So what they do is when they get the food into their mouth, they pull their eyes back in and the backs of their eyes will push the food back down into their throat and into their stomach,” said Kasey. Frogs can indi ..read more

There is good news to hiss about at Adelaide Zoo, with vets performing a routine health check on a Rough-scaled Python. With the snake under a general anaesthetic, vets undertook a thorough examination, checking the python from the tip of his nose to the end of his slithery tail. A heat pad kept this cold-blooded animal toasty and warm. Zoos SA Veterinarian, Kat Johnson, carefully ran an ultrasound down the long, scaly body to check for any internal abnormalities. “We used the ultrasound to look at the heart, the liver and look at any potential lumps that we were feeling to see if it was norma ..read more

Adelaide Zoo’s Animal Health Centre team were seeing stripes last week as vets undertook a general health check on 8-year-old Sumatran Tiger, Delilah. This is the first time the vet team has assessed Delilah under general anaesthetic since giving birth to three healthy cubs in December 2022. It was a careful process to safely transport the tiger, weighing around 94 kilograms, with an electric vehicle to the Animal Health Centre where a team of Adelaide Zoo’s vets and vet nurses conducted a full physical examination and collected blood samples. An abdominal ultrasound, including evaluation of D ..read more

They might be tiny but a very special family of Fat-tailed Dunnarts (a native marsupial) has stolen hearts at Adelaide Zoo. Keepers barely have a spare finger (let alone hand) with the record arrival of nine tiny joeys! No bigger than a grain of rice when first born, Keeper Eli (pronounced E-lie) said this is the largest litter of native Fat-tailed Dunnarts to be born at the zoo. “When Fat-tailed Dunnart joeys are born they are smaller than a grain of rice and they have no bones. They move into their mothers pouch and attach to a teat. “Within 90 to 120 days they will be fully grown. It’s a ve ..read more

Oh my hippopotami – It’s World Hippo Day! Hippo hippo hooray! Today, 15 February, is World Hippo Day. While both species of hippo are grey, barrel-shaped and bounce along the bottom of rivers, lakes and swamps, the Nile Hippopotamus and the Pygmy Hippopotamus couldn’t be further apart when it comes to size. Weighing in at about one sixth of the size of a Nile Hippo, Obi, the Pygmy Hippopotamus who resides at Adelaide Zoo, does his best to keep up with the big girls at Monarto Safari Park. Petite but portly Obi packs a punch when it comes to munching through his food as keeper Jemma Cleere conf ..read more