Annual Report 2012 Zoological Society of Ireland LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Dear Member, were delighted to welcome the EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Dacian Ciolos, to visit the Family Farm at The Council of the Zoological Society of Ireland presents Dublin Zoo. the 18th Annual Report, together with the consolidated audited statements, for the year ended 31st December The 2012 Moondance TV series ‘The Zoo’ proved very 2012. popular with ever increasing numbers viewing it. The emotional involvement and commitment of the team For the second year running, the consolidated accounts with the animals was very evident in the programme. include the activities and results of both Dublin Zoo and Comments on Twitter and Facebook gave some indication Fota Wildlife Park under one cover for the year ended as to its huge following. 2012. The members of the Council acknowledge with thanks the Despite a year remembered for its poor weather, it was contribution made by the team at Dublin Zoo and Fota another excellent year for the Zoo, with the magical Wildlife Park, the Volunteers, the Director of Dublin Zoo figure of one million visitors achieved by November. Fota Leo Oosterweghel, and Sean McKeown, Director of Fota Wildlife Park also recorded high visitation numbers. Wildlife Park, for the part they all played in another very successful year. Numerous awards and accolades were achieved in very different categories including the prestigious award As President of the Society I would like to thank all the for ‘Best Public Relations Campaign’ at the All Ireland members of the Council for their commitment to Dublin Marketing Awards, a Certificate of Excellence from Trip Zoo, and to those who sit as Governors on the Fota Board Advisor, Best Family Day Out from the Maternity and as well, a special thanks for their time and expertise. Infant Awards, named best unusual wedding venue and an international award for the Family Farm through Margaret Sinanan Agri Aware. Following the Agri Aware award, we President 100% Recycled Paper. Post-Consumer Waste Content 75% Waste Post-Consumer Paper. 100% Recycled 3 Opposite: Asian lioness NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Notice is hereby given that an Annual General Meeting Notice of Election of the Zoological Society of Ireland will be held at 6pm Pursuant of Article 41 of the Articles of Association of the on Thursday, 19 September 2013 in Haughton House at Society, notice is given that the following persons have Dublin Zoo, Phoenix Park, Dublin 8, for the following been duly nominated to fill vacancies on the Council: purposes:- Paul Burke Kennedy Agenda Christopher Kane 1. Adoption of minutes of the Annual General Meeting Thomas Dunphy of the Zoological Society of Ireland held on Thursday Conor Quinn 20th September 2012 Under the Articles of Association of the Society, the 2. Declaration of Council President following members are retiring from the Council at the forthcoming AGM: 3. Receiving the Annual Report of Council Paul Burke Kennedy 4. Receiving the Annual Report of the Honorary Treasurer Christopher Kane and the Consolidated Audited Financial Statements of Thomas Dunphy the Zoological Society of Ireland Tony Kearney 5. Appointment of auditors Company Secretary Zoological Society of Ireland 6. Declarations of elections to Council Registered Office: Phoenix Park, Dublin 8 4 Opposite: California sea lion pup DUBLIN ZOO: DIRECTOR’S REPORT Dublin Zoo continued to be Ireland’s favourite family Highlights attraction and set another all-time record of 1,029,417 The completion of a 270M² house for a bull Asian visitors. The year 2012 was the third year of continuous elephant was a major achievement. The state-of-the- growth in visitor numbers. Over the same period, the art facility has a large area of deep sand which allows disposable income dropped significantly and it is truly an elephant to sleep comfortably. Feeding holes in the remarkable that Dublin Zoo managed to grow the walls allow feeding throughout the night. The house also business. completes the Kaziranga Forest Trail, a wonderful habitat for the Zoo’s small breeding herd of Asian elephants. Copious and positive PR throughout the year certainly helped ensuring Dublin Zoo stayed front of mind with the general public; the fly-on-the-wall television programme “The Zoo” on National Television, being a major contributor. Well-planned and timed campaigns by and the forward thinking of the Zoo’s Marketing Department also contributed to the success. Sharing visitor comments and criticism with the entire Zoo team and continuously asking the question “can we do this better?” has created a very welcoming culture, as the many favourable visitor comments on Facebook demonstrate. 6 (Top) Bull Asian elephant Upali sleeping at night with the females (Bottom) Purpose built house was constructed for the bull Asian elephant The arrival of “Upali”, a magnificent breeding bull from A four-year old Dublin Zoo-bred bull elephant “Budi” was Chester Zoo, will ensure the continuation of elephant moved to Antwerp Zoo from where he will be shipped to breeding at Dublin Zoo. Denver Zoo in the USA with some other European zoo- bred bulls. When “Budi” is old enough, he will hopefully inject all important European genes into the American zoo elephant population. Transport from Dublin Zoo to Antwerp Zoo in Belgium was practically stress-free for the elephant after many months of training to enter his transport box. The house for a bull was the final project financed by a Government grant and was project managed by the Office of Public Works to a very high standard. Future capital works will be financed from the annual surplus which Dublin Zoo generates. With the death due to advanced age of the only remaining African lion in the Dublin Zoo collection, the opportunity arose to become part of an international breeding programme for the highly-endangered Asian lion. 7 (Top) Bull Asian elephant Upali meeting the females for the first time (Above) Budi, the Dublin Zoo bred bull Asian elephant, in the transport box (Bottom) Upali exploring the Kaziranga Forest Trail An entirely new habitat was created for these cats near the entrance to the Zoo. Named “The Asian Forest”, the endangered Sumatran tiger was included in this new development. The Dublin Zoo Horticultural Team worked very hard to create a zoo habitat that resembles the wild as much as possible. Two young female Asian lions were imported from Mulhouse Zoo in France. A male Asian lion will be imported at the beginning of 2013 and an attempt will be made to breed this species. The pair of Abyssinian ground hornbills laid two eggs, which were artificially incubated and successfully hand- reared, which is a very challenging undertaking. The Dublin Zoo animal care team gained some very valuable experience and hopes are high that the breeding will continue in the future. 8 (Top) Sumatran tiger Kepala (Bottom) Asian lionesses, Suri and Sita Abyssinian ground hornbill chick A two and a half year old female western lowland gorilla was imported from Stuttgart Zoo in Germany. This little female was hand-raised and attempts to integrate her into a troop of gorillas in Germany were unfortunately unsuccessful. The Dublin Zoo troop has a very gentle silverback and a previous attempt a few years ago to integrate a hand- raised female was highly successful. When Dublin Zoo was approached by the studbook keeper, the animal care team did not hesitate a moment and “Kafi” was transferred to Dublin. At the time of writing, “Kafi” (opposite) is well integrated into the troop. The determination and expertise of the Dublin Zoo team This move will allow Dublin Zoo to concentrate on played a crucial role in this success story. breeding gorillas. Two Dublin Zoo-bred male western lowland gorillas A male Amur tiger was imported from Amneville Zoo in were transferred to Longleat Safari Park where they were France and successfully introduced to the two resident reunited with their brother “Kesho”. Longleat Safari Park females. There is no breeding recommendation for this is in the process of forming a “bachelor group” of gorillas. species at present. 10 Western lowland Gorillas Alf and Evindi moved to Longleat Safari Park in the UK (Top) Female western lowland gorilla Kafi has settled in well at the Gorilla Rainforest (Bottom) Visitors watch an Amur tiger cooling off in the pool (Top) Female western lowland gorilla Kafi has settled in well at the Gorilla Rainforest Gorillas Kafi and Kituba enjoy climbing in the rainforest (Bottom) Visitors watch an Amur tiger cooling off in the pool As part of the international breeding programme, a three year-old Dublin Zoo-bred southern white rhinoceros “Azuki” was swapped with “Nyala”, a female of similar age, from South Lakes Wild Animal Park in the U.K. Eastern bongo “Kimba” gave birth to a healthy calf. As “Kimba” was hand-raised at Dublin Zoo some years ago, there were concerns about her ability to care for the calf. “Kimba”, however, proved to be an exemplary mother. A healthy male California sea lion was born to mother Seanna and is growing up. A male Brazilian tapir was born and was looked after exceptionally well by his first-time mother. 12 (Top) Eastern bongo calf Nanyuki (Top) California sea lion pup with mother Seanna (Bottom) Mother Kimba with her calf Nanyuki (Bottom) Brazilian tapir calf with mother Rio The meerkats at the Meerkat Restaurant produced a nest The year ended with the approval from the European of young pups that are growing up without problems. Aquaria and Zoo Association species committee for okapi that Dublin Zoo is allowed to keep this species in the future. The design process on the proposed “Okapi Forest” has commenced.