Rockhampton Zoo facts for kids
| Location | 93 Spencer Street, The Range, Queensland |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 23°23′52″S 150°29′27″E / 23.397878°S 150.490753°E |
| No. of animals | 200+ |
| No. of species | 60+ |
Rockhampton Zoo is a fun place to visit in Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia. It's home to over 200 animals from more than 60 different species. You can find it inside the beautiful Rockhampton Botanic Gardens.
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What You'll See at Rockhampton Zoo
The zoo has many amazing animals for you to discover. You can see clever chimpanzees and playful lion-tailed macaques. There are also cute Asian small-clawed otters, sleepy koalas, and unique wombats.
Don't miss the powerful crocodiles and the wild dingoes. The zoo is also home to many different birds. Look out for the large cassowaries and tall emus. Zookeepers often give talks and feed the animals. This is a great chance to learn more about them.
Meet the Chimpanzees: A Special Breeding Program
One of the most popular attractions at Rockhampton Zoo is its group of six chimpanzees. Their names are Cassie, Samantha, Holly, Leakey, Alon, and Capri.
A New Home for Chimpanzees
In 1986, two male chimpanzees, Cassie and Ockie, first arrived at the zoo. For a while, their home was a smaller enclosure. But in 2010, the zoo built a brand new, much larger home for them. This new space is five times bigger than the old one. It cost $1.3 million to build and has big glass windows so you can see the chimpanzees clearly.
Both the RSPCA and the WWF supported building this new enclosure. They believe that improving animal homes in zoos is important. Zoos can help protect endangered animals, especially through special breeding programs.
Chimpanzee Reproduction and Growth
In 2012, two female chimpanzees, Samantha and Holly, came to Rockhampton Zoo from Mogo Zoo. The hope was that they would have babies with the male chimpanzees. This was part of a plan to help increase the number of chimpanzees. Sadly, Ockie passed away in 2013.
Later, in 2015, two more chimpanzees arrived from Israel. Their names were Alon and Leakey. Then, in February 2018, something very exciting happened! Leakey gave birth to a baby girl chimpanzee. Alon was the father. This was the first baby chimpanzee born in Queensland since the 1970s!
The baby chimpanzee was named Capri. A family from Yeppoon suggested the name. It's a special name because Rockhampton is located on the Tropic of Capricorn. This area is often called Capricornia.
Capri's birth is a big part of a breeding program for chimpanzees in Australia and New Zealand. This program aims to grow the chimpanzee population from 51 to 80 over twenty years.
Exciting Animal Arrivals and Births
The zoo has seen many special moments over the years, including new animal births and arrivals.
- In 2008, a Southern hairy-nosed wombat named Fatso gave birth to a baby wombat.
- Three two-week-old dingo puppies joined the zoo family in 2009. Zookeepers helped raise them.
- A baby cassowary chick hatched at the zoo in 2012.
- A new koala named Lleyton arrived from Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in 2013.
- In 2014, a huge 4.5-meter-long crocodile weighing 570 kilograms moved into the zoo. This crocodile, known as "The Colonel," was so big they had to use a crane to lift him into his new home! He now lives with other freshwater crocodiles.
- Two Asian short-clawed otters, Soa and Houdini, came from Taronga Zoo in late 2014. The zoo hopes to start a breeding program for these vulnerable otters too.
