Latest news with #TarongaZoo
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Yahoo
Cyclist dies in horror Taronga Zoo bus crash
A cyclist has died after colliding with a bus at Sydney's Taronga Zoo on Sunday. The crash happened about 10.35am, with emergency services called to the world-famous zoo on Bradleys Head Road in Mosman. 'The cyclist, a man in his 50s, died at the scene,' the police said. 'The bus driver was uninjured and taken to hospital for mandatory testing. 'The four passengers on board the bus at the time were uninjured.' The deceased man has yet to be formally identified. Officers with the North Shore Police Area Command have established a crime scene, which will be examined by specialist police from the Crash Investigation Unit. Traffic diversions are now in place at the police have urged motorists to avoid the area. LiveTraffic states that no buses are operating from the Taronga Zoo Wharf to the top zoo entrance. 'Access the Zoo and carpark via the staff entrance at the corner of Whiting beach Road and Prince Albert street,' the website states.
News.com.au
06-07-2025
- News.com.au
Cyclist dies after colliding with a bus at Sydney Taronga Zoo
A cyclist has died after colliding with a bus at Sydney's Taronga Zoo on Sunday. The crash happened about 10.35am, with emergency services called to the world-famous zoo on Bradleys Head Road in Mosman. 'The cyclist, a man in his 50s, died at the scene,' the police said. 'The bus driver was uninjured and taken to hospital for mandatory testing. 'The four passengers on board the bus at the time were uninjured.' The deceased man has yet to be formally identified. Officers with the North Shore Police Area Command have established a crime scene, which will be examined by specialist police from the Crash Investigation Unit. Traffic diversions are now in place at the police have urged motorists to avoid the area. LiveTraffic states that no buses are operating from the Taronga Zoo Wharf to the top zoo entrance. 'Access the Zoo and carpark via the staff entrance at the corner of Whiting beach Road and Prince Albert street,' the website states.
Daily Mail
06-07-2025
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Horror after cyclist is hit by a bus outside Taronga Zoo
A male cyclist has been struck and trapped beneath a bus near Sydney 's Taronga Zoo. The man was struck about 10:35am on Sunday on Bradleys Head Road in north Sydney. Emergency services crews raced to the road on Sunday morning and a specialist medical team was flown to the scene by CareFlight. Police are on scene and remain investigating the circumstances of the incident.
ABC News
04-07-2025
- Science
- ABC News
Taronga Zoo releases northern corroboree frogs into Brindabella National Park
More than 500 critically endangered frogs have been released into the Brindabella National Park in New South Wales. Fewer than 1,200 mature northern corroboree frogs are estimated to remain in the wild. The 544 juveniles – the largest cohort to be released – were bred at the Taronga Conservation Society. Del Leong of Taronga Zoo Sydney is smitten with the alpine amphibians. "They're an absolutely gorgeous animal," the herpetofauna zookeeper said. The zoo worked with the NSW state government's Saving Our Species program on the project. "We've been able to breed, maintain and bump up the numbers," Ms Leong said. "Our last release was around 200 only." Ms Leong says she is excited but a little nervous about tracking the progress of the tiny frogs in the years to come. "You know when your child leaves the coop? That's what it basically feels like" she said. NSW Department of Climate Change, Environment, Energy and Water senior threatened species officer David Hunter said the release was a significant step towards repopulating the species in the national park. "They're replicating population level processes to ensure the persistence of that critically endangered northern Brindabella population," he said. Dr Hunter said the species had characteristics that differentiated it from other frogs, including that they were not as agile as others. "[They're] quite a small squat species with quite short limbs" he said. "They can move kilometres, but they do this through this little crawling action." He said the species' distinctive black and yellow stripes was a warning to would-be predators. "We think their bright markings is actually to let other animals in the environment know that they're quite toxic," Dr Hunter said. "They primarily eat ants in their diet and they utilise the alkaloids in the ants. "They also synthesise their own alkaloids to put toxins in their skin." Dr Hunter said chytrid fungus, which was introduced into Australia in the 1970s, had crippled the wild population. "It's caused frog extinctions and declines globally and had a devastating impact on our frog fauna in Australia," he said. Dr Hunter said the frogs needed moist vegetation to breed and that pest control was vital. "Some invasive species, like feral deer and feral pigs, if they're not managed they'll completely destroy the breeding habitat," he said. "They remove the critical vegetation and they basically turn what is a well-vegetated, moist environment into a muddy hole."
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Tiny creature that almost vanished in the 1990s secretly released in Aussie national park
Hundreds of rare Australian animals have been released into a secret location, a two-hour walk through a rugged national park landscape. With fewer than 1,200 mature northern corroboree frogs surviving in the wild, experts from Taronga Zoo are hoping to prevent their extinction with captive breeding. Their head keeper, Del Leong, said the release into the cold and wet Brindabella National Park, northwest of Canberra, felt 'nerve-wracking' because she'd watched each of the frogs grow up in the safe environment provided by the zoo. 'I've heard people talk about their child fleeing the coup and hoping they'll be okay, except I've got 544 of them,' she told Yahoo News, joking that her complete dedication to frogs means she has 'no life'. Remarkably, Leong is able to recognise dozens of individuals because each frog has a unique stripe pattern like a human fingerprint. 'My favourite ones live here at the zoo. One has a cute, little heart shape on her side, and there's one that's got more yellow on her skin, so we call her Banana. I love her,' she said. 'I used to work in fashion, so I'm good at pattern recognition.' Related: ☀️ Frogs could fall silent after 'scary' event As each frog was released, it quickly vanished into the safety of its dense new environment. Because it's not breeding season, the male frogs weren't making their distinct 'squelching' call. So as Leong walked back to her car, it was quiet, and she had time to contemplate the threats they would now face in the wild. The northern corroboree frog is listed as critically endangered and Leong feels like 'everything is against them'. Once released, the tiny 1.5 gram frogs face multiple threats, including feral animals and climate change. Although its habitat is restricted to niche sub-alpine ranges in NSW and the ACT, the northern corroboree frog was considered abundant back in the 1980s. But the arrival of chytrid fungus, a deadly disease that destroys amphibian skin, killed off most of the frogs in the 1990s. Northern corroboree frogs were lucky to survive the outbreak, as it's known to have led to the extinction of at least six amphibian species in Australia, and declines in 500 around the world. Today, scientists are working on ways to stop its spread. For instance, a group of scientists at Melbourne University are genetically modifying frogs to resist the disease. 😳 Rare mutant frog in outback waterhole a 'once in a lifetime' discovery 🌏 Frog rediscovered in 'lost world' at edge of cliff 🥺 Silent extinctions occurring unreported across Australia In the 1980s, kids all around Australia were familiar with cooroboree frogs because the southern species was featured on a 3-cent stamp. It lives in Kosciuszko National Park, and faces similar threats to its northern cousin, including feral deer and horses. It's hoped future generations will continue to be able to see them in the wild, not just on stamps and in zoos. To ensure the captive breeding program is working, Leong and her team will return to the release site next year to see how many survived. "When we survey them, the only way we can figure where they're at is to yell at them and hope the boys call back," she said. "We call out 'yeah' or 'yeah frog' and they chirp back at you saying, please go away this is our territory. Then we can triangulate where they are." The work to reintroduce the frogs into Brindabella National Park is coordinated by the NSW government's Saving our Species program, in collaboration with National Parks and Wildlife Services and Taronga Conservation Society Australia. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
