Platypus birth In February 2003, it became the second zoo in Australia to breed the
platypus.
Australia's first elephant births At 3.04 am on 4 July 2009, Thong Dee, an
Asian elephant, gave birth to a male calf named Luk Chai. He is the first calf born in Australia. Thong Dee, and his father Gung, were two of the eight elephants imported into Australia to participate in the Australasian Conservation Breeding Program. The baby elephant was a major tourist attraction, with thousands of visitors attending the zoo just to see him. A second baby Asian elephant was thought to have died during labour on 8 March 2010. The calf's 18-year-old mother Porntip was in and out of labour over the week beforehand, after a pregnancy lasting almost two years. Zoo keepers and veterinarians were concerned about the progress of the labour, with Porntip showing unusual movements and behaviour. An ultrasound revealed that the calf was unconscious in the birth canal, and the zoo announced on 8 March 2010 that the calf was believed to be dead. On 10 March 2010 at 3:27 am, the live male calf was born. He was subsequently named Pathi Harn, a Thai expression meaning "miracle". Pathi Harn's father is Bong Su, of the
Melbourne Zoo, and was artificially conceived. In October 2012, Pathi Harn critically injured his keeper by crushing her against a pole; the keeper survived. The zoo's last two elephants, females Pak Boon and Tang Mo left in April 2025 to live at
Monarto Safari Park to be joined by three elephants from
Perth Zoo and
Auckland Zoo there. Their former exhibit was then made into an exhibit called
Rhino Reserve for Hari, the male
greater one-horned rhinoceros, born at
Taronga Western Plains Zoo,
Dubbo in October 2021, and transferred from there in December 2025, and three
water buffaloes as companions.
Royal tour On 20 April 2014,
Prince William and
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (as they were), along with their 8-month-old son,
Prince George, visited Taronga Zoo Sydney to participate in an unveiling ceremony at the bilby exhibit. The bilby was eventually renamed "Bilby George" in honour of the little prince who performed his first official duty. Later, William and Kate visited the zoo again without George meeting the other animals for Easter. On 16 October 2018 their Royal Highnesses the
Duke and Duchess of Sussex,
Prince Harry and
Meghan Markle visited the zoo, officially opened the Taronga Institute of Science & Learning at Taronga Zoo Sydney.
Birth of Sumatran tiger cubs On 17 January 2019, Kartika, one of the zoo's four
Sumatran tigers, gave birth to three cubs, two female cubs, Mawar and Tengah Malam and one male cub Pemanah. Sumatran tigers are critically endangered, with fewer than 350 individuals alive in the wild. In total, 21 tiger cubs have been born at Taronga since 1980.
Ongoing conservation work news Taronga has been involved in numerous conservation captive breeding programs for endangered and vulnerable species for more than fifty years when the zoos management changed Taronga's trajectory away from general visitor entertainment to focus on assisting species that are threatened in their wild habitats. For example, Taronga has been involved with the recovery program of the
regent honeyeater for over 20 years. During that time they have bred and released over 200 of these birds into the wild, a significant contribution to their wild population. Taronga Zoo staff and volunteers have also helped with their habitat restoration by helping plant over 30000 trees in
Capertee Valley.
African lion cubs When the African Savannah precinct opened, two young brother African lions, Lwazi and Ato, marked the return of lions to Taronga Zoo Sydney after several years. An experienced lioness, Maya, was later introduced to the pride. She formed a bond with Ato, and in August 2021, gave birth to five cubs, Khari, Luzuko, Malika, Zuri, and Ayanna. The first litter of African lions born at the zoo in 18 years.
World's only leopard seals in a zoo in 21st century Taronga Zoo was once home to the world's only
leopard seals living in a zoo at the time (a few had been kept in captivity before elsewhere but was rare occurrence). Leopard seals are native to
Antarctica but on rare occasions, will come up to Australia's coastlines during the late winter months. From 1999 - 2014 Taronga housed three different leopard seals, Brooke, Sabine (females) and Casey (male). All three were found separately washed up on beaches sick, malnourished or injured. As leopard seals are from the
Antarctic, it was recommended that these seals not be returned to the wild once rehabilitated as they could potentially transfer unknown diseases to the fragile wild population and cause damage to the Antarctic ecosystem. These three contributed to important research conducted by the
Australian Marine Mammal Research Centre (AMMRC), bettering the understanding of this typically remote and lesser understood species. AMMRC conducted important scientific studies using these three as subjects, including leopard seal whisker growth rate, echolocation inaudible to the human ear and the suction and filter feeding that leopard seals use to hunt krill in the Antarctic. An entire new enclosure was built to house the leopard seals, located in the new Great Southern Ocean Exhibit which opened to the public in 2008. This exhibit now houses
Australian sea lions,
Californian sea lions and
New Zealand fur seals. Brooke was the first to be rescued. In 1999 Brooke was found on
Garie Beach in the
Royal National Park. She was underweight, dehydrated and suffering from shark attack injuries. She was taken to Taronga Zoo for rehabilitation, keepers and veterinarians at Taronga were able to nurse Brooke back to health. She was unable to be released after this due to concerns that she harboured unknown diseases. Brooke was very popular with staff and visitors, being the first of her kind on display in the world. In 2008 Brooke suddenly became less active and started refusing food and it was believed that she was succumbing to an unknown infection; on 23 May 2008 she succumbed to
Nocardiosis and died. It is not known exactly how old Brooke was as she was not born at the zoo, but she was believed to be around 10 years old at her death. Sabine was the second leopard seal to come into Taronga's care, being found on Clontarf Beach in 2007, malnourished and on the brink of death with
cookiecutter shark injuries. Sabine was nursed back to health by Taronga's keepers. The exact date of Sabine's death is unknown, though a 2011 article published by the zoo mentioned her as alive. Taronga's final leopard seal Casey was found in 2007 a week after Sabine was found. Casey was found washed ashore at
Wattamolla, south of Sydney in poor health with a recent cookiecutter shark wound on his abdomen. Like the other two leopard seals, Casey was also unable to be released back to the Antarctic and was kept at Taronga as a permanent resident. Casey was nursed back to health; once the Great Southern Ocean exhibit opened in 2008 he and Sabine were moved there together, with Brooke dying months before it opened. Taronga Zoo hoped to encourage Casey and Sabine to mate, having the first leopard seal pup born in a zoo, but Casey was so young when he was found stranded that he never learnt his mating call. Taronga played the mating calls of mature male leopard seals for Casey in hopes that he would learn them, but Sabine died before he could learn them. In 2014 Casey's health and condition began to decline. Despite Taronga marine mammal and veterinary teams' efforts to help him Casey showed no signs of recovery. On 20 February 2014 the decision was made to
euthanize him. ==Transport==