INTERNATIONAL ZOO NEWS
A magazine for the exchange of news, information and ideas between the zoos and
aquariums of the world.
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CONTENTS
International Zoo News Vol. 57/2 (No. 387)
EDITORIAL
March/April 2011
74
FEATURE ARTICLES
Oceanic Birds in Japanese Collections, 2006
Ken Kawata
California Sea Lion Development
at Blackpool Zoo
Sarah Thomas and Khaled Fawzy
Reading the Tea-leaves: Zoos and
Their Future Role in Conservation
Pauline Clegg
75
86
93
Some Notes on Orang-utan
Captive History and Longevity
Richard Weigl
104
Conservation
112
International Zoo News
127
Book Reviews
Miscellany
Recent Articles
109
120
139
Cover Illustration: A view of the public display at Blackpool Zoo’s new
California sea lion exhibit.
EDITORIAL
International Zoo News Vol. 58, No. 2 (2011), p. 74
Animal stories are frequently in the news, sometimes to the benefit of the zoo
involved, sometimes not. Whatever the content and perspective of the story, zoo
personnel should take the story seriously even when it has been mis-quoted or has
taken on an unnecessary anti-zoo slant.
I can think of several situations where a negative story line might occur. The
death of a well-known animal can create much media interest, particularly if the
animal has been put to sleep for welfare reasons. The zoo’s press office should plan
the whole situation carefully, working closely with zoo staff and anticipating as
much as possible the reaction of the general public and the media. The public may
look at the situation from a completely different perspective from the zoo
professional, while the press will try putting an unusual slant to the story so that
it will catch the eye. Be different and, perhaps, sensational. If the news is released
sensibly, the public will support the zoo. Several years ago when a much-loved
elephant died at my zoo, there was even a book of condolence with many people,
including school children, joining the queue in the elephant house to sign it.
Of course, internally a zoo’s policies and protocols must be clearly understood.
Euthanasia – some people may prefer to use the word culling – of surplus stock
is potentially an emotive issue and not possible in some countries because it is
against the law. Protocols should be discussed and explained very carefully,
especially to those people who are involved in the daily care of the animal.
Situations can easily become complicated and misunderstood.
Should animals be allowed to breed and then be culled if a home cannot be found
for the offspring when the natural dispersal time of the young is reached? Perhaps
animals should be prevented from breeding so that a surplus is not created. In
some breeding programmes, where the sex ratio is biased towards one particular
gender, breeding is preferable, but only advantageous if the required gender is
ultimately produced. An example is the pygmy hippo EEP, where there is a
serious shortage of males. Breeding from genetically-valuable animals is very
important, and male offspring are badly needed, but when females are produced,
it is much more difficult to find homes for them. Sometimes I wish certain
mammal species were like reptile eggs – keep them at a certain temperature and
the gender you need will be produced!
Hand-rearing can be another potentially provocative situation. To hand-rear an
animal to ensure its survival can be a very satisfying (and tiring) task, but care
must be taken to prevent the animal imprinting on its ‘parent’. People reading this
editorial will know of examples where precious and genetically-important lives
have been saved and where the resulting adult of that endangered species has gone
on to breed successfully and become a much-loved ambassador for its species.
Hand-reared animals sometimes grab the attention of the media. Knut the
polar bear comes to mind. Hand-reared to save his life, he quickly became a very
popular inhabitant of Berlin Zoo. His death recently was not linked to the fact that
he had been hand-reared, but some of the subsequent stories in the press
suggested otherwise. It is, perhaps, an example of how zoos can be misrepresented
in the media, and emphasises how important it is to have management protocols
and procedures in place. Who knows when a simple decision, in this case to save
the life of a baby polar bear, might develop into a media storm?
John Partridge
74
International Zoo News Vol. 58, No. 2 (2011), pp. 75–85
OCEANIC BIRDS IN JAPANESE
COLLECTIONS, 2006
BY KEN KAWATA
‘The most striking adaptation of these birds [penguins] involves their wings. The
bones of the wing are flattened and somewhat fused, so the wing cannot be folded
as in other birds; the result is a very efficient flipper, which is the principal means
of locomotion under water,’ notes Gill (2003). He continues, ‘The legs are short,
and the stout, webbed feet are located far back on the body, thereby enabling the
birds to maintain an upright posture when they are on land.’ The bipedal posture
is further emphasized with the darker-coloured upper part and the white
underpart of the body cover, an image of a man’s neat suit. Thus ‘Their stance and
behaviour are a caricature of man. We cannot help seeing ourselves reflected in
them and we cannot help taking an anthropomorphic view of them,’ which makes
them ‘well up in the “top ten” of animal favourites at zoos. No general zoo is
complete without its band of shuffling penguins.’ (Sparks et al., 1967).
Actually, of the 9,648 living species of birds Sphenisciformes, or penguins,
comprises only 17 species (Gill, 2003). Therefore the popularity of penguins is
extremely disproportionate in terms of their small number in the vast avian
world, yet their public appeal gives penguins an important place in zoo aviculture and exhibitry. For this reason this author previously reviewed penguins in
Japanese collections (Kawata, 1997), and the second round on the birds of the
JAZA animal series will begin with them. For this second installment the scope
will be extended taxonomically, to include selected groups of other sea birds such
as another popular group, pelicans, and alcids, a small group of birds that has
generated much interest in the zoo and aquarium world in recent years. There
are other oceanic birds with unique characteristics, such as Procellariiformes
(the tube-noses). However, this group is rare in captivity and has no representation in the current collections in the JAZA member institutions.
It requires specialized, and often sophisticated, captive environments to
successfully maintain many of these oceanic birds, and in this respect aquariums are generally well suited to their husbandry. Japan, unlike its European
and American counterparts, is a nation of aquariums (Kawata, 2009). Thus,
behind the large numbers of oceanic birds, especially penguins, stand the efforts
and financial outlay of many aquariums, large and small alike, of Japan.
Brief history
Penguins
There have been written accounts on the captive history of penguins in Japan;
more recent examples include Fukuda (1997a, 1998), Kawata (1997) and Komori
(1964, 1991). It is believed that the first specimen to land on Japanese soil was
a Humboldt penguin that arrived at Ueno Zoo on 10 June 1915. By 1935 three
species of Spheniscus, i.e. Humboldt, Magellanic and African (jackass), had been
imported. However, pre-war records often described a new arrival as ‘penguin’
with no mention of species, and it is unclear if a polar penguin was ever imported
alive. More penguins began to arrive after the late 1920s, yet as of 1941 there
75
were only three institutions that kept penguins, all from Spheniscus (Fukuda,
1997a). What stands out as remarkable in earlier decades was an unprecedented
large breeding colony of African penguins at Hanshin Park Zoo (Fukuda, 1997a;
Kawata, 2008).
In the post-WWII era the captive penguin population grew rapidly, as did the
number of holding institutions. There even exists a facility devoted to penguins.
When the privately-owned Nagasaki Aquarium closed in March 1998, a grassroots citizens’ campaign to save it achieved a rebirth of the aquarium named
Nagasaki Penguin Aquarium, built by the city government and opened on 22
April 2001 (Kusuda, 2001). To review the entire country, the number of
individual penguins still continues to grow today, albeit at a slower pace. A quick
glance at the 1995 statistics reveals that there were 2,294 penguins (excluding
three hybrids) in 11 species (Kawata, 1997). Eleven years later the number of
species remained the same, and the number of individuals (excluding four
hybrids) had increased to 2,531, or by 10%.
Kings and gentoos in the penguin parade at Asahiyama Zoo, Hokkaido, Japan. (Photo:
Akiyoshi Nawa)
In terms of breeding, the first group to be successful was the genus Spheniscus
and it continues today. Multiple-generation breeding has occurred even outside
of this genus. For example, the aforementioned Nagasaki Aquarium imported
wild-caught king penguins in 1962, and a chick hatched in 1965 for the first time
in Japan. Two more hatched in 1966 and 1967; the first two native Nagasaki
penguins paired up and hatched chicks on 22 and 24 September 1977, thus
making history as the first second-generation king penguins bred in Japan
76
(Shirai, 1977). However, for polar species success came at a much slower pace
due to their delicate requirements in captivity. The honor of breeding the
chinstrap penguin for the first time in Japan goes to Port of Nagoya Public
Aquarium, where two chicks hatched on 22 and 23 January, 1995 (Kurita, 1995).
Then on 24 September 2004, Japan’s first emperor penguin chick hatched at the
Adventure World (Nakamura, 2004).
Pelicans, etc.
The popular and hardy pelicans have been reliable oceanic birds for exhibits
for zoos and aquariums. They have been around for some time; at Ueno Zoo, an
eastern white pelican hatched on 28 August 1932 for the first time (Ueno Zoo,
1982). By comparison, other large oceanic birds have been rare in captivity.
Occasionally shearwaters, boobies and frigatebirds made entries into zoos, only
to live for brief periods. As an example, a Laysan albatross (Diomedea
immutabilis), captured by a fisherman, was brought to Ueno Zoo on 22 January
1950 but died six days later (Anon., 1950). In the meantime, alcids kept
generating active interest among a small number of zoo and aquarium professionals. Largely thanks to their keen interest and the emergence of life support
systems in indoor facilities, alcids began to make an inroad. This is a relatively
recent development in Japan that began in the 1990s.
The 2006 data
The 2006 Annual Report of the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums
(JAZA) lists 90 member zoos and 67 member aquariums (JAZA, 2006). Of these,
one zoo and two aquariums failed to submit data for the animal inventories of
member institutions, which JAZA issues separately from the Annual Report.
Table 1 depicts the list of selected oceanic birds from three orders and five
families, reported as living as of 31 December 2006 (excluded from the list are
four Spheniscus hybrids produced by two institutions). There are other nonJAZA-member animal exhibit facilities in Japan, but it is a safe assumption that
Table 1 covers the overwhelming majority of captive oceanic birds kept on
exhibit in Japan at that date. Taxonomic nomenclature adheres to that used by
JAZA, and common English names have been taken mostly from ISIS (2010). In
the inventory, some holding institutions meticulously report subspecies of the
king, rockhopper and gentoo penguins; however, to simplify the statistics, taxa
on Table 1 have been lumped into full species.
As expected, penguins take up the majority, or 2,531 individuals in 11 species.
Among these penguins, the species belonging to Spheniscus share 1,599 individuals, by far the largest number (63% of all penguins). These birds are from
the warm-climate zone and can be maintained in outdoor enclosures without the
benefit of an expensive climate-controlled environment. Among the three
Spheniscus species, the Humboldt has traditionally been the most prominent
penguin in captivity in Japan; in 1970 it represented a whopping 84% of all
penguins. The roster began to diversify as more institutions acquired a variety
of species, and the number for the Humboldt proportionately began to decline –
to 47% by 1995. In the 2006 statistics, however, it is still the only species with
more than 1,000 individuals, taking up 45% of the overall population. Just as in
1995 the king penguin is the distant second, with 243 birds (which indicates a
decline from 315 in 1995), and the two species combined make up 55% of all
penguins in the JAZA inventory.
77
Table 1. Oceanic birds in Japanese collections, 2006
Species
Order Sphenisciformes
Spheniscidae
Emperor penguin (Aptenodytes
forsteri)
King penguin (A. patagonicus)
Rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes
chrysocome)
Macaroni penguin (E. chrysolophus)
Blue penguin (Eudyptula minor)
Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae)
Chinstrap penguin (P. antarctica)
Gentoo penguin (P. papua)
African penguin (Spheniscus
demersus)
Humboldt penguin (S. humboldti)
Magellanic penguin (S.
magellanicus)
Pelecaniformes
Pelecanidae
Australian pelican (Pelecanus
conspicillatus)
Dalmatian pelican (P. crispus)
Eastern white pelican (P.
onocrotalus)
Spot-billed pelican (P. philippensis)
Pink-backed pelican (P. rufescens)
No. of No. of
Total no. of birds
zoos aquariums
1
12
1
13
8.9 (17) in 2 inst.
112.96.35 (243) in 25 inst.
7
38
10
28
65.67.80 (212) in 17 inst.
527.569.353 (1149) in 66 inst.
6
2
0
1
0
4
17
6
3
2
2
10
63.53.66 (182) in 23 inst.
16.16 (32) in 8 inst.
19.14.11 (44) in 3 inst.
46.60.25 (131) in 3 inst.
16.25.11 (52) in 2 inst.
89.87.55 (231) in 14 inst.
9
14
93.102.43 (238) in 23 inst.
0
3
2
0
0.0.7 (7) in 2 inst.
10.5 (15) in 3 inst.
34
2
5
7
0
1
67.61.39 (167) in 41 inst.
1.1.2 (4) in 2 inst.
4.6.5 (15) in 6 inst.
1
0
0.0.1 (1) in 1 inst.
Japanese cormorant (Phalacrocorax
capillatus)
3
Greater cormorant (P. carbo)
6
0
0
0.0.7 (7) in 3 inst.
3.2.3 (8) in 6 inst.
Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) 1
Tufted puffin (Lunda cirrhata)
0
North Pacific murre (Uria aalge)
0
1
4
1
5.6 (11) in 2 inst.
14.11.41 (66) in 4 inst.
13.14.2 (29) in 1 inst.
Sulidae
Brown booby (Sula leucogaster)
Phalacrocoracidae
Charadriiformes
Alcidae
Some holders maintain multiple species collections while some municipal zoos
keep a single species, most likely the Humboldt. The former group is typically
represented by Adventure World, which is a part of a large amusement complex
78
located south of Osaka. It has 241 specimens (or 9.5% of penguins in the
inventory) in six species including 81 king, 64 chinstrap and 54 gentoo. In terms
of the number of species the aforementioned Nagasaki Penguin Aquarium has
more, eight to be exact, and a total of 138 individuals. Tokyo Sea Life Park has
only three species, yet it boasts 183 individuals thanks largely to 131 Humboldt,
the largest number of one species kept by an institution. At this park Humboldt,
rockhopper and blue penguins are kept in an outdoor enclosure measuring 62 m
wide and 26 m deep (1,000 square meters), said to be among the largest penguin
exhibits in Japan.
Concerning other oceanic birds, as Table 1 indicates Pelecaniformes is
more common in zoos but not in aquariums, although one would assume that
it is worth allocating more resources for these birds. In particular pelicans
are large and popular eye-catchers; also cormorants have special cultural
connections in Japan from the educational viewpoint (the ancient practice of
cormorant fishing). Although small in size, alcids are known for special
adaptations to unique environments, and have attracted increasing attention in recent years. But it might be mentioned at this point that these
interesting birds are held by only five institutions: Ueno Zoo, Tokyo Sea Life
Park, Kamogawa Sea World, Aquamarine Fukushima and Ibaraki Prefectural Oarai Aquarium.
Husbandry potpourri
Penguins
In the early days of maintaining polar penguins in captivity there were
continuous challenges and struggles for the zoo staff in all aspects from medical
treatment and allowing a smooth molting process to keeping the ambient
temperatures as low as possible for the comfort of the birds. In particular the
difficulty was due to the very rudimentary chilling unit, a vital component in the
life support system. During the warm and humid summer months in Japan,
even maintaining the ambient temperature in an indoor unit at 10°C was no
easy task. Penguins are notoriously susceptible to an often fatal fungal infection
known as aspergillosis. At Ueno Zoo an antibiotic called aureosrycin, originally
developed as an agent against pododermatitis in humans, was used by means of
an aspirator. This proved to be effective in treating emperor penguins (Koga et
al., 1955; Komori, 1991).
The makeshift refrigerated indoor unit was quite small in those days, and
provided no sunlight. After having kept emperor penguins in this unit for
three summers and two winters, it was decided in February 1957 that they
be taken out to an open-air enclosure. The duration for this first trial was six
weeks, after which they went back to the indoor unit, but the staff gradually
extended the duration to acclimate them to Tokyo’s climate as much as
possible. For the penguin keeper, the important sign to watch for heat stress
was dyspnea (difficulty in breathing). When the temperature climbed to
15°C, it was time for him to keep an eye on the respiratory movement. The
critical behavior was open-mouth respiration; this usually occurred when the
temperature exceeded 18°C, signaling the time to walk the emperor penguins
back to the refrigerated unit. By the 1963–1964 season, the zoo staff
managed to leave them in the outdoor exhibit from mid-October through to
the end of April (Komori, 1964). (The average temperature in Tokyo for
October is 16.7°C and for April 13.1°C.)
79
While self-sustaining populations of some species can be achieved in
captivity by continuous breeding, some other species have not fared quite as
satisfactorily, necessitating recruitment from in situ populations. The husbandry of rockhopper penguins illustrates the difficulties. The history of this
species in Japan began with three specimens that arrived at Higashiyama
Zoo, Nagoya, in 1956. One of the reasons for hit-and-miss survival records
was the fact that many institutions kept them in outdoor enclosures, and also
the possibility that in mixed-species exhibits the rockhoppers faced competition with larger species. Penguins are susceptible, not only to aspergillosis
but also to other diseases such as avian malaria and the so-called bumblefoot,
a chronic foot infection. In the case of rockhopper penguins one of the culprits
was bumblefoot; resulting complications especially compounded the problems (Fukuda, 2002).
At Tokyo Sea Life Park, in an outdoor enclosure, mortality rate remained high
for rockhoppers. They raise chicks in June, which coincides with Japan’s rainy
season, and that caused respiratory ailments in parents and chicks. This was in
addition to the persistent bumblefoot problem. In 2000 the park expanded the
refrigerated space, in which the temperature could be lowered to 15°C. After
rockhoppers were transferred from the outdoor enclosure the mortality of adults
dropped sharply. Although the egg fertility rate decreased in the indoor area, the
population began to increase. The drawback in this arrangement is that it is in
a behind-the-scenes area. Breeding adults have to be kept inside from March to
October, and non-breeding juveniles from May to October, thus the species is
kept off exhibit for much of the year (Fukuda, 2009a).
Alcids
Just as in penguin husbandry, early attempts to maintain alcids met with
challenges at Tokyo Sea Life Park, which opened in 1989. Under the initial
theme to build an active exhibit with schools of fish and diving sea-birds, three
alcid species were chosen: tufted puffin, Atlantic puffin and North Pacific murre.
Atlantic puffins and North Pacific murres were acquired through the courtesy
of a natural history museum in Iceland. Most individuals of the former species
successfully settled in after arrival, but the latter presented a challenge. A total
of 36 birds arrived between 1990 and 1992 but soon respiratory illnesses,
bumblefoot and captive stress took their toll. It was in 1995 that mortality was
put under control, at which time 11 birds were surviving. As for tufted puffins,
the initial group was donated by the Alaskan government and arrived through
a cooperative arrangement with Florida Sea World. Since they had already been
in captivity, the transfer process to Tokyo was quite smooth. Compared to the
murres, two species of puffins took to the captive environment quite readily and
began to breed in 1991. The first egg-laying by North Pacific murres was noted
in 2000, – i.e. in the eleventh year. Three pairs raised chicks in the following
year; as of 2009, 27 chicks have been raised including the second generation that
hatched in 2007 (Fukuda, 2009b).
Breeding and longevity
Data in Table 2 represent hatchings of oceanic birds during the fiscal year,
which begins in April and ends in March of the following year. Compared to the
large populations of certain species, the numbers of hatchings appear
disproportionately small. This is typically apparent in the Humboldt penguin;
80
the number hatched barely reaches half of the number hatched 11 years earlier
(198). One might suspect that the national population has reached saturation
point and that there may be a move to restrict breeding. The Humboldt penguin
is one of the priority species in the collective species survival effort (e.g. Fukuda,
1997b). However, an examination of the report of the Species Survival Committee of Japan (SSCJ) does not reveal any hint of population control for this species,
while in the African penguin some institutions restricted breeding due to the
uneven distribution of blood lines (JAZA, 2004). Compared with this genus, the
neonate mortality rates in polar penguins are extremely high, indicating the
persistent difficulty in rearing these species.
Table 2. Oceanic birds hatched in Japanese collections between 1 April
2006 and 31 March 2007. (Figures in brackets represent the number of birds
that did not survive.)
Species
King penguin
Rockhopper penguin
Blue penguin
Adelie penguin
Chinstrap penguin
Gentoo penguin
African penguin
Humboldt penguin
Magellanic penguin
Eastern white pelican
Tufted puffin
North Pacific murre
No. of birds
in zoos
9 (5) in 3 zoos
2 (2) in 1 zoo
0
7 (7) in 1 zoo
5 (5) in 1 zoo
14 (12) in 2 zoos
26 (22) in 4 zoos
36 (23) in 11 zoos
6 (2) in 2 zoos
6 (0) in 1 zoo
0
0
No. of birds
in aquariums
9 (1) in 5 aquariums
13 (6) in 6 aquariums
3 (3) in 1 aquarium
5 (5) in 1 aquarium
1 (1) in 1 aquarium
12 (11) in 2 aquariums
14 (7) in 6 aquariums
59 (22) in 12 aquariums
17 (3) in 7 aquariums
0
4 (3) in 3 aquariums
3 (0) in 1 aquarium
Total
18 (6) in 8 inst.
15 (8) in 7 inst.
3 (3) in 1 inst.
12 (12) in 2 inst.
6 (6) in 2 inst.
26 (23) in 4 inst.
40 (29) in 10 inst.
95 (45) in 23 inst.
23 (5) in 9 inst.
6 (0) in 1 inst.
4 (3) in 3 inst.
3 (0) in 1 inst.
Some institutions achieved multi-species breeding. Overall, as expected,
aquariums raised more species and chicks than zoos did; five aquariums bred
three species each. In terms of species bred, however, Adventure World comes
on top with six species: king, rockhopper, Adelie, chinstrap, gentoo and
African. Although the mortality rate was very high (only three out of 35 chicks
survived) it is, nevertheless, a start. Compared with penguins, only a handful
of other oceanic birds hatched during the year, reflecting the much smaller
population base in terms of both species and number of individual birds per
species.
Table 3 depicts birds that had been living for at least 16 years as of 31 March 2007.
Pelicans are known as a durable oceanic bird group, and in fact four eastern white
pelicans emerge as the longest living. A female, arrived at Omuta City Zoo on 9
February 1962, has been in captivity for 45 years, followed by another female that
arrived at Tennoji Zoo, Osaka, on 21 March 1967; during the same year, Ube Tokiwa
Park received two males on 4 June (ages of these birds are unknown). The only other
member of Pelecaniformes that made a quarter-century mark is a greater cormorant
at Hirakawa Zoo who arrived there on 12 April 1978. Not surprisingly theSpheniscus
81
penguins dominate the roster with large numbers, especially the Humboldt. The
longest-living penguins on the list are the two that surpassed the three-decade
mark; both entered the collections during 1973 but their exact ages are not known.
One is a male Humboldt that arrived on 30 May at Suzaka Zoo, and the second is
a female African, arriving at Ueno Zoo on 2 December.
Table 3. Longevity of oceanic birds in Japanese collections. (The years
indicate duration in captivity of birds living as of 31 March 2007.)
Species
King penguin
Rockhopper penguin
Gentoo penguin
African penguin
Humboldt penguin
Magellanic penguin
Dalmatian pelican
Eastern white pelican
Greater cormorant
Tufted puffin
North Pacific murre
>31 yrs
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
4
0
0
0
26-30 yrs
2
3
0
0
10
0
0
0
1
0
0
21-25 yrs
0
2
2
1
9
0
0
0
0
0
0
16-20 yrs
0
0
0
1
6
1
2
0
0
1
1
In proportion to the huge number, it might be expected that there would be
more penguins in the roster of long-living individuals. All guesswork can be
way off base, but one is tempted to presume that not every institution
maintains a meticulous individual animal identification system and that
therefore some animals may fall off the ‘paper trail,’ whose valuable records
are thrown into the vault of history. Should this be even remotely correct, it
would be a pity that a large number of captive-hatched birds, whose exact
ages can be determined, will be lost in the shuffle. Luckily some of them,
whose records are traceable, made it to the list. A female king penguin,
hatched 24 September 1977, and a male Humboldt penguin, hatched 1 July
1979, both live at Nagasaki Penguin Aquarium. Also, penguins originating
in an overseas zoo lived to be on this list. Two gentoos, also kept at Nagasaki
Penguin Aquarium, arrived from Basel Zoo in 1984, a male on 8 November,
and a female on 24 November, respectively.
Conservation programs
Some of the species in this account are included in national and international conservation measures. The Humboldt penguin and the Dalmatian
pelican are on Appendix I, and the African penguin is on Appendix II, of
CITES. The rockhopper, macaroni, African and Humboldt penguins and the
spot-billed pelican are classified as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List. Also,
the following pelicans are on the Rare Animal list of the International Zoo
Yearbook: Dalmatian, eastern white and spot-billed. Additionally, the Japanese government has placed the tufted puffin and the North Pacific murre in
82
the migratory bird treaty and on its official list of the Critical (CR) species.
As for captive populations, in December 2005 the SSCJ, under the JAZA
umbrella, announced the list of penguins in the collective species management programs. They are: Humboldt, king (including two subspecies), gentoo
(including two subspecies), rockhopper (including two subspecies), macaroni, African and Magellanic. A coordinator is assigned for each species, who
analyzes the in situ status and the captive data, as well as establishing the
goals for the captive population. Critical issues discussed include uneven
distributions of genetic materials and age classes, and poor breeding results
in the smaller group size (JAZA, 2004).
No other oceanic birds are currently included in the collective species management programs. However, some individual zoos have helped native species in
various ways. For example, Kyoto Zoo has participated in the rescue and
ecological survey of the streaked shearwater (Calonectris leucomelas). This
species has a rookery in an offshore island, and every November some naïve
juveniles get lost on their migratory route to the south; they are often found in
the streets of Kyoto. Citizens bring them to the zoo, where they are recovered and
released in the wild. Between 1962 and 1982, a total of 378 birds were brought
into the zoo. Also, the zoo staff periodically participated in conservation programs of this species, such as banding and the population density survey (Kyoto
City Zoo, 1984).
An island in Shinobazu Pond, Ueno Zoo, provides a rookery for wild greater cormorants
and a resting area for the zoo’s eastern white pelicans. (Photo: Akiyoshi Nawa)
Visitors to Ueno Zoo, Tokyo, will notice a large pond called the Shinobazu
Pond, in the lower (west) end of its compounds. In winter thousands of migrating
83
ducks occupy the pond with no fear of humans. In earlier times geese and even
swans were seen here, but as Tokyo became increasingly developed, the pond
was completely depleted of wildlife. It is again a winter haven for waterfowl in
this densely-populated, bustling metropolitan center. The story goes back to the
end of WWII and an army officer named Tadamichi Koga who returned to the
post of zoo director after being released from years of military service. During
that period he heard from foreigners that Japanese people were innately
barbaric, based on the brutal acts by some members of the Japanese Imperial
Army. ‘Birds fly away from Japanese because they are cruel’, Koga was told, and
he wished to counteract this belief. As Ueno Zoo expanded and Shinobazu Pond
was incorporated into the zoo in 1949, Koga planned to remake the pond as a safe
haven for waterfowl, to prove that Japanese people could coexist harmoniously
with wildlife. The first step was to acquire 150 wild ducks, pinion their wings and
release them in the pond, and zookeepers provisioned them. They attracted
various species of wild ducks who gradually became habituated, eventually
losing fear of humans (Koga, 1988).
Of the wild duck species, the green-winged teal was among the first to take
provisioned feed around 1958, followed by pintail, Eurasian wigeon and
shoveler. However, Koga’s project was by no means limited to ducks. In 1950,
a total of 19 greater cormorants were captured, pinioned and released in the
pond. Their presence caught the attention of wild cormorants. In 1962 a
small number of them made the pond their home. During the same year, a
flock of about 100 was seen one early morning of October; they appeared
interested in landing, but gave up and flew toward nearby Tokyo Bay.
Cormorants began to nest on a man-made island in the pond, and the number
of nests increased from two in 1965 to 73 in 1973, to form a rookery. The zoo
could not provide enough fish, and it was assumed that they foraged in Tokyo
Bay. In 1972 alone, 300 juveniles fledged. Around that time, four of the
original 19 were still around (Ueno Zoo, 1982). The greater cormorant is by
no means an endangered species. However, it is a tree nester, and as the rate
of deforestation accelerated in the Tokyo region, the role of the zoo as a
provider of a rookery must properly be recognized.
Acknowledgments
Thanks go to Mr Katsunori Sotani of Tokyo for giving me an easy access to the
JAZA inventories, and to Mr Akiyoshi Nawa, also of Tokyo, for supplying photos
for this issue.
References
Anon. (1950): Zoo Newsletter 5 (5), 1 March. (In Japanese.)
Fukuda, M. (1997a): A preliminary essay in ‘history of keeping penguins in
Japan.’ Zoo Study 2: 30–47. (In Japanese.)
Fukuda, M. (1997b): Breeding of the Humboldt penguins in Japan. Aquabiology
19 (1): 33–36. (In Japanese.)
Fukuda, M. (1998): A list of references on captive penguins in Japan. Journal of
Japanese Association of Zoological Gardens and Aquariums 39 (4): 121–129.
(In Japanese.)
Fukuda, M. (2002): Attempts to augment the number of rockhopper penguins at
84
Tokyo Sea life Park. Animals and Zoos 54 (5): 168–172. (In Japanese with
English summary.)
Fukuda, M. (2009a): Challenging reality of maintaining large numbers of
penguins. In Tokyo Sea Life Park: The First Two Decades. Tokyo Zoological
Park Society. (In Japanese.)
Fukuda, M. (2009b): Maintenance and problems of alcid exhibits. In Tokyo Sea
Life Park: The First Two Decades. Tokyo Zoological Park Society. (In Japanese.)
Gill, F.B. (2003): Ornithology (2nd ed.). W.H. Freeman and Co., New York.
ISIS, 2010: http://www.isis.org/Pages/findanimals.aspx (14 December
2010).
Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (2004): Annual Report of Species
Survival Committee of Japan 2004. (In Japanese.)
Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (2007): The 2006 Annual Report.
(In Japanese.)
Kawata, K. (1997): Penguins in Japanese zoos and aquariums, 1995. International Zoo News 44 (3): 132–139.
Kawata, K. (2008): Hanzaki, elephants and amusement rides: a visit to fourteen
collections in Japan. International Zoo News 55 (5): 262–281.
Kawata, K. (2009): Marine mammals in Japanese collections, 2004. International Zoo News 56 (3): 134–145.
Koga, T. (1988): Ducks in Shinobazu Pond. In: Tadamichi Koga: the Man and
Style. Committee for Dr Tadamichi Koga Memorial Projects, Tokyo. (In
Japanese.)
Koga, T., Fukuda, N., Asakura, S. and Nakagawa. S. (1955): On the therapy of
Aspergillosis of penguins. Ueno Zoo Research Report, 1, 23–31. (In Japanese
with English summary.)
Komori, A. (1964): Keeping Animals in Captivity. Kinokuniya Shoten, Tokyo.
(In Japanese.)
Komori, A. (1991): The history of penguins at Ueno Zoo. International Zoo News
38 (3): 19–20.
Kurita, M. (1995): News from Japan. Animals and Zoos 47 (4): 174. (In
Japanese.)
Kusuda, S. (2001): News from Japan. Animals and Zoos 53 (1): 216. (In
Japanese.)
Kyoto City Zoo (1984): Eighty Year History of Kyoto City Zoo. Kyoto City Zoo.
(In Japanese.)
Nakamura, S. (2004): News from Japan. Animals and Zoos 56 (12): 446. (In
Japanese.)
Shirai, K. (1977): News from Japan. Animals and Zoos 29 (12): 422–423. (In
Japanese.)
Sparks, J., and Soper, T. (1967): Penguins. David and Charles, Newton Abbot,
U.K.
Ueno Zoo (1982): Ueno Zoo: The 100-Year History. Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo. (In Japanese.)
Ken Kawata, 23 Arielle Lane, Staten Island, NY 10314, U.S.A.
([email protected])
85
A view from one end of Blackpool Zoo’s new sea lion exhibit.
86
International Zoo News Vol. 58, No. 2 (2011), pp. 86–92
CALIFORNIA SEA LION
DEVELOPMENT AT BLACKPOOL
ZOO
BY SARAH THOMAS AND KHALED FAWZY
Introduction
Blackpool Zoo is located over 32 acres [13 ha] of parkland and is situated in
the north-west of England. Opened in 1972, the zoo is home to over 1,500
animals and was operated by the local authority until 2002. Since then the
site has been leased to a private company, and has been part of the Parques
Reunidos group since 2007. Parques Reunidos has invested substantial
capital over the last few years, which has seen both the animal and visitor
facilities improve and expand.
The zoo’s sea lion pool was built when the zoo first opened in 1972. Although
large in size and boasting to be the ‘biggest in Europe’, the pool infrastructure
was in drastic need of repair, along with an updating of the housing, food
preparation areas and filtration systems. In response to these issues, plans
were drawn up in 2008 to design and build a world-class California sea lion
(Zalophus californianus) exhibit to meet the needs of the animals, staff and
visiting public.
As one of the most successful breeding groups in the U.K., Blackpool Zoo
presently has a group of seven (1.5.1) sea lions. When dealing with the initial
concept of the project, the varying demands and specific needs of sea lions of
different age and status was carefully considered, alongside the equally important operational needs of the staff and the experiential needs of the visitors.
From various consultations, the following vision was laid out for the development: ‘To redevelop the existing sea lion enclosure into a visitor-focused exhibit
with vastly improved facilities for a breeding group of California sea lions.’ This
would be achieved by:
– Enclosure: Upgrade the existing enclosure and increase its size, add mock
rockwork for the perimeter and key exhibit features, improve off-show areas,
indoor pens and filtration systems.
– Staff: Staff facilities would also be overhauled to allow a more efficient
management and training of the animals within a safe working environment.
– Visitors: Build a new, large tiered seating arena for visitors and install glass
panels around the enclosure to provide an immersive experience.
– Conservation Education: Provide exciting educational experiences and deliver
key conservation messages.
Enclosure
Perimeter walls and internal features are themed using mock rock to create
a rocky coastline effect and to blend features such as pumps and filters. Small
caves and rocky inlets have been sculpted around the pool, which is ideal for
new-born pups to hide and be gradually introduced to the water. The poolside
87
The waterfall feature and access to indoor dens.
is gradually sloped around these areas making it easier for the pups to climb out
of the water. Double gates have been incorporated into the perimeter design to
allow easy access for keepers and vehicles during transportation of animals.
New external pumps were added to both ends to create greater circulation of
water, pulling water from the pool and returning it to the pool via a large
waterfall embedded in a rocky overhang.
The off-show area, which consists of a large open-air pen with pool, is now
located at the rear of the enclosure to allow any ongoing veterinary treatment
to take place. Four indoor pens have been added to this area. These pens are
utilised for housing animals during training, during displays and for general
management of individual animals. These dens are also suitable for weaning,
for separating pups or for separating a bull for periods of time during the
breeding season.
The main pool has a closed filtration system, consisting of six large filter pods
with recycled glass media, six multi-cyclone pods and two large pumps. The
water is pulled from one end of the pool and returns via two outlets at the centre
and the waterfall. The entire water volume of the pool passes through the filter
system within a two-to-three-hour period. The use of this type of filter system
has improved the sustainability of the pool as the system is more efficient and
less water is lost through the back wash process.
Staff
The main aim of the exhibit is to maintain a breeding group of California sea
88
lions, whilst continuing an exemplary training programme. These training
sessions are delivered during public displays and are essential for ongoing
management of the group. All training uses positive reinforcement via
targets, whistles and food rewards. Since the pool has a total of eight indoor
pens, all animals can be individually housed when required, which benefits
the training in many ways. Firstly it gives the trainers opportunities to focus
on a single animal poolside without the worry of aggression, distraction or
conflict from other animals. Secondly, it allows staff to carry out any medical
procedures or preventative treatments more easily. By having the ability to
separate each animal, the trainers can focus on one animal in their immediate surroundings, thus increasing trainer safety, whilst minimising stress to
the animals.
Visitors watching a display.
The breadth of the training performed at Blackpool Zoo allows all sea lions
to be trained to allow staff to perform a series of daily medical health checks.
These checks include behaviours such as open mouth, lie down, roll over,
present flipper, administer vaccines, skin scrapes, accepting eye drops,
mouth swabs, ultrasounds and crate training. Training is a key part of the
daily displays delivered to visitors, and the design of the large beach area at
the front of the pool allows an extensive array of behaviours to be demonstrated without any special restrictions. There is ample room for both trainer
and animal to move freely around each other, and various training stations
89
An interpretation panel explaining the Monk Seal Project.
have also been incorporated into the enclosure design. When not in use for
training sessions, it is a great place for the animals to bask in the sun and
slide in and out of the pool.
New staff facilities include a food preparation area, walk-in freezer and fridge
90
units along with staff changing rooms, all of which have been built to provide
trainers with space to create diets, manage water quality and develop and store
any necessary equipment for the management of the animals.
Visitors
Along the front of the exhibit, there is a five-tier seating arena with a 450-seat
capacity. This outdoor auditorium provides an ideal space for visitors to observe
training and demonstrations. The beach area at the front of the pool has been
extended to create more room for the animals to train and for displays for
visitors. Public viewing is increased through the addition of six glass windows,
each measuring 2.5 by 2.5 m, and spanning the entire length of the beach. They
allow a more interactive and intimate view of the animals without obstruction.
Positioned at both ends of the pool are four further glass viewing windows. With
over 30 m2 of windows surrounding the enclosure, visitors have an excellent view
from any position. Aesthetically, the new exhibit is unrecognisable from its 1970
counterpart. The rock work is a stunning example of how materials can be used
to create a natural-looking environment that draws the visitor closer to understanding a sea lion’s natural habitat.
Conservation education
Large interpretation panels were created to provide static information,
both about California sea lions and Mediterranean monk seals (Monachus
monachus). (The latter is the subject of a Parques Reunidos conservation
initiative.) The whole exhibit was designed with a visitor-orientated remit.
The combination of the seating arena along with the large viewing windows
allows displays to be enjoyable and informative for visitors of all ages. The
arena seats 450 people and, with four displays daily during the summer
months, a large proportion of visitors will be involved in this experience. All
displays are narrated by an education officer and the sea lion trainers, who
can explain the training behaviours and field questions from the audience.
Each display last 15–20 minutes and the team of trainers work closely with
several of the sea lions to demonstrate several physiological features and
natural behaviours, all in a high-energy, entertaining format. These displays
aim to provide a memorable educational experience that will stay with the
individuals long after their zoo visit has come to an end.
One of the other aims of this exhibit is to link into the CBD Habitat
Foundation Mediterranean Monk Seal Project. This marine mammal is
classified as critically endangered, with less than 500 individuals remaining
in the wild, and is considered to be one of the world’s top ten most endangered
species of marine mammal and Europe’s most endangered marine mammal.
This species of monk seal can only be found in two locations, namely the
Desertas islands, Madeira, and the Cabo Blanco peninsula on the Atlantic
coast of Spain. Parques Reunidos
has made a statement of commitment to the conservation of this species by
working alongside CBD Habitat Foundation on a number of in situ projects.
Over €25,000 have been generated so far by the zoos and aquariums in the
Parques Reunidos group, including Blackpool Zoo which has raised over
£8,000 during 2010 alone. The conservation message is incorporated into the
interpretation panels of the exhibit and is also an important part of the
display narrative.
91
Conclusion
All the project aims have been woven together to create a space that not only
far exceeds the husbandry and welfare needs of the animals but also gives the
staff an excellent environment in which to train and work around these marine
mammals. In addition, the aesthetic, educational and immersive needs of the
visitor have been addressed giving an enjoyable, informative and stimulating
experience whilst maintaining the highest standard of animal care.
Sarah Thomas, Education, Conservation and Research Manager (sarah.thomas
@blackpoolzoo.org.uk), and Khaled Fawzy, Head Sea Lion Trainer
([email protected]), Blackpool Zoo, East Park Drive, Blackpool, Lancs. FY3 8PP, U.K.
International Zoo News Vol. 58, No. 2 (2011), pp. 93–103
READING THE TEA-LEAVES: ZOOS
AND THEIR FUTURE ROLE IN
CONSERVATION
BY PAULINE CLEGG
In the last thirty years the adjectives extinct and endangered have become
prominent words in our daily vocabulary. Probably the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) 1975 initiated this change in the
public mind-set. This convention has been signed by 175 states and aims to
ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not
threaten their survival. Today, almost everyone is aware of this convention and
there is global concern that many animal species are threatened with extinction.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) with their panda logo has been
instrumental in making the public and governments aware of the dangers posed
to wildlife and the need to give it protection. Agenda 21 from the Rio Declaration
of 1992 gave further momentum to international efforts to conserve biodiversity
and protect species, and the Red List continues to maintain press and public
interest.
Part of the legacy of CITES was to spawn a radical animal rights movement.
The late 1980s and early 1990s will be remembered by zoos as years of anti-zoo
demonstrations and people chaining themselves to railings. Zoos had bad
publicity during these years. Retrospectively it is easy to be critical, but there
was a great deal of substance to the dissatisfaction with zoos at that time. The
zoo community was notable for authoritarian management, insularity and
resistance to change, particularly to that demanded by biological research
elsewhere. Several members of the International Union of Directors of Zoological Gardens (IUDZG, now WAZA) were already involved in species conservation
projects and deeply concerned about the general negative image of zoos: George
Rabb, Ulie Seal, Gunther Nogge and Roger Wheater are names which stand out
in the formulation of the subsequently published path-finding World Zoo
Conservation Strategy.
Breeding programmes founded in the mid-1980s were frequently instigated by zoo directors who had a personal interest in the species, and these
formed the basis of the future Species Survival and European Endangered
Species programmes (SSP and EEP). No doubt altruism and foresightedness
had their influence, but the practical need to have partners – if not the
pressure to justify keeping animals in captivity – should not be ignored.
Positive publicity became a necessity for zoo organisations, and by 1990 the
concept that zoos were essential for managing a reserve population of
endangered species through ex situ breeding was firmly established. The
effort of EAZA director Koen Brouwer in creating EEPs and giving them
stature deserves respect and recognition.
Ex situ captive breeding has a long history, going back several thousand years
to the Persian kings, the Egyptian Pharaohs and the Chinese emperors. The
modern justifications for ex situ breeding are that a backup population is needed;
93
it can be better managed away from the indigenous area; it reduces, if not
eliminates, the need to remove animals from the wild; and the animals have a
high conservation educational value.
The niggling doubts about the value of ex situ breeding are the unlikelihood of
ever being able to return animals to the wi!ld, the difficulty of biologically and
genetically maintaining a true species, and the doubt whether captive conditions are suitable. The potential educational value is undisputed.
Although some of the following observations may equally apply to the Species
Survival Programmes (SSP) of the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums
(AZA) and those of other zoo associations, they are made in respect of the
European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) and their European Endangered Species Programme (EEP) and European Studbook (ESB) watch.
A gila monster, an EEP species, hatching from its egg at Bristol Zoo. (Photo: Adam Davis)
The idea of returning zoo animals to the wild, whether zoo-bred or simply
temporarily housed after confiscation, is more romantic than practical. Habitat
destruction and hunting are main causes of species being threatened, and unless
these problems are resolved there is little purpose in any reintroduction. In most
cases the origin of the founder animals of programmes is uncertain and the
genetic affinity with the wild population quite unknown. Particularly with the
reintroduction of carnivore species, problems with human inhabitants seriously
inhibit the chance of success. Policing a habitat reserve is an expensive business
requiring sustained local cooperation, often in regions where poverty undermines
goodwill. Even where funding and cooperation is available, reintroduced animals
may displace existing species or their offspring may require more habitat to
survive. Those reintroductions in which zoos have participated and which can be
viewed as partially successful (European bison, Przewalski horse, addax and
Arabian oryx) have relied upon government protection and/or private funding and
their long-term viability still remains uncertain. There are currently 17 IUCN
94
reintroduction programmes (including four butterfly species) in the U.K., of
which perhaps seven are indirectly connected to zoos. Elsewhere in Europe there
are 18 ventures which have a similar connection. None of these programmes, or
any of those eleven currently in progress worldwide, is zoo run and managed.
Genetic diversity is of great importance for a healthy population. A gene pool
which is narrow, usually caused by too few founder animals, eventually leads to
detrimental physical and mental conditions, so the larger the founder stock and
the larger the inter-breeding population the better. Studies by Mace (1993) and
Soulé (1987) indicate that viable population sizes vary according to the species
and are, at best, an estimate of the number required to maintain a genetic
diversity of 90% over 100 years. There is little evidence that founder stocks of
less than five pairs can ever be viable, and although species vary, a breeding
population under 100 remains unstable. In situ research into the genetic
diversity of the Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi) has shown genetic
diversity being bottle-necked despite an increasing population size (80–100)
because of few founders. Although managed zoo populations may have the
benefit of controlled pairings through modern computer software, the inevitable
inbreeding of closely related animals from small founder stocks can have serious
consequences despite achieving a large population.
It is one thing to maintain genetic diversity and quite another to retain the
essential behavioural traits of a species in a captive environment. While this
task may seem easier with ungulates where appropriate social conditions could
be provided, the ability to survive under the constraints and dangers of the wild
is inevitably impaired. With predator species the relatively comfortable life in
the zoo where natural hunting is prohibited does not fit them for the stresses of
life they would meet elsewhere. Irrespective of the species, familiarity with
humans can only be detrimental. In some cases the necessary learning phase of
the young animal cannot be completed because the parents themselves have no
real-life experience. In essence, zoos breed animals to be zoo animals and these
are unsuitable, in the main, for reintroduction.
A consensus about whether certain species should be kept at all in captivity
can never be reached. Most zoo organisations will not even discuss the topic, and
generally zoo directors or managers are more interested in enclosure cost factors
than whether they should keep the species on moral or biological grounds. In the
public domain the question is frequently discussed and, although usually
anthropomorphically-based, has some scientific underpinning. The great apes,
marine mammals and most of the larger animals are cited as species unsuited
to captivity, but the biological reasoning which should be behind these statements is not necessarily supportive. The enclosure size, retreat possibilities,
feeding practices and enrichment facilities will be influential in reaching any
conclusion. It is to be regretted that existing minimum requirements have been
mainly formulated by the interested party, zoos, and do not quickly adjust to new
research findings. Guidelines would be more credible if they were jointly
formulated by all interested parties and enforced by zoo organisations.
There are 178 EEPs and 179 ESBs currently (April 2011) listed and run under
the auspices of EAZA. This impressive number of programmes is shared among
some 123 institutions who encourage members of their full-time staff to act as
coordinators or studbook keepers, many of whom have more than one programme to administer in addition to their other duties. Most have hands-on
experience of the species, although theoretical depth is sometimes shallow. Very
few scientific papers have been written by EEP coordinators about their species,
95
and experience of the wild population is not required. Very few programmes
appear to have any personal connection to in situ activities and this must be
viewed with dismay. Even if fund-raising is excluded due to the lack of
participating members, at least educational and scientific ties should be mandatory. The most frequent words to crop up in the Red List are ‘population
diminishing’, and it is difficult to justify any ex situ programme which is not
actively engaged in trying to reverse this in situ situation.
Red river hogs, an EEP species, at Chester Zoo. (Photo: John Partridge)
Whereas EAZA publishes a list of all these programmes on its website under the
heading of ‘collection planning’, information about the structure, membership,
participating animals, guidelines, prospective breeding or relevance to the
endangered species is harder to come by – the latest published data refer to the
years 2007 and 2008 and are by no means complete. Tables 1 and 2 (below) conceal
at least as much as they reveal. No account has been taken of founder numbers,
age structure, breeding success and possible subspecies because these data
remain unavailable. In addition, the taxonomy and classification is difficult to
verify and several EEPs have required revision. It must be noted that some
umbrella EEPs, Giraffe for example, do keep track of several subspecies, genetically determined or not, under the one label. Incorrect identification is often due
to the lack of basic historical information about the founder population.
Nevertheless, 45 EEP species can hardly be classified as endangered (those in
the ‘least concern’ and ‘near threatened’ categories), and it would seem that 45
programmes have tiny, unsustainable populations of below 50. At least six EEPs
have fewer than ten animals and teeter on the edge of extinction. The programme
for Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi must already be on its last legs with the
96
Table 1. Red List Status 2011 of EEP species, with revised population
sizes based on ISIS. The availability of guidelines and the known
participation in in situ/reintroduction programmes is also shown.
Column and row totals may not add up due to insufficient data.
Red List category EEPs <50
Data deficient/UNK 1
Least concern
23
Near threatened
22
Vulnerable
45
Endangered
57
Critically endangered 26
Extinct in the wild 4
Totals
178
0
8
5
14
14
4
0
45
>50 &
<100
0
0
9
19
21
9
2
60
>100 >500
0
14
8
11
21
11
0
65
0
1
0
1
1
2
2
7
Guidelines In situ
link
1
12
13
20
27
12
3
88
0
2
1
1
0
3
4
11
Table 2. Red List Status 2011 of ESB species, with revised population
sizes based on ISIS. The availability of guidelines is shown, but there
are insufficient data available about participation in in situ/reintroduction programmes. Column and row totals may not add up due to
insufficient data.
Red List category ESBs <50
Data deficient/UNK 11
Least concern
77
Near threatened
20
Vulnerable
50
Endangered
15
Critically endangered 6
Totals
179
1
18
5
13
3
3
43
>50 &
<100
1
18
5
12
3
2
41
>100 >500
0
28
3
12
3
1
47
0
0
1
0
2
0
3
Guidelines In situ
link
0
17
4
11
1
1
34
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
sexes split between two zoos. Split into possible subspecies, many EEPs look
even less impressive. Some programmes with a lot of animals have 80% of them
concentrated in one or two very large holdings (European bison, dorcas gazelle,
northern cheetah, Cuvier’s gazelle, kulan), and some have almost more programme personnel than animals. EAZA should be more open about the criteria
for selecting species for EEP and ESB status. It does seem a waste of scarce
resources to include species not currently threatened or those where the
population is too small ever to be viable. The publicity value of pretending that
zoos are running large numbers of programmes to rescue species will eventually
rebound as facts become known.
Most coordinators face similar difficulties: too few founders, too few participants, and half-hearted cooperation particularly with regard to the transfer of
animals. It would seem there is an attempt at political correctness in coordinator
distribution and, although this is understandable bearing in mind the multinational membership of EAZA, it may be a limiting factor in recruitment. The
97
prerequisite of being able to communicate in English must also narrow the field
of candidates and enormously complicate interaction with potential and active
programme members who speak neither English nor the language of the
coordinator. The majority of coordinators are with large zoos, and frequently
they have more than one programme to administer. While this means their
employment costs are not a financial burden for EAZA, it does encourage
centralisation and possibly an elite. Some sort of funding for coordinator work,
based on volume/complexity/travel, might encourage more people to apply.
There is also a case for establishing a translation and interpreter service to
facilitate international communications between coordinators and participants.
If EEPs are to be taken seriously there has to be some broadening in both
management and participation.
Although some coordinators list their non-EAZA participants, the general
impression is that these institutions are unwelcome, although some EEPs
could hardly function effectively without them and private holders. A limited
number of exceptions exist, but EEP and ESB participants are required to be
either EAZA members or EAZA-approved. This sounds quite sensible as a
general rule, yet EAZA membership is not cheap nor is it easy to be accepted.
Considering there are an estimated 2,500 European institutions categorised
under the 1999 EU Zoo Directive as a ‘zoo’, there is some way to go before
EAZA speaks with an authoritative voice on behalf of the European zoo
community (see Appendix, below). This imbalance is frequently dismissed on
the grounds that ‘all major national zoos’ are members and their holdings
constitute the bulk of captive animals. This patently is not the case, since
most of the 1,300 medium- and large-sized zoos in Europe are not members
and their animal holdings must amount to at least a similar figure. Particularly in respect of avian and reptilian species, the smaller ‘zoos’ (and private
keepers) have a huge number and variety of animals. Moreover, Western
European zoos may fail EAZA accreditation when zoos of a similar standard
elsewhere are welcomed on political grounds or to foster the idea of continental unity. EAZA surely has a responsibility to include as many suitable
animals as possible if the aim of the EEP is to be achieved. The potential of
integrating non-EAZA animals should not be missed, even if this requires
legislative change. It is untenable to talk about a global good (conserving
endangered species) and not be able to insist that owners participate in
rescue programmes. Establishing subspecies status with DNA sequencing
should not now present a problem with the decreasing costs.
It must be admitted that any substantial increase in programme participants
might not be to EAZA’s advantage. The centralisation mentioned earlier, once
called ‘the Dutch hegemony’, might be further weakened, encouraging democratisation at EEP level and leading to a reduction in the influence of major EAZA
zoos. Despite heavy camouflage, EAZA is not a charity and it represents an
amalgam of diverse interests whose unifying thread is economic survival.
Despite a level of optimism about EEPs and ESBs, there are serious problems
ahead.
The global attention now being given to endangered species has brought a
change in political attitudes. Increasingly, countries are forbidding the export
of their endemic animals and the European Community has been tightening up
the import regulations. At some time in the medium future it is foreseeable that
zoos will not be able to access animals from the wild at all, but will have to rely
on breeding them. Those species which might still be available will be those of
98
‘low risk’ status. If this becomes reality then we are likely to see a fairly drastic
reduction in the diversity of species on show within a very short time. Even with
only the present difficulties of importing and exporting, several species are
likely to disappear within a few years: bank cormorant, horned guan, kagu,
yellow-faced amazon, wombat, Matschie’s tree kangaroo, greater bamboo lemur, southern white-cheeked gibbon, sooty mangabey, Indian white-backed
vulture, douc langur, bontebok, Nigerian and Masai giraffes are already gone in
European zoos or about to disappear. Governments and the public are not going
to indefinitely support taking animals from the wild without good reason, and
ex situ will loose out to in situ. The ring-tailed lemur, the icon of International
Zoo News, is the most widespread of all EEP and ESB programmes and can be
found in 193 EAZA zoos, with the second largest number of animals (1,826), so
we can expect it to survive.
Victoria crowned pigeon, a European Studbook species, at Bristol Zoo. (Photo: John
Partridge)
In a worst case scenario zoos might become reliant on confiscations, which
would negatively affect the balance of species available for display, concentrating on the smaller animals while having herds of deer and cattle in great
enclosures. It would also mean zoos tending to have the same stock. This in turn
would inevitably impact on the popularity of zoos as a recreational venue,
reducing income. Even though local government may see the tourism value in
a zoo, national and international decisions will be binding.
None of those now employed in zoos are likely to live to see such developments
becoming a reality. The increasingly affluent countries – China, India, Brazil
etc. – will want to experience the powers of wealth enjoyed by the West in all its
99
forms, including unbridled access to nature. It will become increasingly difficult
for zoos to obtain animals, but as long as animals are viewed as chattels some
trade will continue.
If zoos are able to take a longer-term view, there are several ways to be
explored which might extend their lease on nature:
1. The importance of conservation education cannot be overstated. Perhaps the
only real justification for holding animals in captivity, especially endangered
species, is their value as educational tools. Most visitors to zoos come to be
entertained and not educated, but this is possibly the only time in their lives
when they will ever experience wild animals and this must be utilised for the
benefit of conservation. A visit to the zoo must communicate the message that
we all have environmental responsibility and the animals are our heritage, not
someone else’s.
2. Power may be in the hands of the few, but an effective pressure group must
represent as many as possible. Zoo organisations must widen their appeal,
induct more members and become active publicity agents. Influencing and
informing political decision-makers at national and international level must
become a priority.
3. Connections to countries where publicly favoured animals originate should be
strengthened and expanded. It would not be wrong if something was encouraged
on the lines of the partner cities established after World War II. No species
survival programme should exist without direct contact with and support for a
relevant in situ project or region. In situ projects should be carried out in
conjunction with local representatives or organisations with local experience.
Go-it-alone start-ups should be discouraged.
4. There are a lot of stakeholders in conservation and more should be brought
early into discussions about zoo animal holdings and acquisition. At the moment
the advisory bodies tend to be zoo-based.
5. A realistic assessment needs to be made about which species should be
targeted for conservation breeding programmes. Programmes should be judged
on the likelihood of successfully maintaining a high level of genetic diversity
over the next century and whether the capacity exists or can be created to hold
the progeny. The space necessary to absorb increasing populations will require
more participants. Since recommended enclosure size per animal is likely to
increase over time, the trend to fewer species, particularly in inner-city zoos, is
going to mean difficult decisions.
6. Support for local conservation initiatives should became a priority and zoos
should participate themselves. Zoos need to be seen to be a valued and active
part of their community.
7. Regional collection plans need to have greater vision, become more effective
and be able to negotiate and plan long-term measures based on projected
breeding. Zoos may need incentives to agree. IVF from in situ donors would be
a way of increasing the gene pool without directly importing animals.
8. Bad zoos and badly-managed animal holdings of all kinds need to be closed
down. Zoo organisations should positively view and encourage legislative
changes which would lead to them being able, in cooperation with other
agencies, to evaluate failings and enforce closure. While these avenues already
partly exist in certain EU countries, they should be extended to cover all.
The German zoologist Bernhard Grzimek said 50 years ago, ‘I am sorry to say
that we need zoos.’ In another 50 years we might not have any left unless a
convincing argument for their existence can be made.
100
References and sources
AZA (2011): www.aza.org/species-survival-plan-program.
EAZA (2010): EAZA Yearbook 2007/2008. EAZA Executive Office, Amsterdam.
EAZA (2011): www.eaza.net/activities/cp/Pages/EEPs.aspx.
Ganslosser, U., Hodges, J.K., and Kaumanns, W. (1995): Research and Captive
Propagation. Filander Verlag, Fürth, Germany.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reintroduction
ISIS (2011): www.isis.org/Pages/findanimals.aspx.
IUCN (2010): IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. (Version 2010.4.)
Mace, G.M. (1993): Population Viability Analysis. CBSG, Apple Valley, Minnesota, U.S.A.
Quantum Verzeichnis 2011 (European Zoo Directory). Quantum Conservation,
Oldenburg, Germany.
Soulé, M.E. (ed.) (1987): Viable Populations for Conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (2007): Florida Panther and the Genetic Restoration Program. Available at www.fws.gov.
ZAA (2011): www.zooaquarium.org.au.
Pauline Clegg, Institute of Conservation Studies, 69 Buxton Road, Luton LU1
1RE, U.K. (E-mail: [email protected])
101
Appendix 1. It is not possible to calculate how many zoos participate in EEP
and ESB programmes, but the following table shows the number of known
zoos in each country, the number of EAZA members from each country and
the number of zoos with personnel acting as coordinators (the number of
coordinators within each zoo is not listed). The last two columns refer to the
programmes managed.
Country
Total zoos EAZA
Coordinating
in country* members** zoos
EEPs*** ESBs***
Austria
61
6
3
3
2
Belgium
19
9
4
8
3
Croatia
8
1
0
0
0
Belarus
Colombia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
4
n/a
2
16
33
3
0
1 (1)
0
13
10
1
0
0
0
4
4
1
0
0
0
2
4
1
0
0
0
10
3
1
Finland
6
3
1
1
0
Germany
420
51 (4)
23
33
23
Hungary
12
6
1
1
0
4
1
1
0
France
Greece
Ireland
Israel
Italy
160
3
4
8
38
49 (4)
1
2
10 (1)
15
1
2
2
23
0
3
0
15
1
1
2
Kazakhstan
4
1
0
0
0
Latvia
1
1
0
0
0
Lithuania
2
1
0
0
0
Macedonia
1
0
0
0
0
Kuwait
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
102
1
2
3
1 (1)
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Country
Malta
Moldavia
Netherlands
Total zoos EAZA
Coordinating
in country* members** zoos
EEPs*** ESBs***
1
0
0
0
0
46
22 (6)
11
22
19
1
0
0
0
0
Norway
7
0
0
0
0
Portugal
25
7 (1)
2
1
3
Romania
19
1 (1)
0
0
0
Serbia
4
0
0
0
0
Poland
Qatar
18
1
Russian Federation 50
12 (1)
1
4
6
1
1
4
0
0
14
1
1
Slovakia
4
2
1
0
1
Spain
50
17 (1)
6
9
6
Switzerland
66
10 (1)
2
5
2
Slovenia
Sweden
4
26
1
14 (1)
1
2
0
3
2
1
Tadjikistan
1
0
0
0
0
Ukraine
16
1
0
0
0
51 (1)
28
46
56
Turkey
2
UAE
3
Uzbekistan
3
Total
1,320
United Kingdom 165
U.S.A.
n/a
1
2
0
2 (2)
320 (25)
0
0
0
0
123
0
0
0
0
170
0
0
0
0
168
* Not evaluated as such, but reasonable-sized institutions conforming to 1999 EU Zoo
Directive. Solely using the EU Zoo Directive as a guide would probably more than
double the numbers.
** Numbers in parenthesis refer to non-zoos included in the total which are in the
main zoo associations but have no direct programme relevance or animals.
*** Some programmes have no coordinator for various reasons, so they are not
included.
103
International Zoo News Vol. 58, No. 2 (2011), pp. 104–107
SOME NOTES ON ORANG-UTAN
CAPTIVE HISTORY AND
LONGEVITY
BY RICHARD WEIGL
I read with great interest the article ‘The discovery and early captive history
of the orang-utan’ by Don Cousins [IZN 56 (2), 82–87]. However, the date of
1903 given – on the authority of Marvin Jones (1982) – for the first orangutan to arrive at Frankfurt Zoo is not correct. The zoo had already acquired
its first orang-utan, a young female from Borneo, on 2 September 1873: she
was a gift from the consul, Edward Jacobson. She lived in Frankfurt for only
a short time and died of chronic enteritis on 16 October the same year, as a
result of her inappropriate diet on the voyage to Europe. Two more orangs
came to the zoo from Borneo in February and October 1878, and as a result
Dr Max Schmidt (director, 1859–1885) published ‘Beobachtungen am Orang
Utan’ (‘observations on the orang-utan) in Der Zoologische Garten Vols. 19
and 20 (1878/1879). An individual of unknown (sub)species arrived in 1893
but lived for only three weeks. On 15 April 1900 Frankfurt Zoo received its
first Sumatran orang-utan, a juvenile male called Seemann donated by Karl
Maschmeyer, a German resident in Deli, Sumatra. Seemann lived at the zoo
until 15 February 1903 when he died of pneumonia. In fact, orang-utans had
already been sent to Frankfurt as early as 1861, but had not survived the
journey.
On a related topic, it may be worth considering the ages reached by the worldfamous Sumatran orang-utans, the male Guas and the female Guarina, at
Philadelphia Zoo (Pennsylvania, U.S.A.). Much was written about this pair in
the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, when they had become well-known far beyond
America for being the oldest recorded orang-utans in captivity (Anon., 1976,
1977; Crandall, 1964; Jones, 1968, 1982; Ulmer, 1957, 1958, 1966). Even the
booklet Das Urwaldhaus im Zoo Hannover (‘The jungle house at Hanover Zoo’)
published a portrait of Guas (Dittrich, 1982)! At the time, both animals’ ages
attracted much public and scientific attention, only to sink quickly back into
oblivion. Unfortunately, a recent article by W. Puschmann and C. Becker (2008)
calls into question Guas’s and Guarina’s record-breaking ages. However, as the
authors’ case remains unconvincing it may be useful to briefly recapitulate the
salient facts about these animals’ life-histories.
In 1927–28 the animal dealer Hermann Ruhe (3.6.1895–27.7.1978) organized
(partly through the Perin company in Amsterdam) three large shipments of
orang-utans from northern Sumatra. The animals had been captured by Ruhe’s
Dutch animal collector Mijnheer van Goens with a group of assistants. The 44
animals in the third and final batch, as well as those in the first (25, in April
1927) and second (33, on 29 August 1927), came from the province of Aceh. The
first two shipments went to Ruhe’s headquarters in Alfeld an der Leine in
Germany before being sold on, but the 1928 batch was shipped via Marseilles to
Cros de Cagnes, France. Arriving in the second half of March, the animals did
104
not remain very long in Cros de Cagnes. A Russian émigré, Georges Basilewsky,
had set up a modest zoo called ‘Station d’Acclimatation de la Riviera’ on a large
plot of land between Nice and Cannes. Ruhe became a partner in this zoo,
making funds available and building an acclimatisation and quarantine facility
for animals imported from distant countries. (Basilewsky later became internationally famous for his lemur collection.) Shortly after the third shipment took
place the capture and export of orang-utans from Sumatra was prohibited by the
Dutch government.
Guas and Guarina, two of the August 1927 group, were sent to Rosaliá Abreu
(14.1.1862–4.11.1930), a wealthy amateur collector and keeper of primates in
Quinta Palatino near Havana, Cuba. Abreu’s primate colony is famous for the
first captive chimpanzee birth on 27 April 1915 (Wynne, 2008). It was not long
after his arrival in Quinta Palatino that the male, Guas, proved his fertility. His
first offspring with his partner Guarina, a female named Alberic, the fourth
captive-bred orang-utan, was born in July 1929, following mating in about
October/November 1928. Female orang-utans are sexually mature at seven or
eight years old and males at eight or nine.
Following the death of Mrs Abreu, Guas and Guarina, together with their
daughter Alberic and some primates of other species, were brought from Cuba
by C. Emerson Brown (director of Philadelphia Zoo, 1919 to 1935) and Philadelphia’s primate keeper Jimmy McCrosson. Mrs Tyson, the wife of Zoological
Society board member Carroll S. Tyson, Jr., donated the funds ($5,500) for the
purchase of Guas, Guarina and Alberic. The animals arrived safe and sound at
Philadelphia Zoo on 1 May 1931. The Bulletin of the Zoological Society of
Philadelphia has two excellent, historic photos, one of Guarina with baby
Alberic and the other of Guas, taken shortly after their arrival in Philadelphia
(Anon., 1931), and states: ‘These huge apes differ very decidedly from any of the
Borneo species. . . The male (Guas) is a full-grown breeding animal and has a
very long beard.’ As they were wild-caught their dates of birth were unknown,
but as they were full-grown, a cautious estimate of 12–13 years is wholly
credible. Alberic died of pneumonia in Philadelphia Zoo on 5 March 1932.
Guas mated with a Bornean female, Maggie, but she died on 13 June 1932
two days after giving birth prematurely (Jones, 1968, with a detailed history
of Guas and Guarina). Guarina gave birth again on 22 February 1935, 13
June 1937, 24 November 1940, 6 October 1943, 20 August 1946, 6 December
1949, 5 September 1952 and, finally, 25 January 1955. All these eight were
reared by Guarina herself. Guarina must have been aged between 35 and 36
at the time of the birth of her ninth and last infant with Guas on 25 January
1955. According to Cousins (p. 86), ‘The female at the latter zoo, Guarina,
gave birth to her ninth infant in 1955 when aged about 45 years (Fisher,
1966).’ This is a mistake: James Fisher quotes 35 years in his book Zoos of the
World (1966). By the time of his death Guas had sired 14 offspring with three
females. These included four by his daughter Ivy (born 13 June 1937 at
Philadelphia Zoo, died at the zoo 24 July 1972), born on 16.8.1950, 27.12.1953,
3.9.1958 and 3.5.1961, but none survived.
Guas and Guarina were the first captive apes to reach an age of over 50 years.
(Being wild-caught, they did not actually live as long as 50 years in captivity –
see below.) Guarina had to be put to sleep in Philadelphia Zoo on 16 January
1976 (Anon., 1976). The autopsy revealed that ‘she had suffered from arteriolar
nephrosclerosis’ (a form of kidney failure caused by disease of the organ’s small
arteries). Her weight at death was 44.1 kg. Her partner Guas died at the zoo on
105
9 February 1977 (Anon., 1977). He weighed 62.8 kg. The post-mortem showed
that ‘he had been suffering from extensive arteriosclerosis [hardening of the
arteries], and as a result of his aging and weakened condition developed
pneumonia which was the actual cause of death.’ Guas was the last animal to be
caught by van Goens in Sumatra.
Guas and Guarina’s home from 1931 was Philadelphia’s brick-built Monkey
and Ape House (1896–1983), where the famous male western lowland gorilla
Massa lived from 30.12.1935 until his death on 30.12.1984; at around 53 years
and six months, Massa held the gorilla longevity record for over 25 years, until
he was recently overtaken by the female Colo, born on 22 December 1956 and
still living at Columbus Zoo, Ohio [see IZN 53 (8), 470–473 (2006)]. After
Guarina’s death Guas was moved to the Rare Mammal House in early 1977, not
long before he died.
After their deaths, Guas’s and Guarina’s remains were conveyed to the
Smithsonian Institute Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. The 49
years and 7 months and 48 years and 6 months spent respectively by Guas and
Guarina on board ship (56 days’ journey to Europe), in Alfeld an der Leine,
Quinta Palatino and Philadelphia are beyond dispute, as are their estimated
ages of 57–59 years (Guas) and 56–58 years (Guarina). They hold the longevity
record for captive orang-utans (Pongo spp.) to this day (Jones, 1995; Weigl,
2005).
The female Sumatran orang-utan at Miami Metrozoo (now Zoo Miami) listed
in my book Longevity of Mammals in Captivity, named Nonja, died on 29
December 2007. She had lived for 55 years and 1 month first at Wassenaar Zoo
(the Netherlands) and then in Miami, and reached the age of 55 years and 6
months. The female Bornean orang-utan Mori, who arrived at Ueno Zoo, Tokyo,
on 5 November 1955, was still alive on 5 March 2011. She was born in Borneo
around 1952 and taken from there first to Bandung Zoo, Indonesia. The Mayor
of Bandung gave her as a present to the industrialist and politician Tatsunosuke
Takasaki, intended for Ueno Zoo. On 29 May 1961 Mori gave birth to her first
infant, a female named Hatsuko, the first orang-utan bred in Japan. She reared
four infants in all, who were transferred to other zoos. On 9 November 2005 she
was moved to Tama Zoo Park in Tokyo. Mori has lived for 55 years and 4 months
in two Tokyo zoos. The maximally c. 58-year-old female is now waiting in Tama
Zoo as the next possible record-breaking individual of her genus.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Beth Bahner and Rachael De Caro of Philadelphia Zoo, Prof. Clive
D.L. Wynne (Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville), Kyoko
Kuroda and Mitsuhiro Terada of Ueno Zoo, Tokyo, and Ken Kawata. Thanks, also,
to Garry Blackman for translating the piece from German into English.
References
Anon. (1931): Bulletin of the Zoological Society of Philadelphia Vol. 6, No. 1
(April–May 1931).
Anon. (1976): World’s record primate dies. America’s First Zoo Vol. 28, No. 1
(March 1976).
Anon. (1977): Guas, world’s oldest primate, dies. America’s First Zoo (April/May
1977).
106
Crandall, L.S. (1964): The Management of Wild Mammals in Captivity. University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.
Dittrich, S. (1982): Das Urwaldhaus im Zoo Hannover. Hannover Zoo.
Fisher, J. (1966): Zoos of the World. Aldus, London.
Jones, M.L. (1968): Longevity of primates in captivity. International Zoo Yearbook 8: 183–192.
Jones, M.L. (1982): The orang-utan in captivity. In The Orang Utan: Its Biology
and Conservation (ed. L.E.M. de Boer), pp. 17–37. Dr W. Junk Publishers, The
Hague, the Netherlands.
Jones, M.L. (1995): Mammalian Longevity Records, an Update, December 1995.
(Unpublished typescript.)
Puschmann, W., and Becker, C. (2008): Erkenntnisse aus der fortpflanzungsbiologischen Biografie des Leipziger weiblichen Sumatra-OrangUtans ‘Dunja’ (Pongo abelii) und aus dem Vergleich von Datenmaterial
anderer Orang-Utans. Der Zoologische Garten Vol. 77, No. 5–6: 287–296.
Ulmer, F. (1957): Breeding of orang-utans. Der Zoologische Garten Vol. 23, No.
1/3: 57–65.
Ulmer, F. (1958): Rusty becomes a backenwulster! America’s First Zoo Vol. 10,
No. 2: 7.
Ulmer, F. (1966): First orang-utan born in Rare Mammal House. America’s First
Zoo Vol. 18, No. 3: 17–20.
Weigl, R. (2005): Longevity of Mammals in Captivity; From the Living Collections of the World. E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart.
Wynne, C.D.L. (2008): Rosaliá Abreu and the apes of Havana. International
Journal of Primatology 29: 289–302.
Richard Weigl, Frankfurt am Main, Germany ([email protected]).
Conference on Behaviour, Physiology and Genetics of Wildlife
The Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) and the
European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) announce the 8th
International Conference on Behaviour, Physiology and Genetics of
Wildlife. It will be held in Berlin between 14 and 17 September 2011.
The aim of the meeting is to foster an exchange of ideas among international specialists from many disciplines working with free-ranging and
captive animals. To achieve this aim the organizers have secured an
impressive list of plenary speakers and workshop organisers.
Online registration is open now. Follow the link atwww.izw-berlin.de
or directly at https://www.bayceer.uni-bayreuth.de/izw8/.
107
International Zoo News Vol. 58, No. 2 (2011), pp. 109–111
BOOK REVIEWS
AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF
BRISTOL ZOO GARDENS by Tim
Brown, Alan Ashby and Christoph
Schwitzer. Independent Zoo Enthusiasts Society, 2011. 192 pp., over 350
illustrations, hardback. ISBN 978–0–
9563831–3–6. £15.00 + £3.00 p&p (U.K.)
from Bristol Zoo, online at www.
bristolzoo.org.uk/web-shop or by sending a cheque payable to ‘Bristol Zoo
Enterprises’ to Maggie Pearson, Bristol Zoo, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 3HA. (For
overseas orders, contact mpearson
@bristolzoo.org.uk.)
Even the most well-informed zoo aficionado might be hard-pressed to name, in
order, the world’s five oldest surviving
zoos. Schönbrunn (1753), the Jardin des
Plantes (1793), London (1828) – easy so
far. Dublin (1830) is less predictable, and
Bristol (1836) is more surprising still.
The establishment at that time of a zoological society’s gardens just outside a
provincial sea-port town in England’s West
Country seems unlikely enough in itself:
that the zoo is still flourishing 175 years
later, and despite its small size (5 hectares) is well known and respected in zoo
circles worldwide, is truly remarkable.
An Illustrated History of Bristol Zoo
Gardens is the latest production of the
Independent Zoo Enthusiasts Society,
which emerged as a significant publisher
of zoo books with the appearance in 2009
of We Went to the Zoo Today and The
IZES Guide to British Zoos and Aquariums [both reviewed in IZN 56 (7), 417–
420]. The authors of those two books are
here joined by Christoph Schwitzer, the
zoo’s Head of Research. They relate the
history of the zoo from its foundation by
the Bristol, Clifton and West of England
Zoological Society to the present (with a
glimpse into the future, when it is hoped
that a 55-ha country estate belonging to
the Society may be developed into the
‘National Wildlife Conservation Park’).
Along with the usual anecdotes – escapes, animal and human ‘characters’
and celebrities – they chronicle the zoo’s
historic achievements, such as Europe’s
first captive-bred chimpanzee (1934) and
Britain’s first captive-bred black rhino
(1958), okapi (1966 – an earlier calf born
in 1963 died after only 19 days) and
gorilla (1971), and world-first examples
of a nocturnal house (1953) and glass
viewing panels in a big cat exhibit (1951).
Some aspects of Bristol Zoo’s past are an
indication of how attitudes have changed:
from the 1960s to the 1980s it was famous for its white tigers – beautiful animals, certainly, as I recall from a visit to
Bristol in about 1970, but regarded as
politically incorrect in most zoo circles
today. The zoo’s decision in 1986 to stop
keeping these popular and iconic animals was a brave one, but indicates a
commitment to conservation which can
only be applauded.
Today’s official name, Bristol Zoo Gardens, may offend pedants – such as me –
as a tautology, since ‘zoo’ is itself a contraction of ‘zoological gardens’. (It is interesting to note, by the way, that the
first record of the abbreviation occurs
not, as is sometimes stated, in the 1867
song ‘Walking in the Zoo on Sunday’, but
in a comment made by Lord Macaulay
about 20 years earlier, and with reference not to London but to Bristol.) But
there is some excuse for the name in the
fact that great importance has always
been attached to the horticultural side of
the enterprise – the zoo’s flower beds, for
example, are deservedly famous, and it
holds some specialist plant collections of
national importance.
Excellent as is the text of this book, it
would probably be fair to say that it is
overshadowed by the illustrations: appearing on almost every page, they are of
exceptional variety and interest. Alan
Ashby, who was chiefly responsible for
assembling them, has cast his net very
109
wide, from early 19th-century engravings and watercolours to 21st-century
architects’ drawings. There are numerous items of memorabilia and printed
ephemera – postcards, guidebook covers,,
newspaper cuttings, posters, historic maps
(including a pull-out reproduction of the
original 1835 plan for the site), letters
from E.H. Bostock the menagerie owner
and Carl Hagenbeck the animal dealer. . .
And then there are the photos, ranging
through from 1854 to the present. Some
are of unusual animals – a gerenuk, a
kagu, a moloch gibbon, a naked mole-rat.
Some are of general historical rather than
zoological interest, like the ones of
wounded soldiers visiting the zoo during
World War I. Many, for readers of my
generation, are a nostalgic reminder of
the days when keepers wore suits and
peaked caps. All in all, it is hard to see
how the history of a zoo could be better
presented – in a way that will appeal to
the general reader without disappointing
those with more specialist interests.
Nicholas Gould
OTTO ANTONIUS – WEGBEREITER
DER TIERGARTENBIOLOGIE edited by D. Schratter and G. Heindl.
Braumüller, Vienna, 2010. 226 pp. + 8
pp. of colour illustrations, 65 blackand-white illustrations, paperback.
ISBN 978–3–7003–1677. €24.90.
Tiergarten Schönbrunn is one of the tiny
number of zoos that employ an historian.
As a result a series of books on the history
of this Viennese zoo have been published
which have been reviewed in IZN. The
latest such publication has as its subject
Otto Antonius, who was born 125 years
ago and died (by suicide) 65 years ago.
Three authors treat the life and work of
Antonius. Gerhard Heindl, Schönbrunn’s
historian, wrote the biography. Thomas
Druml, research assistant at Vienna’s
University of Natural Resources and Life
Sciences and University of Veterinary
Medicine, gives an overview of Antonius’s
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studies on horses. Hellmuth Wachtel,
who researches the genetics of dogs, investigates the importance of Antonius’s
research on domestic animals.
Otto Antonius was the first scientific
zoologist to serve as director of the Menagerie Schönbrunn (the zoo’s name from
its foundation in 1752 until 1926). Even
Alois Kraus (director 1879–1919), who
changed the Menagerie into a modern zoo
in Austria’s imperial period [see the review of Heindl’sStart in die Moderne, IZN
53 (6), 350 (2006)], did not have any academic education. Only a few veterinarians who were employed at the Menagerie had an academic background. Otto
Antonius had studied zoology and palaeontology in Vienna, laying the foundation
for his scientific work on equids and on
the domestication of animals. His connection with Menagerie Schönbrunn began
after World War I, in 1918, when he wrote
a memorandum about the maintenance
and development of the collection. This
paper contains many ideas which are still
part of Schönbrunn’s thinking or have
been put into effect in the years since,
most recently the ‘ORANG.erie’, a new
orang-utan enclosure created in 2009 –
91 years after Antonius’s memorandum
– in the old palm house of the botanical
garden. This interesting paper is preserved only as a ten-page typescript, and
it is not known if it had any influence in
1918. Maybe it will be published later in
another book of the series, as an important document of the zoo’s history.
In 1922 Antonius published his Grundzüge einer Stammesgeschichte der Haustiere
(‘Outlines of the phylogeny of domestic
animals’), a theme he continued to work on
during his time as director of Schönbrunn,
a post to which he was appointed on 1
December 1925. Heindl gives many details
of his work as director and as professor at
the university, of his membership of the
Gesellschaft für Tierpsychologie and his
connections and friendship with many
important scientists and zoo directors. He
shows that Antonius was one of the pioneers of zoo biology.
Heindl has made special researches
into the time of the German occupation of
Austria and Antonius’s connections with
the NSDAP (the Nazi party). He was a
member of the Austrian NSDAP from
1932 and, before that, of the Grossdeutsche Volkspartei (‘Greater German
People’s Party’) from 1928. Even when
the Austrian NSDAP was made illegal in
1933 he retained his membership, and as
a result was removed from the directorship between March 1934 and January
1937. It is obvious that Antonius was a
Pan-Germanist who thought his ideals
were best represented by the NSDAP. As
far as is known, however, he was not
interested in the racism and other ideological beliefs of the NSDAP and was
never a propagandist or active member of
the party. He did, though, try to use his
connections to get more support for
Schönbrunn and the expansion of its
grounds. Planning began in 1941 but the
war made it impossible to realize this
project. Antonius also tried to get support
for his scientific interests, especially for
his idea of a research institute of hippology,
but these developments too proved impossible in the circumstances of the time.
At the end of the war Antonius and his
wife committed suicide, as did so many
members and leaders of the NSDAP. In
his letter to his colleagues at the zoo he
declared that he could not change his
mind after he had believed in the PanGermanist ideas for so many years.
The other two chapters are of very special interest. Thomas Druml shows how
Antonius was occupied throughout his
career with research on equids in all its
aspects from palaeontology to art, and
especially the domestication of horses,
the different breeds and the history of
their origins. Druml provides details of
Antonius’s research and gives an insight
into the methods and problems of this
research which still exist today. Antonius
was also engaged in the breeding of a
tarpan-like domestic horse. He wrote
about the natural history of the tarpan
and gave this extinct wild horse its scien-
tific name. Together with Vetulani he
supported the tarpan ‘breeding back’
(Rückzüchtung) project in Poland. Despite the importance of Antonius’s research on zebras and his still important
work Die Tigerpferde – die Zebras, which
was edited for publication after his death
by Erna Mohr, his research on zebras is
only very briefly mentioned. Druml gives
much more space to the historic studies
on domestic horses. He summarizes this
research with the comment: ‘Today we do
not know much more about the subject of
hippology over this period [the last 500
years] than what Antonius published.’
Helmuth Wachtel compares Antonius’s
Grundzüge einer Stammesgeschichte der
Haustiere with our modern knowledge of
the phylogeny of domestic animals. It is
interesting to see that Antonius was not
far from today’s insights in some cases,
though in others he has been superseded
by modern scientific techniques he could
not have anticipated. He was aware of
new developments in this area of research, as shown by a speech he made in
1940, but since then such sciences as
genetics have advanced far further. At
Schönbrunn he experimented with hybrids such as ‘zebroids’, crossbred different species of pheasant and bison, and
tried to keep and study as many breeds of
domestic animals as possible.
Otto Antonius – Wegbereiter der
Tiergartenbiologie gives a good insight
into the life of an interesting zoo director
who used all his time at the zoo for
intensive and important research. Like
all the other books in the series it is
written in German and well illustrated.
In its scientific part it goes beyond zoo
history and zoo biology and gives an overview of modern ideas on domestication
and research on horses. So it will be of
interest not only to people who are focused on zoos and zoo history but also to
anybody who wants to get concise information on two fields of zoology in which
Antonius was deeply involved.
Harro Strehlow
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International Zoo News Vol. 58, No. 2 (2011), pp. 112–119
CONSERVATION
Conserving Amazonian rain forest
in Peru
On 10 March 2011 San Diego Zoo Global
will play a key role in helping to conserve
the Amazonian rain forest by taking on
management responsibility for a conservation and research station located in
the Manu Biosphere Reserve in Peru.
This will be the first South Americanbased field station for San Diego Zoo and
marks a significant extension of its commitment to the region.
Manu National Park is located in the
western Amazon and is recognized by
UNESCO as a World Heritage Site: as
such, it is protected as a biosphere preserve. It is one of the most biodiverse
lowland tropical forests in the world and
is considered one of the most pristine
ecosystems on the planet.
‘Cocha Cashu Biological Station, which
is part of the Manu Biosphere Reserve,
represents a significant expansion of our
conservation efforts,’ said Allison Alberts,
chief conservation and research officer
for San Diego Zoo Global. ‘We are inheriting a legacy of inestimable value and
look forward to the challenge of understanding and conserving the unique and
important biodiversity of Manu.’
Through the San Diego Zoo Institute
for Conservation Research, San Diego
Zoo Global currently manages field programs in more than 35 countries around
the world. The new Peruvian-based station will be an important addition to the
organization’s existing conservation research stations, including three field stations in Cameroon’s Ebo Forest, a California condor release site in Mexico, endangered bird breeding centers in Hawaii and San Clemente Island, and the
Desert Tortoise Conservation Center in
Nevada.
Encompassing almost 6,000 square
miles [15,500 km2], the Manu Biosphere
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Reserve is protected as a national park
by the Peruvian Department of Protected
Areas in the Ministry of Environment.
San Diego Zoo Global, which will officially take over management of the field
station at the beginning of summer, will
be working with an existing team of Peruvian scientists in a collaborative effort
to develop conservation science-based
projects that study the many high-profile
species that live in the Amazonian
ecosphere.
‘Manu is unrivaled in its biodiversity,’
said Ron Swaisgood, director of applied
animal ecology at the San Diego Zoo
Institute for Conservation Research. ‘This
project will allow us to expand our conservation efforts and develop partnerships with some of the key organizations
and scientists working in the area.’
The park is estimated to be home to
more than 1,000 bird species, 200 species
of reptile and amphibian, 125 species of
mammal and 40 species of fish. Living in
the area of the field station are such rare
and charismatic species as jaguars, giant
river turtles, Goeldi’s monkeys, black
caimans, lowland tapirs, and giant river
otters. The only human inhabitants of
the region are indigenous groups including the Machigenga tribe and five other
tribes that remain ‘uncontacted’ by Western society.
San Diego Zoo Global staff will maintain the station, making it available for
researchers from other organizations and
as a premier field research site and training facility for conservation scientists.
‘We plan to put out the welcome mat as
we open this new facility,’ said Alan
Lieberman, director of regional conservation programs at the Institute. ‘Our
goal is to make this site available to the
world’s conservation researchers to use
as a living laboratory. We invite scientists from around the world to come work
with us here in Cocha Cashu.’
Large herbivores could save
Europe’s butterflies
Nine per cent of Europe’s butterfly species are threatened with extinction, and
a third of some 482 species have experienced a decline in their population. Intensive farming, climate change, intensive tourism and abandonment of farmland are all destroying butterflies’ natural habitat – flowery meadows.
There were large grassland habitats in
Europe long before the arrival of the first
farmers. At the time, land was occupied
by herds of large herbivores. There were
pastures across large areas, and in many
places European nature looked like savanna or steppe scattered with shrubs
and trees. ‘It was a European Serengeti,’
says Martin Konvicka from the Entomology Institute of the Academy of Sciences
of the Czech Republic.
Many people believe that before the
first farmers arrived, Europe was covered by forests. According to experts, this
was not quite the case. ‘Herds of large
herbivores created pastures on a large
part of the continent and did not allow
the trees to form thick growth,’ says
Konvicka. It was European bison, aurochs
and wild horses that formed the appearance of the European landscape. However, in past centuries, two of these three
key species were wiped out by humans.
Their role was, for a while, substituted
by domestic animals. But with the depopulation of rural areas and the modernisation of farming, the numbers of
domestic animals have started to decline. Meadows are being replaced by
forests or fields and butterflies are losing
their natural habitat.
Although in some areas conservation
workers ensure pastures are kept mown,
more permanent solutions need to be
found. The director of the conservation
organisation European Wildlife, Dalibor
Dostal, said: ‘If butterflies are to be saved
as well as other species of insect, birds or
small mammals, we need to return large
herbivores back to European nature.’
The European bison has already been
released into the wild in Poland, Belarus,
Slovakia and Germany; other reintroduction projects are being planned in
Romania and the Czech Republic. At the
same time, projects have been emerging
recently concerning backbreeding the
aurochs and European wild horses from
primitive domestic breeds where the most
genes have been preserved from their
ancestors.
‘It is in the interest of European nature
that the projects continue successfully.
Moreover, in Europe they should be coordinated in such a way that the outcome is
one breed of the newly-recreated aurochs
and one breed of the newly-recreated
wild horse for the whole continent,’ adds
Dostal.
Nowadays, in contrast to past decades,
experts can employ DNA analysis of the
extinct wild horses and aurochs. Thanks
to that, they can breed animals that are as
close to the original species as possible.
Wildlife Extra News
(www.wildlifeextra.com), 20 April
2011
Few hopes to save the most
threatened bird in the Middle East
The northern bald ibis (Geronticus
eremita) is listed by the IUCN as Critically Endangered on a global scale. It
was rediscovered on a remote cliff of the
Syrian desert in April 2002 [see IZN 49
(7), 422 (2002); 53 (3), 166–7 (2006); 54
(1), 42–43, (6), 361; 56 (5), 318; 57 (1), 35],
following clues from local hunters and
Bedouin nomads, in the framework of a
UN/DGCS (Italian Development Cooperation) general fauna survey of the area.
It suddenly became the rarest and most
threatened bird in the Middle East! It is
a fascinating bird not only because of the
symbolic values attached to it during
millennia: it is also the contrast between
its wrinkled and bald appearance as seen
from close distance, with the majestic
elegance and beauty of its flight over the
desert horizon.
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‘IUCN and BirdLife International chose
to attempt to save this bird as it is a
symbol and flagship for the rampant ecological degradation and desertification
of the Syrian steppe, driving so many
people into poverty and hardship’, said
Dr Odeh Al-Jayyousi, IUCN West Asia
Regional Director.
However, preventing extinction of a
long-range migratory bird starting from
a few surviving individuals, is something
so far attempted with success only in the
U.S.A. (famous is the case of the whooping crane). It is certainly much easier to
rescue a threatened bird that is resident
– for instance the crested ibis, rediscovered in China in the 1980s, was successfully rescued from extinction over a 30year period. Interestingly, this ibis is
like the ‘photographic negative’ of the
bald ibis.
In 2006, the Syrian First Lady, Asma
Al-Assad, played a crucial role in making
the satellite tagging operation and the
consequent discovery of the migratory
route become true. It was then discovered that these ibises cross eight countries twice a year during their migratory
flight from the Syrian desert to the Ethiopian highlands.
Hunting at breeding grounds in Syria
was curbed thanks to the efforts of the
General Badia Commission. Minimizing
disturbance by people during breeding is
still an ongoing effort as interest in the
birds attracts many visitors and eco-tourists every year. IUCN is assisting the
Syrian General Badia Commission in
developing an Ibis Protected Area according to international standards, in
Palmyra. On the other hand, thanks to
the key cooperation of the Ethiopian
Wildlife and Natural History Society, it
was proved throughout recent years that
there are no short-term threats at the
wintering grounds in Ethiopia.
Satellite tracking enabled researchers
to identify the two most likely severe
threats causing a high mortality of immature ibises along western Arabia:
hunting and electrocution by cables. This
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discovery has important and general conservation implications, as the ibis migratory route along western Arabia is a major
flyway used by other threatened soaring
birds (sociable plover, slender-billed curlew, greater spotted eagle, imperial eagle, lesser kestrel, pallid harrier) and
several other declining ones (demoiselle
crane, common crane, steppe eagle, white
stork).
In July 2009, two immature birds in
Palmyra were tagged with satellite transmitters. One of them was named Julia in
honor of IUCN Director General Mrs
Julia Marton Lefevre, who had visited
the colony earlier in the spring of 2009.
At the end of the first day of migration, on
20 July 2009, and as soon as the birds
reached the village of Tabarjal in northern Saudi Arabia, the ibis Julia was shot
down.
The Saudi Wildlife Commission was
ready to cooperate and take the lead in
monitoring the ibis migratory route in
Saudi with technical assistance from
IUCN and BirdLife. During an expedition in March 2010, the Bald Ibis project
team met with the hunter who killed ibis
Julia in July 2009 and handed to him
some awareness-raising material and
pictures on the threatened bird. Another
successful expedition of satellite tracking was implemented jointly by the Syrian General Badia Commission and the
Saudi Wildlife Commission during summer 2010.
The Syrian First Lady was again instrumental in involving the Turkish First
Lady and the Turkish Ministry of Forestry to start a key ibis transnational
cooperation between the two countries.
This has led to the carrying out of a longsought supplementation test at the breeding grounds last summer in Palmyra, the
first test of its kind in the Middle East.
Two chicks born in captivity in Turkey,
belonging to the same genetic stock as
the Syrian-born ones, were released at
the wild colony in Palmyra. Amazingly,
they followed one of the wild adults for
almost 1,500 km along the migratory
route down to southern Saudi Arabia.
‘The hope is now to replicate this key
operation this year and improve it, as it
is clearly crucial in order to reinforce the
last known wild ibis colony in the Middle
East,’ said Khaldoun Alomari, IUCN
West Asia Protected Areas Programme
Officer.
Some days ago, Zenobia, an adult female, safely arrived in Palmyra, as the
first of the colony, cheered by the rangers
of the General Badia Commission. It was
H.E. Prince Badar bin Saud himself,
President of the Saudi Wildlife Commission, who stated that a hunter from the
same group as those who had killed Julia
in 2009, had met Zenobia in the middle of
the vast Saudi northern desert a few
days before she reached Syria. This time,
however, instead of shooting they recognized it as a threatened bald ibis and just
took a picture! ‘Raising awareness of
hunters along the migratory route is now
one of the most urgent priorities to be
pursued in the short term,’ added
Alomari.
Despite the faint hope of saving the last
few eastern bald ibises, the project partners are still determined to continue with
this challenging conservation effort.
Dr Gianluca Serra
Funding needed for Australian
gene bank
One of Australia’s most valuable biological resources is lying dormant due to a
lack of funding. Known as the ‘frozen
zoo’, the Animal Gene Resource Centre of
Australia, at Monash University’s
Clayton campus, contains samples of
blood, saliva, skin and reproductive tissue from more than 100 rare, threatened
and endangered species.
The 16-year-old collection – the world’s
first national animal gene bank – is part
of a worldwide database designed to secure the genetic diversity of threatened
or endangered species. However, Australia’s ‘biobank’ branch has struggled to
secure continued funding after advocate
and inaugural chairman Alan Trounson
left the country to work in the U.S.A.
This coincided with biotech company
Norwood Abbey ending its financial support.
The last deposit at the ‘zoo’ – a joint
venture between Monash and the Zoological Parks Board of New South Wales
– was made two years ago. Since then,
project director Ian Gunn estimates the
outfit has missed out on dozens of samples, as there are no staff available to
process them. ‘The demise of the Australian gene bank would be a serious blow to
our efforts to preserve our native heritage,’ Dr Gunn said. ‘Gene banks are our
insurance for the future in preserving
the genetic resources of our wildlife.’
Australia has the highest mammalian
extinction rate in the world, largely due
to introduced species such as foxes, cats
and rats, and habitat loss. More than 20
species have been lost since the start of
European settlement. Native species that
would benefit from the banking of diverse genetic data before their populations dwindle are pure dingoes, the northern hairy-nosed wombat and the New
Holland hopping mouse, of which there
are just three isolated populations remaining in Victoria.
Co-founder of the National Dingo Preservation and Recovery Program Ernest
Healy said the frozen zoo might provide
the best chance for the dingo’s long-term
survival. ‘The preservation of as broad a
sample of DNA as possible from the extant population for future conservation
efforts is now essential,’ he said.
Dr Gunn estimates the frozen zoo, which
stores samples in liquid nitrogen at minus 196°C to keep them viable for 100
years, needs about $150,000 a year to
operate. The collection is maintained by
volunteers – Dr Gunn and Dr Chris
Mayberry – and the goodwill of Monash,
which covers the running costs of about
$20,000 a year.
The zoo is part of the 16-member Frozen Ark Project, coordinated from the
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school of biology at the University of
Nottingham in Britain. Participants include London’s Natural History Museum
and the American Museum of Natural
History.
Animals in Australia’s ‘frozen zoo’ include bilby, black rhinoceros, cheetah,
jaguar, koala, Leadbeater’s possum,
northern hairy-nosed wombat, parma
wallaby, short-beaked echidna and
Sumatran tiger.
Siamese crocodiles lay first eggs at
a new facility in Cambodia
Cambodia’s critically endangered Siamese crocodile (Crocodylus siamensis) took
a step back from the brink of extinction
this week when a captive pair in Phnom
Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre built a
nest and laid their first eggs.
Previously Cambodia was home to two
crocodile species. The saltwater crocodile
is now believed to have vanished from the
country, while the Siamese crocodile, long
believed also to be extinct there, was
rediscovered a decade ago in the Cardamom Mountains by a team from Fauna &
Flora International (FFI) and the Forestry Administration of Cambodia.
The Siamese crocodile has long been
prized for its skin, and over-hunting has
caused numbers to decline drastically.
Estimates currently put the total wild
population at fewer than 250 individuals. Development of hydroelectric dams
in current crocodile habitats look likely
to create further threats for this species,
leading conservationists to attempt a
captive conservation breeding programme.
It generally takes a Siamese crocodile
up to 15 years to become sexually mature
and able to breed. Keepers at the facility
first noticed breeding activity in December 2010. On 12 March a female began
gathering nesting material. Biologists
quickly examined the top layer of the
nest on 22 March, confirming that there
were at least 12 eggs; in all, there are
likely to be double this number. ‘This is
116
great news,’ said Adam Starr, FFI’s
Project Manager of the Cambodia Crocodile Conservation Project. ‘If we can successfully breed Siamese crocodiles in captivity and release the young into the wild
once they are large enough to be safe
from predators, it gives the species a
fighting chance.’
The new captive-breeding facility was
opened in Phnom Tamao, outside Phnom
Penh, in September 2010 [see IZN 57 (5),
294 (2010)]. Supported by the Disney
Wildlife Conservation Fund and the AZA,
the facility provides an environment to
encourage breeding. ‘This new facility
will provide a more focused effort, increasing the number of pure-bred
Siamese crocodiles for release in the future and helping to secure the species’
numbers in the wild,’ said Lonnie
McCaskill of Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Crocodiles are shy creatures and need a
quiet environment if they are to breed.
‘We have had crocodiles at Phnom Tamao
for many years, but we didn’t know if
they were pure-breds until we conducted
DNA analysis in 2009 with assistance
from FFI. This is the first nest in the new
facility, which shows that the crocodiles
find it satisfactory,’ said Mr Nhek
Ratanapich, Director of Phnom Tamao.
Fauna & Flora International press
release, 28 March 2011
Algorithm finds the hairy-nosed
wombat not worth saving
It’s a bad day to be a northern hairynosed wombat. Researchers at James
Cook University and the University of
Adelaide have come up with a new algorithm that ranks endangered species
based on how much effort should be expended in an attempt to save them. The
northern hairy-nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus krefftii), which is one of the rarest
large mammals in the world even though
it roamed across almost all of Australia
as recently as 100 years ago, didn’t make
the cut. It’s the ‘Google search’ approach
– except the poor wombat doesn’t show
up until page 10 of your results.
There’s only so much money out there
available for conservation efforts. And that
number, whatever it might be, isn’t enough
to save even a fraction of the species that
are currently teetering on the brink of
extinction, according to Corey Bradshaw, a
professor at the University of Adelaide
who worked on the team that developed
the new algorithm. ‘We wanted to come up
with an index that was really based around
theory that we have developed over the last
20 years about what constitutes the best
chance for a species to persist over time,’
Bradshaw told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
Northern hairy-nosed wombat.
Currently, the IUCN’s Red List ranks
animals from safe to critically endangered. But Bradshaw takes issue: ‘A lot
of those categories are based on somewhat arbitrary thresholds for how much
a species has declined over a certain
period of time or how much its range has
contracted, and there is a lot of expert
opinion so there is some subjectivity involved,’ he told ABC.
Bradshaw’s new index is based, instead,
largely on research that argues species
with fewer than 5,000 members are almost impossible to save. So say goodbye
to the hairy-nosed wombat and whitefooted rock rats, the Javan rhino, New
Zealand’s kakapo and others. ‘In some
cases it is probably not worthwhile putting
in a lot of effort because there’s just no
chance,’ Bradshaw said. ‘I’d love to save
everything. I just don’t think we can.’
Protecting hoolock gibbons
The western hoolock gibbon (Hoolock
hoolock), native to India and Bangladesh,
has been classified by the IUCN as one of
the top 25 primates currently threatened
with extinction. Following a 90% decrease
in their population over the last four decades, there are currently fewer than 5,000
remaining in the wild. The main threats
to their survival include deforestation and
poaching. In 2009 the Aspinall Foundation (TAF) became the largest international donor of the Huro Programme, run
by a small group of French expatriates
who have founded a rescue and rehabilitation centre near the remote village of
Silsotchigre in Meghalaya, north-east
India, to protect rescued hoolock gibbons.
The group are also working closely with
the local communities to develop a more
sustainable relationship between the region’s people and their natural environment. The support from TAF has enabled
the centre to improve its veterinary care,
set up an anti-poaching scheme and establish a local school. This is an area of
outstanding biological diversity, with forest habitats ranging from temperate to
tropical. While there has been some damage to the local habitat by the slash-andburn culture prevalent in the area, it
remains largely untouched by major development. However, even such a remote
region as this is facing a future which
could see the entire region becoming a
desert landscape over the next 30 years.
Providing support to an organisation that
is working towards changing local landuse practices and attitudes towards the
natural environment is therefore a vital
117
step in protecting this unique wilderness,
and the species living within it. The rescue centre currently houses over a dozen
residents, made up of a number of different species such as civets and crab-eating, stump-tailed and rhesus macaques.
www.aspinallfoundation.org (11
January 2011)
New software assists wetland
conservation
To coincide with World Wetlands Day on
2 February 2011, the Royal Zoological
Society of Scotland (RZSS) has announced
the breakthrough development and
launch of a special piece of software that
now contributes to the vital conservation
of the Pantanal freshwater wetlands in
Brazil. The project is the culmination of
six years’ research.
The RZSS regional conservation and
research team has worked with local organisations to develop this special project.
The programme, called the Delta Diet, is
crucial to help conserve and protect the
Brazilian Pantanal, which has become
increasingly threatened by large development programmes and changes in land
management practices. This tool, developed by the RZSS team and Embrapa
Pantanal (a Brazilian Government research institute), allows the rapid analysis of faecal samples from plant-eating
animals, which in turn helps scientists
understand the nutritional needs and
foraging strategies of animals in the wetlands – all crucial information that will
contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of the Pantanal ecosystem.
Dr Arnaud Desbiez, the RZSS regional
conservation and research coordinator
for Latin America, comments: ‘This is an
immensely positive long-term legacy left
by RZSS. To date over 250 plants have
been characterised, leading to detailed
manuals for plant families being published, and we have been able to examine
the diet of several species through the
different seasons of the year. This is
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particularly urgent since cattle ranching
activities are intensifying and destroying important wildlife habitat. The
DeltaDiet tool is ultimately key to developing a strategy to conserve the Pantanal
– the largest freshwater wetland in the
world.’
The database will now be widely and
freely available for use by other researchers and will constantly be updated with
new data. Other conservation and research projects continue to be developed
by RZSS in the region.
Abridged from a Royal Zoological
Society of Scotland press release, 1
February 2011
Salisbury Plain Great Bustard
Project
A project to reintroduce the great bustard
(Otis tarda) to the U.K. has been given a
€1.8-million boost from the European
Union.
The world’s heaviest flying bird was
hunted to extinction in the U.K. in 1832.
It was reintroduced to Salisbury Plain in
Wiltshire in 2004. A population of around
18 has been established from chicks
brought from Russia. The new cash will
cover 75% of the scheme’s costs, including monitoring the birds with GPS satellite transmitters.
The Great Bustard Consortium was
founded in 2004 to reintroduce the birds.
It is made up of the Great Bustard Group,
the University of Bath, the Royal Society
for the Protection of Birds and Natural
England. The group is embarking on a
five-year project, funded by an EU Life+
grant.
In 2009, the first great bustard chicks
in 177 years hatched in the wild in the
U.K. Last year, at least four chicks
hatched and two native chicks were successfully reared to fledging. Male great
bustards can reach more than one metre
tall with a wingspan of up to 2.4 m.
A University of Bath spokesman said
16 bustards had been fitted with satellite
transmitters to track where they feed
and roost. The areas will be monitored
for the availability of food, and for predators. Feeding patches with the right
plants and seeds to provide food and
attract the type of insects the birds eat
will also be cultivated.
David Waters, founder and director of
the Great Bustard Group, said: ‘Despite
our successes over the last six years, we
would sometimes struggle to find £10 or
£20 to put diesel in the Land Rover; now
we have a chance to give this project real
wings. The funding will provide a properly resourced project, with four new posts,
new monitoring equipment and even the
possibility of a second release site.’ The
project’s partners will still have to find
25% of the costs.
‘We’re particularly interested in how
the birds will behave in their new habitat, said Bath Ph.D. student John
Burnside. ‘Great bustards learn a lot of
their behaviour from each other and so
the newly introduced chicks have to learn
quickly how to feed, survive and avoid
predators without the help of their
mother. As the population becomes established, their survival chances should
hopefully get better – this project will be
looking into ways of improving release
methods and the survival of the birds in
the long term.’
BBC News Wiltshire
A new idea to stop rhino poaching
Well-equipped, sophisticated organized
crime syndicates have killed more than
800 African rhinos in the past three years
– just for their horns. With the most
serious poaching upsurge in South Africa,
Zimbabwe and Kenya, Africa’s top rhino
experts recently met in South Africa to
assess the status of rhinos across the
continent and to identify strategies to
combat the poaching crisis. South Africa
alone lost 333 rhinos last year and so far
this year has lost more than 70. Most
rhino horns leaving Africa are destined
for South-East Asian medicinal markets
that are believed to be driving the poaching epidemic.
A recent attack on a black rhino which
was shot several times and dehorned in
the Save Conservancy in Zimbabwe has
prompted outrage. The most horrifying
aspect of this atrocity was that the mutilated rhino did not die in the attack and
was left wandering around in agony.
Coincidentally, a very similar incident
happened in South Africa recently.
Various methods are employed to try
and prevent rhinos from falling prey to
poachers, but the slaughter and maiming continues unabated. Dehorning is
quite a popular method, but this doesn’t
seem to deter the poachers. The rhinos
endure a certain amount of stress in the
dehorning exercise, and once their horns
have been removed they no longer have
that defence mechanism. In the case of
females, when they give birth to a calf
they need the horn to help the newborn
rhino to its feet. Another disadvantage of
dehorning is that the horn grows back
and the process has to be repeated regularly throughout the animal’s lifetime.
Instead of spending money on dehorning, it has been suggested that the
best and most cost-effective way to minimize poaching and try to prevent the
extinction of the species is to administer
poison to the horns. This was done by a
farmer in South Africa, and he says the
poison, whilst deadly to humans, has no
effect whatsoever on the rhino. This may
seem like a drastic measure, but the only
way to prevent rhino poaching is to discourage people from buying horn, and it
would only need to be done once to each
rhino. Signs could be erected where rhinos are kept warning poachers that the
horns are poisoned. Warnings could also
be issued through media campaigns
worldwide, and the word would soon get
around that consumption of rhino horn
could prove fatal.
Wildlife Extra News (www.wildlifeextra.
com), 20 April 2011
119
International Zoo News Vol. 58, No. 2 (2011), pp. 120–126
MISCELLANY
Japan’s animal collections – the
aftermath of 11 March
The massive earthquake and tsunami
that struck the north-eastern Pacific coast
of Japan on 11 March resulted in
devastations of varying degrees for zoos
and aquariums in the eastern part of the
country. The hardest hit was Aquamarine Fukushima, as the tsunami washed
into the ground floor and disabled its
infrastructure, including the life support
systems. Surviving marine mammals and
birds were relocated to several zoos and
aquariums, and no date has been announced for reopening.
The ground floor of Marinepia Matsushima Aquarium also had considerable
water damage in the infrastructure, but
the aquarium is planning to reopen on 20
April.
Yagiyama Zoo in Sendai, the largest
metropolitan centre in the region, has
been closed as it lost its electricity, natural gas and water supplies. Electricity
has since been restored but, because of
the serious damage to the physical plant,
no re-opening date has been determined.
Shortage of water, animal food and fuel
was a major concern, but the situation is
improving thanks to emergency assistance by other institutions.
Damage was minor, fortunately, in
other zoos and aquariums. Initially some
zoos and aquariums in eastern Japan
closed their gates out of respect for the
victims, and partly because of the power
shortage, but they reopened by 1 April.
Due to shortage of essential supplies in
the hard-hit member institutions, JAZA
members and suppliers immediately offered a helping hand, sending monetary
donations as well as food for animals such
as pellet diets and perishable items including meat, fish, fruits and vegetables.
The World Association of Zoos and
Aquariums (WAZA) is joining forces with
the Japanese association and its mem120
bers to give help. WAZA is now organizing cooperation and support for the disaster-affected institutions by collecting
donations through its website.
Excerpted and translated from JAZA
documents by Ken Kawata, with a
footnote from a WAZA press release
Innovative dental treatment for
kangaroos
Israeli researchers have managed to clear
up ‘lumpy jaw disease’ in kangaroos by
administering a variation of a topical
human medication. The common periodontal condition is often fatal for the
captive marsupials.
A three-year study was conducted
among these mammals at Israel’s GanGaroo Australian Park and the Tisch
Family Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem (BakalWeiss et al., 2010).
Left untreated, lumpy jaw disease leads
to periodontal diseases, severe gingivitis
and abscesses. Four years ago, Gan Garoo
lost about 40% of its kangaroos to this
ailment that is thought to be caused by
the diet in captivity as well as by environmental stress. Affected animals stop eating and starve to death in a short period
of time.
Until now, the only way to treat periodontal diseases in kangaroos has been
antibiotics fed or injected by force several times a day, followed by solitary
confinement to prevent cross-infection of
the rest of the herd. This method is not
only physically difficult to accomplish, as
kangaroos weigh between 70 and 80 kg,
but is also counterproductive in that it
introduces a new source of stress.
‘The new treatment is easier to implement compared to the currently available treatment, because it doesn’t require continued force-feeding over time,
and it doesn’t have the same side-effects
as the current or asystemic dosage form,’
explains Professor Doron Steinberg of
the Hebrew University (HU) Faculty of
Dental Medicine. ‘The delayed release
mechanism greatly reduces the rate of
suffering of the animal, leads to quick
recovery and enables rapid return to the
group, a fact which is of crucial importance in wild animal and zoo medicine.’
Developers of the innovative veterinary treatment also included Professor
Michael Friedman of the HU School of
Pharmacy and Dr Eran Lavy of the Koret
School of Veterinary Medicine. Testing
was carried out in collaboration with
Gan-Garoo veterinarians Meytal BakalWeiss and Nili Avni-Magen. The drug is
administered in the form of a varnish,
which is made up of disinfectants embedded in a polymeric matrix. After the varnish is applied to the gums, the drug is
released slowly and the disinfectants help
to reduce the swelling.
The success of the new treatment is
good news for pets, too. Most dogs over
the age of four develop dental problems
and even severe periodontal infections
that can lead to systemic diseases. In a
recent study among dozens of dogs, applying a sustained release dental varnish was effective in treating canine dental disorders.
‘The new treatment can also be applied
to other animals suffering from dental
diseases and gingivitis, thereby reducing their suffering and long-term treatments,’ says Lavy. The researchers are
now examining ways to integrate food
supplements into the medicine to make
it tastier for dogs.
Veterinarians from zoos in other countries have shown keen interest in the
dental varnish, which is patented by
Yissum, the Hebrew University’s technology transfer company, and ready for
commercialization. Partners are now
being sought to develop the treatment for
wild animals and pets.
Reference
Bakal-Weiss, M., Steinberg, D., Friedman, M., Gati, I., Avni-Magen, N.,
Kaufman, E., and Lavy, E. (2010): Use
of a sustained release chlorhexidine
varnish as treatment of oral necrobacillosis in Macropus spp., Journal of
Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 41 (2), 371–3.
New wolf species identified in
North Africa
New molecular evidence reveals a new
species of grey wolf living in Africa. Formerly confused with golden jackals, and
thought to be an Egyptian subspecies of
jackal, the new African wolf shows that
members of the grey wolf lineage reached
Africa about three million years ago, before they spread throughout the northern hemisphere.
As long ago as 1880 the great evolutionary biologist Thomas Huxley commented
that Egyptian golden jackals – then as
now regarded as a subspecies of the golden
jackal – looked suspiciously like grey
wolves. The same observation was made
by several 20th-century biologists studying skulls. Nonetheless, the conventional
taxonomy was not changed.
A new study (Rueness et al., 2011),
involving a collaboration of biologists
from the University of Oslo, Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research
Unit (WildCRU) and Addis Ababa University, has uncovered genetic evidence
that unambiguously places the Egyptian
jackal within the grey wolf species complex. It is not a jackal, but a wolf,
taxonomically grouped with the Holarctic
grey wolf, the Indian wolf and the
Himalayan wolf. Dr Eli Rueness, the
first author of the paper, states that ‘We
could hardly believe our own eyes when
we found wolf DNA that did not match
anything in GenBank.’
The genetic data indicate that the Indian and Himalayan wolves evolved as
separate taxa within the modern wolf
cluster even before the grey wolf radiated throughout the northern hemisphere. Furthermore, not only did these
two types of wolf originate before grey
wolves radiated in northern latitudes,
121
but the wolfish colonization of Africa
took place before the grey wolf radiation
as well. The colonization of Africa by the
ancestral stock of grey wolves took place
about three million years ago and is today embodied by the animal that has
hitherto been called the Egyptian jackal.
Professor Claudio Sillero of the WildCRU,
the current Chairman of the IUCN’s Canid Specialist Group, added that ‘Ethiopian wolves split off from the grey wolf
complex even earlier than the newly discovered African wolf.’
The Oslo/WildCRU/Addis Ababa team
also found genetically very similar specimens 2,500 km from Egypt, in the highlands of Ethiopia. Golden jackals are
regarded by the IUCN as not endangered
– a ‘species of least concern’ – but the
newly-discovered African wolf may be
much rarer. Certainly, it is a priority for
both conservation and science to discover
its whereabouts and numbers. Professor
David Macdonald, an author of the paper
and Director of Oxford’s WildCRU, remarks that ‘A wolf in Africa is not only
important conservation news, but raises
fascinating biological questions about
how the new African wolf evolved and
lived alongside not only the real golden
jackals but also the vanishingly rare
Ethiopian wolf, which is a very different
species with which the new discovery
should not be confused.’
It seems that the Egyptian jackal is
urgently set for a name-change, and its
unique status as the only member of the
grey wolf complex in Africa destines it to
be re-named the African wolf.
Lajos Nemeth adds, ‘I am amazed that
none of the press mentions the obvious
nomenclatural changes, that the name of
this taxon is not Canis aureus lupaster
but C. lupus lupaster. But there is a
further question – is lupaster a subspecies or a fully recognisable species, Canis
lupaster?’
According to Professor Nils Chr.
Stenseth, an author of the paper and the
Chair of the Centre for Ecological and
Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), ‘This
122
study shows the strengths of modern
genetic techniques: old puzzles can be
solved.’
‘This shows how genetic techniques may
expose hidden biodiversity in a relatively
unexplored country like Ethiopia,’ concludes Professor Afework Bekele at Addis Ababa University.
Wildlife Extra News
(www.wildlifeextra.com), 2
February 2011
Reference
Rueness, E.K., Asmyhr, M.G., SilleroZubiri, C., Macdonald, D.W., Bekele,
A., et al.: The cryptic African wolf:Canis
aureus lupaster is not a golden jackal
and is not endemic to Egypt. PLoS ONE
6 (1): e16385. doi: 10.1371/journal.
pone.0016385.
How the leopard got its spots
Why do leopards have rosette-shaped
markings but tigers have stripes? Researchers at the University of Bristol
(Allen et al., 2010) investigated the flank
markings of 35 species of wild cats to
understand what drives the evolution of
such beautiful and intriguing variation.
They captured detailed differences in the
visual appearance of the cats by linking
them to a mathematical model of pattern
development.
They found that cats living in dense habitats, in the trees, and active at low light
levels, are the most likely to be patterned,
especially with particularly irregular or
complex patterns. This suggests that detailed aspects of patterning evolve for camouflage. Analysis of the evolutionary history of the patterns shows they can evolve
and disappear relatively quickly.
The research also explains why, for
example, black leopards are common but
black cheetahs unknown. Unlike cheetahs, leopards live in a wide range of
habitats and have varied behavioural
patterns. Having several environmental
niches that different individuals of the
species can exploit allows atypical col-
ours and patterns to become stable within
a population.
Although a clear link between environment and patterning was established, the
study also highlighted some anomalies.
For example, cheetahs have evolved or
retained spotted patterns despite a strong
preference for open habitats, while a
number of cats, such as the bay cat and
the flat-headed cat, have plain coats despite a preference for closed environments.
Why this should be remains unclear.
The study also highlighted just how
few species of cats have vertical stripes.
Of the 35 species examined, only tigers
always had vertically elongated patterns
and these patterns were not associated
with a grassland habitat, as might be
expected. However, tigers seem to be
very well camouflaged so this raises the
question why vertical stripes are not more
common in cats and other mammals.
Will Allen of Bristol’s School of Experimental Psychology, who led the research,
said: ‘The method we have developed
offers insights into cat patterning at many
levels of explanation and we are now
applying it to other groups of animals.’
Reference
Allen, W.L., Cuthill, I.C., Scott-Samuel,
N.E., and Baddeley, R. (2010): Why the
leopard got its spots: relating pattern
development to ecology in felids. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Published on-line before
print (DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.1734)
Chinese zoos ordered to improve
Authorities in China have cracked down
on zoos and wildlife parks, ordering 53
parks to improve the conditions for their
animals and revoking another seven
parks’ certifications.
Since last October, the State Forestry
Agency has had six teams investigating
over 500 zoos and parks displaying animals across the country. They have found
problems ranging from parks being too
poorly funded to provide basic care for
their animals to parks trading in illegal
animal products. The inspectors said that
the poor management of the parks was
leading to the deaths of rare species, as
well as human injuries from animal attacks and accidents.
The International Fund for Animal
Welfare office in Beijing has said it views
these recent investigations as a step in
the right direction. The campaign manager there said that the Chinese would
be unhappy to learn about the abuses in
some of the zoos.
It is impossible to tell if China’s decision to crack down on zoos has anything
to do with recent outrage among animal
activists over the way animals are treated
in China. Pictures from the ‘Animal Olympics’ in China of bears driving scooters across tightropes or kangaroos boxing with humans has incited a lot of
vitriol from animal lovers.
While there are a lot of foreigners who
criticize the Chinese for their treatment
of animals, the cause of animal rights is
very small in China – but it is growing. A
Chinese legislator proposed China’s first
national animal welfare law in 2006,
though it failed to be passed.
HerpDigest (www.herpdigest.org)
Vol. 11, No. 2 (13 January 2011)
Strategies to maintain wild
amphibian populations
Rescuing amphibian diversity is an
achievable conservation challenge, and
disease mitigation is one essential component of population management. The
authors of a recent paper (Woodhams et
al., 2011) assess existing disease mitigation strategies, some in early experimental stages, which focus on the globally
emerging chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. They discuss the
precedent for each strategy in systems
ranging from agriculture to human medicine, and the outlook for each strategy in
terms of research needs and long-term
potential.
123
The authors find that the effects of
exposure to B. dendrobatidis occur on a
spectrum from transient commensal to
lethal pathogen. Management priorities
are divided between (1) halting pathogen
spread and developing survival assurance colonies, and (2) prophylactic or
remedial disease treatment. Epidemiological models of chytridiomycosis suggest that mitigation strategies can control disease without eliminating the
pathogen. Ecological ethics guide wildlife disease research, but several ethical
questions remain for managing disease
in the field.
Because sustainable conservation of
amphibians in nature is dependent on
long-term population persistence and coevolution with potentially lethal pathogens, they suggest that disease mitigation should not focus exclusively on the
elimination or containment of the pathogen, or on the captive breeding of amphibian hosts. Rather, successful disease
mitigation must be context-specific with
epidemiologically informed strategies to
manage already infected populations by
decreasing pathogenicity and host susceptibility.
They propose population-level treatments based on three steps: first, identify mechanisms of disease suppression;
second, parameterize epizootiological
models of disease and population dynamics for testing under semi-natural
conditions; and third, begin a process of
adaptive management in field trials with
natural populations.
Reference
Woodhams, D., Bosch, J., Briggs, C.J.,
Cashins, S., Davis, L.R., Lauer, A.,
Muths, E., Puschendorf, R., Schmidt,
B.R., Sheafor, B., and Voyles, J.
(2011): Mitigating amphibian disease:
strategies to maintain wild populations and control chytridiomycosis.
Frontiers in Zoology 8:8 (2011). The
full article can be downloaded from the
website www.frontiersinzoology.
com.
124
Splitting African lions
A new study (Bertola et al., 2011) has found
that lions from west and central Africa are
genetically different from lions in east and
southern Africa. The researchers analysed
a region on the mitochondrial DNA of lions
from across Africa and India. Surprisingly,
lions from West and Central Africa seemed
to be more related to lions from the Asiatic
subspecies than to their counterparts elsewhere in Africa. Previous research has
already suggested that lions in west and
central Africa are smaller in size and
weight, have smaller manes, live in smaller
groups, eat smaller prey and may also
differ in the shape of their skull, compared
to their counterparts in east and southern
Africa. However, this research was not
backed by conclusive scientific evidence.
The present research findings show that
the difference is also reflected in the genetic makeup of the lions.
The distinction between lions from the
two areas of Africa can partially be explained by the location of natural structures that may form barriers for lion dispersal. These structures include the Central African rainforest and the Rift Valley, which stretches from Ethiopia to Tanzania and from the Democratic Republic
of Congo to Mozambique.
Another aspect explaining the unique
genetic position of the west and central
African lion is the climatological history of
this part of the continent. It is hypothesised that a local extinction occurred, following periods of severe drought 18,000–
40,000 years ago. During this period, lions
continuously ranged deep into Asia, and it
is likely that conditions in the Middle East
were still sufficiently favourable to sustain
lion populations. The data suggest that
west and central Africa was recolonised by
lions from areas close to India, which explains the close genetic relationship between lions from these two areas.
There are thought to be about 1,700
lions left in west and central Africa, which
is less than ten per cent of the total estimated lion population in Africa. Their
numbers are still declining, and they are
under severe threat due to the fragmentation or even destruction of their natural
savannah habitat, the depletion of prey
and retaliatory killing by livestock owners.
Wildlife Extra News
(www.wildlifeextra.com), 18 April
2011
Reference
Bertola, L.D., van Hooft, W.F., Vrieling,
K., Uit de Weerd, D.R., York, D.S.,
Bauer, H., Prins, H.H.T., Funston, P.J.,
Udo de Haes, H.A., Leirs, H., van
Haeringen, W.A., Sogbohossou, E.,
Tumenta, P.N., and de Iongh, H.H.
(2011): Genetic diversity, evolutionary
history and implications for conservation of the lion (Panthera leo) in West
and Central Africa. Journal of Biogeography online version (DOI: 10.1111/
j.1365-2699.2011.02500.x)
The implications of changing
crocodilian systematics for animal
programs
Just how many species of crocodilians
are there? Three decades ago the answer
to this question would have been something like 20 or 21. Today, the answer
typically given is 23. This increase in the
number of described species has arisen
as a result of taxa formerly considered to
be subspecies being recognized as distinct species. The common caiman
(Caiman crocodilus, formerlyC. sclerops)
consisted of five named subspecies, but
one of these, C. c. yacare, is now widely
acknowledged as a separate species,
Caiman yacare. Similarly, the Philippine crocodile was originally described in
1935 as Crocodylus mindorensis, but was
subsequently relegated to a subspecies
of the New Guinea crocodile (C. novaeguineae). This critically endangered little crocodile from the Philippines has
more recently been elevated back to its
original species designation.
The taxonomic diversity within this
group of reptiles is, in fact, proving to be
much greater than is reflected by our
current recognition of 23 species. More
recent studies suggest that several more
species of crocodilians may exist than
was previously believed. Several cases
continue the pattern of recognizing subspecies to be distinct separate species.
The brown caiman (Caiman crocodilus
fuscus) is virtually completely isolated
geographically from the conspecific C. c.
crocodilus, and is morphologically and
molecularly distinct from it. It is not
known if the caiman from the Choco of
Colombia and parts of southern Central
America,C. c. chiapasius, is distinct from
the brown caiman or not.
The New Guinea freshwater crocodile
was long considered to consist of two
subspecies, Crocodylus n. novaeguineae
and C. n. mindorensis. As described above,
the Philippine crocodile is now considered separate from the New Guinea crocodile. However, northern and southern
populations of C. novaeguineae are completely isolated geographically from one
another by the central highlands of New
Guinea. The southern form differs from
the northern in several cranial features
and cervical squamation, as well as in
aspects of reproductive biology, including absolutely distinct breeding seasons,
so it seems to be a distinct species –
though closely related to the northern
form – but has not been formally described.
In 1919 K.P. Schmidt, the curator of
herpetology at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and a prolific
writer, also described a small species of
dwarf crocodile from the Congo Basin of
Africa. He called it Osteoblepharon
osborni, but it was soon subsumed to a
subspecies of Osteolaemus tetraspis. Recent molecular analyses of African
crocodilians have indicated that this
crocodile is in fact different from O.
tetraspis and should be referred to as
Osteolaemus osborni. However, this same
study revealed further diversity within
the crocodiles of this genus – the pres125
ence of a cryptic form of Osteolaemus, as
yet unnamed, which is physically very
similar to O. t. tetraspis but molecularly
quite distinct and geographically completely isolated from other Osteolaemus.
African crocodiles include other cryptic
forms as well. The Nile crocodile (C.
niloticus), one of the largest, most wellstudied and representative crocodile species, was once thought to range throughout all of sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. Recent molecular evidence now
strongly indicates that these crocodiles
consist of at least two genetically dissimilar species. Those found in Central
and West Africa are actually quite different from the East African species.
These last two examples obviously have
profound ramifications for crocodilian conservation programs in general and the
AZA’s animal programs specifically. In the
case of the Nile crocodile, management
plans developed in the 1980s have been put
into place and the species is now widely
considered to be well regulated and protected. However, those management plans,
and the biological studies supporting them,
were based solely on studies of East African Nile crocodiles. Population surveys
and current conservation status of the West
African form are largely non-existent. We
do not have the data to know if West
African Nile crocodiles, or West African
dwarf crocodiles, are at risk. Further
surveys are necessary to determine the
status of these populations.
The cryptic nature of these species
makes specific identification of the specimens in our collections difficult. These
species were originally recognized by
means of molecular markers, and clear
morphometric characteristics that can
be used to discriminate between them
are not yet identified. But in most cases
we are able to identify the species using
a blood sample.
As our recognition of the systematic
diversity of these animals changes, we
must adapt our programs, our records,
and our in situ conservation efforts to
reflect these new understandings. Within
126
AZA collections, we need to determine
the specific identify of our Nile crocodile
and dwarf crocodile specimens, evaluate
past breeding efforts, and re-assess the
demographics of our captive populations.
Neither of these species (Crocodylus
niloticus and Osteolaemus tetraspis) is
considered to be of high priority in the
Crocodilian Advisory Group’s current regional collection plan. This will need to
be re-evaluated as our understanding of
the conservation status of these species
in the wild, and their composition in our
collections, becomes clearer.
Adapted and abridged from Kent A.
Vliet, Chair, AZA Crocodilian Advisory
Group, in Connect (Association of Zoos
and Aquariums), March 2011
AZA benefits from new-born zoo
animals
Two years ago Chris Eastland, an artist
and photographer from New York, and
Andrew Bleiman of Chicago joined to
create the website ZooBorns.com. The
site, which receives a million hits
monthly, features new-born animals from
zoos and aquariums around the world.
The pair say the only requirement to be
included on the site is ‘cuteness’.
Now the site creators are publishing
two hardcover books, one for children
and the other for adults. Both are entitled
ZooBorns!, and the Association of Zoos and
Aquariums will receive 10% from sales of
the books. AZA doesn’t only benefit from
the profit, but also because promoting zoo
births is good for conservation.
Since last summer, the website has
featured over 600 births from 165 different species. The species are mostly birds
and mammals, although once they featured a photo of a baby caecilian, a legless amphibian at the Tennessee
Aquarium. Eastland confirmed that the
site’s all-time most popular photo was of
a fennec fox.
Animal Keepers’ Forum Vol. 38, No. 1
(January 2011)
International Zoo News Vol. 58, No. 2 (2011), pp. 127–138
INTERNATIONAL ZOO NEWS
Australia Zoo, Beerwah,
Queensland, Australia
Two members of Australia Zoo’s rescue
unit have had a major breakthrough during a mission in Cambodia, helping save
and relocate a Siamese crocodile. The
head of the zoo’s rescue unit, Brian Coulter, and team member Toby Millyard are
in the South-East Asian country in answer to a plea from Fauna and Flora
International to rescue a group of the
rare crocodiles which has become
stranded in an isolated river system.
After months of planning the mission,
they flew out of Australia on March 11
and have spent the past weeks deep in
the jungle in search of the reptiles. Having previously been declared extinct and
then rediscovered, the Siamese crocodile
(Crocodylus siamensis) is considered critically endangered, with an estimated 250
individuals remaining in the wild.
An Australia Zoo spokesman said the
crocodiles at the centre of the rescue
mission were stranded in a two-km
stretch of a river system that was under
threat from industrial development.
‘Without rescue and relocation, it will
only be a matter of time before these
crocodiles lose their habitat and perish,’
he said.
Brian and Toby, both highly experienced in the area of crocodile catching
and releasing, are implementing successful trapping techniques to catch the crocs.
After setting several traps along the river,
they met with success after just three
days when they captured a female more
than two metres long. Nicknamed
Anglong, after the river she inhabited,
the crocodile was relocated by helicopter
to a pristine river system some distance
from the construction area.
Brian and Toby are continuing their
rescue mission, while sharing their skills
and knowledge with members of FFI and
Cambodia’s Royal Governments Forestry
Administration, who together established
the Cambodian Crocodile Conservation
Project.
Belfast Zoo, Northern Ireland, U.K.
Staff at the zoo are celebrating after a
very special arrival – the birth of a male
baby to the only pair of crowned sifakas
(Propithecus coronatus) in the U.K. and
Ireland. The odds were stacked against
the youngster’s survival – only 20 crowned
sifakas are cared for in zoos worldwide
and infant mortality rates sit at a shocking 80%. So critically endangered are
these animals in the wild in Madagascar
that their exact numbers are unknown.
Baby Echo brings new hope for the
survival of the species. Born to Linoa and
Andry, he brings Belfast Zoo’s group to a
total of five – a quarter of the world’s
captive population.
Crowned sifakas are only found in dry
deciduous forest in the western part of
Madagascar, where they live in groups of
between two and eight individuals. They
are creamy white in colour with a dark
brown head, neck and throat.
‘We were all very anxious in the first
couple of weeks after Echo’s birth,’ zoo
curator Julie Mansell said. ‘When we
discovered that Linoa was pregnant we
were filled with both excitement and
apprehension. We all know that the statistics are against us, but Echo is doing
very well.’
Zoo manager Mark Challis said he was
thrilled at the new birth. ‘I am very proud
of the zoo and the dedication and commitment displayed by the keeping staff
during Linoa’s pregnancy,’ he said.
Linda Stewart
127
Bristol Zoo’s new Asiatic lion cubs.
Bristol Zoo, U.K.
Two (1.1) Asiatic lion cubs were born at
the zoo on 24 December 2010. The adult
pair had been brought together earlier in
the year when the female, Shiva, arrived
from Besançon Zoo, France, to join our
resident male Kamal. The cubs’ birth took
place behind the scenes in the lion enclosure and was recorded on CCTV. The
babies were Shiva’s first litter and she
has been an excellent mother. Kamal had
been separated from Shiva prior to the
birth but was reintroduced to his family
several weeks later, and all four animals
are now on show to the zoo’s visitors.
Burgers’ Zoo, Arnhem,
the Netherlands
It took around three years but, in cooperation with the EAZA ChimpanzeeEEP,
128
Burgers’ Zoo was recently successful in
sending four female chimpanzees to
Monarto Zoo in Australia. The four females were destined to be placed with
four males for breeding, as the Australian population needed new bloodlines.
This was fortuitous for the females, as in
Arnhem they would not have had the
opportunity to reproduce. It was very
difficult to get the veterinary authorities
of the Netherlands and Australia to concur on conditions and paperwork needed
for the transport, but eventually an agreement was reached. The documentation
needed included full ARKs reports on the
animals, CITES import and export permits and a quarantine permit for Australia, as well as a permit to change
planes in Singapore. Declarations were
needed regarding various veterinary tests
carried out on the animals, their general
fitness for travel, the history of diseases
in the facilities where they had been
held, the yellow fever-free status of the
Netherlands, that the crates were new
and had never been used for any animal
and that no other animal would be on the
flight. Even declarations of competence
and good behaviour of the staff accompanying the chimpanzees were necessary.
Other paperwork included an itemized
list of all the fruits and vegetables that
would be brought along for the animals
during the trip and the usual airline
transaction agreements.
Plans to send four females of varying
ages who had been housed together were
upset when one of the females died of a
brain infarction. The decision was made
to send a female in her place who had
previously been housed with the others,
but had since been residing in Amsterdam Zoo for five years. She was added to
the group as all four began a 30-day pretransport quarantine. No (re)introduction
was necessary, they recognized each other
immediately and got along well right
from the start. Beth Pohl, the curator of
Monarto Zoo, came to Arnhem to become
acquainted with the four animals during
their last week of quarantine, but could
not accompany them during their trip as
only two people were allowed by the airline to do so. Burgers’ Zoo park manager
Wineke Schoo and the primate keeper
Maurice Hogenkamp had this responsibility. The chimpanzees were crated at
10:00 a.m. on 30 September, but were not
loaded onto a Singapore Airlines cargo
plane until 9:00 p.m. that evening. Their
caretakers checked on the chimpanzees
frequently during the 25-hour flight, and
remained with the crates during the
transfers in the United Arab Emirates
and in Singapore. Fortunately there was
no need for the tranquilizers that had
been brought along (with considerable
difficulty, as they fell in the Singapore
Airlines definition of drugs), and the
chimpanzees arrived a bit stiff but in
good condition in Adelaide, where they
were scrutinized by the veterinary and
customs authorities. Fortunately all that
paperwork was in good order! After undergoing another 30-day quarantine and
passing all their veterinary tests in Adelaide, the girls were transferred to
Montaro Zoo. Their introduction to their
prospective partners went well, and all
eight animals could be housed together
after just a week.
English summary of article in Dutch by
Maurice Hogenkamp, De Harpij Vol.
30, No. 1 (2011)
Calgary Zoo, Alberta, Canada
The man who was the first to hold the
position of Head of Conservation
Outreach at the zoo is to retire. Brian
Keating is embarking on the next chapter of his life after nearly 30 years with
Calgary Zoo.
Keating began his career as head of the
Education Department before moving
over to become the first Head of Conservation Outreach, raising funds for conservation projects. He will stay on as
Honorary Conservation Advisor and
maintain contact with the zoo through
his support of the Conservation Fund.
He intends to continue to lead international trips, give public presentations
and entertain audiences with his regular
radio and TV appearances. He is also
involved in developing a nature-based
TV travel show, called ‘Going Wild’, which
should be airing on the Discovery Channel later this year.
Chessington Zoo, U.K.
The sweet smell of popcorn greeted zoo
keepers when they returned to work last
month to find three baby binturongs. The
binturong is known for having a natural
scent almost identical to popcorn. The
new arrivals were the product of Jalita
and Awan, who have successfully bred at
Chessington in the past.
Head mammal keeper John Merrington
said: ‘Binturong are fantastic animals to
129
work with, incredibly friendly and sociable – in fact, one of our females loves
people so much she will often take part in
the daily shows.
‘The continued breeding of these animals is an important part of the European studbook programme and we are
delighted to welcome these new additions who can be seen out and about in
their home in Trail of the Kings very
soon.’
Chester Zoo, U.K.
The zoo has revealed plans for a £30m
redevelopment – the first phase in its
ambitious Natural Vision project.
The ‘Islands’ project is to be a boatride
between islands where some of the zoo’s
animals will be kept. The Heart of Africa
biodome, which was to have been the
first phase, has been postponed for now
due to Government funding cuts.
The 110-acre [44-ha] zoo, which attracts 1.3 million visitors a year, aims ‘to
create a world-class animal and visitor
experience.’
Islands will be the largest zoo development of its kind in Britain. Connected by
the boat ride, it will pull together some of
the zoo’s key animal species. These include Sumatran orang-utans, Sumatran
tigers, Sun Bears, Malayan tapir, various
lemurs, Sumatran and Philippine crocodiles, hornbills, Visayan warty pigs, spotted deer, Komodo dragons, babirusas, and
other birds, reptiles and invertebrates.
The intention is ‘to create an exciting,
themed and educational experience.’
Dr Mark Pilgrim, Chester Zoo’s director general, said: ‘Being isolated means
that islands often contain wonderfully
unique yet highly threatened wildlife.
The diversity and individual character of
islands makes them exciting places to
explore. “Islands” will be a world-class
development of the south-west side of the
zoo that will create an unparalleled visitor experience. This will be an all-yearround adventure which will be exciting
and enjoyable. It will also give us a great
130
opportunity to showcase our conservation programmes and activities in
Sumatra, Madagascar, the Mascarenes,
the Philippines and Indonesia, where we
have a real impact on conserving nature.
This is a very exciting day for the zoo and
I am delighted to unveil this major next
step for us.’
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom,
Vallejo, San Francisco, California,
U.S.A.
The 16-year-old Pacific walrus, Uquq, is
expected to give birth this month at Discovery Kingdom. The park has three (1.2)
walruses which were acquired as calves
in 1994.
The animals have been slow to reproduce as the two females’ breeding season
did not match the rutting season of the
male, who is named Sivuqaq. Despite the
obstacles, Uquq was impregnated last
year, and the pregnancy monitored by
ultrasound – the first use of the procedure on a walrus, park spokeswoman
Nancy Chan said. Because the park’s
walruses are trained, it was easy to get
Uquq to lie down for the ultrasound.
There have only been 11 walruses born
in North American zoos and aquariums
since records were first kept in 1931, and
there are currently just 17 captive walruses at U.S. facilities.
Dudley Zoo, U.K.
Dudley Zoo is helping out the animals in
stricken Japan, following the country’s
devastating earthquake and tsunami.
The zoo has donated £1,000 to the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums
(JAZA). The donation will help the Japanese charity with the temporary relocation of animals from affected collections
as well as helping repair the destroyed
zoos and aquariums.
Fourteen animal institutions suffered
damage from the devastating natural
disaster on March 11.
JAZA chairman, Shigeyuki Yamamoto,
said: ‘I would like to thank Dudley Zoo
very, very much for their sincere messages and donation. Due to the inability
to distribute resources including feed,
water, electricity, and other basic necessities, the zoos and aquariums have suffered greatly in their ability to acquire
the proper commodities for the animals.
JAZA has been working to supply as
many resources as possible to those members affected.’
Dudley Zoo chief executive, Peter
Suddock, said: ‘These are desperate times
for animal collections in Japan and we
can’t just sit back and not offer support.
Unfortunately the physical location
renders it impossible for us to offer practical help, but we have sent a donation to
boost the many millions needed to get
the wildlife parks up and running. All
zoos worldwide care for animals passionately, and here we are constantly monitoring the situation in Japan and lending
our support.’
Edinburgh Zoo, Scotland, U.K.
Visitors to the zoo’s ‘penguin cam’ can
check in daily to see an egg counter showing how many eggs have been laid by
each of three different species in the
penguin enclosure.
The totals are currently running at
gentoos 61 and rockhoppers 7. Keepers
are crossing their fingers for the zoo’s one
female king penguin to lay an egg this
year. Keepers are expecting over 100
penguin eggs this year, although of course
not all eggs laid will be viable.
Eggs first started to appear this year at
the end of March, and once laid they take
approximately 35 days to hatch. When
chicks start to appear the egg counter
will ‘hatch’ into a chick counter.
The penguin cam has been an internet
hit since its introduction this time last
year. And when the zoo was closed last
November due to a sudden arrival of
snow, it became an overnight internet
sensation as the penguins enjoyed slipping and sliding in the snow.
Highland Wildlife Park, Kingussie,
Scotland, U.K.
Given the high profile that Mercedes the
polar bear has had both in Scotland and
internationally, we felt that her many
admirers deserved to be informed that it
was with a great deal of sadness that
early this morning, 15 April 2011,
Mercedes was put painlessly to sleep due
to age-related health problems and a
rapid deterioration in her welfare.
Mercedes was born in the wild in the
western Hudson Bay region of Manitoba,
Canada, in late 1980 or 1981. When she
naturally separated from her wild
mother, she developed the habit of wandering into the local town of Churchill
looking for food and needed to be captured and moved a good distance in an
effort to curtail her ‘shopping sprees’.
The polar bear policy in Churchill, also
known as ‘the polar bear capital of the
world’, was ‘three strikes and you’re out’.
Twice she had been caught and moved
out of town, and a third offence would
result in her being shot due to the risks
she presented to the townspeople. Luckily a concerned member of the Royal
Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) with
Canadian connections helped save
Mercedes from certain death and, following her third offence, she was caught and
moved to Edinburgh Zoo on 19 January
1984. Whilst at Edinburgh she reared
two cubs, Minty, a male, born on 18
November 1988, and Ohoto, a female,
born on 15 November 1991. Both were
sired by her partner Barney, who was
born at Whipsnade Zoo, but he died on 19
November 1996. After Barney’s death,
Mercedes lived by herself at Edinburgh
Zoo: a solitary lifestyle, especially for an
adult female polar bear, is normal as
they are not overly social creatures.
In late 2008/early 2009, the decision
was finalised to move her to a new, much
larger enclosure at Edinburgh’s sister
zoo, the Highland Wildlife Park. Using a
radical new enclosure design, we were
able to construct a very large area for
131
Mercedes’s retirement at the park, although there was some concern over how
she would react to the wide open space in
the Highlands. Mercedes moved into her
new, large, natural enclosure at the park
on 19 October 2009. Her arrival generated unprecedented media and public
interest. When she was released into the
new enclosure she quickly adapted to her
bigger, softer surroundings, and she particularly relished the deep snow and icedover pond in the winter.
Mercedes soon after her arrival at the
Highland Wildlife Park.
Because of the size and natural complexity of our facility, the EEP coordinator for polar bears asked us if we could
take the two-year-old male Walker from
Rhenen Zoo in the Netherlands. Walker
needed to be moved due to the pending
birth of cubs from his aunt. Although
Walker was at the age where he needed
to be separated from his mother, we felt
132
confident that he would be respectful of
the much older Mercedes and not present
her with a problem.
Walker arrived on 5 November 2010.
From the time we first mixed the two
bears together, it was clear that Walker
wanted to play, but Mercedes was having none of it and rebuffed all his attempts at contact. Luckily the enclosure is large enough that the bears
could keep well apart from each other,
and we provided Walker with a wide
range of suitable polar bear toys, leaving Mercedes to carry on with her more
sedate routine.
Because Mercedes was at the upper
end of the captive polar bear age scale,
about 29–30 years old (wild polar bears
rarely make it to their mid-20s), we have
been routinely monitoring her health and
particularly her level of mobility; older
bears are very prone to developing quite
pronounced arthritis. We thought that
she was getting a bit slower, which was to
be expected, but the arrival of the boisterous Walker really demonstrated the
difference in the bears. We have had
Mercedes on a carefully planned course
of medication to ease any likely joint
problems, and we had seen a bit of an
improvement in her condition. She was
monitored daily by her keepers and
weekly by our vet. More recently we noted
a marked and rapid downturn in her
behaviour and her demeanour, and she
appeared to be aging very rapidly and
possibly showing signs of senility. We
had been keeping her separate from the
male bear so as to avoid any possibility of
him causing her to move more than she
wanted to. Recently, all of the individuals responsible for her care sadly concluded that our only remaining option
was to put her to sleep on age and health
grounds.
Simon Girling, RZSS head of veterinary services, says, ‘We have been monitoring Mercedes’s condition for some time
now and have tried a number of different
therapies for her advanced arthritis,
which we were having some success with.
However, even on medication, Mercedes
has now taken a significant turn for the
worse in terms of her mobility and is
also showing signs of mental confusion.
This deterioration in her welfare has
prompted us to step in and humanely
euthanase her.’ In addition, Jane
Harley, the park’s local veterinary consultant, has a similar opinion: ‘Mercedes has shown a marked deterioration in her condition over the last week.
She has signs of severe pain from arthritic joints that the medication no
longer appears to be controlling. She
also appears to be showing signs of
senility which is causing her confusion
and distress. This has been a difficult
decision for everyone who has been involved with Mercedes, but is the right
decision for a very special bear.’
She will undergo a very thorough post
mortem examination so that we can learn
more about her condition, and this will
help provide more information on how
we deal with geriatric bears in the future. One of Mercedes’s most significant
contributions to the future welfare of
polar and other bear species was in successfully ‘test-driving’ our new enclosure
design, as it is one that is relatively
cheap to construct and this low cost means
that much larger bear enclosures can be
built in zoological collections, resulting
in better bear welfare. It goes without
saying that Mercedes will be greatly
missed by those who cared for her and by
her many admirers.
Douglas Richardson, Animal Collection
Manager, in a Highland Wildlife Park
press release
Howletts Wild Animal Park, U.K.
Howletts is delighted to announce two
gorilla births in two months. The first
infant, a male who has been named Jouki,
was born on 31 January to mother Sanki
and father Djanghou. The most recent
birth was to mother Jubi and father
Kouillou on 22 February. While they are
still not certain of the sex, keepers believe the infant is also a male and he has
been called Bou.
‘Gorillas sadly face a very real threat of
extinction in the wild, so we are delighted
by these most recent arrivals,’ said Lorna
Wanless, head gorilla keeper at Howletts.
‘They are the 128th and 129th gorillas
born at our parks since our first birth in
1975.’
Both Howletts and its sister park Port
Lympne are dedicated to protecting rare
species and work in conjunction with an
international conservation charity, The
Aspinall Foundation (TAF). TAF is a
pioneer in the conservation of gorillas
both at the Kent parks and at its gorilla
rescue and rehabilitation projects in
Congo and Gabon, where it protects over
one million acres [400,000 ha] of unique
ecosystem.
In the U.K. TAF safeguards and expands the numbers of western lowland
gorillas: Howletts and Port Lympne run
a world-leading breeding programme
and house almost 80 gorillas – the largest collection of gorillas in human care
outside Africa. Overseas TAF rescues
baby gorillas orphaned by the bushmeat trade and reintroduces them back
into the wild at its reserves in Congo
and Gabon. As well as these wild orphans, the charity also transfers gorillas born at Howletts and Port Lympne
into its African reserves. These reintroduced gorillas are actually going on to
breed in the wild, with 15 successful
births to date, a phenomenal achievement that is testament to the success of
this unique scheme.
To date TAF has returned 51 gorillas to
protected areas of the wild. Of these animals, 43 are wild-born orphans from confiscation and rehabilitation programmes,
and seven were born at Howletts and
Port Lympne. In 2008, a further three
hand-reared gorillas were sent to Gabon
from Howletts for eventual release into
the wild.
The Aspinall Foundation press release
133
Jerusalem Zoo, Israel
Over one hundred managers of leading
zoos from around Europe met at the zoo
on 25 March, the first time the Association has held a conference in Israel.
In January, Saudi media reported that
a vulture captured in the country was
sent by the Mossad intelligence agency,
after its captors found standard Israeli
tracking marks on the bird. The vulture,
like all other vultures born in captivity in
Israel in recent years, hatched in Jerusalem Zoo and was released from the Golan
Heights.
The vulture’s story was told in a panel
on ‘Birds as peacemakers in a conflict
zone’, showcasing the zoo’s incubator and
the return to nature of wild birds hatched
there. ‘Some of the projects we initiate
could be a bridge to our neighbours,’
explained zoo director Shai Doron.
Israel became a member of EAZA five
years ago. While relatively small, Jerusalem Zoo is world renowned for conservation efforts and the reintroduction of
endangered species to the wild. One of its
most famous achievements is a rare in
vitro fertilization of Tamar, an Asian
elephant, using semen from a British
elephant flown to Israel. The elephant
born as a result, Gabi, was recently transported to Turkey, where he was successfully introduced to one of the local zoos.
The Tamar and Gabi story will also be
discussed at the conference.
A reintroduction project discussed at
the conference is that of the Persian fallow deer (Dama dama mesopotamica).
Deer have been released in the Jerusalem and Kaziv stream area, and the Nature and Parks authority is currently
looking for an area to release deer in the
Galilee as well. The project was co-sponsored by San Diego Zoo.
Some of the visitors used their trip to
check on animals they’ve sent to Jerusalem in recent years. The Amsterdam zoo
guests were able to meet the descendants
of the black-footed penguins they’ve sent
to the zoo, which had multiplied
134
exponentially. ‘Israel will soon start exporting penguins to zoos worldwide,’ said
Doron.
The director of Lisbon Zoo paid a visit
to the siamang gibbon sent to the zoo just
a few months ago. The ape, born in Portugal, was brought to Israel after a failed
date with an Israeli ape named Richard,
who was sent to Lisbon as part of a
matchmaking effort. She met her current partner, Dylan, soon after her arrival in Jerusalem.
Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois,
U.S.A.
Management of the AZA Species Survival Plans (SSPs) involves a complex
blend of institutional cooperation, communication, scientific analyses and advice, decision making, and facilitation.
The growth of these cooperatively-managed animal programs outstripped the
ability of volunteers to provide scientific and logistical support in a timely
manner. Thus, in 2000, the AZA created the Population Management
Center (PMC) to provide full-time, professional scientific and logistical support to its managed populations. Since
its inception, the PMC has been a partnership between AZA and Lincoln Park
Zoo, each partner contributing about
50% of the annual operating costs. After ten years, the PMC remains the
only center of its kind in the world,
providing scientific advice for the cooperative management of over 450 species held at accredited zoos.
The main task of the PMC is to provide assistance to AZA studbook keepers and species coordinators, helping
them clean up their studbooks and collaborating with them to produce management recommendations for all the
animals and institutions in their programs. Since its inception, the PMC
has hosted hundreds of in-person and
virtual planning meetings, validated
nearly 500 studbooks, and produced
over 700 reports for 300 of AZA’s cooperatively-managed populations. Nearly
all SSPs (93%) and half of all Population
Management Plans have received assistance from PMC staff, with many of these
planning for the first time in their program’s history.
Each management plan the PMC produces is tailored to the needs of the
individual population, factoring in the
specialized life history, husbandry, and
logistical challenges specific to that species. While the management strategies
may vary for each species, the breeding
and transfer plans produced at the end
of the planning process are standardized so that relevant information can
be easily found – each report describes
the status of the focal population, specific challenges and management strategies, and breeding and transfer recommendations for every animal in the
population at every participating zoo
or aquarium.
Starting from a staff of two full-time
population biologists and a studbook
analyst, the PMC has since expanded
until today the team comprises five
full-time staff. Of course, the ultimate
goal of all the advice given to AZA
animal programs is to ensure the persistence of healthy zoo populations, so
that they can meet the conservation
and education missions of each species.
The science of small population biology
has evolved in zoos, and the foundation
of effective scientific management of
zoo populations is the studbook database. Studbook keepers provide an invaluable service by consolidating,
checking, and standardizing data across
multiple zoo – assigning individual
identification numbers for every animal in the population, tracking parentage and assisting with pedigree assumptions, and recording the dates and locations of all births, deaths, and transfers.
While these data are obviously documented by the individual zoos and
aquariums holding the animals, popu-
lation management analyses and software require that the data are centralized and standardized using conventions developed by AZA population biologists for use in AZA-accepted software. Prior to every planning meeting
and upon request for studbook publication, the PMC Studbook Analyst, Rachel
Low, runs data validation for studbook
keepers and provides detailed written
instructions for standardizing data conventions, improving data quality, and
generally preparing data for demographic and genetic analyses. Having a
centralized location for population planning and a full-time studbook analyst
dedicated to processing studbook data
has vastly improved data quality and
archiving of AZA data.
From these validated studbook data
and subsequent demographic and genetic
analyses, PMC population biologists develop practical management recommendations to help zoo populations meet the
following objectives: to retain genetic diversity by (1) analyzing pedigrees to select genetically valuable animals for
breeding and (2) avoiding inbreeding of
close relatives, and to maintain demographic stability by (1) monitoring births
and deaths, (2) monitoring overall population size, (3) setting sufficiently large
target population sizes, (4) determining
the appropriate growth rate, and (5) recommending the appropriate number of
births or hatches.
In the endeavor to keep AZA populations healthy and stable, the job of a
PMC biologist is never dull: every
species is different, every dataset
presents its own unique challenges, and
AZA program leaders are dedicated and
hard-working collaborators. And in addition to the ten or so programs each
PMC staff member is juggling at any
point in time, there are always new and
unfamiliar populations that need assistance. Although the PMC’s schedule
for formal planning meetings is tight
with the large volume of AZA programs
eager to be planned, PMC staff are
135
usually able to provide some form of
quick, informal advice for software questions, data conventions, or interim planning assistance.
Adapted and abridged from Sarah Long
in Connect (Association of Zoos and
Aquariums), January 2011
Minnesota Zoo, Apple Valley,
Minnesota, U.S.A.
The zoo’s Conservation Director, the international tiger expert Dr Ron Tilson, is
retiring on 22 April after a lengthy and
notable career. Dr Tilson has been at
Minnesota Zoo since 1984, holding various positions in research, biological programs and conservation. He is currently
responsible for the zoo’s endangered species and field conservation programs, and
is also an adjunct associate professor in
the Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation
Biology Department at the University of
Minnesota.
Ron Tilson’s significant achievements
include creating the zoo’s ‘Adopt-A-Park’
program in Indonesia’s Ujung Kulon
National Park, the last refuge of the
Javan rhino, in 1990; initiating the
Sumatran Tiger Conservation Program
in 1995, which integrated assessments of
tiger habitat and prey, tiger–human conflict, anti-poaching patrols and undercover investigation of trafficking; and,
since 1987, coordinating the AZA Tiger
SSP, which manages almost 400 tigers
living in 120 North American zoos. In
2000, he was appointed the senior technical advisor to the State Forestry Administration of China to develop wilderness-based recovery options for South
China tigers.
Said Tilson: ‘I have had the distinction
and pleasure of spending my entire professional career in the company of the
most magnificent beast on earth, ranging from conserving wild tigers in Asian
forests to improving their daily care in
AZA zoos and reducing irresponsible
ownership in private homes. I look for136
ward to the next adventure.’
Ron’s extraordinary career has resulted in an outstanding legacy,’ said
Minnesota Zoo Director/CEO Lee
Ehmke. ‘He has advanced zoo-based
conservation and research, elevated the
international stature of our zoo, and
perhaps most importantly has helped
secure a future for wild tigers, the subject of so much of his work.’
Dr Tilson will continue to pursue his
conservation work in an emeritus role as
senior conservation advisor to the Minnesota Zoo Foundation.
During his career, Tilson spent over
nine years living in field conditions,
primarily in Indonesia, Namibia and
China but also in Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Morocco, and Belize. He has
given hundreds of invited lectures or
talks to a cross-section of academia and
general public, and has written or coauthored over 220 popular and scientific articles, as well as the book Tigers
of the World: The Science, Politics and
Conservation of Panthera tigris (Academic Press, 2010).
Minnesota Zoo press release
Nashville Zoo, Tennessee, U.S.A.
Three clouded leopard cubs have been
born as part of a pioneering breeding
programme at Nashville Zoo. On 19
March one of the zoo’s adult females,
Jing Jai, gave birth to three cubs, but one
died shortly after the birth. Three days
later the zoo’s other breeding female,
Lom Choy, gave birth to a single male
cub.
The tiny trio have been sheltered for
the last few weeks, but now the zoo has
presented them to the world in a photoshoot. The cubs are healthy and being
hand-raised together by zoo keepers. They
only weigh about half a pound [225 kg]
each. But they are being fed a special diet
of feline milk and are set to gain at least
another half a pound every week for the
next few months.
When they are about six months old
they are set to be paired with potential
mates. This process, however, could be
tricky – clouded leopards have a naturally reclusive disposition, and males are
aggressive and have been known to attack and kill females. At Nashville Zoo,
the cubs are hand-raised and introduced
to potential mates early in an effort to
prevent that happening.
Five-year-old Jing Jai and her mate
Arun came to Nashville from the Khao
Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi, Thailand,
in 2008. This is her third litter.
It is the first litter for two-year-old Lom
Choy and her mate Luk, who were imported from Thailand in spring 2010.
Since 2002, Nashville Zoo has been
working with partners in Thailand to
develop a conservation project to protect
clouded leopards, including a self-sustaining breeding programme.
Paignton Zoo, U.K.
The zoo’s African elephant has been
diagnosed with the eye condition glaucoma. Duchess, who weighs four tonnes,
has started a course of treatment to
prevent the condition from worsening.
Glaucoma is a progressive eye condition which if untreated can lead to blindness. Fluid pressure increases in front
of the lens and iris and behind the
cornea. Duchess will be monitored
closely and medication should help control the condition.
Ghislaine Sayers, head of veterinary
services, said staff had noticed changes
to Duchess’s right eye. ‘We are using eye
drops to try and decrease the pressure,’
she said. ‘It’s the same way glaucoma is
treated in humans.’
Duchess, who is the zoo’s only elephant,
has had cataracts in both eyes for some
time. She has been given anti-inflammatory eye drops to help treat the glaucoma.
The keepers have trained her to lower
her head so that they can administer the
drops.
‘Being able to manoeuvre Duchess with
her full co-operation makes everything
so much easier for her and for the animal
staff,’ said Neil Bemment, curator of
mammals. ‘With treatment, people and
animals can live with this condition, and
we have every hope that Duchess can
too.’
Paignton Zoo press release
Portland Zoo, Oregon, U.S.A.
The zoo’s California condors have laid
ten eggs, with one more possibly on the
way. That’s the most eggs since the zoo
joined the effort to save the criticallyendangered species in 2003 with a captive-breeding program. The zoo has 11
breeding pairs and a total of 38 birds.
This year, for the first time, the zoo
plans to transfer two to four of the eggs to
California where they’ll be placed in nests
in the wild. The rest will be hatching in
coming weeks at the zoo’s wildlife conservation center in Clackamas County. It is
off-limits to the public so that the birds
don’t grow accustomed to people before
they are released.
Associated Press
Prague Zoo, Czech Republic
On 26 March thousands of people attended the ceremonial opening of the
zoo’s 80th season to see the christening of
a pair of rare iguanas and the reconstructed buildings with a new restaurant
and gallery.
The blue iguanas (Cyclura lewisi), a
critically endangered species, were
christened by Prague Mayor Bohuslav
Svoboda and the zoo director Miroslav
Bobek. They were named Faust and
Margarita. The zoo tried to get the rare
lizards from the Grand Cayman islands
for more than ten years, curator Petr
Velensky said. Prague is the only zoo in
Europe to have them.
Bobek said he believed the timbered
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Cubist houses built by renowned Czech
architect Josef Gocar at the beginning of
the 20th century would be one of the zoo’s
main attractions – even though there are
no animals in them. The houses were
originally built at the city’s first airport
in Prague-Kbely. They were moved to the
zoo in the 1960s and put together again
in the 1970s. The houses were damaged
by a massive flood in August 2002. Their
reconstruction cost more than 42 million
crowns.
The official opening date of the zoo was
28 September 1931, when the first visitors ever arrived on a sunny day. An
administrative building and an aviary
were built that year. The zoo’s first animal was Lotta, a she-wolf. The zoo also
acquired its first Przewalski horse in
1931: it has bred this species for many
years, and has kept the international
studbook since 1959.
Czech News Agency
San Diego Zoo, California, U.S.A.
San Diego philanthropist Conrad Prebys
is giving the zoo $15 million to launch a
major redesign of its big cat and koala
areas. This gift follows Prebys’s 2007
donation of $10.1 million to revamp the
polar bear plunge and elephant care
center.
Not only is this new pledge the largest
single gift in the history of the zoo, but
CEO Doug Myers said Prebys is also the
largest single donor to the zoo at over $25
million. (In 2004 Joan Kroc bequeathed
$10 million to the zoo.)
The bulk of Prebys’s new gift will transform the zoo’s Big Cat Trail into a winding walkway like San Francisco’s
Lombard Street and enhance its Africa
Rocks section. The donation will also
help expand the zoo’s Outback region
and redesign its koala exhibit on the
north-eastern side.
‘We have the ability to have a facility
that’s world-class because of gifts like
Conrad’s,’ said Myers. ‘It’s really trans138
formational to the zoo.’
Taronga Zoo, Sydney, New South
Wales, Australia
The yellow-spotted bell frog (Litoria
castanea) was once found across the
Northern, Central and Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, but suffered
population crashes in the mid-1970s and
was thought to have gone extinct before
1980. This decline coincided with the
spread of the amphibian chytrid fungus,
with many scientists believing that the
pathogen was the cause of this rapid
disappearance.
However, late in 2009, on a small private farm in the Southern Tablelands,
the species was rediscovered by a local
fisheries conservation officer, 30 years
after it was feared they had disappeared
forever. The population, estimated to
comprise about 100 animals, has a patchy
distribution along a single stream. The
New South Wales Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water and
Taronga Zoo immediately moved to establish an ex situ insurance colony for
this species. This was undertaken to prevent the risk of losing it should the population be declining and to provide captive-bred animals for reintroduction efforts.
Between February and April 2010, 14
tadpoles were collected from different
points along the stream and transported
to the zoo. Only tadpoles were collected
to prevent having any impact on the
remaining population. All 14 metamorphosed, have rapidly grown and are
fast approaching maturity. Additional
tadpoles will be collected next season
to supplement the captive genetic pool.
Once mature, the species will be bred at
the zoo, with experimental reintroductions to take place at other identified suitable sites in the Southern Highlands.
Michael McFadden in Amphibian Ark
News (www.amphibianark.org)
International Zoo News Vol. 58, No. 2 (2011), pp. 139–144
RECENT ARTICLES
Bates, R.: Cooperative breeding behavior in captive southern ground hornbills (Bucorvus leadbeateri).
Animal Keepers’ Forum Vol. 38, No. 2 (2011), pp. 82–85. [During the 2009 breeding season, the
southern ground hornbills at the Tracy Aviary, Salt Lake City, Utah, were housed as a family
group consisting of the dominant breeding pair and two juvenile females. Since the breeding pair
had successfully raised nine chicks with varying levels of assistance, and they were not a high
priority to breed, staff decided to allow them to try to breed completely without assistance. They
provided daily dietary enrichment of mice, chicks, rabbits, nuts, fruits, vegetables, and bugs in
a manner that encouraged foraging behavior. Soon the male was displaying with food and leaves
to the female and they were frequently heard calling back and forth to each other. The female
abandoned the first clutch half-way through incubation: the eggs were candled and no signs of
fertility were seen. The second clutch was developing normally when the eggs were candled halfway through incubation, but one egg had a small hole. Since hornbills only raise one chick even
if both eggs hatch, this egg was pulled and artificially incubated. The second chick hatched
without assistance. The feedings were increased to three times per day to give the hornbills access
to fresh food to feed the chick at all times. The male diligently provided the female with food as
soon as the food pan was placed in the exhibit. Surprisingly, after a few days the juveniles began
presenting the female with food. The male allowed this but watched very closely. Perhaps even
more surprisingly, the male began to feed the female less and allow the juveniles to provide the
majority of the food to the female. As the chick grew, the female would start spending more and
more time off the nest. On several occasions, the oldest juvenile was seen brooding the chick while
the female was off the nest. The juveniles continued to care for the chick even after it had fledged.
According to their natural history, hornbills stay with their family group for five to six years and
assist in chick rearing and territorial defense. Based on her observations and their natural
history, the author believes much of their breeding behavior is learned. Experience watching and
participating in breeding, as these juveniles did, is likely to make them more successful breeders.
If zoos are to have a sustainable breeding population of southern ground hornbills, more effort
should be made to keep the juveniles with their parents for as long as possible and allow them
to observe and participate in future breeding attempts.]
Blaszkiewitz, B.: Beiträge zur Menschenaffenhaltung im Zoo Berlin nach 1945. 3. Mitteilung:
Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla). (Keeping and breeding great apes in Berlin Zoo since 1945. 3: Gorillas.)
Der Zoologische Garten Vol. 79, No. 6 (2010), pp. 232–242. [German, with brief English summary.
In the post-war period, gorillas have been kept at Berlin Zoo since 1956. The first offspring was
born in 1964. Up to now nine gorillas have been born at the zoo, of which eight were raised, some
of them artificially. The zoo’s oldest gorilla, the female Fatou, is now 53 years old.]
Blaszkiewitz, B.: Fast 43jähriger Kragenbär im Zoo Berlin gestorben. (Asiatic black bear dies
at almost 43 years old.) Der Zoologische Garten Vol. 79, No. 6 (2010), p. 269. [German, no
English summary; this appears to be a new longevity record for the species.]
Blessington, J., and Wanders, K.: Building a red river hog restraint from scraps. Animal Keepers’
Forum Vol. 38, No. 3 (2011), pp. 118–123. [Kansas City Zoo, Missouri; Potamochoerus porcus.]
Busch, F.-D.: Habicht (Accipiter gentilis) versucht Kirk-Dikdik (Madoqua kirki) zu schlagen.
(A goshawk tries to attack a Kirk’s dik-dik.) Der Zoologische Garten Vol. 79, No. 6 (2010), p.
268. [German, no English summary; the incident was observed at Berlin Zoo.]
Conway, W.G.: Buying time for wild animals with zoos. Zoo Biology Vol. 30, No. 1 (2011), pp.
1–8. [Zoos and aquariums exhibit many rare species, but sustain few for long periods.
Demanding genetic, demographic, and behavioral requirements are a part of the sustainability
challenge, and historical zoo goals and limiting animal management objectives are another,
but they have been overtaken by worldwide wildlife population contraction and endangerment. New policies are essential for zoo continuance and, if vanishing species are to be helped
by zoo propagation, they must be given priority. However, zoos have little animal carrying
capacity and propagation must be much more sharply focused. In addition, it is becoming
urgent that zoos help to support parks and reserves and, where possible, manage some
especially endangered species mutually with parks.]
Eser, C., and Kawata, K.: Renovation of the Reptile Wing at the Staten Island Zoo, New York.
139
Herpetological Review Vol. 41, No. 4 (2010), pp. 418–423. [At the bottom of the Great Depression
in 1936, a small zoo opened on an eight-acre [3.2-ha] site in Staten Island, New York City. The
zoo established itself as a pioneer in education and in herpetology, and was intimately tied to
snakes from the beginning. In particular, thanks to the vision of legendary Carl Kauffeld (1911–
1974), the zoo’s curator of reptiles 1936–1973 and director 1963–1973, the zoo was globally
known for its large rattlesnake collection, exhibiting several species for the first time in the
U.S.A. and internationally. In 1977, the wing was officially dedicated to the memory of Kauffeld.
By that time the focus and emphasis of the zoo world had changed fundamentally, and the zoo’s
exhibit style, consisting of rows of sterile cages, had become antiquated. It was necessary to
upgrade the entire structure to meet the challenges of our time. The reptile wing was the last
part of the zoo to be renovated. Unlike the old mammal and bird wings that gave the impression
of ‘naked cages’ of metal and concrete, the reptile exhibits had still presented an amicable
atmosphere, but this could not erase the appearance of the aging glass-fronted boxes. As the
news of the renovation plan spread, those who ‘cut their teeth’ in zoo herpetology in the wing
expressed their fond memories of the happy, bygone days; it was not merely an exhibit facility
but also a classroom that nurtured many young enthusiasts.]
Gaikhorst, G.S., Clarke, B.R., McPharlin, M., Larkin, B., McLaughlin, J., and Mayes, J.: The
captive husbandry and reproduction of the pink-eared turtle (Emydura victoriae) at Perth Zoo.
Zoo Biology Vol. 30, No. 1 (2011), pp. 79–94. [In 1997, Perth Zoo acquired six pink-eared turtles
from the wild for display in the reptile facility. There is very little documented information on
this species in captivity. This article looks at the reproductive biology, ecology, behavior, diet,
and captive husbandry of the species. Eight clutches of eggs were documented over a two-year
period with an average clutch size of ten eggs. Egg size was recorded with three clutches
incubated to hatching. Ten hatchlings were maintained for a growth and development study.
Measurements of weight, carapace length, width, height, and plastron length were recorded
weekly for about 12 months, and then monthly for approximately two years. The data were
analyzed and showed positive growth curves in all animals. Sexual dimorphism was observed
after 20 weeks and sexual maturity in males observed after two years.]
Heindl, G.: Otto Antonius – ein Leben für Zoo und Wissenschaft. Erinnerungen anlässlich
seines 125. Geburtstags und 65. Todestags. (Otto Antonius – a life for zoo and science.
Memories on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of his birth and the 65th anniversary of
his death.) Der Zoologische Garten Vol. 79, No. 6 (2010), pp. 217–231. [German, no English
summary. See above, pp. 110–111.]
Hergt, A.: Getting Ernie to take his medicine. Animal Keepers’ Forum Vol. 38, No. 2 (2011), pp.
74–77. [Zoo New England, Boston, Massachusetts; using positive-reinforcement training to
condition an ostrich to take a daily dose of medicine.]
Higgins, A.L., Bercovitch, F.B., Tobey, J.R., and Andrus, C.H.: Dietary specialization and
eucalyptus species preferences in Queensland koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus). Zoo Biology
Vol. 30, No. 1 (2011), pp. 52–58. [Koalas specialize on eucalyptus leaves, but also feed
selectively. Food choice is not random, but depends on various factors that are not well
understood, although most research has focused on the role of secondary plant compounds.
The authors studied the feeding choices of four adult male koalas housed at San Diego Zoo.
All subjects had a choice of nine types of eucalyptus leaves over the eight-week study. The
most preferred species was E. camuldulensis, but individual males exhibited different
feeding preferences. They conclude that food selectivity among koalas is probably due to
multiple factors, rather than only a consequence of secondary plant chemicals. A combination
of intrinsic factors, such as developmental trajectory and reproductive state, as well as
extrinsic factors, such as leaf chemical fingerprint and moisture, probably interact to shape
koala foraging preferences. Koalas forage almost exclusively on Eucalyptus species, but have
evolved an adaptive flexibility, enabling them to exploit various species.]
Hogenkamp, M.: Four girls ‘Down Under’. De Harpij Vol. 30, No. 1 (2011), pp. 8–14. [Dutch, with
English summary. See above, pp. 128–127.]
Hövel, A., Ommer, S., and Ziegler, T.: Keeping and breeding of the coral catshark (Atelomycterus
marmoratus) at the Aquarium of the Cologne Zoo. Der Zoologische Garten Vol. 79, No. 6 (2010),
pp. 243–253. [Coral catsharks are kept at Cologne Zoo’s aquarium in a public exhibit tank
measuring 300 by 160 by 110 cm (length, width and water height) with a water volume of c. 5,000
l. The 1.3 adults have been producing fertilized eggs since early 2010. Deposited eggs are longish-
140
oval in shape, with a length of about 10 cm. Juveniles hatched in our rearing tanks (measuring
100–210 by 45–80 by 30–50 cm, with 280–430 l of water) after periods of 4–6 months. The freshlyhatched sharks measured from 10 to 13 cm in total length. After three months, each juvenile had
grown about 4–5 cm in length and the distinct, bright colour pattern of the juveniles had faded
towards the more subtle adult pattern. The keeping and breeding of coral catsharks can be
classified as uncomplicated, given that sufficient swimming space and hiding places are provided.
So far, 14 juveniles have been successfully reared and are now available for breeding projects.]
Huber, H.F., and Lewis, K.P.: An assessment of gum-based environmental enrichment for captive
gummivorous primates. Zoo Biology Vol. 30, No. 1 (2011), pp. 71–78. [In the wild, many
primates consume gums exuded from trees, and many species are gum specialists. In spite of
this, few data exist concerning gum feeding in captivity. Using a web-based survey of 46 zoos
in 12 countries, the authors evaluated the extent to which zoos feed gum to primates. They
found that although callitrichids and galagos receive gum-based enrichment, cercopithecines
generally do not. The study highlights the need to improve environmental enrichment for
captive gummivores, in particular that of cercopithecines. This is most striking for the patas
monkey (Erythrocebus patas), an obligate gummivore. The exchange of ecological data between
field research and captive settings is crucial, and is just one way primate caretakers can
contribute to the conservation and welfare of some of our closest living relatives.]
Kummrow, M.S., Gilman, C., Mackie, P., Smith, D.A., and Mastromonaco, G.F.: Noninvasive
analysis of fecal reproductive hormone metabolites in female veiled chameleons (Chamaeleo
calyptratus) by enzyme immunoassay. Zoo Biology Vol. 30, No. 1 (2011), pp. 95–115. [This
study at Toronto Zoo, Canada, is the first to report frequent longitudinal measurements of
fecal hormone levels by enzyme immunoassay in a reptile species.]
Kunkel, B.: Evaluating interaction with edible and inedible enrichment items by an African
serval (Leptailurus serval). Animal Keepers’ Forum Vol. 38, No. 2 (2011), pp. 61–66. [In an
experiment at Forth Worth Zoo, Texas, a solitary six-year-old male serval was presented with
eight enrichment items, of which four were edible – minnows in a tub of water, a frozen block
of blood, crickets and a stripped beef shank bone – and four inedible – a suspended hammock,
sand in a tub, a suspended grapevine ball and bubbles from a battery-operated bubble
machine. When presented with new enrichment items, the serval increased his activity
dramatically compared to his baseline activity. Both categories of items were effective in
increasing overall activity, but edible enrichment increased activity by twice as much as
inedible enrichment. Every item introduced, regardless of whether it was edible or inedible,
was interacted with at least once when it was presented. The average number of interactions
per session with the edible enrichment was 35, while the average number of interactions with
inedible items was 13. The enrichment that elicited the most interactive behaviors was the
minnows in water. The fish also elicited more hunting behavior (sniffing, pawing, biting and
eating) than the other items. Of the inedible items, the sand tub elicited the most interactive
behaviors, possibly because this substrate was new to him. Although the serval interacted
more with edible items, data from this study also show that he increased activity when
presented with the inedible enrichments. This is important to note, because some cats in zoos
can be at risk of obesity and keepers may need alternatives to food for enrichment.]
McCloskey, V.: Managing a South American passerine population in the largest spherical
rainforest in the world. Animal Keepers’ Forum Vol. 38, No. 4 (2011), pp. 172–177. [The
rainforest exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences is a free-flight, mixed-species display
that is a 90-foot-diameter [27-m] glass sphere. The space includes one large open-topped pool
with live fish, two planted beds, an elevator system, and a ramp that extends from level one
to level three. The birds are exhibited along with live butterflies. The exhibit is staffed by two
aviculturists, three herpetologists, two horticulturists, three aquarists, and two generalists.
Each level boasts numerous terrariums and fish tanks that are serviced daily before opening
to the public. The author describes some of the challenges that have been overcome since the
exhibit opened in September 2008. In addition to the stresses of introducing a variety of
species at one time, biologists had to contend with a 360-degree glass sphere, feeding freeflying birds and butterflies, and navigating a 100,000-gallon [380,000-liter], open-topped
freshwater fish tank that houses bird-eating fish such as pacu, arawana and arapaima.]
Mazzaro, L.M., Richmond, J.P., Morgan, J.N., Kluever, M.E., Dunn, J.L., Romano, T.A., Zinn,
S.A., 2 and Koutsos, E.A.: Evaluation of an alternative to feeding whole frozen fish in belugas
141
(Delphinapterus leucas). Zoo Biology Vol. 30, No. 1 (2011), pp. 32–51. [Feeding fish to captive
piscivores can be challenging owing to cost, availability, variability in nutrient and caloric
composition, as well as handling and storage concerns. This trial evaluated the response of
three belugas to being fed Fish Analog, an alternative to frozen fish. Body condition, gut transit
time, serum chemistry and metabolic hormone analytes, immune function, and behavioral
motivation were the dependent variables. Three belugas at Mystic Aquarium, Connecticut,
were fed various levels of Fish Analog (0–50%) over a 6-month period, and follow-up studies
were conducted to further examine several dependent variables. When provided in gradually
increasing amounts, belugas consumed the Fish Analog, with only minor fecal consistency
changes and without behavioral responses indicative of gastric discomfort. Axillary girth and
blubber thickness were positively correlated, and did not differ significantly with changes in the
percentage of Fish Analog fed. Individual animal variation in initial passage time, some serum
chemistry analytes, and immune function differences were noted. Fish Analog was shown to be
a viable alternative to feeding fish at up to 50% of the dietary caloric density.]
Morrell, L., and Murray, M.: Training two separate behaviors to draw blood from 2.0 spotted
hyena utilizing operant conditioning with positive reinforcement. Animal Keepers’ Forum
Vol. 38, No. 3 (2011), pp. 124–128. [At Denver Zoo, Colorado, training spotted hyenas (Crocuta
crocuta) using operant conditioning has proved to be more than helpful in their mental and
physical care. The authors are still learning about their extreme intelligence, which is often
compared to that of the great apes. Over the past years, the animals have been trained to allow
staff to hand-inject them in their hip area, look into their mouths, regularly weigh them, and
apply wound treatments when needed. The next challenge was to establish a reliable blooddraw behavior. With advice from the zoo vet and managers, the authors trained this behavior
with the two adult males in two different ways. Thika was trained a ‘neck’ behavior which
gave the vets access to his jugular vein, whereas Kibo was trained a ‘leg’ behavior giving
access to the lateral saphenous vein in his left rear leg.]
Mul, M., and van Leeuwen. O.: Een positieve verandering voor mens en aap. (A positive change
for people and primates.) De Harpij Vol. 30, No. 1 (2011), pp. 15–18. [Dutch, with English
summary. Rhenen Zoo (Ouwehands Dierenpark) has a group of 5.3 Bornean orang-utans,
including the male Bako (14 years old), Anak (34), her son Awan (born 13 July 2010), Tjintah
(26), her son Yuno (born 24 June 2006), Jewel (23), and her sons Damai (7) and Jingga (born
22 October 2007). Historically the method used to move the orang-utans to their separate night
areas at the end of the afternoon was not very efficient. It usually took quite a long time, as the
animals sometimes entered the same area together, or would not come in at all, or would not
allow the entrance door to be shut. It was decided to train them to come in individually, at
different times of day, using positive reinforcement for good behaviour and ignoring negative
behaviours. The team working on this had a clear plan and agreements regarding the training,
for example it was agreed never to give a particular command more than three times during
any training session if the animal was not responding, and never to give the command twice
consecutively if the animal did not respond correctly. Rewards were food items such as raisins
or a piece of fruit, and the bridge was the phrase goed zo (‘good so’). The training began by calling
the animals over to the fence, and proceeded from there. The training was initially intensive
but was successful, and now (a year later) saves much time and stress for both apes and staff.
The orang-utans have since learned some commands for medical examinations, which enabled
veterinarians to do a voluntary sonograph of a pregnant female’s stomach when it was
suspected that she was carrying twins (she was not). The same techniques have been used with
the group of Barbary macaques, so that they are brought in as a group, and some individually,
three times a day. The training has not only helped in animal management, it has also been a
positive, team-building experience for the staff.]
Novosel, C.: ‘It takes a village to move a bison.’ Animal Keepers’ Forum Vol. 38, No. 1 (2011),
pp. 30–32. [In January 2010 keepers at Brookfield Zoo, Chicago, began preparing the
American bison herd to move to the zoo’s newly-constructed Great Bear Wilderness exhibit.
The herd consisted of 11-year-olds Becky and Drew, and 10-year-olds Ron and Judy.
Additionally, two female yearling calves were going through quarantine during this time at
a separate location. The bison herd was managed fairly hands-off other than shifting for
cleaning and accepting some hand-fed treats at the fence line. Keepers, along with the
associate curator and behavioral husbandry manager, recognized the need for a team
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approach to trailer-training the herd for a successful move to their new exhibit. They
developed a training team specific to bison and created a list of goals before getting started
on the actual training. Among the goals were: to station-train the herd members to have
better control over shifting; to desensitize each bison to separate from the herd for short
periods of time; to desensitize the herd to shift through a barn; and, most importantly, to train
each individual to voluntarily enter a trailer for transport. The author describes the process
by which these goals were successfully achieved.]
Oonincx, D.G.A.B., and van der Poel, A.F.B.: Effects of diet on the chemical composition of
migratory locusts (Locusta migratoria). Zoo Biology Vol. 30, No. 1 (2011), pp. 9–16. [Fresh and
dry weight and the contents of dry matter, ash, lipid, protein, Ca, K, Mg, Na, P, Cu, Fe, Zn,
retinol, lutein, zeaxanthine, cryptoxanthin, carotenes, lycopene and gross energy were
determined in penultimate instar and adult locusts that had been fed three different diets.
The locusts received a diet of grass or grass + wheat bran or grass + wheat bran + carrots.
Adding wheat bran decreased the protein content and increased fat content. Addition of
carrots to the diet increased fat content further. Mineral concentrations of Ca, K, Mg, and Na
were significantly affected by diet. P, K, Cu, and Fe concentrations were significantly
different in penultimate locusts compared with adults. Wheat bran decreased the α-carotene
content, which did not change by incorporating carrots in the diet. However, carrots did result
in higher β-carotene concentrations. Retinol concentrations were increased by incorporating
both wheat bran and carrots in the diet compared with the diet containing only grass. This
study shows that the chemical composition of migratory locusts can be manipulated through
the diet. As such, it enables nutritionists to adapt the chemical composition of live feeder
insects to better meet the nutritional demands of predators.]
Palomares, F., Rodríguez, A., Revilla, E., López-Bao, J.V., and Calzada, J.: Assessment of the
conservation efforts to prevent extinction of the Iberian lynx. Conservation Biology Vol. 25, No.
1 (2011), pp. 4–8. [The Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) may be the first charismatic felid to become
extinct in a high-income country, despite decades of study and much data that show extinction
is highly probable. The IUCN categorizes it as critically endangered; about 200 free-ranging
individuals remain in two populations in southern Spain. Conservation measures aimed at
averting extirpation have been extensively undertaken with four of the ten populations
recorded 25 years ago. Two of the four have been extirpated. The number of individuals in the
third population have declined by 83%, and in the fourth the probability of extirpation has
increased from 34% to 95%. Major drivers of the pending extinction are the small areas to which
conservation measures have been applied; lack of incorporation of evidence-based conservation, scientific monitoring, and adaptive management into conservation efforts; a lack of
continuity in recovery efforts, and distrust by conservation agencies of scientific information.
In contrast to situations in which conservation and economic objectives conflict, in the case of
the Iberian lynx all stakeholders desire the species to be conserved.]
Perdue, B.M., Gaalema, D.E., Martin, A.L., Dampier, S.M., and Maple, T.L.: Factors affecting
aggression in a captive flock of Chilean flamingos (Phoenicopterus chilensis). Zoo Biology Vol.
30, No. 1 (2011), pp. 59–64. [The influence of pair-bond status, age and sex on aggression rates
in a flock of 84 captive Chilean flamingos at Zoo Atlanta was examined. Analysis showed no
difference between aggression rates of male and female flamingos, but adults had higher
rates of aggression than juveniles. There were also significant differences in aggression
depending on pair-bond status (single, same-sex pair, male-female pair or group). Bonded
birds were significantly more aggressive than single birds, which is consistent with the
concept that unpaired birds are not breeding and do not need to protect pair bonds or eggs.
Birds in typical pair bonds (male-female) and atypical pair bonds (same-sex pairs or groups)
exhibited similar rates of aggression. These results contribute to the existing body of research
on aggression in captive flamingos.]
Roldán, V.A., Navarro, J.L., Gardenal, C.N., and Martella, M.B.: May captive populations of greater
rhea (Rhea americana) act as genetic reservoirs in Argentina? Zoo Biology Vol. 30, No. 1 (2011),
pp. 65–70. [The greater rhea is a characteristic bird of the Argentine Pampas. Despite the
increasing farming interest in this ratite, their natural populations are progressively decreasing
in size and range. The object of this study was to evaluate the status of captive populations as
potential genetic reservoirs. Levels of genetic variability of Fl individuals from two captive
populations were estimated and compared with those of wild populations in the same region, and
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differences with wild populations were not significant. Therefore, captive populations of rheas in
Argentina should not be overlooked as genetic reservoirs and sources of individuals for
reinforcement of natural populations, through reintroduction and translocation.]
Shepard, S., Young, J., and Pyle, A.: 3 lions, 21 days, 44 minutes. Animal Keepers’ Forum Vol. 38,
No. 3 (2011), pp. 109–112. [Three lionesses at Houston Zoo, Texas, needed the same birth
control implant as well as their annual checkups. Rather than spread the sedations out over
several days and cause stress amongst both trainers and lions, the trainers decided to combine
them into a single event. The authors describe the animals’ ‘crash course on injection training’.]
Suzuki, H., Hioki, S., and Suzuki, K.: Condition of marine teleost propagation at Japanese
aquariums. Scientific Reports of the Museum of Tokai University Vol. 7 (2005), pp. 25–47.
[Japanese, with English summary. Since the Marine Science Museum, Tokai University, was
first opened, efforts have been made to propagate marine teleosts in captivity. As a result,
spawning has been observed in some 200 species during the past 34 years, with success in
growth to immature (sub-adult) or later stages achieved in 46 species. In addition, many
aquariums in Japan not only collect specimens from the wild but seek to exhibit fish that have
been propagated and raised in the aquarium. For example, according to a survey conducted
in 1975 with the cooperation of aquariums throughout Japan, spawning had been observed
in captivity in 131 species of 48 families of marine teleosts, though with success in raising only
a mere 17 species. A similar survey conducted in 1998, however, found that spawning had
been observed in 492 species of 134 families, with growth to immature (sub-adult) or later
stages reaching the level of 97 species of 37 families. The authors believe that propagation
at aquariums is an important task not only for exhibition purposes but also for educational
activities and for enhancing an awareness of environmental conservation. This is a report of
the propagation of marine teleosts at aquariums in Japan based on the results of the surveys
that have been conducted to date. Scientific names of all species propagated are included.]
Tripp, K.M., Verstegen, J.P., Deutsch, C.J., Bonde, R.K., de Wit, M., Manire, C.A., Gaspard, J.,
and Harr, K.E.: Evaluation of adrenocortical function in Florida manatees (Trichechus
manatus latirostris). Zoo Biology Vol. 30, No. 1 (2011), pp. 17–31.
Valentine, V.: Training the trainer: cooperative hoof trim. Animal Keepers’ Forum Vol. 38, No. 4 (2011),
pp. 154–157. [A six-month paid apprentice program at Oakland Zoo, California, focused on teaching
new keepers the skills necessary to effectively care for exotic animals. Paid apprentices work with many
keepers in multiple areas of the zoo, allowing a wide variety of animal experience. The author describes
training a pygmy goat for cooperative hoof trim behavior.]
Zenzinger, S.: Experimentelle Untersuchungen zur akustischen Kommunikation bei im Zoo
gehaltenen Schabracken- und Flachlandtapiren (Tapirus indicus und Tapirus terrestris). (Experimental investigations into acoustical communication of Malayan and lowland tapirs kept in
zoos.) Der Zoologische Garten Vol. 79, No. 6 (2010), pp. 254–267. [German, with English summary.
Until now, unlike their relatives rhinos and horses, tapirs have received considerably less
attention in studies about communication. For this study, the reactions of tapirs to acoustical
stimuli (playback of different animal voices) were examined. Research visits took place at the zoos
of Berlin, Dortmund, Heidelberg, Munich, Nuremberg and Osnabrück during the year 2005. A
total of 20 individuals, 8 (4.4) Malayan and 12 (4.8) lowland tapirs, took part in the experiments.
The playbacks showed that tapirs distinguish between the voices of different animal species. The
results point to the conclusion that the reactions of the tapirs relate to phylogeny – the most
intense interest was taken in their own species, followed by the closely-related ones.]
Publishers of the periodicals listed:
Animal Keepers’ Forum, American Association of Zoo Keepers, 3601 S.W. 29th Street, Suite
133, Topeka, Kansas 66614, U.S.A.
Conservation Biology, c/o Gary K. Meffer, Editor, Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, NewinsZiegler 303, Box 110430, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611–0430, U.S.A.
De Harpij, P.O. Box 532, 3000 AM Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Herpetological Review, 16333 Deer Path Lane, Clovis, California 93611–9735, U.S.A.
Scientific Reports of the Museum of Tokai University, Tokai University Marine Science
Museum, 2737 Miho, Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, 424-8620 Japan.
Zoo Biology, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158, U.S.A.
Der Zoologische Garten, Elsevier GmbH, P.O. Box 100537, 07705 Jena, Germany.
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® 2011 International Zoo News
ISSN 0020–9155
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