One of the most widespread groups of small mammals in the world are the lagomorphs, and they are key prey species for many of the smaller carnivores, but except for the domestic rabbit they are hardly ever seen in captivity. I presume this is mainly due to a susceptibility to stress, but I would have thought a decent sized fenced field would be all that most species would need. I have read several old stories of hand reared leverets of the European Hare becoming quite tame, so I would think an exhibit would be at least as interesting an exhibit as say Mara or Agouti, and there are plenty of those to be seen. Can any comment on the lack of these? There are a few on Zootierliste but only a few collections seem to hold even common European species.
Lagomorphs (except rabbits!) in captivity
- Thread starter Zoovolunteer
- Start date
Why not rabbits? That's roughly a third of all the lagomorphs.
I was thinking of the domestic rabbit as seen in pets corners everywhere
One the major general issues with lagomorphs in captivity is their flightiness and indeed their susceptibility to stress, leading to major losses due to traumatic injuries and infectious / parasitic diseases. A "decent sized fence" doesn't cut it.
Kakapo
Well-Known Member
The title is quite confusing, at least for me. At first sight I tought you mean Lagomorphs except Leporidae (rabbit family), leaving then only pikas. Reading a bit more the answers, I understood that you include hares too. And reading more the post itself is when I realized that you only exclude the domestic rabbit (there is a lot of interesting species of wild rabbits!). Maybe you should change the title for include "Domestic" before "rabbits"....
I am not sure how to edit the title of the thread, but I do apologize for the confusion. In the UK, rabbit only refers to the domestic rabbit and its wild ancestor, and I did not think of all the US species of Lepus that are referred to as rabbits or jackrabbits.
As far as keeping them, I realize they are nervous animals, but many flighty species (gazelles spring to mind) are kept in zoos OK. I expect that capture stress in the original wild founders is the major barrier to establishing a captive population of most species. I would think that pikas should be at least approximately as easy to maintain as many rodents from similar habitats and lifestyles - has any zoo in Europe or America tried?
As far as keeping them, I realize they are nervous animals, but many flighty species (gazelles spring to mind) are kept in zoos OK. I expect that capture stress in the original wild founders is the major barrier to establishing a captive population of most species. I would think that pikas should be at least approximately as easy to maintain as many rodents from similar habitats and lifestyles - has any zoo in Europe or America tried?
There are about sixty species in the family Leporidae, with the total divided roughly down the middle between rabbits and hares; and about thirty species in Ochotonidae (pikas).
And many more don't or are only kept alive trying to minimize losses (Chiru, Saiga, Pronghorn etc.).
Pikas have been kept in captivity; Ochotona dauurica is currently kept at Tierpark Berlin Friedrichsfelde, according to ZTL.
Zootierliste shows that various pika species have been kept in European zoos.
Several different pika species have been kept at London Zoo over the years with both steppe pika and Afghan pika having been housed in the Clore Pavilion. An Afghan pika was born at London Zoo in 1986.
Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary has an Eastern Cottontail.
Minnesota Zoo has them behind the scenes.
Minnesota Zoo has them behind the scenes.
No, actually. Bronx is the only American zoo with the species. Minnesota sent their individuals to Berlin.