Exotic Mammals in Australian Zoos

[Zoofan15]

Would there be many zoos in Australia however that would want to import Puma knowing that in a decade or two they'd have to start over with the species?



Fair enough. What IRA do we have in place currently when it comes to families/genera? I have heard that the Bovid IRA recently got put in place, paving the way for more antelope species and such to (possibly) be re-imported into Australia.

I’ve only heard mention on here of Australia Zoo considering Puma (in the mid-2000’s). Although these sorts of plans are rarely disclosed to the public, it’s reasonable to assume there’s no current interest from any Australian zoo at this time based on the information we have.

Australia has a Bovid IRA and a Perissodactyls IRA; and is awaiting a Hippopotamus IRA. It’s been speculated the Giraffe/Okapi IRA will follow on from that (unconfirmed).

 

[That Aussie Guy]

I’ve only heard mention on here of Australia Zoo considering Puma (in the mid-2000’s). Although these sorts of plans are rarely disclosed to the public, it’s reasonable to assume there’s no current interest from any Australian zoo at this time based on the information we have.

Australia has a Bovid IRA and a Perissodactyls IRA; and is awaiting a Hippopotamus IRA. It’s been speculated the Giraffe/Okapi IRA will follow on from that (unconfirmed).

Are there any Bovids or Perissodactyls that are not currently on the Import List that could/would not be added regardless of interest (due to biosecurity reasons or such - like I believe Suidae are at the moment)?

 

[Zoofan15]

Are there any Bovids or Perissodactyls that are not currently on the Import List that could/would not be added regardless of interest (due to biosecurity reasons or such - like I believe Suidae are at the moment)?

All the species from Bovini and Caprinae are not included within the Bovid IRA - this rules out North American Bison, Barbary sheep etc.

Wildebeest are prohibited due to the risk of Malignant Catarrhal Fever.

Suidae cannot be imported at this stage.

 

[That Aussie Guy]

All the species from Bovini and Caprinae are not included within the Bovid IRA - this rules out North American Bison, Barbary sheep etc.

Wildebeest are prohibited due to the risk of Malignant Catarrhal Fever.

Suidae cannot be imported at this stage.

Surrounding reptiles and amphibians, are there any IRA that would have to be created for them, or is the only thing preventing us from importing, per se, golden poison frogs, lack of interest?

 

[19985]

Would there be many zoos in Australia however that would want to import Puma knowing that in a decade or two they'd have to start over with the species?

Sadly I couldn’t see that being a reality - for a mid sized cat, Leopards and Cheetahs are infinitely more popular. I doubt any zoos would seriously look into importing desexed Pumas purely for display and not breeding.

 

[19985]

Surrounding reptiles and amphibians, are there any IRA that would have to be created for them, or is the only thing preventing us from importing, per se, golden poison frogs, lack of interest?

Chytrid fungus is a serious biosecurity worry sadly for Amphibians. And save for a few iconic species, I would hazard a guess most exotic reptiles aren’t seen as crowd drawing animals worth the import process by most zoos (except ones with extensive reptile collections).

 

[That Aussie Guy]

Chytrid fungus is a serious biosecurity worry sadly for Amphibians. And save for a few iconic species, I would hazard a guess most exotic reptiles aren’t seen as crowd drawing animals worth the import process by most zoos (except ones with extensive reptile collections).

That would make sense - quite a handful of zoos I feel are starting to somewhat neglect their reptile collections in recent years.

Also, out of curiosity, is there anything stopping us from importing any more North American species? Skunks, Beavers, Racoons, Prairie Dogs, Wolverines, Moose, Reindeer, and Wolves all are absent from Australian zoos - is there any reason for this (such as lack of an IRA, or a ban on the genera for another reason), or could they theoretically be added to the Import List and imported with enough interest?

Further, what about other Felidae? Lynx species and smaller cats (Sand Cat, Jaguarundi) are seriously underrepresented, especially now we see Fishing Cat numbers in Australia drop so dangerously low. Do they have an IRA, and it's purely lack of interest stopping them from being added to the List and ultimately imported?

 

[Zoofan15]

Further, what about other Felidae? Lynx species and smaller cats (Sand Cat, Jaguarundi) are seriously underrepresented, especially now we see Fishing Cat numbers in Australia drop so dangerously low. Do they have an IRA, and it's purely lack of interest stopping them from being added to the List and ultimately imported?

To import a CITES I species (Jaguar, Iberian lynx etc) then the zoo must have ZAA/regional support.

The region holds African lion, Sumatran tiger, Snow leopard, Sri Lankan leopard, Cheetah, Fishing cat, Clouded leopard, Serval and Caracal. I’m not aware of any interest in establishing a managed population of another species within the region (as exciting as that would be).

In addition to the above, I’ll note that to import Sri Lankan leopard (or receive them from zoos within the region in the case of Mogo and Tasmania), approval had to be given by the EEP.

 

[Zorro]

That would make sense - quite a handful of zoos I feel are starting to somewhat neglect their reptile collections in recent years.

Also, out of curiosity, is there anything stopping us from importing any more North American species? Skunks, Beavers, Racoons, Prairie Dogs, Wolverines, Moose, Reindeer, and Wolves all are absent from Australian zoos - is there any reason for this (such as lack of an IRA, or a ban on the genera for another reason), or could they theoretically be added to the Import List and imported with enough interest?

Further, what about other Felidae? Lynx species and smaller cats (Sand Cat, Jaguarundi) are seriously underrepresented, especially now we see Fishing Cat numbers in Australia drop so dangerously low. Do they have an IRA, and it's purely lack of interest stopping them from being added to the List and ultimately imported?

There has been a trend with our major zoos in resent years (as mentioned else where on the forum) to reduce and down size the number of species being held in their collections, However some of the smaller regional zoos have made efforts to increase and expand the number of animal species held in their collections. As much as would love to see Sand cats and Jaguarundi in our zoos collections its highly unlikely unfortunately!

 

[That Aussie Guy]

Do we have an IRA or similar for Bears, Canids, Exotic bats, Mustelids, and other carnivores?

I'd love to see dhole make a comeback in the region - pretty devo it's highly unlikely

Also, what's the deal with new exotic deer species, like Moose or Reindeer?

 

[Osedax]

Do we have an IRA or similar for Bears, Canids, Exotic bats, Mustelids, and other carnivores?

Canids I believe so. Bats I'd say not. No idea about the rest.

 

[Zoofan15]

Do we have an IRA or similar for Bears, Canids, Exotic bats, Mustelids, and other carnivores?

I'd love to see dhole make a comeback in the region - pretty devo it's highly unlikely

Also, what's the deal with new exotic deer species, like Moose or Reindeer?

Canids I believe so. Bats I'd say not. No idea about the rest.

New Zealand has an IRA for zoo Carnivora (Canidae, Eupleridae, Hyaenidae, Mustelidae, Procyonidae, Ursidae and Viverridae families), so Australia presumably has similar given they’ve undertaken the import of several of these over the past couple of decades (most recently Spotted hyena and African wild dog).

NZ Government

 

[Osedax]

New Zealand has an IRA for zoo Carnivora (Canidae, Eupleridae, Hyaenidae, Mustelidae, Procyonidae, Ursidae and Viverridae families), so Australia presumably has similar given they’ve undertaken the import of several of these over the past couple of decades (most recently Spotted hyena and African wild dog).

NZ Government

Thanks for the link. It's fascinating to see the process of an IRA and all the things they have to consider.

 

[That Aussie Guy]

New Zealand has an IRA for zoo Carnivora (Canidae, Eupleridae, Hyaenidae, Mustelidae, Procyonidae, Ursidae and Viverridae families), so Australia presumably has similar given they’ve undertaken the import of several of these over the past couple of decades (most recently Spotted hyena and African wild dog).

NZ Government

Thanks for the link - certainly interesting to have a quick flick through.

What are the Aussie laws/IRA/Restrictions regarding rodents and deer?

Also, just a one-off, is there anything (other than lack of interest) blocking us from importing Pronghorn?

 

[Zorro]

Thanks for the link - certainly interesting to have a quick flick through.

What are the Aussie laws/IRA/Restrictions regarding rodents and deer?

Also, just a one-off, is there anything (other than lack of interest) blocking us from importing Pronghorn?

Lack of interest has played a big part in the lack of importing some species even to the point of any major zoo not importing pure bred Grants Zebra (To stop inbreeding and breeding of Hybrids) which can be imported and so far only by two of the smaller regional zoos doing so. The chance of species like Pronghorn being imported are very remote indeed.

 

[FunnyJamie]

Thanks for the link - certainly interesting to have a quick flick through.

What are the Aussie laws/IRA/Restrictions regarding rodents and deer?

Also, just a one-off, is there anything (other than lack of interest) blocking us from importing Pronghorn?

Pronghorn don't even do particularly well in captivity in their Native range, I think there is only 1 or 2 international holders not in North America. I am not very certain on what makes them hard to keep, whether that be diet, fragility or what. So there is essentially no chance of them coming into Australia. Also deer in general are unlikely to be approved due to how invasive the current exotic deer are.

 

[That Aussie Guy]

Pronghorn don't even do particularly well in captivity in their Native range, I think there is only 1 or 2 international holders not in North America. I am not very certain on what makes them hard to keep, whether that be diet, fragility or what. So there is essentially no chance of them coming into Australia. Also deer in general are unlikely to be approved due to how invasive the current exotic deer are.

I would've thought Reindeer might have been permitted for import (If there was interest of course) due to them being from rather different climates to what is found in the wild in Australia, making the chance of an escaped couple sustaining a feral population very small.

Moose I can understand however - they do badly in captivity overseas, so I can't imagine us doing any better here.

 

[19985]

Do we have an IRA or similar for Bears, Canids, Exotic bats, Mustelids, and other carnivores?

Ursidae should be heading in an interesting direction (for better or for worse) with the lack of Panda breeding at Adelaide, and no future Sun Bear pairings and subsequent phase out.
Ursidae are a huge crowd draw and widely beloved animals by staff and public alike, and I personally am quite saddened by the decline in Sun Bears. Perhaps someone else knows if there’s interest in anything like Black bears (American or Asiatic), Spectacled, Sloth, etc? Would broadly fit Sun Bear sized holes in many zoos.

 

[PossumRoach]

Skunks, Racoons, Prairie Dogs

The former two are notorious rabies vectors and the latter is notorious for carrying many diseases including monkey pox so I don’t see it happening anytime soon.

Pronghorn don't even do particularly well in captivity in their Native range, I think there is only 1 or 2 international holders not in North America. I am not very certain on what makes them hard to keep, whether that be diet, fragility or what. So there is essentially no chance of them coming into Australia. Also deer in general are unlikely to be approved due to how invasive the current exotic deer are.

There are no international holders since the last non NA individual died in 2017 in Japan.

 

[zoomaniac]

@baekho100: I share most of your concerns/thoughts. Beside IRA regulations: Is there a chance to get enough individuals of a Big bear species that ALSO fit to the Australien climate at all? In my opinion, OZ zoos should do all they can to stay with the sunbears and get new individuals from Asia (rehab centres, zoos etc.). If there is really space for a second kind of bear, then sloth bear would be a good idea imo (although I can imagine that spectacled bears would fit in zoos in southern Australia, Tasmania and NZL).