Has tarsier been in the zoo ?

anitaj94

Member
I came know this unique species in Indonesia called tarsier. Has anyone of you seen it ? what do you know about them. The locals have so many stories to tell by the way
 
....Has anyone of you seen it ...
I was lucky to be taken "behind the scenes" to see a Sulawesi tarsier at the Rare Species Conservation Centre. And I was fortunate to see Philippine tarsiers several times at both Frankfurt Zoo and Bristol Zoo. Unfortunately I doubt I'll ever see another tarsier again.
 
Lok Kawi Wildlife Park in Malaysian Borneo has often held tarsiers on and off. They will be Western Tarsiers, obtained locally. With some effort, it's not too improbably to see them in the wild as I have done.
 
After never seeing a Tarsier in my life, I recently saw Tarsiers in 4 zoos just in August. There was a 5th zoo (Taman Safari I Bogor) with a Tarsier sign in the long 'Nocturnal House' tunnel, but I don't think that @twilighter and I actually saw one.

Here are the 4 zoos:

Taiping Zoo (Malaysia)
Taman Safari II Prigen (Indonesia) - behind the scenes
Batu Secret Zoo (Indonesia)
Faunaland Ancol (Indonesia)
 
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at Taman Safari Indonesia II (Prigen) you can even find a Tarsier House

The Tarsier House at Prigen no longer has Tarsiers on display. Just Slow Loris. Prigen Conservation Breeding Ark has at least two spieces behind the scenes.

After never seeing a Tarsier in my life, I recently saw Tarsiers in 5 zoos just in August. There was a 6th zoo (Taman Safari I Bogor) with a Tarsier sign in the long 'Nocturnal House' tunnel, but I don't think that @twilighter and I actually saw one.

Here are the 5 zoos:

Taiping Zoo (Malaysia)
Night Safari (Singapore)
Taman Safari II Prigen (Indonesia)
Batu Secret Zoo (Indonesia)
Faunaland Ancol (Indonesia)

You are correct, we haven't seen Tarsier at Taman Safari Bogor. I don't think they have the spieces at the zoo.

The Night Safari's Tarsier is also behind the scenes.
 
In their native Indonesia, tarsiers can be seen in only a handful of facilities including Batu Secret Zoo (Horsfield's), Faunaland (Gursky's spectral), Ragunan (Off-display, reported to be Horsfield's and Siau Island), and several private facilities especially in Sulawesi.

You are correct, we haven't seen Tarsier at Taman Safari Bogor. I don't think they have the spieces at the zoo.
The Horsfield's and spectral tarsiers in Cisarua were previously for a special behind-the-scene tour and were only publicly displayed for a short time, though it was mentioned that they no longer have them in Zootierliste unfortunately.
 
Have the Indonesian zoos been making any progress with tarsier that would be able to be replicated if there were future imports outside Asia?

Brookfield Zoo won the AZA Edward H. Bean Award for the birth of Phillipine Tarsier in 1966 and still held the species into the late 1980s at the defunct Small Mammal House.
 
Isn’t the major problem stress related issues due to the animals being on display? In theory, this might be overcome by selective breeding for temperament; personally I have severe misgivings about this being attempted from an ethical standpoint.
 
Have the Indonesian zoos been making any progress with tarsier that would be able to be replicated if there were future imports outside Asia?
There no known breeding success in Indonesian zoos for so far I knew, in term of success on how long they had kept them, Faunaland had displayed their Gursky's spectral tarsier ever since their first opening in 2017.

The related PT. FaunaIndonesia, who supplied the zoo's animals including the tarsiers, had presumebly able to bred them.
 
Isn’t the major problem stress related issues due to the animals being on display? In theory, this might be overcome by selective breeding for temperament; personally I have severe misgivings about this being attempted from an ethical standpoint.
Has this been attempted with one-way and/or soundproof glass?
 
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