Do Banham still have them?
UK mammal first breedings: appeal for help
- Thread starter robmv
- Start date
Do Banham still have them?
Well done! They do indeed. And a quick scan of their web site suggests they have bred their fur seals, the mother and the pup photo sort gives that away
After digging through some boxes of records I have come up with the following -
Gemsbok - a group of 1.5 were received at Marwell on 8th February 1974 , after quarantine . The Marwell Zoo's Paper , no. 9 July 1974 , page 3 records the birth of a male calf on 23rd March 1974 but this died the next day , a female calf was born on 26th March 1974 and she thrived .
Bat-eared Fox - The Federation of Zoological gardens of Great Britain and Ireland Mammal Inventory 1995 , page 30 , records a birth of 3(1) to the group of 1.2 at Banham Zoo . I suspect that this could be the first birth in the UK .
Lesser Malayan Mouse Deer - ( details from Zoo Fed. Inventories again ) the first of recent imports were 2 males to Shaldon in 1994 , the private collection of Martin Bourne at Baguley farm near Manchester received 2 in 1995 . In 1996 2(1) were born in that collection - 1996 Mammal Inventory page 57 .
Red-bellied Lemur - ( Zoo Fed. inventories again ) - Banham received a pair in 1996 and a second pair in 1997 with (1) being born in that year . I do not have further inventories after this until 2002 , but suspect the first successful birth would have been soon after 1997 at Banham . ( I do have old Zoo Federation News so when I get a chance will look through some of these ) .
South African Fur Seal - Banham had 2.4 in 1995 , no births were recorded between then and 1997 though a female died in 1997 . I assume the first birth was later than this .
Lion-tailed Macaques - back to the stud-book to try to work out when there could have been a birth at Regent's Park ( just because the studbbok does not record it does not mean there was not a birth ) . None of the macaques received between 1903 and 1924 lived very long . A group of 2.2 were received on 22October 1939 , all recorded as being wild born in India in 1939 , so presumably they arrived as babies . These rather delicate monkeys lived in the old Monkey House through the war . The first to die was a female in 1944 , a male in 1949 , the second female in 1950 and the last male in 1953 , plenty of time for a birth or two . A pair arrived in 1956 , the male died in 1965 and the female left the collection in 1970 - to Dorset .
Gemsbok - a group of 1.5 were received at Marwell on 8th February 1974 , after quarantine . The Marwell Zoo's Paper , no. 9 July 1974 , page 3 records the birth of a male calf on 23rd March 1974 but this died the next day , a female calf was born on 26th March 1974 and she thrived .
Bat-eared Fox - The Federation of Zoological gardens of Great Britain and Ireland Mammal Inventory 1995 , page 30 , records a birth of 3(1) to the group of 1.2 at Banham Zoo . I suspect that this could be the first birth in the UK .
Lesser Malayan Mouse Deer - ( details from Zoo Fed. Inventories again ) the first of recent imports were 2 males to Shaldon in 1994 , the private collection of Martin Bourne at Baguley farm near Manchester received 2 in 1995 . In 1996 2(1) were born in that collection - 1996 Mammal Inventory page 57 .
Red-bellied Lemur - ( Zoo Fed. inventories again ) - Banham received a pair in 1996 and a second pair in 1997 with (1) being born in that year . I do not have further inventories after this until 2002 , but suspect the first successful birth would have been soon after 1997 at Banham . ( I do have old Zoo Federation News so when I get a chance will look through some of these ) .
South African Fur Seal - Banham had 2.4 in 1995 , no births were recorded between then and 1997 though a female died in 1997 . I assume the first birth was later than this .
Lion-tailed Macaques - back to the stud-book to try to work out when there could have been a birth at Regent's Park ( just because the studbbok does not record it does not mean there was not a birth ) . None of the macaques received between 1903 and 1924 lived very long . A group of 2.2 were received on 22October 1939 , all recorded as being wild born in India in 1939 , so presumably they arrived as babies . These rather delicate monkeys lived in the old Monkey House through the war . The first to die was a female in 1944 , a male in 1949 , the second female in 1950 and the last male in 1953 , plenty of time for a birth or two . A pair arrived in 1956 , the male died in 1965 and the female left the collection in 1970 - to Dorset .
I remember the last single female in the old Monkey House. I wonder where it went to in 'Dorset'- a private owner? There was no Monkeyworld in those days.
I have a b/w postcard in the 'Zoo Favorites' series(The Wanderoo Monkeys) showing a group of 4 sitting in a row- male, female, juvenile and smaller baby. I cannot read the postmark date, nor say for sure it is ZSL but I presume it is.
Panthera Puss
Well-Known Member
According to a fairly quick (but careful) scout through the tiger studbook, the first Sumatran Tigers were a litter of 3 males born at Bristol, 2 Jan 1989:
Studbook no. 708 'Mr Sly' (died 1/4/2004)
709 'Bad Ears'
710 'Middleman' (died 27/6/2002).
Sire 546 (Warrior) Dam 555 (Sonya).
Bad Ears was still alive at Mareeba Zoo in Australia when the 2008 studbook was published.
Reference: Muller, Peter, International Tiger Studbook 2000. Leipzig: Zoologischer Garten Leipzig, 2000, p. 417.
Thrigby Hall had a successful litter of 3 females (702-4) a few weeks later on 15 Mar 1989.
Studbook no. 708 'Mr Sly' (died 1/4/2004)
709 'Bad Ears'
710 'Middleman' (died 27/6/2002).
Sire 546 (Warrior) Dam 555 (Sonya).
Bad Ears was still alive at Mareeba Zoo in Australia when the 2008 studbook was published.
Reference: Muller, Peter, International Tiger Studbook 2000. Leipzig: Zoologischer Garten Leipzig, 2000, p. 417.
Thrigby Hall had a successful litter of 3 females (702-4) a few weeks later on 15 Mar 1989.
Quite possibly- as they also had a single adult male for a while.
The mention of "Chilworth" in Studbooks refers to Jimmy Chipperfield's home and business headquarters. Animals were not kept there - the winter quarters were somewhere near Middle Wallop. "Chilworth" could be reference to any of the Chipperfield (Jimmy's side of the family) collections (i.e. the safari Parks and Plymouth and Southampton Zoos) which isn't very helpful.
At Plymouth Zoo circa 1975 there was a family group of Lion tailed Macaque- adult pair and two offspring. Whether these animals were connected to the 1965/66 breedings listed for 'Chilworth' in the Studbook I cannot say.
I believe Dublin Zoo's may have originated from this source.
I believe Dublin Zoo's may have originated from this source.
I have the same postcard; mine is postmarked 1st November 1927.
Most (but not all) of the "Zoo Favourites" postcard series depict London Zoo photographs; I, too, assume that this picture is from Regent's Park.
The ZSL Annual Report for 1976 records that long-nosed potoroo were born in London Zoo that year.
I agree with you, Rob, that there is rather a “grey area” for London Zoo breeding records covering the period between Flower’s excellent publication (1929) and the International Zoo Yearbooks.
Unfortunately, my personal collection of ZSL Annual Reports doesn’t start until 1959, so doesn’t fill this gap. It would certainly be profitable to spend time in the ZSL Library systematically checking breeding records in the ZSL Annual Reports for the nineteen thirties, forties and fifties.
Next time I visit the ZSL Library, I’ll start to look at these.
Checking back to the Lion-tailed Macaque studbook . Two groups were imported by ZSL in the 1920's . 6 were received on 26.05.1920 ( gender not known ) , of these 2 went to New York Bronx in August 1920 and the remaining 4 went to Ezra in October 1920 .
More likely for the photo , a group of 1.5 were received from India on 02.05.1924 . The male died on 25.09.1925 , 4 of the females died between 19.03.1926 and 09.04.1926 , the date of the death of the last is not recorded . Possibly a wild-caught family group was imported with the photo being taken before September 1925 when the male died .
Plymouth being the source of the Chilworth animals makes sense . The pair recorded as being Chilworth born 1964/1965 went to Dublin on 25.09.1975 as well as a male Jack , born Chilworth 1970 , the son of the 1960's born pair and a baby female born to the pair in 1975 . Dublin also received a wild-caught pair from Chilworth on 17.05.1967 , this pair Dick and Eyeball travelled around many UK collections - Bristol , Chester , Yarmouth , R. Park and Colchester , but do not appear to have bred .
Just checked the Bartlett Society web-site for details on Plymouth Zoo . It was open from 1962 to 1978 . So it could have had breeding Lion-tailed macaques in 1964/65 .
The other group I remember in an unlikey setting were the 2.1 seen at Thorney in the late 1970's - a father with offspring born 1976 and 1977 . These went to Bristol in 1979 , the one-armed female Stumpy lived there many years and produced young sired by her father George . The other male Donas fathered young at Edindurgh and Dublin .
The other group I remember in an unlikey setting were the 2.1 seen at Thorney in the late 1970's - a father with offspring born 1976 and 1977 . These went to Bristol in 1979 , the one-armed female Stumpy lived there many years and produced young sired by her father George . The other male Donas fathered young at Edindurgh and Dublin .
This tallies exactly with the group I saw at Plymouth -the pair plus two young which I do remember were older male and baby female...
They bred several more times at Dublin but most of these young died. The two offspring from Plymouth were also allowed to breed together. Dublin also later received two females from Chester which were added to the Plymouth/Chilworth pair. One of them was the old female 'Flo' originally from Flamingo Park.
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Stumpy was only missing a hand, not an arm. It was easy not to notice the loss.
The two adult females in Bristol's current group, 'Kila' and 'Casey' are Stumpy's granddaughters.
It seems the earliest definite(proven) breeding for this species found so far in UK is either the 'Chilworth' births, or Flamingo Park(depending on date) or possibly Belle Vue for which there is no data.
The mother/son pairing from Flamingo Park were later sent to Chester where they were re-paired with Chester's existing pair, the mother Flo was put with the male(Lenny) and the son with the female (Lena). Lenny/Flo bred(in 1978) one male offspring (Dillon) who later went to Chessington where he also bred (once) with a female 'Alba'(daughter of Donas) from Edinburgh. Sadly they were later exported to South Africa.
One of the two founder females of Chester's current group is 'Reme' who came from Edinburgh, another daughter of Donas. The other is 'Tina' ex Colchester (from the Bristol line I think.)
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A huge thank you to everyone who has provided feedback so far. I have now added the following entries to the list:
Red Ruffed Lemur: Jersey 1984
Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur: Jersey 1984
Gemsbok: Marwell 1974 (I have also included a note that this birth was conceived in quarantine - I assume at Belle Vue, as they seem to have quarantined most of Marwell's hoofstock).
Bat-eared Fox: Banham 1995 (I remember seeing youngsters at Banham around this time and wondered if these might be the first)
Lesser Malay Chevrotain: Martin Bourne 1996
Red-bellied Lemur: Banham ca.1998?
Lion-tailed Macaque: Plymouth 1964
South African Fur Seal: I have sent an email to Banham (also querying the lemurs)
Long-nosed Potoroo: London 1976
If anyone has queries about any species not under discussion here I'd be happy to let you know what we've found so far. The intention is to publish this list as a small booklet via the Bartlett Society in due course.
Red Ruffed Lemur: Jersey 1984
Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur: Jersey 1984
Gemsbok: Marwell 1974 (I have also included a note that this birth was conceived in quarantine - I assume at Belle Vue, as they seem to have quarantined most of Marwell's hoofstock).
Bat-eared Fox: Banham 1995 (I remember seeing youngsters at Banham around this time and wondered if these might be the first)
Lesser Malay Chevrotain: Martin Bourne 1996
Red-bellied Lemur: Banham ca.1998?
Lion-tailed Macaque: Plymouth 1964
South African Fur Seal: I have sent an email to Banham (also querying the lemurs)
Long-nosed Potoroo: London 1976
If anyone has queries about any species not under discussion here I'd be happy to let you know what we've found so far. The intention is to publish this list as a small booklet via the Bartlett Society in due course.
John Knowles’ autobiography “My Marwellous Life” (horrible title, but interesting book) confirms that Marwell’s gemsbok were quarantined in Manchester.