When did it last breed, if ever?

johnstoni

johnstoni

Well-Known Member
Hi, I'm new here, apologies if this thread has happened before.....

I wondered when certain species held in captivity in this country last bred. I read the other day that chessington announced the first Binturong to be born in the UK for 10 years. I was wondering if anyone know how long it has been for the following:

Armadillos (any species)
Fennec foxes (these are raised like domestic dogs all over the US but I can't ever remember them breeding in the UK)
Marabou/Adujant storks
Tamanduas
Spot-nosed monkeys
Great Indian hornbills
Bateleur eagles
Aardwolves
Duikers/ Dik Dik

all the above are animals I find very interesting but feel they are rarely if ever bred in this country. I could be wrong, does anyone know any better?
 
Many of those species have bred within the past decade. Of the top of my head (hence no dates)...

Armadillos are regularly bred by a handful of private keepers (certainly three banded, Tolypeutes matacus, and greater and lesser hairy, Chaetophractus villosus and C.velerosus). Paradise Wildlife Park seems to be the only public collection to have bred one in recent times (a three-banded) though I'm not sure about Amazon World.

Fennec Foxes haven't bred in zoos for quite some time, there are only about 4 pairs in the UK between zoos and private keepers. Still births occured last year in a private collection.

Marabou at Blackbrook, but that must be about 10 years ago now.

Great Indian Hornbills at Chester.

Bateleur Eagles are regularly churned out at the Cotswold Falconry Centre.

Aardwolves bred famously at Hamerton but I'm not sure it has been repeated since the initial ones.

I'm pretty sure there are no longer any duikers left in the UK - Colchester seems to have been the last with its Blues. The breeding colony at Edinburgh was found to consist of Maxwell/Blue hybrids and died out.

Tamandua I'm pretty sure bred at London a few years ago. There is certainly much more potential for them breeding now with about four or five etablished pairs in the country.

Spot-nosed Monkeys. Twycross and Howletts have at least a pair each but I don't think there has been any breeding activity from either of them. In fact, are the ones at Twycross related? They came from the same confiscation.

Have the Dik dik bred at Colchester?
 
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I believe Amazon World was the first UK collection to breed Tamanduas - someone please tell me if I'm wrong though! They are pretty new to UK zoos really, and the number of collections keeping them is gradually increasing, so hopefully more babies will be born in the coming years.

That's interesting about the Binturongs - presumably this is a case of zoos not attempting to breed them anymore due to them not being endangered or not being "trendy" anymore, rather than them being particularly difficult to breed in captivity?
 
Sand Cat said:
I believe Amazon World was the first UK collection to breed Tamanduas - someone please tell me if I'm wrong though! They are pretty new to UK zoos really, and the number of collections keeping them is gradually increasing, so hopefully more babies will be born in the coming years.

That's interesting about the Binturongs - presumably this is a case of zoos not attempting to breed them anymore due to them not being endangered or not being "trendy" anymore, rather than them being particularly difficult to breed in captivity?
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Thanks, that's all really interesting. I would be surprised if Binturongs were given contraception, they're not so common in the UK and can't be that hard to place? I know Southport were the main holders and breeders of this species, but I had never heard of another collection breeding from them since. Though I never think of them as a 'trendy' species, certainly colchester, chessington, and edinburgh either acquired them relatively recently or built new facilities for their existing animals.

I didn't know about Blackbrook breeding Marabou storks, that's quite an achievement.

I don't understand why British zoos have so much difficulty breeding Fennec foxes when there are countless breeders in the USA who keep them as litter-trained house pets and breed from them as you would a small domestic dog breed. Perhaps the glass-fronted compartments of zoo nocturnal houses are less conducive to breeding than a comfy living room!

Another group where the current abundance in the UK is deceptive are pelicans. Who is breeding them in captivity for so many collections to be able to import them? Or are many still wild-caught. In the late 1980's very few British zoos had any pelicans. There has been an influx in the last ten years or so. As far as I can see, only Longleat and Bristol have bred the Pink-backed, possibly paignton have bred Dalmations (not 100% I know the original pair would nest and lay eggs most years). Does this mean all other pelicans in the UK are non-breeding imports?
 
Pelicans are a very interesting case. Breeding is very rare and a lot of collections (Chesters, Londons) havent breed them yet and yet there are so many in UK Zoos. The only zoos im aware that they have breed are the ones you have mentioned (Longleat and Bristol)
 
ZooMania said:
Pelicans are a very interesting case. Breeding is very rare and a lot of collections (Chesters, Londons) havent breed them yet and yet there are so many in UK Zoos. The only zoos im aware that they have breed are the ones you have mentioned (Longleat and Bristol)
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The reason for more frequent exhibition of pelicans in zoos is relevant to the avian TAGs interest in this group. For years, pelicans (like flamingos, marabou storks, cranes .... passerines) have been maintained in sub-optimal conditions. They are essentially colonial sub-tropical birds and need heated indoor accomodation through wintertime. Only if these conditions are met will they breed with any regularity.

I will start another thread soon on this issue. :p
 
Several years ago, there was a collection in the UK in Buckinghamshire which housed all but one of the world's pelican species (Spot-billed pelicans), it was also the headquarters of the 'Pelican Trust'. At some point it closed as far as I'm aware, and now Blackbrook appears to have taken the mantle as the largest collection of pelican species in this country. I am not sure if they ever bred at the old collection, or where they all ended up, and have not yet heard of Blackbrook breeding any of theirs (possibly still too young?). Where are they all coming from?

Jelle, given the TAG would have some involvement in collections keeping pelicans today, what is your opinion then of the overall current facilities for Pelicans in the UK? I still feel most collections here have groups far too small and inferior facilities to many of the continental collections currently doing so well with them.
 
In tropics pelicans breed IN DRY SEASON. Most white pelicans in Europe are pink with long crest and facial "humps" in autumn and anonymous white non-breeders in spring. I think their are imports from African populations.

Zoo with such group - should build largish, heated, well-lit winter shed with straw or reed for nest building, where pelicans will breed as e.g. in Berlin or Hamburg.
 
Until just recently, pretty much the entire UK population of Binturongs was Southport stock (there was a dozen there alone at one point). Linton still maintains a pair but I think these are past breeding. Something which characterises Southport animals (but not all of them) is two white toes on one of the forefeet (I can't remember whether the right or left) and this can be seen in the Lionton animals. Somewhere else that managed to breed them, surprisingly, was Southam.

I'm not sure where the Chessington animals came from but I know that the closely related European population was invigorated with an unrelated American bloodline about six years ago.

Chessington have a young Binturong for their animal show - I wonder if it is the one they bred?

The Palawan race of Binturong should now be in residence at the Rare Species Conservation Centre in Kent. They came (if indeed they have arrived) from the Philipines.
 
The Binturong born at Chessington at the end of January was/is being hand-reared, so very possibly has been brought out to meet the public, although it seems a little early to include such an animal in any display, but I'm almost certain the zoo only had 1.1 adults previous to the birth. What age does the binturong in the show appear to be?

Just read with utter dismay that a 'Sea life Centre' is being installed at Chessington for 2008.
 
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