History of saiga in captivity

baboon said:
I have never seen them. According to the book, Beijing had obtained saiga in 1953 and bred them successfully in 1954. But it seems that they never survive into 1980s. I can't find where they origin, but I guess USSR ?
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Thank you again Baboon, do you happen to know what this book is called ?
sorry to digress, but I would be very interested in learning more about other species held at Beijing Zoo in the past
 
Sorry to bump this thread but I thought I might share with you guys some interesting info about the history of Saiga (Saiga tatarica) in captivity in North American collections

I found out that in the United States, besides San Diego Zoo, San Diego Wild Animal Park, Los Angeles Zoo, San Francisco Zoo, Rio Grande Zoo, Dallas Zoo, Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo, Louisiana Purchase Zoo, St Louis Zoo, Smithsonian National Zoo, Bronx Zoo, and Turtle Back Zoo, they were also held at Philadelphia Zoo, Toledo Zoo, and Lincoln Park Zoo. I also saw that at one time Minnesota Zoo had them on their master plan, but I dont know if the idea of getting them came to fruition

As for Canadian zoos, besides Alberta Game Farm and Assiniboine Park Zoo, I found out that they were also kept at the now closed Okanagan Game Farm in Penticton, British Columbia

I dont know if it was mentioned on this thread or not, but expanding on the subject of Canadian zoos, I thought I would share with you that Toronto Zoo and Calgary Zoo had them on their master plans, but again I dont know if those ideas came to fruition
 
Also from what I was reading, the first Saiga birth in North America was at St Louis Zoo in 1939

I know that this is slightly off topic, but I would like to share with you guys the characteristics that differentiate Mongolian saiga (Saiga mongolica) from Russian saiga (Saiga tatarica). Mongolian saiga are smaller in size and sandy gray in color and have a more clearly defined brown spot on their rump, as many of you know the most noticeable characteristic of Saiga sp. is their bulbous snout. The snout of Mongolian saiga are less highly developed then that of the Russian saiga, their necks and horns are also shorter than those of Russian saiga.

There is also a third species and that is Saiga borealis, I dont know as much about them, but I would like to do more research them further and read more about them
 
UngulateNerd92 said:
Thank you again Baboon, do you happen to know what this book is called ?
sorry to digress, but I would be very interested in learning more about other species held at Beijing Zoo in the past
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Hi, this book is "The history of Beijin Zoo" (there is only Chinese edition). Other interseting (I think) species used to be kept in Beijing Zoo include: chamois, European bison, Japanese serow, musk deer, Mongolian gazelle, marbled cat, "ocelot-morph" Asiatic golden cat, pangolin, white-shouldered black ibis, leather-backed turtle and most big-sized Chinese native mammal species.
 
"The first saiga antelope to be bred at the Highland wildlife park were born on 17th May 1974 both our females giving birth within the same hour. one to a single calf and the other to twins, within 2hours of birth both twins were suckling."

An extract from an article from the International zoo yearbook volume 16, titled Hand-rearing a saiga antelope at the Highland wildlife park.
 
kiang said:
"The first saiga antelope to be bred at the Highland wildlife park were born on 17th May 1974 both our females giving birth within the same hour. one to a single calf and the other to twins, within 2hours of birth both twins were suckling."

An extract from an article from the International zoo yearbook volume 16, titled Hand-rearing a saiga antelope at the Highland wildlife park.
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Very interesting :)
 
Saiga in the United Arab Emirates

We kept Saiga in Al Ain Zoo back in the late 70's. Fascinating animals. We bred them twice. They are not an easy species to manage however. In the breeding season the males think of nothing else but breeding. They forget all about food and run about 24/7 till they literally waste away. The young are born posthumously. I think we held them around four years all in all. I don't remember much more than that.
 
Peter Dickinson said:
We kept Saiga in Al Ain Zoo back in the late 70's. Fascinating animals. We bred them twice. They are not an easy species to manage however. In the breeding season the males think of nothing else but breeding. They forget all about food and run about 24/7 till they literally waste away. The young are born posthumously. I think we held them around four years all in all. I don't remember much more than that.
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I wonder whether the male saigas in the wild also show the suicide-style courtship behavior? It reminds me the antechinus and phascogale of Australia.
 
baboon said:
I wonder whether the male saigas in the wild also show the suicide-style courtship behavior? It reminds me the antechinus and phascogale of Australia.
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It realy seems that a large part of the males dies also in nature shortly afther the breeding season.
 
Saiga seem predisposed towards a calamitous rate of loss in the bucks after mating. I guess that made brutal evolutionary sense when the herds were huge - with the does impregnated, the bucks are expendable, and with snow on the ground there is not enough food for all. Equally, there is only so much meat any Wolf needs.

Now the animal has become rare I find myself wondering how many pregnant does get killed by predators?

Getting the animal established in as many zoos as possible would seem beneficial, but it would seem that a big group is needed at outset, as a high rate of turnover is to be expected with the bucks.

And does anybody know if similar patterns of mortality been observed in chiru or Tibetan gazelle?
 
IanRRobinson said:
Saiga seem predisposed towards a calamitous rate of loss in the bucks after mating. I guess that made brutal evolutionary sense when the herds were huge - with the does impregnated, the bucks are expendable, and with snow on the ground there is not enough food for all. Equally, there is only so much meat any Wolf needs.

Now the animal has become rare I find myself wondering how many pregnant does get killed by predators?

Getting the animal established in as many zoos as possible would seem beneficial, but it would seem that a big group is needed at outset, as a high rate of turnover is to be expected with the bucks.

And does anybody know if similar patterns of mortality been observed in chiru or Tibetan gazelle?
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I know that neither the male chiru nor the male Tibetan gazelle has such a suicide pattern. For the chiru, the females will migrate to a new place after the mating season, and the male won't migrate, thus there is no need for the males to sacrifice themselves for the females' sake.
 
Shirokuma said:
I thought I would post a link to this picture from the gallery as it seems quite significant and has generated no discussion:

Russian saiga antelope / Saiga tatarica tatarica | ZooChat

Does anyone have more information on this animal and on saiga at Almaty Zoo?
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Have you seen this from last year? (The paper is not directly related to Almaty Zoo).
https://www.researchgate.net/public...ne_Zoo_husbandry_experiences_and_observations

Only four animals, two males and two females, are currently living in Almaty Zoo, Kazakhstan (ZIMS, request from 18th October 2016). Further, there is a breeding centre in Kazakhstan (G. Glázer, pers. comm.) keeping saigas. Additionally an unknown number of saigas are living semi-wild at Askania Nova, Ukraine (ASKANIA NOVA, 2016).
 
A little note about the history of the Saiga at Hannover Zoo.
ZTL mention :
"1954 - ?
1.2 imported
1957 first-breeding with a pregnant imported female
Kept also before 1945"
I found a note about this keeping before 1945. During Sept. 1940 a large shipment from Russia came to Hannover with next to 2 Saigas also species like Snow leopard and Bearded vultures.
 
For anybody interested in the history of saiga antelope in captivity, especially those who remember the saiga in Cologne Zoo, the link below

https://www.researchgate.net/public...ne_Zoo_husbandry_experiences_and_observations

provides a very interesting PDF about Cologne Zoo's saiga antelope.

According to this document, the original saiga arrived on 11th November 1976 and the last individual died in October 2009; during those thirty-three years, ninety-nine individual saiga antelope lived in Cologne Zoo.
 
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