Yes, sorry! Typo, as I've been writing so much content about Mauritius lately that "1970's" is becoming a muscle-memory reflex when I type! Well spotted!
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust Durrell news
- Thread starter Nisha
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The choughs at the Park are nesting, too.
Hiya, sort of! In keeping with Arthurian legend, we have an 8 year-old male named 'Denzel' in quarantine, due to join Isolde any day now. He came to us from Paradise Park – the report will be published tomorrow.
The other two pairs are collecting sticks, and the plan is to double clutch them again – hand-rearing the first clutch and leaving the second to be parent-reared. Our four hand-reared youngsters from last year are doing extremely well... importantly, they were taken to the release aviary before they fledged, and were released at a formative age.
We hope Arthur is alive and well, but we haven't had a sighting for some time now
Maybe he's gone to Guernsey... poor fella (there's a bit of Channel Islands rivalry going on!).
Aw, thank you. I don't get the chance to come on as often as I'd like, and I was following the forum much more avidly before I came to Durrell full-time. In a way, this place is a brain trust of zoo information that is unparallelled, perhaps even inside of the organisations that are discussed, and I often think that it should be the first port-of-call for market research or opinions on enclosure design etc. At the same time, I am wary of coming across as being here to market the Trust – hence my lack of posts lately.
Rick
Rick J;859647 Our four hand-reared youngsters from last year are doing extremely well... importantly said:Hi Rick.
Thanks for the update.I've followed all the blogs on the Release Project and last year's handreared chicks did appear to integrate very easily and successfully with the others.
Different subject- when you have a few minutes spare.... Could you post on here the last time Spectacled Bears bred at Jersey (presumably that was Barbara and Wolfgang) and also a list of all the births(with year dates) recorded for this species at Jersey. Thanks in anticipation.
I don't think that is an issue. There have been instances where organisations have joined here simply to post links and advertisements, but in your case you provide information of the sort Zoochatters actually desire and more importantly you participate in the discussion by way of answering questions.
I always think zoos should be on board with sort of thing. There will be sticky questions asked from time to time which the zoo won't want to answer on a forum platform, but in those cases they can simply say "I'm not at liberty to discuss that" or something along those lines.
Pretty sure the Jersey Butterfly House has closed. But if anyone else knows different...
Hi Pertinax. Ok, the last recorded breeding (assuming that what I witnessed just a week ago doesn't lead to Quechua x Bahia cubs soon... here's hoping) was in 1994, Wolfgang x Barbara and the cubs were:
M2074 = Margot, Female, appears to have died at LISIEUX Zoo at 14 y/o.
M2075 = Gerald, now held at PUEBLA and 20 years 3 Months 23 Days old!
Otherwise:
M424 = Aztec - 24/01/1975
M425 = Inca - 24/01/1975
M532 = Gerald - 06/02/1977
M533 = Jeremy - 06/02/1977
M1557 = Ambrose - 08/02/1990
M1558 = Gladstone - 08/02/1990
M1772 = (no name, died at 1 month 23 days)
M1883 = Carlos - 11/01/1993
M1884 = Luis - 11/01/1993
M2074 = Margot - 25/11/1994
M2075 = Gerald - 25/11/1994
I hope that helps!
I'm going to create Facebook click through gallery with as many pics of the bears (from scanned paper pictures in our massive, currently uncatalogued collection) soon. I've got an incredible volunteer adding all the names and accession numbers as she scans them in. I think doing all species will take over a year, but I'll be sure and post any 'gold' we find, either here or on our Facebook page.
No, you are correct, it has gone. There are some butterflies held at the Eric Young Orchid Foundation, or at least there were when I last visited in 2012.
That's good to know. I'll try not to spam you, and wherever possible I'll try and answer any Durrell queries you may have.
I hope that helps!
Thanks Rick. Will lookout for the Facebook bears too.
Can you tell us why the Red River Hogs have left the Zoo?
That's good to know. I'll try not to spam you, and wherever possible I'll try and answer any Durrell queries you may have.
Feel free to take part in any non-Durrell discussions you wish, too
plenty of discussions about conservation and species that used to be held in captivity and wildlife in general etc etc
Following the unfortunate death of Zazkaley earlier this year, and the import of 6 aye-ayes last year, does anyone know the current status of aye-ayes at Durrell? In what social structure, how many males and females?
Yes, the collection (and signage) will be gradually adjusted to represent our more of our field conservation programmes – some of which are landscape projects rather than single species focused.
I am told that we will always hold gorillas, Sumatran orangutans and Andean bears – and are looking into ways to better support wild conservation programmes with all 3 species. Our keepers are extremely well qualified and experienced, and – if freed up somewhat – can contribute research, presence (and effort) on field projects and a link between the Park and the Trust's true mission, as set out by Gerald.
To do this we have to free up resources – financial, keeper time on routines for each section etc – and for this reason, if we have a species that isn't contributing to the field or the EEP (our female red river hogs were on contraception), they won't really have a place at Durrell in the future.
It's going to be a tough sell, if I'm honest, but we were founded to save species from extinction, and to be true to that in the current global climate, we have to be entirely practical.
It doesn't mean that we won't have new species coming into the collection, but when we do, they wont be 'typical' zoo species, if the current collection plan is implemented.
Following the unfortunate death of Zazkaley earlier this year, and the import of 6 aye-ayes last year, does anyone know the current status of aye-ayes at Durrell? In what social structure, how many males and females?
Not 6 aye-ayes, we've only received 2 to date, with 2 more arriving later this year. Sadly, we also lost one of the recently imported aye-ayes.
Currently we have 3 males and 1 female, but the two new arrivals will redress the balance. Social structure is fairly fluid, with different pairings and enclosures being trialled.
Is there a small hope to see mountain coatis at Durrell in the near or far future?
That would be great!
That would be great!
Thanks for such a full explanation and I can see the need for such rationalisation. Its good to know that the Gorillas, Orangutans and Bears will always stay intendifiable with Jersey though.
and in a similar vein, is there anything further on pigmy hogs possibly making their way to Jersey which was mentioned a while back?
They would need to make a decision on which sub/species of mountain coati to go into. Two to choose from.
I agree entirely that Jersey needs to concentrate on species which are not seen in every zoo. As a matter of priority, therefore, I would have Mountain Coatis replace the present Ring-tailed Coatis, a much rarer gibbon species replace the Lar gibbons, a rarer lemur species replace the Ring-tails (nice animals, Ring-tails, and endangered in the wild, but over-represented in captivity). I would replace the Burmese pythons (again, every zoo has them). I would replace the short-clawed otters with Giant otters, though that may necessitate extending the pool. And I would replace the meerkats with Madagascar Ring-tailed Mongooses, which I strongly believe would have the same public appeal but are a much more deserving species. And, most definitely, I would investigate the possibility of bringing in Pygmy Hog, Madagascar Pochard, and Fanaloka or Fossa, and bringing back the Snow Leopards and the Babirusa. I would like to see Jersey establishing a breeding colony of Echo Parakeets (it's previously had a small number of males I know) to establish this species, like the Pink Pigeon, firmly in captivity.
...Durrell...
I fantasise about Sumatran Tigers in the valley, but the amount of investment involved would be prohibitive. I understand there are political reasons why Madagascar Pochard can't leave the island. Fossas on the other hand should be easy and would fit in well, although again a state of the art enclosure might be expensive.
I fantasise about Sumatran Tigers in the valley, but the amount of investment involved would be prohibitive. I understand there are political reasons why Madagascar Pochard can't leave the island. Fossas on the other hand should be easy and would fit in well, although again a state of the art enclosure might be expensive.
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