Personally I think Rhenen would be a very odd choice to send them to.. It would be a good thing if they remain in Europe, though.
Rare Species Conservation Centre RSCC closing
- Thread starter nicholas
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It seems they are already there.
Not very surprising, as the owner of Ouwehands has a lot of money. They were also first in line to get giant pandas, because of their apparent richness. But I suspect they won't survive there for very long, sadly.
The owner indeed has a lot of money, but also a great passion for animals and he keeps and breeds quite some birds himself including hornbills and toucans, which are not the easiest of birds.... Ouwehands is not my favourite zoo and will never be that, but they do a good job in terms of animal husbandry and a lot of knowledge is present....
Yes, indeed, I was also told at the IZES meeting that the tarsier keeper was accompanying them to Holland to ensure that they would be cared for by an experienced keeper; so the tarsiers should be in good hands.
I'm guessing the tarsiers will be kept off-show at Rhenen as well.
Such sensitive creatures might not last long in a zoo that's so full of children (and occasionally adults) willing to scream, bang on windows and take pictures with flash as they please.
I would not take that risk if it was up to me.
Such sensitive creatures might not last long in a zoo that's so full of children (and occasionally adults) willing to scream, bang on windows and take pictures with flash as they please.
I would not take that risk if it was up to me.
As a volunteer, I have had complaints from visitors who travel long distances to see a species and it is off show. I wonder how many people will visit Rhenen to see the tarsiers and spotted cuscus. When I visited Stuttgart Zoo in the 1980s, the Kiwi House had CCTV, so visitors could see them inside their enclosure. Why isn't this used with other species that can be reluctant to be visible to visitors? Would the tarsiers still be nervous if they didn't know that visitors could see them?
As sensitive as tarsier are, I have no doubt it would be difficult to get them on show. But I do think it is possible. Only time will tell. And if the owner has a lot of money, hopefully that means he will consider everything and spare no cost at getting them on show in the right conditions. Fingers crossed for everyone, it would be a fantastic species to exhibit.
I saw tarsiers at Bristol Zoo in 1987. I told some other volunteers about them, but only one volunteer was interested. Tarsiers feature in a couple of advertising campaigns, but these don't seem to have increased their popularity.
Bib Fortuna
Well-Known Member
I've seen Tarsiers ON SHOW for many years at Fankfurt Zoo, then at Cleveland and at Ueno-Zoo-they even breed there on show-I've seen two young with their mums and Dad together on Display.
By the way-there are so many other sensitive species in Zoos on show-and they doing fine with that...
By the way-there are so many other sensitive species in Zoos on show-and they doing fine with that...
Bib Fortuna
Well-Known Member
I'm guessing the tarsiers will be kept off-show at Rhenen as well.
Such sensitive creatures might not last long in a zoo that's so full of children (and occasionally adults) willing to scream, bang on windows and take pictures with flash as they please.
I would not take that risk if it was up to me.
Strange, the Ueno-Zoo keeps Tarsiers on show in their Nocturnal House and has more than a million visitors each year-but the Tariers even bred regulary...and they raise the young.
Strange, the Ueno-Zoo keeps Tarsiers on show in their Nocturnal House and has more than a million visitors each year-but the Tariers even bred regulary...and they raise the young.
I was led to believe that no one had kept a successful breeding group of tarsier in captivity. The longest one that lived that was born in captivity was 5 years old, and he had to be hand reared. All the others died before they were one years old?
I may be wrong
When Todd talked to the ISEZ, he said he wanted to keep the Malagasy carnivores and clouded leopards. The Malagasy carnivores that were there 2 weeks ago were the ring-tailed and narrow-striped mongooses and the fanaloka.
According to Richard Weigl’s book:-
Longevity of Mammals in Captivity; from the Living Collections of the World (2005)
a Bornean tarsier, born at the Conservation & Research Centre, Fort Royal, on 15th Sept 1988 was still living (in Cleveland Metroparks Zoo) on 20th January 2005 at the age of 16 years 4 months.
This individual is the longest living tarsier detailed in Weigl’s book although this work also lists three Philippine tarsiers that lived thirteen or fourteen years in captivity.
Hopefully the ex-RSCC tarsiers will live to a similar age.
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And breed well enough to found an expanding population in European zoos. I am old enough to remember when marmosets, tamarins, sakis and most lemurs were thought to be too sensitive to do well in zoos; tarsier husbandry is advancing and we can all hope that it will continue to do so.
Alan