In Drills the adult male seems to develop facial pads rather similar to a Sumatran Orangutan's in appearance.
Good that these Drills are breeding now. I suspect they may have been unable to combine the 5 they had into a single group- so have sent 1.1. away. The two females they still have are sisters, from Columbus Zoo and aged about 8 years or so, two of the few Drills that were left in the USA where they may be(?) in the process of phasing them out. The Columbus male was handraised and seemed not able to mate them. I think he may have been sent elsewhere by now. Their loss is Edinburgh's gain.
The Zoo's website says that the other two were sent to Sweden on recommendation of the studbook keeper.
I agree that it's wonderful to see them breeding. I think that they now need better housing: Edinburgh's monkey house looks very old now and the outdoor cage is not very suitable, the male sits in the middle and the females keep their distance.
I think it might be a euphamism for 'we couldn't keep all five together so asked the SB to find another home for a pair'. Pure speculation of course!
If the group breeds well maybe they'll be able to find them a more fitting home in due course.
Did you notice the Hamlyn's Owl Faced Monkeys?- I wonder if they have managed to replace the adult male they lost, as this is a vanishing species in Europe now.
I wonder if anyone, either in N America or Europe, has sought to get more animals from the Drill Rehabilitation Centre in Nigeria? They apparently have 174!
I wonder if anyone, either in N America or Europe, has sought to get more animals from the Drill Rehabilitation Centre in Nigeria? They apparently have 174!
Its the sort of thing I could imagine Howletts/PL doing, although the small group they currently have came from Stuttgart Zoo and so are part of the existing small European population. This population is definately in need of more unrelated breeders as they are nearly all from three breeding sources(Hanover, Barcelona & Stuttgart). I know of only one recent unrelated import- a male which went from Rabat Zoo, Morocco, to (I think) the Hanover group.
The US population has dwindled to very few animals now and the two females at Edinburgh in fact came from there(Columbus).
I wonder if anyone, either in N America or Europe, has sought to get more animals from the Drill Rehabilitation Centre in Nigeria? They apparently have 174!
I think those numbers are old. I believe they have close to 300 now. About a 100 or more are also set for reintroduction.
There have been talks about importing drills from the Drill Ranch, but since breeding here is very poor, and breeding there is very good, it's hard to justify an import. I'm pretty sure though that it's an option that is not closed. The EEP and Pandrillus work together and communicate.
