New Guinea Short-beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus lawesii) at Tierpar

One of the particular highlights of the animal collection at Tierpark Berlin is this unusual and rather appealing monotreme, one of three individuals held by the collection. The best time to see the taxon is at the feeding time which is advertised throughout the collection.

Do they breed regularly here?

They have never bred.

TeaLovingDave said:

They have never bred.

Click to expand...

I have never seen a picture of their full enclosure. I've read that they need a considerable amount of soft substrate to make a breeding burrow. Does the Tierpark possess such an asset?




The answer is no, isn't it?

There's a decent amount of substrate; the more pertinent issues are that echidna breed in harem situations and as such more individuals would be required, the individuals at the collection are all too young to breed and - most importantly - until a month or two ago the collection held only females

TeaLovingDave said:

There's a decent amount of substrate; the more pertinent issues are that echidna breed in harem situations and as such more individuals would be required, the individuals at the collection are all too young to breed and - most importantly - until a month or two ago the collection held only females

Click to expand...

Well, if it's a matter of the age of the animals, it means there's still time. I'm relieved to hear it.

TeaLovingDave said:

There's a decent amount of substrate; the more pertinent issues are that echidna breed in harem situations and as such more individuals would be required, the individuals at the collection are all too young to breed and - most importantly - until a month or two ago the collection held only females

Click to expand...

Are they too young? I believe the Rostock animals have bred already and are from the same import. in Rostock they were also kept as 1.1, so a harem situation is apparently not that necessary.

lintworm said:

Are they too young? I believe the Rostock animals have bred already and are from the same import. in Rostock they were also kept as 1.1, so a harem situation is apparently not that necessary.

Click to expand...

I may be wrong, but I was under the impression that the TP Berlin animals came from the same source but a slightly later import; if memory serves, there was an import in 2011 and another in either 2012 or 2013. Of course, my point about the group having been all-female until the last few months (until they sent a female each to Rostock and Plzen in return for a male from both) stands

Needless to say, I'd love them to breed at Berlin.

PS: what time do they feed these guys? I'd like to know for when I pay a visit