Wonderful, thank you for the photo. Captive populations have all seemed to diminish in zoos. The only hope for this species as of now, is to continue research in farm lands, and continue to breed the private kept ones in Germany and Netherlands. Does anyone know if zoos have bred this species in the last couple of years? I wonder why zoos have failed at it, we all know that zoos have not bred the true armadillo lizard in the way private breeders can. I wonder if it transitions over to Smaug sp. too?
In my capacity as European Studbook Holder for this species I have not been informed of any young being produced.
It is both a mystery and a shame that zoo's do not focus more resources of trying to find the stimuli to breeding - I would be a wonderful achievement, not only for the zoological establishment themselves but for the long term prospects of the entire species.
Best Regards,
Fraser Gilchrist SmaugGiganteus.com | Finding Beauty in the Beasts
Exchange information and observations on the Sungazer
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European Studbook Foundation European Studbook Foundation
UK Coordinator & Studbook keeper for the Smaug giganteus & Ouroborus cataphractus
Just had a quick check through some of mine International Zooyear Books and found in Vol. 22 that 2 UK collections bred the species during 1980 Burford ( 2 young that did not survive ) and Chester which had 3 young which did survive. In the same year Houston in the USA had 2 young that both survived.
It's not known to me if the female parent animals were maybe imported pregnant'
Maybe some other ZooChatters know more about these breeding-results ?
It is a sorry state, true. Very few collections even maintain any Cordylus species, let alone even attempt to breed them. Despite this, they are a very attractive and active lizard species for a herptile tank / terrarium.
This also applies to the equally attractive Gerrhosaurus species I am afraid.
My local zoo has now invested more heavily in the Cordylus warreni and acquired some further individuals. They previously had only 2 and never had much breeding in a rather tiny tank. Now they occupy a newly refurbed new enclosure and it looks far more natural.
I also know several other smaller zoos have recently awarded Cordylus more prominent space.
