Babirusa in Europe
- Thread starter taun
- Start date
Does one of us need to contact TLD and tell him his account has been hacked by an optimist?
I think this list is incomplete as I took a photo of a pair at Frankfurt at 1973 in one of the sections of the Round House, although I don't know if they bred successfully, so they might not qualify as founders.
I have heard of plans to import stock from the USA.
Which US zoo did Jihlava import from?
Frankfurt Zoo recieved already a female in 1969 but I don't know where it came from ( wild or another zoo ) so thats why I didn't placed it in the potential founders-list.
The male came as said in 1971 from Surabaya Zoo. Both these animals died 1984.
In the time Frankfurt had this pair, a second pair came on loan from Stuttgart in 1979 and 2 years later Frankfurt had its first breeding-result but I don't know if the young were born to the original pair, the pair on loan from Stuttgart or a mix of original with Stuttgart-loan, maybe another ZooChatter can provide us here with more information.
Bib Fortuna
Well-Known Member
To the Babirusa at Frankfurt Zoo:
On 11 September 1969 a wild caugght female was taken by the Dutch animal dealer Van den Brink, the first animal in Europe since 1947 and the first outside Indonesia. The animal was six months old.Just 2 years later the zoo got from Surabaya a boar, also only half-yearold. Unfortunately, the couple did not bred, but in August and October 1979 the zoo was able to take over a pair from Stuttgart on breeding loan, which was born there in 1976 and 1979. Now there were two pairs of Babirusa in Frankfurt, and with the new pair the first breeding in Frankfurt took place in 1981, on 26 February male twins were set and raised by the sow. The two piglets were handed over to Nuremberg and Stuttgart in December. In November 1982, however, two boars were born, one of which died in February 1983, the second one grew up and was delivered to Stuttgart. In October 1984, the old import pair died within two days, but the breeding couple again raised offspring in April 1985, this time 1.1, which was handed over to Rotterdam in February 1986. The fourth and last litter was followed in September 1986, the single female was reared and released to Stuttgart. The breeding sow was send in October 1991 to Leipzig, the old boar died in September 1992 and was replaced by a new boar, "Samson", from Stuttgart, followed by a three-year-old sow from Antwerp in July 1993. But this pair never bred.
In 2000, the Babirusas left the Roundhouse and moved to the Ostrichhouse; the last of them died in 2014, and since then, a male yellow backed duiekr live in the former Babirusa exhibit.
On 11 September 1969 a wild caugght female was taken by the Dutch animal dealer Van den Brink, the first animal in Europe since 1947 and the first outside Indonesia. The animal was six months old.Just 2 years later the zoo got from Surabaya a boar, also only half-yearold. Unfortunately, the couple did not bred, but in August and October 1979 the zoo was able to take over a pair from Stuttgart on breeding loan, which was born there in 1976 and 1979. Now there were two pairs of Babirusa in Frankfurt, and with the new pair the first breeding in Frankfurt took place in 1981, on 26 February male twins were set and raised by the sow. The two piglets were handed over to Nuremberg and Stuttgart in December. In November 1982, however, two boars were born, one of which died in February 1983, the second one grew up and was delivered to Stuttgart. In October 1984, the old import pair died within two days, but the breeding couple again raised offspring in April 1985, this time 1.1, which was handed over to Rotterdam in February 1986. The fourth and last litter was followed in September 1986, the single female was reared and released to Stuttgart. The breeding sow was send in October 1991 to Leipzig, the old boar died in September 1992 and was replaced by a new boar, "Samson", from Stuttgart, followed by a three-year-old sow from Antwerp in July 1993. But this pair never bred.
In 2000, the Babirusas left the Roundhouse and moved to the Ostrichhouse; the last of them died in 2014, and since then, a male yellow backed duiekr live in the former Babirusa exhibit.
Thank you for sorting things out for me BF. I can't remember if I have scanned my photos of that original babirusa pair. If I can get all my scans from my visit to Frankfurt sorted out, I am minded to mark the 44th anniversary of my visit with a post illustrated with the photos I took that day (I recently posted two more of the bonobos).
Update on Jihlava´s group of babirusa: Young female imported from South Lake last year gave birth to a (probably) dead baby, but it´s good to see that she has a good relationship with the male and hopefully she´ll get pregnant again and this time it will be successful.
Last week arrived 6-years old female from St. Louis, so now Jihlava holds 1.3 but the oldest female will be moved to a different zoo.
Last week arrived 6-years old female from St. Louis, so now Jihlava holds 1.3 but the oldest female will be moved to a different zoo.
Update: now only 5 zoos hold babirusa in Europe, with South Lakes and Antwerp sending their last animals to Chester and Wuppertal respectively. The other three holders are Berlin Zoo, Stuttgart, and Jihlava.
In regards to the founders: all of the animals in Europe and North America are derived from 10 individuals imported into Europe from Surabaya Zoo in the 1970's and 1980's. It is unknown exactly how many wild founders they derive from, but it could be as low as 3 founders (1.2).
I think it's ironic that Europe has declined so intensely and has to import stock from the US, since Europe was the initial source for the American population in the mid-to-late 1980's. The American population, for what it's worth, is doing quite well demographically, which is surprising considering the level of inbreeding.
In regards to the founders: all of the animals in Europe and North America are derived from 10 individuals imported into Europe from Surabaya Zoo in the 1970's and 1980's. It is unknown exactly how many wild founders they derive from, but it could be as low as 3 founders (1.2).
I think it's ironic that Europe has declined so intensely and has to import stock from the US, since Europe was the initial source for the American population in the mid-to-late 1980's. The American population, for what it's worth, is doing quite well demographically, which is surprising considering the level of inbreeding.
I believe Antwerp does intend to keep this species again, after the renovation of the Cattle House, but although i don't know at what spot precisely because the large enclosure(s) in front of this house will hold rhino.
Long gone from Jersey!
Thats a real shame guess they are also gone now from Port Lypmne?
Chester is the only UK zoo holding babirusa, no others!
and then they can be artificially raised...That is rather unfortunate.
Any particular reason why she should do so?
Is she one of the newer females?
It´s the youngest female of the group (3 years old, came from South Lake in 2016(?)) the other female in breeding age (6 years old, imported from St. Louis this spring) came in heat for the first time since her arrival at the end of October and so far, I don´t have info whether she got pregnant or not.
As for the reasons, why is the female killing(this is still not perfectly clear as there are no cameras in their stable, they could´ve been stillborn as well...) the offspring. The zoo doesn´t really know, why is it happening but apparently, her mother had first two breedings unsuccesful too and third time was the charm, so hopefully, it´ll be same with this female.
