Boobies in Captivity

1

1 and only Drew

Well-Known Member
Does anyone know the status of keeping boobies in captivity? Have they ever been kept before? I can't seem to find anything about them in captivity.
 
I've only seen a booby in captivity once, a rescue bird: http://www.zoochat.com/1809/brown-booby-busch-wildlife-sanctuary-14-a-368643/

There seem to be (or have been) a few other odd individuals about but I would suspect these are also injured wild birds; http://www.zoochat.com/622/brown-booby-extremely-rare-captivity-327068/, http://www.zoochat.com/2040/brown-booby-sula-leucogaster-420030/, http://www.zoochat.com/1719/brown-booby-sula-leucogaster-255137/, http://www.zoochat.com/838/brown-booby-266567/

Northern Gannets are quite widely kept in Europe by comparison.
 
It's a general pattern - sea birds (with the notable exceptions of penguins and some sea ducks, and to a lesser degree, Inca Terns and auks) just aren't very widely kept, as a rule. Possibly it is/was considered too hard to replicate their natural behaviour - possibly just a lack of interest.

When sea birds are displayed, they tend to make a good show.
 
Boobies.....

Christopher Marler had Guanay Cormorants at Weston Underwood in the 70s, have an idea he may have had a Booby species as well. Watch this space.
 
Parque las Leyendas in Lima has a few rescued Peruvian boobies if memory serves me correct. They keep them in a decent-sized aviary with humboldt penguins and Peruvian pelicans.
 
There is 1 (0.1.0) Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) currently located at Sea World on the Gold Coast AUS. She was a rescue and has been there at least 10-15 years now.
 
Congratulations for the best double entendre thread!

Single individuals of various species of boobies appear occasionally in zoos as rescued individuals. There is no interest in keeping them as exhibit animals. They are considered difficult to keep, but probably it is not so, given that northern gannets (also rescue individuals) do breed.
 
Parque de las Leyendas does indeed display Peruvian boobies, as does Huachipa (also in Lima).
Zoologico del Pantanal (Guayaquil, Ecuador) displays blue-footed boobies.

I think many visitors would like to see more boobies in zoos. ;)
 
Interesting, there's a lot of good information on this thread! Jurek, I lol'ed a bit :D

It seems like they can definitely be kept in captivity, it just seems like people don't bother with them for whatever reason. There's plenty of them in places they can be collected too.
 
I saw some boobies at a zoo once. They were great, and looked very perky.

Sealife Park in Hawaii houses Red Footed and Brown Boobies as well. Theirs are all rehab birds at this point, when I was there 2 years ago I saw 3 Browns and around 5 Red Foots, however it regularly changes as rescue birds are added or others die.
 
jbnbsn99 said:
I believe the best way to keep boobies in captivity is with a brassiere.
Click to expand...

This is one case where I prefer the species to be free.

:p

Hix
 
Was there one in a UK zoo a couple of years ago a rescue bird i'm sure?
 
Perth Zoo held a number of Brown Boobys in the 70s and 80s. I suspect they were injured birds that couldn't be released. Have a feeling that at least one was a pretty good age when it finally dropped off the perch.
Also held some Giant Skuas too.
 
Red-footed Booby Sula sula rubripes was bred at Oahu Sea Life Park, Hawaii, USA in 1968. The park also kept Blue-faced Boobies Sula dactylatra (International Zoo Yearbook volume 10 pages 92-95)
 
I have nnow checked the International Zoo Yearbooks and the only species listed as having bred in captivity is the red-footed booby and the only zoo to have bred them is Oahu.

1968 2 bred
1969 3 bred
1970 6 bred
1971 no number published
1972 1 bred
1973 1 bred
1982 1 bred
 
An update on the chick;

Mallydams Woods News:
Wildlife rehabilitation team manager Richard Thompson said: “The booby bird is doing well considering just how weak and dehydrated he was when he came in. He is improving slowly but surely.
“We have been keeping a close eye on him and keeping him warm with heat lamps. As you can see in the video, he has just started eating sprats - a type of small fish - which he is being hand fed for the moment and has started to put on a little bit of weight - is fantastic news! :)
Click to expand...
 
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