Coatis
- Thread starter Jet
- Start date
Interesting! I hope it happens. Coatis make good exhibits and Melbourne has bred them in the past. (Its the old story - lack of new "blood" led to their gradual disappearance in Aussie zoos.
Any objections to their import would be made on the grounds that they may escape and set up feral colonies - ridiculous! What about their close relative the red panda? Seen any feral red pandas in Australia lately?
Any objections to their import would be made on the grounds that they may escape and set up feral colonies - ridiculous! What about their close relative the red panda? Seen any feral red pandas in Australia lately?
I can't see the risk of allowing zoos to import species in case the escape and become feral. Zoos are pretty high security and for the amount of money involved in getting animals here they aren't going to let them have even the slightest possibility of getting out and as you said Ara there have been similia animals in the past wihout any side effects.
Letting 50 breeding pairs into the bush might cause havoc but keeping a few in respected zoos seems fairly straightforward doesn't it? Unlikely that a breeding pair or pregnant female would get far from a suburban zoo I would have thought especially since they are not nocturnal (although escaping from National Zoo would probably be the biggest threat as all they have to do is survive a busy road and they are in the wild). Plus if the male and females don't usually stick together that reduces the risk. The only thing I was not sure about in that report is the suggestion that if they escaped they could be easily predated by wild dogs, foxes etc - that seems pretty unlikely given their agility and arboreal skills.
i love coati but given that one of the reasons they gradually disappeared in the first place could be put down to lack of genes and holding capacity id like to see just one species imported.
as for escape potential.....pfft. even if they did get out they wouldnt get far, as someone pointed out the only zoo mentioned in the plan anywhere near bush is the national zoo and given that zoos cant establish a viable population of them its highly unlikely that an escaped group of captive-bred animals in the australian environment could.
as for escape potential.....pfft. even if they did get out they wouldnt get far, as someone pointed out the only zoo mentioned in the plan anywhere near bush is the national zoo and given that zoos cant establish a viable population of them its highly unlikely that an escaped group of captive-bred animals in the australian environment could.
Yep, that makes sense.
So, which should the region go with? While neither species is rare in the world's zoos, there are about four times as many nasuas as naricas in captivity.
Also, while I agree that the authorities have a duty to follow correct procedures when assessing importation of "new" species, I believe that they need to give zoos more credence as to their security, as PAT said. I can't think of any introduced pest species in Australia today which wasn't a deliberate liberation, be they foxes, rabbits, deer, starlings or anything else. Can anyone think of a major pest which has resulted from zoo escapes?
So, which should the region go with? While neither species is rare in the world's zoos, there are about four times as many nasuas as naricas in captivity.
Also, while I agree that the authorities have a duty to follow correct procedures when assessing importation of "new" species, I believe that they need to give zoos more credence as to their security, as PAT said. I can't think of any introduced pest species in Australia today which wasn't a deliberate liberation, be they foxes, rabbits, deer, starlings or anything else. Can anyone think of a major pest which has resulted from zoo escapes?
not a major pest currently, but the palm squirrels living wild in Perth and formerly Sydney were from those cities' respective zoos
The palm squirrels have never ventured far out of the grounds of Perth Zoo, possibly due to the busy roads and open areas on two sides. I have seen a squirrel down the road behind the zoo, and also an obvious stray on the opposite side of the Swan River! In an inner city landscape they probably only compete directly with other introduced rodents (rats and mice). Their effect on the bird population has not been assessed to my knowledge.
Just because it hasn't happened in the past doesn't mean it won't happen in the future.
Hix
But what does this mean??? The whole point of zoos going through the numerous loopholes of importing is to assess the likelihood of the overall effect of a particular species on the landscape. Most species that have pest status in Aus are due to deliberate escapes whether to improve the fauna (starlings, mynahs, sparrows), provide sport (rabbits, foxes), 'scientific' releases (cane toads) or due to a lack of alternative (camels, brumbies). Do you honestly see coatis as being a potential problem?
As to the discussion about importing one versus two species of coati, I would imagine that the scenario is that ARAZPA are keeping their options open. There is currently one white-nosed at Melbourne, so it would make sense to continue with this species. But as has been noted there are four times as many ring-taileds in captivity globally, so it may be easier to change species. Certainly in the UK you only tend to see ring-taileds, and they are commonly available as private pets (why you would want to keep one, I don't know). I'm surprised that ARAZPA zoos have taken as long as they have in looking at coatis, as I feel that they are one of the best zoo displays - group living (well at least the females), active, terrestrial and arboreal, easily available.