Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust Durrell news

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“Love your Zoo Live” broadcast last week but with technical difficulties.


During the show, co-hosts Emma and Dan introduce you to some of the incredible people at Durrell who are working around the world to save endangered species from extinction.

Features:

Leading a zoo through a global pandemic with Dr Lesley Dickie, Durrell’s Chief Executive Officer

Saving the mountain chicken frog: hot tubs for sick frogs! with Matt Goetz, Durrell’s Head of Herpetology Department, and Luke Jones, Project Coordinator for the Mountain Chicken Recovery Programme

The ups and downs of raising a baby aye-aye with Senior Mammal Keeper Rachel Cowen

A bird on the edge: bringing back the red-billed chough to Jersey with Chough Field Manager and Senior Keeper Liz Corry

Amari: the baby gorilla making everyone smile with Senior Mammal Keeper Mark Beresford

How playing young Gerry inspired his love for the natural world with The Durrells actor and Durrell Ambassador Milo Parke.
 
Dylan said:
2 Madagascar big-headed turtles (Erymnochelys madagascariensis) have gone on display in the Reptile House
Click to expand...

Video of this species at Jersey :

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1843912395758882

From their FB-site :
"Head over to the Amphibian and Reptile House to visit our newest residents – two Madagascan big-headed turtles.
Known locally as ‘rere’, this turtle is found only in Madagascar and is thought to be one of the most endangered species of turtle in the world.
These turtles first arrived at the zoo in 2019 after being confiscated from smugglers in Hong Kong. Jersey Zoo is the first zoo in the UK and only the second in Europe to hold this species."

And from their website :

Jersey Zoo gives rare turtles a new home
 
vogelcommando said:
Video of this species at Jersey :

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1843912395758882

From their FB-site :
"Head over to the Amphibian and Reptile House to visit our newest residents – two Madagascan big-headed turtles.
Known locally as ‘rere’, this turtle is found only in Madagascar and is thought to be one of the most endangered species of turtle in the world.
These turtles first arrived at the zoo in 2019 after being confiscated from smugglers in Hong Kong. Jersey Zoo is the first zoo in the UK and only the second in Europe to hold this species."

And from their website :

Jersey Zoo gives rare turtles a new home
Click to expand...
Any in America?
 
In the wake of the Mauritius oil spill, Durrell quickly moved to build ex situ populations of three endemic reptiles. Lesser night geckos, Bojer’s skinks, and Bouton’s skinks were all caught on small islands and after a temporary holding in Mauritius, all lizards were moved to Jersey. The plan is to build up an ex situ population and release offspring back in the wild.

Rescue mission for Mauritian reptiles affected by oil spill
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Personally I was hoping South Lakes would be forced to go out of the bears entirely, so that Jersey could get a new female and Chester a new male, but it isn't exactly going to happen ;)
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The golden bellied capuchins could have potentially made the move to Jersey zoo too.

These monkeys would have met a lot of Jersey's criteria as they are a critically endangered primate from the Atlantic rainforest (a conservation target area and focal group of the Durrell trust).

The species is a very active, expressive, playful, intelligent and charismati animal and so no doubt would probably have become fast and firm favourites of the visitors to the zoo (a much better alternative to meerkats and Asian short claw otters in my opinion).

Sadly, instead of all of this they actually just became an afternoon snack for some bored and over-stressed bears probably within an hour or so.

What an unforgiveable and damn stupid waste of those animals lives and their genetics for conservation!
 
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Great news and as a small cryptic carnivore of conservation concern with crowd appeal this is a very nice addition to the zoo.

Two things, worth mentioning.

It seems like this was in the works for a long time and in fact a keeper from Jersey zoo was evidently researching information about this possibility here on zoochat according to this thread : Hello i'd like to chat Bushdogs :)

Considering that one of the Durrell Trusts staff is married to a researcher who works with the conservation of this species it hardly comes as a suprise.
 
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