Exmoor Zoo Exmoor Zoo News 2022
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When I saw Shoebill at Zurich, they had indoor quarters too - I wonder what the winter plan will be?
There’s a substantial heated shed attached, also nicely protected large aviaries nearby.
It mentions something about a future partner. What is the chance of this female Shoebill being paired up in the future? Given their rarity in Europe, is there any at all? Is she just being held at Exmoor until that becomes a possibility? And if she's imprinted on people, is breeding highly unlikely anyway?
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Lafone
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Isn’t she great! So cool to have a shoebill in the U.K.
Well, if anywhere has the financial resources, manpower and will to import fresh wild shoebill blood, it's Pairi Daiza methinks; in theory it wouldn't impact the wild population either, as from memory the species double-lays but only incubates a single egg - so it would entail the collection of freshly-laid but rejected eggs rather than actual birds.
As for whether she *can* breed, although I don't know if she has been imprinted at all I believe she is intact and unpinioned - which appears to be a total requirement for getting the species to even attempt breeding.
Yes, hopefully a mate can be aquired somehow. In the Exmoor FB notes it says she displays at keepers and presents nesting material to them- sounds a bit like imprinting to me but that doesn't necessarily mean she wouldn't bond with another Shoebill. Its an unusual/interesting situation.
A collection I was told about looked into the possibility of this some years back, having been offered birds from Africa which had been captive-reared from eggs taken from first clutches, along with Saddlebills too. However legal this was (or wasn't!), I have no idea, but I was told they had full export CITES, and plenty of photographic evidence of the rearing process and individual birds. On further investigation, it was discovered that Shoebills have a specific ban on the species imposed centrally by the EU - forming a dead-end in this case. It may of course be quite possible for wealthy collections/collectors to find a route around or through such legislation. This must have happened in the case of several species which have arrived in Europe in the past few years.
Pretty sure he is an African, or mostly African.
Details on the female Shoebill:
Rare and faithful bird seeks lifelong partner at zoo in Europe – News - Play Crazy Game
She’s 14 years old and been named Abou.
The article states the zoo are awaiting a male.
Rare and faithful bird seeks lifelong partner at zoo in Europe – News - Play Crazy Game
She’s 14 years old and been named Abou.
The article states the zoo are awaiting a male.
They refer to Abu as a "female" and a "him" in the article. Great reporting...
It's surprising how often you see this mistake, usually when the animal has a name that sounds male or female or means something else. News reports went around telling anyone who would listen that Tisa the giraffe at Wellington had given birth to her ninth offspring, which came from th confusion of her name meaning ninth.
In this case, I was able to check the thread to confirm she was a female. I similarly hope the zoo's plan to acquire a mate wasn't a throw away comment but agree with advice to people to see her while you can.
As the whole report is so badly worded it feels that maybe its been translated from another language perhaps. Anyway, with only eight( if that's correct?) shoebills in Europe, providing a mate will be very difficult. I also wonder, as mentioned upthread, if Exmoor will keep the bird longterm or if its moved elsewhere in due course.
Twelve not counting her, in fact, but all related to her to some extent.
Where am I missing two? I count 11 (including her) in Europe?
Eleven total in Europe - the female at Exmoor, a pair at Walsrode, and two pairs each at Prague and Pairi Daiza
Charles
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Are they constructing a new flamingo habitat, with new flamingoes because someone told me that the flamingoes from Bristol were going to exmoor
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