Artis Royal Zoo Historical notes from Artis

[vogelcommando]

Amsterdam Zoo - better known as Artis is the oldest zoo in the Netherlands and founded in 1838. In the 180 years it exist now a lot of historical important events took place, many of them well-known - for example the death of the last Quagga - world-first-breeding Japanese giant salamander - but many, many others are little or completly unknown to most people.
Therefor I want to place in this thread these little known events in the spotlights.
To start with : World-first breeding of the Mountain anoa.
During 1912 Artis recieved the first living Mountain anoas in the Western World ( in Indonesia the species had already been kept at the Zoological Museum at Buitenzorg ( now Bogor ). The 2 animals ( not 3 as Zootierliste says ) did well and at least 2 ( more prop. 3 ) young were bred from this pair.
The first birth I was able to find was in Jun. 1917. A year later most prop. an other calf was born and then, after a break of 8 years, again a young was born in August 1926 to the same pair ( then already 14 years at Artis.
It's not know to me how long the parents and the young lived but in 1930 a new specimen was recieved from Surabaya Zoo. It's also unknow to me how long this specimen lived and if it ever bred at Artis.
Also found a nice picture ( no copyrights anymore on it ) of the mother Mountain anoa with a calf ( must be the calf of 1917 or 1918 because the book in which it was published ( "Het Artisboek" vol. 2 ) was published 1922 .


Mountain anoa with calf - Artis 1917 or 1918

 

[Tim May]

...world-first-breeding Japanese giant salamander..

It is interesting to note that in a paper “Further Notes on the Duration of Life in Animals.-11. Amphibians”, published in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (1936), Major Stanley Flower records that one of the giant salamanders, hatched in Amsterdam in November 1903, was still living in Amsterdam on 3rd August 1935. Do you know how long it lived for?

 

[vogelcommando]

Should have notes about it, will have a look on it.

 

[vogelcommando]

Found it !



This newspaper-article is from "Haarlem's Dagblad" from Jun. 12 1955, so the last Artis-bred animal died at an age of 52 years old.

 

[Tim May]

..... so the last Artis-bred animal died at an age of 52 years old.

Thanks very much for this information; much appreciated.

Interestingly, Flower also reports another long-lived giant salamander that died in Artis on 3rd June 1881; this individual also lived in Europe for fifty-two years (not all of them in Artis, obviously, as it arrived in Europe before Artis opened).

 

[vogelcommando]

You are right. It came to the Netherlands around 1830 and was first housed at the Natural History Museum at Leiden and 10 years later it was send to Artis. When it died it was between 51 and 55 years old.

 

[vogelcommando]

Another historical event hardly known is that Artis had the world-first-breeding of the Southern three-banded armadillo ( Tolypeutes matacus ), Nowadays this species is kept at a large number of ( European ) zoos but in the 1960-ties it was quite rare and Artis obtained a female around the beginning of 1966. A Polish Zoo-director visiting Artis around that time had a male of this species in his collection and offered the animal to Artis. In July 1967 the female gave then birth to a single young - the first of its species to be born in captivity .

 

[vogelcommando]

An world-first-breeding at Artis which is also hardly known - for example ZTL don't mention it - was the breeding of the Speckled mousebird. It was first bred 1937 and the same pair raised also young in the years after. A small note can be found in the book "Vogels in Artis" ( 1941 ) where there is also this nice drawing, made by H. Rol :


( no copyright on this one anymore ).

 

[vogelcommando]

Did some more research to the first Japanese giant salamander and found some "new"facts" :
2 animals were collected in Japan in 1829 by the zoologist Von Siebold. During the travel by ship to Europe the larger animal killed the somewhat smaller one and ate it partly untill the killing was discovered and the remains of the death animal were taken out.
The animal was about 60 centimeter on arrival in the Netherlands and brought to the Natural History Museum at Leiden. Later it found its new home at Artis.
Found also a drawing of this first specimen kept at Artis :

 

[Tim May]

An world-first-breeding at Artis which is also hardly known - for example ZTL don't mention it - was the breeding of the Speckled mousebird. It was first bred 1937.....

According to the British Avicultural Society, this species was bred in the UK in 1912 by H. B. Wilson; twenty-five years before it bred in Artis.

 

[Kifaru Bwana]

According to the British Avicultural Society, this species was bred in the UK in 1912 by H. B. Wilson; twenty-five years before it bred in Artis.

Thanks Tim. Any documents pertaining to this breeding and at what location?

 

[Tim May]

Thanks Tim. Any documents pertaining to this breeding and at what location?

This information comes from "UK First Breeding Records" published by The Avicultural Society; unfortunately no further details are supplied.

 

[vogelcommando]

According to the British Avicultural Society, this species was bred in the UK in 1912 by H. B. Wilson; twenty-five years before it bred in Artis.

Then I guess they mean the first Zoo-breeding... However the species breeds very easy in captivity I I bred a large number of then in my privat collection in the Netherlands ( parent-birds were of Rotterdam Zoo-stock ).

 

[vogelcommando]

A very rare species was recieved during 1956 when a female Bawean deer ( Axis kuhlii - aka Kuhl's deer ) was recieved from Indonesia. Only very few European collections had kept this species before this one arrived.
Because a male could not be obtained the female was placed 2 years later with a male of the closely related Hog deer. The male became somewhat aggresive during the breeding-period ( which was in the autumn ) so every year the antlers of the male were cut during this period.
1963 the pair was given a larger enclosure and because the male hadn't show any aggresion sofar that year, the antlers hadn't been removed in September when the male suddenly attacted the female and althrough the vet tried to save the animal by an operation, the animal died the next day.
Now-a-days the species is kept at 2 European collections :
- Zoo Poznan recieved 1988 2 pairs from Singapore Zoo and during 1993 2 more pairs from the Surabaja Zoo. In the meantime the first births had already taken place ( 1989 ). From this group several animals were send to other collections but currently only the Tierpark Berlin - which recieved their first 1-2 animals 2017 - is keeping and breeding ( first-breeding already 2017 ) this species next to the Poznan Zoo.

 

[FunkyGibbon]

A very rare species was recieved during 1956 when a female Bawean deer ( Axis kuhlii - aka Kuhl's deer ) was recieved from Indonesia. Only very few European collections had kept this species before this one arrived.
Because a male could not be obtained the female was placed 2 years later with a male of the closely related Hog deer. The male became somewhat aggresive during the breeding-period ( which was in the autumn ) so every year the antlers of the male were cut during this period.
1963 the pair was given a larger enclosure and because the male hadn't show any aggresion sofar that year, the antlers hadn't been removed in September when the male suddenly attacted the female and althrough the vet tried to save the animal by an operation, the animal died the next day.
Now-a-days the species is kept at 2 European collections :
- Zoo Poznan recieved 1988 2 pairs from Singapore Zoo and during 1993 2 more pairs from the Surabaja Zoo. In the meantime the first births had already taken place ( 1989 ). From this group several animals were send to other collections but currently only the Tierpark Berlin - which recieved their first 1-2 animals 2017 - is keeping and breeding ( first-breeding already 2017 ) this species next to the Poznan Zoo.

So the Poznan herd was the sole one in Europe for twenty five years? Any further imports other than mentioned?

 

[Brum]

So the Poznan herd was the sole one in Europe for twenty five years? Any further imports other than mentioned?

Unsurprisingly Edinburgh have gone out of the species in recent years, because, well, Edinburgh!

 

[vogelcommando]

So the Poznan herd was the sole one in Europe for twenty five years? Any further imports other than mentioned?

Yes Poznan ( new zoo ) was for a long time the only zoo with this species but send a single male to Warsaw in 1999. 2007 a single male was send to Edinburgh followed by 2 more males in 2008. The last of these 3 died 2016.
As already said now a small breeding-group has been send to Tierpark Berlin and it is to be hoped that soon other breeding-groups will be send to other European zoos ( Artis would of course be an obvious candidate ! ) as well as London Zoo which had the European-first breeding with this species in 1956.

 

[vogelcommando]

Another very early breeding-result unnoticed in the general zoo-literature was the birth of a Californian sea-lion in June 1925. It was not the first breeding of this species in captivity but surtainly a rare event in the early history of zoos ! The species bred again in 1929 and then a long period of none-breeding started.
It took untill 1962 before again a Californian sea-lion was born at Artis.



Californian sea-lion baby with mother ( 1962 )

 

[Tim May]

.....the birth of a Californian sea-lion in June 1925. It was not the first breeding of this species in captivity but surtainly a rare event in the early history of zoos !....

I believe that the first captive breeding of Californian sea lion was in the Brighton Aquarium in 1877.

 

[vogelcommando]

Just came across a picture of the Bawean deer female shortly afther its arrival at Artis in July 1956. It was transported together with a Muscovy duck and because the animals came along so good with eachother they were placed together on display :



Bawean deer female with Muscovy duck