Malayan Sun Bears in Australasian Zoos (Discussion)
- Thread starter Zoofan15
- Start date
Assuming that AAZA intend to continue with the Sun Bear program in the longer term. I think one of the keys to future success is going to be working closely with the European breeding program for them.
The Sun Bear EEP had been through a rough period of several years with no births for nearly 10 years and very few transfers among the existing population. However a new studbook co-ordinator took over in 2018 and following several much needed transfers, 5 births (to four pairs) have taken place in recent times.
There is also two new EEP holders coming on board (one of which has already received 1.1 and the other will receive Bears once the new enclosure is finished later this year) which opens up further opportunities for breeding.
Overall the current EAZA population is looking a lot more positive than it was 5 years ago. There's still a serious female bias (All 5 of the recent births have been female's) but at least they are breeding on the plus side.
My longer term hope would be that eventually the EAZA population becomes stable enough that an agreement can be formed with AAZA and Sun Bear transfers between the two regions become possible.
Importing pairs or individual rescued/Orphan Bears from Sanctuary's in Asia has it's place, and I don't doubt this important initiative will and should carry on. However if the AAZA population is going to continue long term then they need to be looking for mother raised, well socialized bears who are more likely to successfully breed.
The Sun Bear EEP had been through a rough period of several years with no births for nearly 10 years and very few transfers among the existing population. However a new studbook co-ordinator took over in 2018 and following several much needed transfers, 5 births (to four pairs) have taken place in recent times.
There is also two new EEP holders coming on board (one of which has already received 1.1 and the other will receive Bears once the new enclosure is finished later this year) which opens up further opportunities for breeding.
Overall the current EAZA population is looking a lot more positive than it was 5 years ago. There's still a serious female bias (All 5 of the recent births have been female's) but at least they are breeding on the plus side.
My longer term hope would be that eventually the EAZA population becomes stable enough that an agreement can be formed with AAZA and Sun Bear transfers between the two regions become possible.
Importing pairs or individual rescued/Orphan Bears from Sanctuary's in Asia has it's place, and I don't doubt this important initiative will and should carry on. However if the AAZA population is going to continue long term then they need to be looking for mother raised, well socialized bears who are more likely to successfully breed.
Thanks for sharing an overview of the European sun bear population @Nisha. It’s interesting to hear they have a similar female bias within their population.
Australasia has just 2.5 bears and there’s unlikely to be any cubs from the two breeding pairs. The male at the National Zoo is elderly and suffers from a raft of skin problems. He and his mate haven’t bred since the birth of their only cub in 2008.
Perth Zoo aren’t breeding from their pair due to a lack of space and sending the male elsewhere would be detrimental to his well-being given his many social issues. Long term, a female could be transferred in once the South East Asia precinct is complete, but this will be some years away and the youngest available female is 14 years old.
I fully agree that the provision of captive bred, mother raised bears would give the best chances for successful breeding - as has been demonstrated in the region in a historical context.
That would have been in the era of the Great Moscow Circus. It was not actually a fixed circus, but a group of acts from various circuses in the USSR brought out for a tour. The acts brought their animals with them. I can remember going to one, maybe a couple of decades earlier, that had a polar bear act. I'm wondering if this was just a re-export of animals in one of those tours.@Zoofan15
Just realised it does state the purpose was Q/circusso am pretty certain it was one of the circuses here sending them to a circus in the USSR.
That’s possible, though the Great Moscow Circus also sourced animals from zoos in the region. They purchased 0.2 chimpanzee from Taronga Zoo in 1968, one of whom was sent to a wildlife park within three years where she gave birth to offspring.
The circus may have received the bears from a zoo looking to phase them out and then sent them on to the USSR to continue touring.
Edit: Confirmed as import (1989)/export (1989).
Last edited: