Painted Dogs in UK

[HoneyDontBadger]

Hiya fellow Zoosters,
I’m probably going to get pelters here for being naive;

Whipsnade have a pack of 4 Female Painted Dogs (there were 5, but I believe the Alpha was ousted and died from injuries) and Colchester has a pack of 3 Male Hunting Dogs.

Seeing as they are highly endangered, couldn’t they shuffle the packs and have two potential breeding groups ‍

If I’ve got it all wrong do enlighten me; I tend to look at life in quite a simplified way.

cheers all,

HDB x

 

[Maguari]

I have no specific knowledge of this case but there are a lot of reasons why this might not be desirable - the animals could be too closely related, or their bloodlines could already be well- or over-represented in the population. The groups could also include animals that are too elderly to be moved or subjected to an introduction right now. The zoos concerned might not want to breed right now, for space or logistic reasons, or the individuals could be reproductively inactive for medical reasons. So, yep - there's a lot of possible reasons.

 

[Jana]

Painted dogs are endangered in the wild, but also highly prolific in captivity. It´s not extraordinary to have 12 pups from a single birth. As with domestic dogs, breeding is not a problem, but placing of the offspring might be. Zoos have only limited housing capacity for painted dogs at any given time. If they want to offer a good quality of life to them, they can´t allow over-breeding. The manager (coordinator) of pan-european breeding program knows about all painted dogs living in captivity (in zoos) and also knows which zoo has free space, is bulding a new enclosure or in contrary wants to stop keeping them. The manager calculates how many births can happen in next years in whole Europe, what animals are good match due to their pedigree and gives breeding recomendations to individual zoos. It´s highly probable that dogs living at Colchester and Whipsnade are not allowed to breed due to lack of space for potential pups or over-represented genes of their parents.

 

[AmyZoo0901]

Any at whipsnade to date?

 

[Dr. Loxodonta]

Any at whipsnade to date?

Yes, elderly pair. I have more information from my visit yesterday however.

 

[AmyZoo0901]

Yes, elderly pair. I have more information from my visit yesterday however.

hello.
I called them today and they confirmed there are no dogs at London or whipsnade have this in writing on email too

 

[Dr. Loxodonta]

hello.
I called them today and they confirmed there are no dogs at London or whipsnade have this in writing on email too

There is definitely one male offshow (confirmed twice). The elderly pair may have moved to London offshow now. I don’t mean to be blunt, I am simply repeating information from yesterday.

 

[AmyZoo0901]

There is definitely one male offshow (confirmed twice). The elderly pair may have moved to London offshow now. I don’t mean to be blunt, I am simply repeating information from yesterday.

I don’t know how to show you it in writing but if you PM I can send it

 

[ZooNews2024]

Painted dogs are endangered in the wild, but also highly prolific in captivity. It´s not extraordinary to have 12 pups from a single birth. As with domestic dogs, breeding is not a problem, but placing of the offspring might be. Zoos have only limited housing capacity for painted dogs at any given time. If they want to offer a good quality of life to them, they can´t allow over-breeding. The manager (coordinator) of pan-european breeding program knows about all painted dogs living in captivity (in zoos) and also knows which zoo has free space, is bulding a new enclosure or in contrary wants to stop keeping them. The manager calculates how many births can happen in next years in whole Europe, what animals are good match due to their pedigree and gives breeding recomendations to individual zoos. It´s highly probable that dogs living at Colchester and Whipsnade are not allowed to breed due to lack of space for potential pups or over-represented genes of their parents.

Yes, and with the expense and huge difficulty of now moving animals from the UK to the mainland through France, much of the breeding in the UK will stop and potentially will not start again just because a co-ordinator wants it too. Some dog spp might be able to be switched on and off at a whim, but many others cannot be.
Inevitably some species will disappear from UK collections as a result, and maybe from mainland ones too, if the population cannot be managed as a whole..

 

[Dr. Loxodonta]

Yes, and with the expense and huge difficulty of now moving animals from the UK to the mainland through France, much of the breeding in the UK will stop and potentially will not start again just because a co-ordinator wants it too. Some dog spp might be able to be switched on and off at a whim, but many others cannot be.
Inevitably some species will disappear from UK collections as a result, and maybe from mainland ones too, if the population cannot be managed as a whole..

However, future ZSL populations will be from Europe.

 

[Strathmorezoo]

However, future ZSL populations will be from Europe.

And ,apparently, the new group for Dudley, will be.

 

[Destiny Raven-Silva]

Chester has 5 siblings (2.3 i think?) and ive heard they have plans to bring in a new dog to create a breeding group one day.