Pel's Anomalure!
- Thread starter Al
- Start date
Sun Wukong
Well-Known Member
Yes, anomalures have been kept in captivity before-and I'm pretty sure that while I'm writing these lines, at least one is kept by a private person, most likely a Czech or a German . However, as far as I know, the husbandry hasn't been too successful so far, as the current husbandry record is just 1,5 years.
Last edited:
Sun Wukong
Well-Known Member
@Al: You're welcome. In the case I happen to see one, I promise I'll send You a photo of it 
.
.Ah the powers of google. Apparantly it's a giant flying squirrel type native to Western Africa.
You learn something new every day
Sun Wukong
Well-Known Member
@Pygathrix: Well, first of all, anomalures aren't squirrels; they're a family of their own and in the same suborder as the droll springhare. Secondly, although they resemble flying squirrels, they additionally have those odd scales under their tails, kind of supporting the animal when climbing trees (like a climbing iron).
http://mek.oszk.hu/03400/03408/html/img/brehm-06-061-2.jpg
They're pretty rare and hard to get; very often, the caught animals have been fed an improper diet during their stay at the African animal trade and thus are sick and weakened when arriving in the western collections.
http://mek.oszk.hu/03400/03408/html/img/brehm-06-061-2.jpg
They're pretty rare and hard to get; very often, the caught animals have been fed an improper diet during their stay at the African animal trade and thus are sick and weakened when arriving in the western collections.
If you've read your Durrell (I think it's the Bafut Beagles) he tells the story of trying, and failing, to bring back Idiurus alive from Cameroon in the fifties. Those 'flying mice' are small scaly-tails, anomalures are the larger ones.
Alan
Alan
many species of anomalures feed partly or primarily on the bark of specific trees (from what I've read) so I would assume they would be difficult to keep alive long-term in a foreign zoo.
The February 2013 National Geographic has a story about bonobos by David Quammen. In the story is an account of bonobos hunting anomalures, a speces that I did not know about. They are a distinct rodent group with convergent body form and lifestyle of flying squirrels in the African rainforests. Cool!
Pygathirx, did you ever see an anomalure in Tanzania?
Has anybody here ever seen one? Sun Wukong claimed in this thread that there were some in captivity once. Has anyone ever seen or heard of one in a zoo anywhere?
here's that article for others: The Wild Life of a Bonobo - Pictures, More From National Geographic MagazineDavidBrown said:
Antwerp has had Beecroft's anomalure: ZootierlisteHomepage
Volume four of the International Zoo Yearbook has an article by Gwen Chalmers on Jackson's anomalure (Anomalurus jacksoni) in captivity.
In 1952 Gerald Durrell wrote an article in Zoo Life about Idiurus (the species referenced by gentle lemur earlier in this thread).
'A. jacksoni' is now regarded as a race of A. derbianus.
According to 'Longevity of Mammals in Captivity' (Weigl, 2005), the record for keeping this species in a zoo goes to the Bronx Zoo.....which kept a specimen for 1 month [June/July 1949].
They seem to be quite difficult animals to keep but the record-keeping of one month is not true. The animals which were kept at the Bronx were fed during transportation soley on bananas and therefor were already very weak when they arrived.
A captive animal kept in Congo was living for more than a year on a diet of cooked rice, oat- and cornmeal, milkpowder and some suplements.
A captive animal kept in Congo was living for more than a year on a diet of cooked rice, oat- and cornmeal, milkpowder and some suplements.