Private Co-operative Breeding Programmes

P

Pouchie

Member
Hi all

I am building an organisation of private keepers who work together to conserve exotic species.

There is probably too much to explain here but please fire away with any questions and I would be delighted if anybody wants to join us.

Website is index and you'll find application forms on the Membership page.

If you don't want to take part in the breeding there are plenty of educational things you can help with as an associate member.

Thanks for reading

Pouchie :)
 
Would be very interested to have details of some of the species your members work with .
 
It is very early days - we hope to eventually cover all species available and that become available but will obviously need CENSR to be very well supported with a massive network of keepers.

Right now we have successful breeding programmes going on for the Emins Pouched Rat Cricetomys emini and the Tristrams Jird Meriones tristrami plus the following species which are still in first stages and still needing more foundation lines:

Coati, Raccoon Dog, Common Marms, Gambian Pouched Rat, Baluchistan Pygmy Gerbil, Libyan Jird, Persian Jird, Richardsons Ground Squirrel, Meerkat, Prairie Dog, Cape Genet, Fennec Fox, Pardine Genet, Short Tailed Opossum.

We are hoping to add Demerests Cuban Hutia, Viscacha Rats, Chinchilla Mice, Common Tenrec and Asian Garden Dormice in due course.


Its one of those things though - we'll need to get the organisation growing before people have confidence in it so it will be slow starting.
 
Pouchie said:
It is very early days - we hope to eventually cover all species available and that become available but will obviously need CENSR to be very well supported with a massive network of keepers.

Right now we have successful breeding programmes going on for the Emins Pouched Rat Cricetomys emini and the Tristrams Jird Meriones tristrami plus the following species which are still in first stages and still needing more foundation lines:

Coati, Raccoon Dog, Common Marms, Gambian Pouched Rat, Baluchistan Pygmy Gerbil, Libyan Jird, Persian Jird, Richardsons Ground Squirrel, Meerkat, Prairie Dog, Cape Genet, Fennec Fox, Pardine Genet, Short Tailed Opossum.

We are hoping to add Demerests Cuban Hutia, Viscacha Rats, Chinchilla Mice, Common Tenrec and Asian Garden Dormice in due course.


Its one of those things though - we'll need to get the organisation growing before people have confidence in it so it will be slow starting.
Click to expand...

Some of the rodents would be interesting. Would you need any licenses or qualifications for anything? The fennec fox would be pretty cool to breed as well :D
 
Javan Rhino said:
Some of the rodents would be interesting. Would you need any licenses or qualifications for anything? The fennec fox would be pretty cool to breed as well :D
Click to expand...

No. You do not need any licenses or any qualifications for any of the current species.

I am sure in due course there might be species inducted which require a Dangerous Wild Animal licence and even European Protected Species licence as we do intend to look after native species aswell.
 
Ahh cool, it sounds like a good project. I wouldn't like to join until I had the money behind me, the experience and the time required to devote to it, but when I do I will seriously consider looking into it.
 
I think it's basically a great idea, but having had a quick look at your website, I do have a couple of reservations.

Firstly you mention 'domesticating species' as one of your aims. I'm not sure this fits with your other statement of maintaining species for future re-release. You can't breed changes into an animal to make it a better pet and then justify that on conservation grounds.

Going on from that, while I'm happy to see enthusiasts getting together to create breeding programs, I don't think the keeping of exotics as 'pets' is something to be encouraged. The exotic pet trade creates far too much misery as it is, from the huge trade in wild-caught species, with many dead before they get to be sold, to people totally out of their depths and being cruel to their 'pets' through ignorance, through to the sanctuaries that try and pick up the pieces (eg Monkey World for one). I know you are trying to promote people doing it the right way and providing proper care, but as soon as you start talking about 'exotic species' and 'pet' together you are legitimizing people who want something to show off about, and are quite likely to not look closely at where it comes from or where it ends up when they get tired of it. I think you should be encouraging the viewpoint that these animals are NOT pets: they are specialized animals, that need specialized care, and in many cases have habits that make them unsuitable to have in most homes. I think you should be encouraging people who want to take on the challenge of keeping something unusual, for the benifit of the animal/species, not themselves, and making the changes in their lives and homes that that takes, not promoting all kinds of things as 'pets'. There's quite enough people making a total and tragic mess of keeping dogs, cats, rabbits etc (and some exotics...) without expanding on that.

I really like the stuff you have on your campaigns page: all stuff I can support. I'm just not sure the impression you give on your home page totally fits with that though.
 
I believe that this organisation could be revolutionary in many ways if well supported but it could take a long time for me to prove that! I am just one person against many critics.

Firstly you mention 'domesticating species' as one of your aims. I'm not sure this fits with your other statement of maintaining species for future re-release. You can't breed changes into an animal to make it a better pet and then justify that on conservation grounds.
Click to expand...

Domestication projects have to be handled sensitively and COMPLETELY separately to the conservation projects. We cannot breed for genetic diversity AND domestication in the same programmes. However, species such as the Gambian Pouched Rat, a popular companion animal, would in my opinion benefit greatly from being domesticated as soon as possible. Not only does it make the bonding and handling of these rats easier, it means that less wild caught animals will be sold because they will only be sought after for new bloodlines. Who would have a wild 'pet' giant rat when you can have a domesticated one? This surely benefits both the species and people wishing to keep them.

I am not sure I understand your point entirely. Suffice to say I see no reason why this organisation cannot achieve both insurance populations AND domestication projects where the most popular species that are privately kept can be bred for tameness.

Going on from that, while I'm happy to see enthusiasts getting together to create breeding programs, I don't think the keeping of exotics as 'pets' is something to be encouraged.
Click to expand...

The word 'pet' is not ideal (and i presume you refer to my campaign 'Pet4Life) but you have to understand that this organisation is pitched at serious, specialist keepers. The word 'pet' is used in a campaign aimed at casual alternative pet keepers.

I am not trying to encourage or promote exotic species as pets. Quite the opposite is true. I am trying to manage and control the trade in exotic pets as best I can by bringing breeders together in a common purpose.

Remember that the reason (so far as I can see it) that SO MANY animals are wild caught for the pet trade is because the animals that do come into the UK are not managed. They simply get sold via various outlets as pets with a portion that may end up with breeders. But then what? The breeders breed them, buy others which they THINK are unrelated. But are they?

These animals are bred according to popularity and if that wains then breeders stop bothering with that species which proceed to die out in the UK. Then they have to be imported all over again.

CENSR has the potential to stop all of this chaos. It can manage the private populations of animals coming into the UK so that people can choose to buy UK CB, not wild caught. Right now, you can often never know whether the animal you are buying is wild caught or not.


There is absolutely nothing wrong with people keeping exotic species privately. I understand your frustration as this is not regulated and animals needs are not always met. However, some private keepers can and do offer a better quality of life and better facilities for their charges than do some zoos. So it is not a case of promoting or quashing private keeping, I just believe it is a case of attempting to manage it.
 
Organisations like this particular one committed to captive-breeding and promoting good animal care. Nothing wrong with that IMO. In fact, I believe their contribution is sometimes quite under-estimated. If we are to save species in situ and ex situ we need all the hands on deck that we can muster .... :cool:
 
Both the Dutch and the Germans have had very good private animal keeper organisations for many years, something we have never seemed to manage in the UK. We have many very good bird keeping societies but sadly not for mammals.
I personally think it should be a legal requirement to attain some basis qualification before being allowed to purchase non-domesticated species.
The French zoo licensing system is done by taxa, only allowing the keeping of each family of animals when the zoo can prove core competence in that particular area. Is it unreasonable to expect the same of someone off the street wishing to keep a coati or a fennec fox?
Good Luck
 
Interesting points.

Well regarding the UK - we have had various attempts made but all have failed. I think NAPAK was the last concerted effort but even this failed due to infighting according to one of the founders.

Lets hope we get it right this time around!

I think people will need to start seeing positive results before believing in such a different and co-operative way of managing our animals.
 
"We are hoping to add Demerests Cuban Hutia, Viscacha Rats, Chinchilla Mice, Common Tenrec and Asian Garden Dormice in due course." For viscacha rats and chinchilla mice, are you talking about Octomys mimax and Chinchillula sahamae ? If so, this would be very interesting, as these species are poorly known in their natural habitat.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top