Privately Held Exotic Species

[zooboy28]

This thread is about exotic species that would normally only be held in zoos in NZ, ie not pets, farm animals or wild animals, that are kept privately and are not normally able to be viewed by the public. Three examples I know/have heard of are:

-Keystone Wildlife Conservancy (Zebra and Giraffe).

-Mt. Hutt Station (Pere David's Deer).

-Deer Fear Taupo (Zebra).

I have been to Keystone, but I know very little about the last two, and would appreciate any information others may have on these places, as well as any other places that have exotic species. What sort of permits/licences to these places have to have to keep such species?

 

[Chlidonias]

I've never even heard of Deer Fear Taupo and googling didn't show anything. What is it? A deer farm - and why do they have a zebra?

I don't really think Mt Hutt Station's Pere David's deer belong in the same category though. They were imported simply as an addition (albeit a failed one) to the country's deer farming industry and have never been a zoo animal in NZ

 

[zooboy28]

I've never even heard of Deer Fear Taupo and googling didn't show anything. What is it? A deer farm - and why do they have a zebra?

Apparently they have two! I found a small reference to it today in the ZAA's 2010/2011 Zebra ARR, which states that:

Animals at the following institutions were excluded from the analyses as they are not considered to form part of the managed population: Neutered males 366, 318 at Deer Fear Taupo NZ.

But apart from that I know nothing, and could find nothing on google, so I guess that its a private company/trust (possibly the name of the farm? although I couldn't find anything similar on the NZ Companies Office list), so I don't really know.

I don't really think Mt Hutt Station's Pere David's deer belong in the same category though. They were imported simply as an addition (albeit a failed one) to the country's deer farming industry and have never been a zoo animal in NZ

Well I was meaning any exotics that aren't pets, feral or farmed, and didn't realise they actually were farmed (are they?). I thought they may have been an insurance herd type of thing. Even if they are farmed they are extremely rare here, unlike most other 'exotic' farm animals (llama, alpaca, bison, etc).

 

[Chlidonias]

I found the Taupo place. It's Kitenui Lodge which is a working deer farm but acts as a convention setting for Action NZ. As well as the zebra they have (according to websites) seven species of deer, tahr, and blackbuck. I'm guessing they're only available to view for people hiring the facility.

 

[Chlidonias]

re Pere David's deer, this is what I wrote on another thread http://www.zoochat.com/17/feral-ungulates-new-zealand-12795/ (I'm just cut and pasting it to save me the trouble of actually doing some work)

in 1984-5 seventy-seven Pere David's deer were imported to NZ for farming purposes. Most died of malignant catarrhal fever. Experiments were carried out on hybridisation with red deer, resulting in 16 F1 hybrids between 1986 and 1991, which were used to produce over 400 maternal back-crosses. These crosses are apparently unlikely to ever be used in farming because they have proved hard to establish. In 2001 there were twenty pure Pere David's deer left in the country, all at the Mt. Hutt station in Canterbury.

 

[zooboy28]

I found the Taupo place. It's Kitenui Lodge which is a working deer farm but acts as a convention setting for Action NZ. As well as the zebra they have (according to websites) seven species of deer, tahr, and blackbuck. I'm guessing they're only available to view for people hiring the facility.

Well done

Does look lke you can only see them if you do other stuff, though they have some daily activities at which you might be able to see them.

I guess the zebra are just spare males, neutered and removed from the ZAA managed population. What about the blackbuck? Are there many/any of these at non-ZAA institutions? Do you need a license to keep these?

Does you/anyone know of any other exotic species kept privately in NZ?

 

[peacock]

I believe there may be some (domesticated) yak.

There are llama/alpaca breeders in NZ right? you may want to check if any have pure guanaco, as is the case in Australia.

 

[zooboy28]

I believe there may be some (domesticated) yak.

There are llama/alpaca breeders in NZ right? you may want to check if any have pure guanaco, as is the case in Australia.

Yes, there are yak, although not many, as well as bison and water buffalo, which are becoming more common.

Alpaca and llama very common, but I have never heard of pure guanaco here. But now that I have googled them apparently there are some descended from NZ zoo animals (Auckland Zoo sold theirs in 1994 apparently, and the offspring of these are still around apparently), and there was also an import in 1989 from European Zoos, but not all these animals were purebred.

Thanks for the tip though, I have not seen guanaco yet!

 

[Chlidonias]

I'd completely forgotten about the guanacos in NZ, and likewise I haven't seen them in NZ myself!! Even just a decade or two ago there wasn't really the same strict rules about where certain zoo animals went as there is today. The guanacos from Auckland, leopard geckos from Otorohanga, fire-bellied newts from Auckland/Napier Aquarium, etc etc, all these passed into the private sector from zoos. Finding out there are blackbuck and two zebras at a private deer farm really does make one wonder what else is out there. I had never even entertained the notion that there were private holders of blackbuck for instance. Looking at what is or was available though, I can't think of much else that could be out there legally except perhaps nilgai (Orana sold their stock to Lincoln University in the 90s - I think - for experiments into their farming potential, so there may still be some around on farms I guess). Wellington Zoo's aoudads were on loan to them from a private holder and their last remaining animal went back to said owner (but is now dead, and there are no more in the country). There have been primates kept in the past as pets (i.e. not circus or private zoo animals) but there aren't any now -- I think the last two were the macaques owned by Lady Isaac in Christchurch.

Here are the mammals as far as I can see that are being/can be kept outside of zoos (including domestics):
*Common zebra (Kitenui Lodge and Keystone)
*Domestic horse
*Domestic donkey
*Domestic pig
*Llama
*Alpaca
*Guanaco
*Red deer
*Wapiti
*Sambar
*Rusa
*Sika
*Fallow deer
*White-tailed deer
*Pere David's deer (Mt Hutt Station)
*Giraffe (Keystone)
*Domestic cattle
*Water buffalo
*American bison
*Domestic yak
*Domestic sheep
*Domestic goat
*Himalayan tahr
*Chamois
*maybe possibly Nilgai ?
*Blackbuck (Kitenui Lodge, maybe elsewhere?)
*Domestic cat
*Domestic dog
*Weasel (probably need a licence as these are vermin)
*Stoat (probably need a licence as these are vermin)
*Ferret (banned as pets a few years ago)
*Domestic rabbit
*Domestic rat
*Domestic mouse
*Chinchilla
*Guinea pig
*Hedgehog
*Brush-tailed possum (need a licence as these are vermin)
*Red-necked (Bennett's) wallaby, tammar wallaby and perhaps still some of the other species as well (need a licence as these are vermin)

You may also find this link interesting zooboy28 (just thought I'd throw it in there):
http://www.ermanz.govt.nz/Documents/is-zoo-animals-approvals-January-2011.pdf

 

[zooboy28]

Thanks for the link Chlidonias, I will probably comment on it later, another great distraction .

As far as the nilgai are concerned, I believe Hamilton Zoo acquired theirs from the Ruakura research centre in Hamilton, although I could be wrong. If so, these almost certainly were from/descend from those at Lincoln.

 

[Chlidonias]

with regards to the link, I thought you might like the little key at the top denoting species that can be held in zoos not open to public, and ones that have special dispensation to be held at Keystone.

Anyway, your remark about Hamilton's nilgai possibly coming from Ruakura made me remember in a round-about way that Wellington only got their blackbuck fairly recently (2009?) and I don't think there were any in other zoos here at that time. I could be wrong on that point, but it did make me wonder if maybe they got them from Kitenui Lodge, and further to that (just speculation) if Kitenui got them originally from Auckland Zoo.....

 

[zooboy28]

Anyway, your remark about Hamilton's nilgai possibly coming from Ruakura made me remember in a round-about way that Wellington only got their blackbuck fairly recently (2009?) and I don't think there were any in other zoos here at that time. I could be wrong on that point, but it did make me wonder if maybe they got them from Kitenui Lodge, and further to that (just speculation) if Kitenui got them originally from Auckland Zoo.....

Wellington had blackbuck at least in 2007, the earliest year I have photos from. I'm not sure when Auckland stopped keeping them, certainly before 1997 when Pridelands opened, although they are listed as being present in the 1992 census in Derek Wood's History of Auckland Zoo. Hamilton has had a reasonably large (10+) herd (probably ex-Auckland stock) since I have been regularly visiting (2000), so Wellingtons (and maybe Kitenuis) probably came from Hamilton, especially given Hamiltons strong breeding record and presence of only ever one adult male...

 

[Chlidonias]

quite right, I somehow overlooked Hamilton's blackbucks when writing that. Shows I should check things before posting! I expect that is where Wellington's and probably Kitenui's came from then.

I thought Wellington got their current ones in for their new African paddock because when I was there in 2008 I was told they were getting in blackbuck for it (at the time I thought the staff member I was talking to was confused and was actually meaning an African antelope like waterbuck or bushbuck. Silly me ), which suggests they got them in 2009. Potentially the ones you saw in 2007 were the last ones of a former holding? Or perhaps I'm completely wrong, as sometimes happens

I'll be in Wellington from next week though so I might be able to find out for sure.

EDIT: just found the relevant thread re Wellington getting in blackbuck (it was around May 2008): http://www.zoochat.com/17/wellington-zoo-visit-may-2008-a-17149/
I'm really certain they didn't have any blackbuck when I was there in January of that year.

 

[zooboy28]

with regards to the link, I thought you might like the little key at the top denoting species that can be held in zoos not open to public, and ones that have special dispensation to be held at Keystone.

Yes, in theory there could be soooo many amazing species here legally, hidden away in peoples homes that we don't know about! Interestingly, the list is mostly butterflies and fish, with a few reptiles, three amphibians and a couple of other inverts. There are only six birds, all the big exotic ones mentioned in the NZ zoo bird list (greater flamingo, brolga, Australian pelican + the now absent rhea), as well as glossy starling, which has been approved since 1998. Ever seen any of these here?

But, as usual, the mammals are the most interesting! Given people would have to actually request (and pay?) for species to be on this list, the animals make for great reading. Excluding species already in NZ zoos, the following mammals added since 1998 could be imported and kept in approved zoo facilities not open to the public:

Feather-tailed Glider
Giant Panda
Caracal
*Black and White Colobus
*Spotted Hyena
*Black Rhino
Sand Cat
Black-footed Cat
Senegal Bush Baby
Moholi Bush Baby
*Pygmy Hippo
*Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat
Margay
Ocelot
Western Grey Kangaroo
*Mandrill
Clouded Leopard
Brown Greater Galago
Northern Greater Galago
*Koala
Long-nosed Potoroo
*Bolivian Squirrel Monkey
*Tasmanian Devil
*Short-beaked Echidna
*Francois Leaf Monkey
Lesser Chevrotain
*Snow Leopard
*Brown Bear

Admittedly, most of these are unlikely to be here without anyone knowing (Giant Panda), and many of the Cites species couldn't be imported unless part of a conservation programme, which we would probably know about. The ones I have asterixed I think are likely to be ZAA zoo requests, but others are presumably private requests: the bushbabies/galagos, feather-tailed glider and small cats. I could see gliders becoming pets here. Others are just weird: western grey kangaroo, potoroo and lesser chevrotain? Although I would love to see the chevrotains here, great species fit.

So, from a legislation point of view Chlidonias, whats the next step here? After getting a species added to this list, do you then have to get an Import Heath Standard, and then find and import the animals?

Another interesting point is that the mammals added to the list since 1998 are almost all (although not the bovids or canids) able to be held off-display, maybe signalling a shift in the process to allow this?

 

[zooboy28]

I have just realised that 28 mammal species (ie all the ones on my list above) are covered by the same application (NOC08010), the purpose of which is:

to import into containment 28 specified new mammal species into containment at New Zealand zoos to aid conservation through sustainable display, captive breeding and/ or the conservation of genetic material. Includes Primates, Carnivores, Artiodactlya (Hippo and Chevrotain), and Australian mammals (Tasmanian devil, echidna, western grey kangaroo, koala, wombat, potoroo and feather tailed glider).

​
This was an application from Wellington Zoo, submitted and approved in 2009, bit surprising given many of the species are not ZAA supported species, and one (brown bear) is a phase out species. Shows that the zoos and the ZAA do have different ideas...

The application also stated that these animals could only be held by zoos open to the public, with private, off-display locations only able to keep the species if they were ZAA members.

 

[Chlidonias]

Yes, in theory there could be soooo many amazing species here legally, hidden away in peoples homes that we don't know about! Interestingly, the list is mostly butterflies and fish, with a few reptiles, three amphibians and a couple of other inverts. There are only six birds, all the big exotic ones mentioned in the NZ zoo bird list (greater flamingo, brolga, Australian pelican + the now absent rhea), as well as glossy starling, which has been approved since 1998. Ever seen any of these here?

the term zoo has a specific legal meaning so in terms of this list none of these species could be imported simply to be kept privately in someone's house because they need to be held permanently in an approved containment facility (i.e. a zoo or similar). The reason there are so many butterflies on the list is of course due to Butterfly Creek in Auckland and to a lesser extent the Thames and Dunedin butterfly houses - they need a large variety of species so probably applied for them all at the same time. I think the basic reason there are so few birds on the list is simply that zoos are more interested in crowd-pulling mammals than birds for the specialist avian crowd, especially when they're spending a lot of money on importing them. The glossy starling application was by Auckland Zoo in 2005 for 20 birds, which obviously never resulted in an import.

I have just realised that 28 mammal species (ie all the ones on my list above) are covered by the same application (NOC08010)..........
This was an application from Wellington Zoo, submitted and approved in 2009, bit surprising given many of the species are not ZAA supported species, and one (brown bear) is a phase out species. Shows that the zoos and the ZAA do have different ideas...

note that a number of those species are (or were at the time) part of managed populations in Australia so getting the paperwork out of the way would make it easier to be part of those programmes. But having said that, several of them weren't part of Australian programmes and indeed some were as you say actually phase-out species; in fact some, like the brown bear, ocelot and caracal, are well past their last legs in Australian collections. Much more telling is a look at Wellington Zoo's long-term plan....there's a lot of similarities in species labelled on that model and species on the list. Some of it appears to just be covering their bases as well - I can't think why else they would apply for four different species of bushbabies! And other species are just plain odd; for example, why apply for western grey kangaroo when NZ zoos can't even keep the eastern grey and red kangaroos going?

So, from a legislation point of view Chlidonias, whats the next step here? After getting a species added to this list, do you then have to get an Import Heath Standard, and then find and import the animals?

first you need a zoo licence )). If there isn't already an Import Health Standard for that species then that needs to be taken care of, then you can import. Simple (). There's a couple of other NZ members who have a much better knowledge of what's involved here but I don't know if they'll be able to post on the subject (I've never been personally involved in the importation of any animals other than aquarium species, so my knowledge of zoo importation is largely through reading government files).

 

[KitenuiCottage]

Kitenui Deer farn

Hi ya, I have been googling our family farm as you do on a wet day when your in bed crook and I came across your thread on here from a few years back where you mentioned our zebras and I just wondered if you still would like some information about the farm.
It his owned by my husbands grandfather and we live here in the farm also, while corporate groups come through action nz Murray (Grandad) does allow visitors by arrangement and on occasions does public days too.
We have 2 Gelding Zebras that from memory came from Hamilton Zoo when they had too many males, same with the black buck however we no longer have them. there are also 2 Bison, 2 Yaks and every species of deer except for white tail and also in the past he had barbary sheep but when the male died the female went to Wellington zoo as he couldn't locate another male for the farm.
The farm has a zoological licence which Murray got Years ago in order to be able to keep tahr here when D.O.C tried to make him get rid of them since they are a pest.
I hope this info helps. Feel free to ask anything else you may want to know, and if you are ever back in nz and would like to visit you are more than welcome.

 

[zooboy28]

Hi ya, I have been googling our family farm as you do on a wet day when your in bed crook and I came across your thread on here from a few years back where you mentioned our zebras and I just wondered if you still would like some information about the farm.
It his owned by my husbands grandfather and we live here in the farm also, while corporate groups come through action nz Murray (Grandad) does allow visitors by arrangement and on occasions does public days too.
We have 2 Gelding Zebras that from memory came from Hamilton Zoo when they had too many males, same with the black buck however we no longer have them. there are also 2 Bison, 2 Yaks and every species of deer except for white tail and also in the past he had barbary sheep but when the male died the female went to Wellington zoo as he couldn't locate another male for the farm.
The farm has a zoological licence which Murray got Years ago in order to be able to keep tahr here when D.O.C tried to make him get rid of them since they are a pest.
I hope this info helps. Feel free to ask anything else you may want to know, and if you are ever back in nz and would like to visit you are more than welcome.

Thanks for this great info about Kitenui, it is very much appreciated!

Do you still have thar? Are there any plans to add any additional species to the Kitenui collection?

Did the Barbary Sheep ever come back from Wellington Zoo? On this thread (http://www.zoochat.com/15/barbary-sheep-aoudad-154303/#post660712) it says that a female arrived at the zoo from a private farm (Kitenui), but was returned in 2008. Was that the case?

 

[Animalgeek]

Thanks for that that cleared things up what happened to the zebars did they die or move ?

 

[Kawekaweau]

From a look at the MPI website it seems that wallabies may have become legal to keep privately in September 2016 as their unwanted organism classification expired (Stopping pets becoming pests). I'm not sure if I'm interpreting that right though, and the brush-tailed rock wallabies have likely been eradicated as Chlidonias said in the former mammals of NZ thread.

Also, the list with the key denoting animals which can be kept in non-public licensed facilities appears to be gone. Does anybody remember what species were on the list, or if there were any reptiles or amphibians on it?

Finally, does anyone know whether moose would be allowed to be kept privately in NZ if they were rediscovered or imported? The deer import health standard does not have a list of eligible species, and moose are still listed under the Wildlife Act as a NZ deer species despite them being extinct (even if they had survived, the bad environment and inbreeding would have done them in a long time ago, I'd reckon).