Shoebills in captivity

ThylacineAlive said:
I think if an animal is on-exhibit but its arrival hasn't been publicly announced by the zoo, it still doesn't qualify as leaking off-record info since the animal is literally visible to anyhow who visits.

~Thylo
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I am surprised they wouldn't announce such a relatively rare and unique species, but good to know the Shoebill is on exhibit and thus it's not leaked information. There is too much speculation and questionable comments on the site lately.
 
I would like to clarify that I have no idea whether or not a Shoebill is on-exhibit at Exmoor. It's my understanding based on personal communication that there is, but this may very well not be the case and I encourage everyone to take that with whatever degree of healthy skepticism they see fit. I was just expressing my opinion that if a new arrival is on-show but hasn't been announced officially by the zoo, it's still well within the right of any visitor to report that since the zoo has still chosen to place said animal on-exhibit. Exhibiting an animal is itself a form of official 'reveal' to the public, especially if it's a signed individual (which I also don't know in context of the supposed Shoebill).

Now if someone visits and sees an animal on-exhibit but is either told not to post about it or is aware that the zoo wishes to make an official announcement soon, it does become a sort of grey area. On one hand, the animal is literally on-exhibit and anyone can see it, but on the other, the zoo still wishes it be kept quiet. I still lean towards saying it's fine to post as long as you weren't explicitly told not to say anything because the animal is on-exhibit now, but I can't say I've never kept something to myself even when an animal is visible at a zoo because I've felt it the better thing to do. I suppose in those scenarios, it's up to the individual to make the call.

Either way, I wasn't trying to make any official confirmation of anything, just sharing my opinion based on my understanding of the situation. I apologize for not making that more clear.

~Thylo
 
Zoo2022 said:
ANYONE can update Zootierliste. No knowledge is needed.
Possibly, ask Exmoor directly...?
They do have close contacts with (and have had other animals from) Todd Dalton.
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So after the discussion on news etc and how it is obtained I thought I'd just ask - so popped them an email and had a nice reply from the director / commercial manager :)


Hi, Yes we do have a shoebill and it is on display down by our flamingos. I hope this helps.

Have never seen one and must say I am very tempted to take the long journey to Exmoor (which is apparently a good collection anyway and worth a trip).


 
Lafone said:
So after the discussion on news etc and how it is obtained I thought I'd just ask - so popped them an email and had a nice reply from the director / commercial manager :)


Hi, Yes we do have a shoebill and it is on display down by our flamingos. I hope this helps.

Have never seen one and must say I am very tempted to take the long journey to Exmoor (which is apparently a good collection anyway and worth a trip).

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Glad we now have official confirmation, thanks for reaching out to the zoo.

I definitely recommend Exmoor, I visited in 2016 and I thought it was a very charming place with a great collection and kind staff/owner. Their collection has changed since then, losing a few rarities but bringing in more than a few fantastic additions and the place is high on my list to revisit when I'm eventually in the UK again.

~Thylo
 
Lafone said:
Have never seen one and must say I am very tempted to take the long journey to Exmoor (which is apparently a good collection anyway and worth a trip).
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It definitely is :) and quite apart from all the other treasures in the collection it is probably *the* best non-specialist zoo in Europe for waterbird species, with ibises a particular highlight. This arrival (a 2008 birth at Pairi Daiza I believe) just solidifies said status.
 
Well it is a bit late but Nasu Animal Kingdom has sent female Caxixi (pronounced Kashishi) away to Noichi Zoo for breeding purposes on 19 December of last year leaving Nasu without shoebills. Breeding obviously (and sadly) didn’t happened but male Sasa has been seen a few days ago standing over and laying down on a piece of plastic. Caxixi was also seen carrying forage a few months ago but the birds don’t really have a nest.
 
I don’t know if this means something or it’s just me coping over the infertile egg in Chiba but Noichi zoo has been sharing some footage of their pair Caxixi and Sasa not showing antagonistic behavior towards each other. This video from June first shows both birds clacking their bills unfortunately keepers are intervening the animals from getting close to each other to avoid a fight from happening. Of course there’s visitor footage that shows that there are still antagonistic signs.

A couple days ago the zoo showed a video of both birds resting not so far from each other. Of course seeing how the keepers might be in the enclosure I take it that the birds probably didn’t get too close to copulate.

Edit: I also saw this tweet from a visitor showing Jitto from Chiba building a nest on a tree. I hope there’s still a chance for the Chiba pair before the end of summer.
 
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Research at Ueno Zoo suggests that environmental control is essential for breeding, as the transfer to an indoor climate environment mimicking the tropics resulted in an increase in hormone levels in females.
 
Veno said:
Research at Ueno Zoo suggests that environmental control is essential for breeding, as the transfer to an indoor climate environment mimicking the tropics resulted in an increase in hormone levels in females.
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It does make me wonder why Ueno was never able to get any eggs from their shoebills before.

It’s irritating that the one zoo in Japan that does have the system to keep their shoebills in a tropical climate and allow them to fly tosses the privacy of the animals to the side for the sake of guest convenience.
 
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