Chester Zoo Should Chester obtain Gaur's
- Thread starter MARK
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zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
Sorry but that area just not big enough it would be about half the size of what Whipsnade have for there Pair.
I think I know where you mean, but there's only a small space between the back of the northerly outdoor orang enclosure, Cedar House and the staff car park.
There's more room between the waterfall side of Spirit of the Jaguar and RotRA, but the veterinary hospital is in the way and there's an important access route into the zoo there, so the area couldn't extend as far as the road. I'd also wonder how well a paddock could be cultivated, given that it's the site of the old car park.
There's more room between the waterfall side of Spirit of the Jaguar and RotRA, but the veterinary hospital is in the way and there's an important access route into the zoo there, so the area couldn't extend as far as the road. I'd also wonder how well a paddock could be cultivated, given that it's the site of the old car park.
Ahhh, I didn't realise that the land was already used (and indeed not big enough, thank you for pointing this out ZooGiraffe 
). It is a shame really, since it would have been nice if they could really expand upon Realm of the Red Ape with more animals from Asian Rainforests (particularly a new enclosure for the tigers), making for a really good geographical zone. However, it makes little sense for the zoo to spend money moving established enclosures around when the ones the animals have are [generally] good enough anyway.
Also, thanks for the attatchment SMR, I've never actually thought about all of the off-show areas like this (and didn't realise the road was so close).
). It is a shame really, since it would have been nice if they could really expand upon Realm of the Red Ape with more animals from Asian Rainforests (particularly a new enclosure for the tigers), making for a really good geographical zone. However, it makes little sense for the zoo to spend money moving established enclosures around when the ones the animals have are [generally] good enough anyway.Also, thanks for the attatchment SMR, I've never actually thought about all of the off-show areas like this (and didn't realise the road was so close).
MARK
Well-Known Member
Thats interesting maybe one of our other members may know how many they had and what became of them
zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
It was a young Male that was in transit to Whipsnade and was housed at Chester for a few months until Whipsnade were ready to recieve it.
As West Midlands have now gone into Indian Rhino, and also have a lot of Asian ungulates plus plenty of space, might they be a better option than Chester to keep Gaur?
I agree that a 2nd collection keeping them would be a better set-up- especially if there was breeding and exchanges could be made.
I agree that a 2nd collection keeping them would be a better set-up- especially if there was breeding and exchanges could be made.
johnstoni
Well-Known Member
umm, meat yard? Are you saying they used diseased animals as food for the carnivores? In what capacity did you see them, were you working there at the time? Maybe these were unwanted bull calves they had culled?
Hexaprotodon
Well-Known Member
Dead adults that were taken to the meat yard for PM by the vet, not to be fed out to the carnivores at the park. They were kept quite separate from the food prep area. Yes, I've worked there on three different occasions over the years, the longest stint for two years.
But I thought that was where you'd put your indian rhinos Pertinax.
It would be ideal for Indian Rhinos but I know they won't have them as when they were offered some from India they refused them. So the space is still vacant for something else. Gaur is definately a Howletts/PL-type species too as they had them before.
It would be ideal for Indian Rhinos but I know they won't have them as when they were offered some from India they refused them. So the space is still vacant for something else. Gaur is definately a Howletts/PL-type species too as they had them before.
The Port Lympne water buffalos were in the paddock to the east of their customary one yesterday (the fence is not accessible on foot, because it's in the lorry safari section). This may be because the wallows in that enclosure are dry, but there is also a new fence splitting the big paddock in two opposite the refreshment kiosk. I don't know why,
Gaur are actually woodland animals; I don't like their open paddock at Whipsnade. The bongo paddock at Chester might suit them, if it were larger.
Alan
This is going to sound very odd indeed, but would it be possible for people in-situ to somehow get semen from wild bulls and then use this in AI to get captive females pregnant? How possible is this, and could it be successful in trying to make a more diverse group without having to capture any animals from the wild?
This is quite off-topic in general, but relevant to what I was asking above as well, it would be interesting to know. In an attempt to try and get a secure captive population of Javan Rhinos, how possible would it be to take semen from wild bulls and again use this for AI, implanting it in a female Indian Rhino? I know a hybrid scenario would never be ideal, but hybrids are often born healthy and fertile (an example being Sumatran/Bornean Orang hybrids). If they could get a healthy population of hybrids, could it be possible then to selectively breed in an attempt to get a pure specimen. This would save having to remove any from the wild and could possibly bring about a back-up captive breeding programme. As you can probably tell genetics is not my strongest area, and this is probably a massively bad idea. But hey, off-topic
Embryo transfer from gaurs to domestic cattle has been done before. This allows multiple simultaneous pregnancies to take place in cow hosts even if you have only one pair of gaur. The resultant animals are pure gaurs. This is possible because of the close relationship between the two species, and the fact that for agricultural reasons cattle reproductive biology is intensively studied. However it is expensive and not without risk to the female gaur. It would not solve the problems of in-breeding if founder numbers were low in the first place. I can't imagine that it would ever have a place in Javan rhino conservation, although may be it could be considered re Northern white rhinos as a last ditch strategy.