Species on the brink of disappearing from U.K Collections

[Tim May]

Most of their offerings had a London Zoo link though.

Indeed; for example the adult Indian rhinoceros was modelled on "Jim" who lived at London Zoo from 1864 until 1904. Similarly the original adult hippopotamus was modelled on "Guy Fawkes" who was born at London Zoo in 1872 and died in 1908.

Many of the other Britains models were based on London Zoo inhabitants too.

Apologies for digressing from the main topic of this thread.

 

[Pertinax]

Places I remember seeing Malayan Tapir at include; London, Port Lympne, Chester (originally in the Elephant House) Twycross & Marwell. I also have a postcard of one at Colchester but don't remember seeing them there.

 

[qthemusic]

I think your mind is playing tricks on you as ZTL only list 11 former holdings for Malayan Tapir so not that many places,that used to keep them!

Maybe I exaggerated a bit, but then 11 has dwindled to 3

 

[zoogiraffe]

Maybe I exaggerated a bit, but then 11 has dwindled to 3

Actually 4 I have double checked Belfast still have the male, but held off show now, another case of ztl allowing people not knowing the right people to edit it

 

[FBBird]

Yes absolutely. They used the old earlier lead moulds to blow the plastic ones when technology allowed. Most of their offerings had a London Zoo link though. A few of the huge range of Elastolin, Hauser and Pfeiffer models produced in masse on the Continent were also modelled on famous individual animals. The Britains Platypus is an odd one for them to chose. We can only assume is was a whim on someones part in the company or the spp featured in the news at the time. Although not popular as Dassie Rat says, the tiny Platypus was short lived in Britains' lists and not made in large numbers. They are quite valuable today too, as presumably many of those bought were subsequently lost.

I had two of those. Goodness knows what happened to them.

 

[Dassie rat]

They may be in an enclosure at the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Maybe I exaggerated a bit, but then 11 has dwindled to 3

Except not all of those 11 held them at the same time!

 

[giant_anteater]

I think another one to watch would be the entire family Dasyuridae.

Last time I was at Bristol zoo they were down to their last kowari.

According to ztl (not always reliable I know) the number of eastern quoll holders has dropped down to just 4. One of them is Bristol, but Linton is no longer on the list.

And finally, tiger quolls still remain at Hamerton obviously, but who knows for how long? Dasyurids all have a shockingly short lifespan, with tiger quolls living about 3-4 years. So unless a breeding happens soon they may be lost as well.

 

[Andrew Swales]

I think another one to watch would be the entire family Dasyuridae.

Last time I was at Bristol zoo they were down to their last kowari.

According to ztl (not always reliable I know) the number of eastern quoll holders has dropped down to just 4. One of them is Bristol, but Linton is no longer on the list.

And finally, tiger quolls still remain at Hamerton obviously, but who knows for how long? Dasyurids all have a shockingly short lifespan, with tiger quolls living about 3-4 years. So unless a breeding happens soon they may be lost as well.

I haven't normally commented about current animals, but you are quite right.

Eastern Quolls have plummeted in numbers, and yes the Linton animals have died. Our Tiger Quolls were sourced in Australia as babies to give us the longest possible chance with them, but the paper-work took so long they were already adult on arrival. We have had repeated successful matings in all combinations with the 4 founding animals, and our staff now know exactly what to look for in the strange pre-oestrus 'fatting-up' process with this spp. They really are unusual animals and all four are very different in character and reactions. Several of the matings have resulted in behaviour, including nesting, which would indicate that in the early stages young had been born; but in every case the females have come into oestrus again. We will keep trying of course, but each time the chances reduce, as most successful litters are born to young females. It took several imports to establish both the Eastern Quoll and the Tasmanian Devil, and we knew at the outset that subsequent imports would be needed, even if we had quick results from the already adult animals. Efforts are already in-hand to source more animals (and have been for sometime), but of course we have no idea now when (or indeed, if) this could happen.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

The Malayan Tapir seems to be disappearing, I know a couple of places (UK) still have them, but a few years ago (I'm going back a good 20yrs here) it was all Malayan and hardly any Brazilian, now it seems to be the other way.

Maybe I exaggerated a bit, but then 11 has dwindled to 3

Except not all of those 11 held them at the same time!

Having looked through the figures on ZTL - which are of course quite possibly incomplete - of the 15 collections which are listed as having held Malayan Tapir over the years (11 former holdings and 4 current holdings) the maximum number of collections to have held the species at any given time was 7, and that only for brief periods.

5 holders - 1971, 1972-1975, 1995-2002, 2014-2019
6 holders - 2003, 2008-2010, 2013,
7 holders - 2004-2005, 2007

The last time the number of holders was as low as 4 was 1994, but this has been the case quite a few times over the past 60 years or so, and significant periods have passed with lower numbers in the post-war years:

3 holders - 1965-1966, 1968,1979, 1984-1993
2 holders - 1962-1964, 1967
1 holder - 1959, 1961
0 holders - 1941-1958, 1960

In other words, it would be highly rash to assume that Malayan Tapir is on the brink of disappearing from the UK now given prior trends - and highly incorrect to suggest that there was ever a time that the species was everywhere and Brazilian was nowhere, let alone as recently as two decades ago.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

I think another one to watch would be the entire family Dasyuridae.

Given the typical lifespan of dasyurid marsupials, they have always been something of an erratic presence in UK collections - although as already noted we are liable to experience another dry period soon, we are currently in an unusually rich period for dasyurid diversity in this country

As with the above run-down of Malayan Tapir holdings, I'll restrict myself to the last 60 years or so and note that ZTL is liable to lack some records - certainly I have had to estimate the length of some holdings where a date of death is omitted but no breeding or further imports are noted:

0 species - 1965-1972, 1978-1981, 2008-2011
1 species - 1960, 1963-1964, 1973-1976, 1977, 1982-1986, 1992-2007, 2012-2016
2 species - 1962, 1987-1991, 2017
3 species - 1961, 2018-2020

 

[Jungle Man]

The current population of Malayan Tapirs in UK is of 5.3.3 and here are the zoos that have malayan tapirs:

Edinburgh
1.0 Mowgli born 2009 arrived 2012 from Dortmund.
0.1 Sayang ?
Chester Zoo
1.0 Betong born 2012 arrived 2013 from Artis Zoo
0.1 Margery born 3-12-2012 to parents Elmer and Gladys, arrived 2013 from Belfast Zoo
1.0 Rony born 7-18-2019 to parents Betong and Margery.

Port Lympne Wild Animal Park
1.0 Kingut born 1978 at Ragunan Zoo and moved to Port Lympne in 2008 from Howletts (Oldest malayan tapir in the world)
0.1 Queenie born 2014 at Belfast Zoo
0.0.1
0.0.1
0.0.1

Belfast Zoo
1.0 Elmer?

 

[Pertinax]

In other words, it would be highly rash to assume that Malayan Tapir is on the brink of disappearing from the UK now given prior trends - and highly incorrect to suggest that there was ever a time that the species was everywhere and Brazilian was nowhere, let alone as recently as two decades ago.

In all my decades of Zoo visiting since the mid 1960's, Malayan Tapir have always been the minority species in the UK, compared to Brazilians...

 

[Pertinax]

I haven't normally commented about current animals, but you are quite right.

and our staff now know exactly what to look for in the strange pre-oestrus 'fatting-up' process with this spp. They really are unusual animals and all four are very different in character and reactions. Several of the matings have resulted in behaviour, including nesting,

1. Where do they store fat, at the base of their tails?

2. Do they carry nesting material in their mouths?

 

[Andrew Swales]

1. Where do they store fat, at the base of their tails?
2. Do they carry nesting material in their mouths?

1 - No. The 'fatting-up' is bizarre. The females do it immediately at the on-set of oestrus and it is over the shoulders and up the nape of the neck, and appears practically overnight. It is quite incredible that it can be laid down so quickly. Their metabolisms must be so fast, like their small ancestors and relatives. The fat appears to be purely for protection against the males teeth as the females can be violently dragged around during almost continuous mating for several days. Damage to her neck can be very dramatic. One of our males is 'worse' than the other, but female response from the boldest female inhibits the worst of that males aggression. We have had full observed copulations from both males with both females, on numerous occasions - sometime for just a day, sometimes up to five days. Gestation is short, forgive me for not remembering how long, a couple of weeks I think, then the female retires to her box to give birth, carries the young for about a month and then deposits them in the nest. We have seen early stages of heavy pouches indicating developing young; but around that period the females have either come back into oestrus or nothing has developed further. Every combination has been tried. Earlier this spring we had both females mated at the same time with very strong signs, but again it all went quiet.

2 - yes, both sexes do exactly this - harvesting vegetation and carrying it back to the nest, boxes indoors and sometimes a hollow or tucked away spot outside.

 

[Pertinax]

1 - No. The 'fatting-up' is bizarre. The females do it immediately at the on-set of oestrus and it is over the shoulders and up the nape of the neck, and appears practically overnight. It is quite incredible that it can be laid down so quickly. Their metabolisms must be so fast, like their small ancestors and relatives. The fat appears to be purely for protection against the males teeth as the females can be violently dragged around during almost continuous mating for several days. Damage to her neck can be very dramatic. One of our males is 'worse' than the other, but female response from the boldest female inhibits the worst of that males aggression. We have had full observed copulations from both males with both females, on numerous occasions - sometime for just a day, sometimes up to five days. Gestation is short, forgive me for not remembering how long, a couple of weeks I think, then the female retires to her box to give birth, carries the young for about a month and then deposits them in the nest. We have seen early stages of heavy pouches indicating developing young; but around that period the females have either come back into oestrus or nothing has developed further. Every combination has been tried. Earlier this spring we had both females mated at the same time with very strong signs, but again it all went quiet.

2 - yes, both sexes do exactly this - harvesting vegetation and carrying it back to the nest, boxes indoors and sometimes a hollow or tucked away spot outside.

Frenetic little creatures aren't they. I'm trying to think why they seem to be losing their young at that early pouch stage. I'll come back if I have any suggestions...

 

[TeaLovingDave]

I'm trying to think why they seem to be losing their young at that early pouch stage. I'll come back if I have any suggestions...

If they are anything like Tasmanian Devils in their reproductive anatomy, this may provide a possible answer - as Tassie females get older, their teats become progressively more and more scarred and non-functional, at a significantly faster rate than their fertility reduces, with a corresponding reduction in the likelihood of young being able to successfully latch on and feed. Eventually, female Tassies are capable of giving birth but incapable of keeping their young alive.

 

[Andrew Swales]

Frenetic little creatures aren't they. I'm trying to think why they seem to be losing their young at that early pouch stage. I'll come back if I have any suggestions...

It is rather more variable than that, Some matings have not progressed further, but there appears to be no correlation between those where the mating has gone on for several days, or the pair has stopped, or the pair has had to be separated for the females safety. It is possible that what we took to be the early signs of heavy pouches, was either a relaxed pouch or the female still being heavy after the mating, (as they can put on weight over the whole body and not just the back) combined with a dose of wishful thinking as the timing was right..
With the mating... the mating part we have 'sussed' now, but it is our suspicion that it is an perhaps an age-related fertility issue. Again I cannot remember the figures, but something like three quarters of females breed in their first year, this reducing dramatically in year two and only a tiny number in their third.

 

[Andrew Swales]

If they are anything like Tasmanian Devils in their reproductive anatomy, this may provide a possible answer - as Tassie females get older, their teats become progressively more and more scarred and non-functional, at a significantly faster rate than their fertility reduces, with a corresponding reduction in the likelihood of young being able to successfully latch on and feed. Eventually, female Tassies are capable of giving birth but incapable of keeping their young alive.

I didn't know that, but it could certainly tie in with the - most in the first year, a few in the second and a tiny number in the third, curve - with maybe those which haven't bred before being the ones which do succeed later on due to the lack of scarring. We had assumed it was fertility, but indeed it could be physical, although these females should not be too scarred as they have not reared young to any significant age.

 

[Pertinax]

I didn't know that, but it could certainly tie in with the - most in the first year, a few in the second and a tiny number in the third, curve - with maybe those which haven't bred before being the ones which do succeed later on due to the lack of scarring. We had assumed it was fertility, but indeed it could be physical, although these females should not be too scarred as they have not reared young to any significant age.

I've asked a contact in Australia who has good experience with marsupi-carnivores in captivity. I know you are aware of the age-related issues but here's a few other possibilites they suggest;

1. Stress, causing pouch young to be aborted or...
2. Young being born but not even making it to the pouch. Stress possibly can be caused by proximity to other animals or human intervention.

3. Pseudo-pregnancies. Quite common in Devils apparently so maybe in Quoll also.

Males can sometimes kill females...

Just a few random comments.