Species that you would like to see in UK zoos

Jurek7 said:
There were Gough Moorhens imported to Britain in the 1990s and bred well, but were allowed to hybridize and then go extinct.
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I remember seeing them at Banham and elsewhere. I assume that (like the short lived UK Steller's Eider population) the initial stock derived from an egg collecting expedition?
 
Jurek7 said:
Yes! It is a very good idea. These animals are generally overlooked, even if Britain has sole responsibility of protecting them (or letting them extinct).

Inaccessible Island Rail has been since decades proposed to breed in human care, as introduction of rats will wipe it out. It is a worlds smallest flightless bird, and looks essentially like a chick of a rail which never matures. Other endemics include Gough Bunting, Henderson Fruit-Dove or Henderson Crake, another flightless rail.

There were Gough Moorhens imported to Britain in the 1990s and bred well, but were allowed to hybridize and then go extinct.
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I think this is a really interesting idea, to zone in on endangered species in British overseas territories, to effectively take responsibility. Gibraltar, where the British army do currently care for Barbary Macacques, same in Belize, to the Falkland (Malvena’s) Isles and beyond?
I think this would be a very good educational focused exhibit that would have to navigate the political angles whilst remaining neutral, but highlight our role in global conservation.
 
Reptile House said:
Black/Green Mamba
Gaboon Viper
Fierce Snake
Costal Taipan
Tiger Snake
Mangrove Snake
Fer-De-Lance

Any venomous snake
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This is quite a list ,so I was wondering , would you envisage such species going to one collection or collections and which establishments would you suggest?
 
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TriUK said:
same in Belize
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Belize became independent in 1982, although it does retain the King as head of state. The British Overseas Territories are as follows:

Anguilla
Cayman Islands
Turks & Caicos Islands
British Virgin Islands
Montserrat
Bermuda
St. Helena
Ascension
Falkland Islands
Tristan da Cunha (including Gough and Inaccessible and the Nightingales)
South Georgia & The South Sandwich Islands
British Antarctic Territory
Gibraltar
Cyprus Sovereign Base Areas (Akrotiri & Dhekelia)
British Indian Ocean Territory (likely soon to be ceded to Mauritius)
Pitcairn (including Ducie and Oeno and Henderson)

Plus technically the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

Between them they hold around 1500 endemic taxa compared to 90 endemic taxa in Britain. RSPB report here: https://www.rspb.org.uk/globalasset...servation-projects/ukots-stocktake-report.pdf

RSPB stocktake here: https://www.rspb.org.uk/globalasset...rojects/land-based-ukots-stocktake-report.pdf
 
Jennings said:
Between them they hold around 1500 endemic taxa compared to 90 endemic taxa in Britain.
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Out of interest, these are the following endemic tetrapod species (there is also quite a decent amount of coastal fish species as well as invertebrates and plants):

Anguilla - Two small lizards endemic to offshore islets.
Bermuda - The Bermuda petrel only breeds here, there is also the Bermuda skink.
British Virgin Islands - A total of five endemic species of lizard and two species of worm snake, as well as a single frog which also once lived on the US Virgin Islands.
Cayman Islands - More than ten endemic reptile species including both lizards and snakes including the Grand Cayman blue iguana.
Falkland Islands - There is three endemic bird species, including a wren, steamer duck, and ovenbird.
Montserrat - The Montserrat oriole is the sole endemic bird species, there is also a few endemic lizards and the Montserrat whistling frog.
Pitcairn Islands - There is a handful of endemic bird species including the Henderson crake, Henderson fruit-dove, and Henderson lorikeet.
Saint Helena - The surrounding islands have a good amount of endemic birds such as the Gough moorhen and Inaccessible Island rail among others. There is also seabirds which nest only here.
South Georgia - There is one endemic songbird, the South Georgia pipit.
Turks and Caicos - There is an endemic boa species and a handful of lizard species.

Lots of interesting little animals here, how many are currently kept in zoos? I know of Bermuda skink and Montserrat oriole. And there is other species kept in zoos outside of the UK too such as the Cayman iguana and Montserrat whistling frog.
 
Fallax said:
Lots of interesting little animals here, how many are currently kept in zoos? I know of Bermuda skink and Montserrat oriole. And there is other species kept in zoos outside of the UK too such as the Cayman iguana and Montserrat whistling frog.
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Cayman Iguanas can be found at Jersey and at Maidenhead College. Grand Cayman also has a subspecies of the Cuban Amazon, which can be found in some European collections but which no British zoo currently holds. The Falklands have their own subspecies of Greater Magellan Goose, the Upland Goose, and I gather that Watatunga now holds these.

There are also endemic subspecies of Bank Vole on Jersey and Guernsey. Jersey Voles used to be kept at London Zoo, but no longer.

Another BOT endemic currently kept is the Bermuda Killifish of which Chester has a few dozen, although these are no longer on show.
 
There is a second Caymans subspecies of Cuban Amazon, A. l. hesterna, which is restricted to Cayman Brac and which does not appear to be kept in any collection on this side of the Atlantic, although there may of course be some in private hands.
 
Reptile House said:
Black/Green Mamba
Gaboon Viper
Fierce Snake
Costal Taipan
Tiger Snake
Mangrove Snake
Fer-De-Lance

Any venomous snake
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If memory serves, I remember Black Mamba at both Cotswolds and London.
Gaboon Viper is still found in the UK at Drayton, Chester and Cotswolds. Numerous collections also hold Mangroves.
Unfortunately, due to Brexit, plus the rising costs and poor expiration dates on anti-venom, I don't see many collections holding venomous species in the future. A shame really
 
Bubalus said:
If memory serves, I remember Black Mamba at both Cotswolds and London.
Gaboon Viper is still found in the UK at Drayton, Chester and Cotswolds. Numerous collections also hold Mangroves.
Unfortunately, due to Brexit, plus the rising costs and poor expiration dates on anti-venom, I don't see many collections holding venomous species in the future. A shame really
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Chester acquired new venomous species recently and they still have a pretty good collection. Off the top of my head they have gaboon viper, white-lipped pit viper, European adder, mangrove snake, tentacled snake, and red spitting cobra (the latter is off show).
 
Fallax said:
Chester acquired new venomous species recently and they still have a pretty good collection. Off the top of my head they have gaboon viper, white-lipped pit viper, European adder, mangrove snake, tentacled snake, and red spitting cobra (the latter is off show).
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I can see the bigger collections with the funding (like Chester) bring in venomous but after that I do feel we will see less and less venomous compared to how it used to be
 
I made a list of threatened land vertebrates from British overseas territories from IUCN Red List. I removed ones generally cannot be kept in zoos: seabirds, warblers, fossorial blind snakes and worm lizards.

I did not check details, and some may be wrongly classified, for example their status was not updated since long. However, they are worth considering as new insurance population / education animals in zoos. All are small and don't need much space, ideal for Gerald Durrell style one man effort to save a whole species.

Birds:
Wilkins's Finch Nesospiza wilkinsi Critically Endangered
Hispaniolan Amazon Amazona ventralis Vulnerable
Henderson Lorikeet Vini stepheni Vulnerable
Gough Island Moorhen Gallinula comeri Vulnerable
Gough Island Finch Rowettia goughensis Critically Endangered
Henderson Island Fruit-dove Ptilinopus insularis Vulnerable
Nightingale Island Finch Nesospiza questi Vulnerable
Inaccessible Island Finch Nesospiza acunhae Vulnerable
Inaccessible Island Rail Laterallus rogersi Vulnerable
Henderson Island Crake Zapornia atra Vulnerable

Reptiles:
Anegada Skink Spondylurus anegadae Critically Endangered
Schwartz’ Dwarf Boa Tropidophis schwartzi Critically Endangered
Antiguan Racer Alsophis antiguae Critically Endangered
Anguilla Bank Skink Spondylurus powelli Endangered
Anegada Rock Iguana Cyclura pinguis Critically Endangered
Cayman Islands Dwarf Boa Tropidophis caymanensis Critically Endangered
Grand Cayman Blue Iguana Cyclura lewisi Endangered
Culebra Giant Anole Anolis roosevelti Critically Endangered
Censky's Ameiva Pholidoscelis corax Endangered
Sombrero Ameiva Pholidoscelis corvinus Critically Endangered
Celestus maculatus Endangered
Alsophis rijgersmaei Endangered
Virgin Islands Boa Chilabothrus granti Endangered
Virgin Gorda Least Gecko Sphaerodactylus parthenopion Endangered
Bermuda Skink Plestiodon longirostris Critically Endangered
Redonda Anole Anolis nubilus Critically Endangered
Carrot Rock's Anole Anolis ernestwilliamsi Critically Endangered
Cayman Curlytail Leiocephalus varius Endangered
Parker’s Dwarf Boa Tropidophis parkeri Critically Endangered
Lesser Virgin Islands Skink Spondylurus semitaeniatus Critically Endangered
Virgin Islands Bronze Skink Spondylurus sloanii Critically Endangered
Redonda Ameiva Pholidoscelis atratus Critically Endangered
Lesser Antillean Iguana Iguana delicatissima Critically Endangered
Carrot Rock Skink Spondylurus macleani Critically Endangered

Amphibians:
Puerto Rican Crested Toad Peltophryne lemur Endangered
Jamaican Forest Frog Eleutherodactylus gossei Vulnerable
Virgin Islands Khaki Frog Eleutherodactylus schwartzi Endangered
Eleutherodactylus lentus Endangered

Freshwater fish:
Cayman Gambusia Gambusia xanthosoma Endangered

(I am not sure whether links in blue will work, they should lead to the IUCN Red List).
 
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Chester used to have Puerto Rican Crested Toads. The group was exported to Marwell, I don't know what happened to them at Marwell.
 
Hey
This is hard..I spent about 7 years working in zoos as a keeper paid and unpaid..then 10 years plus in native conservation..
If I could be completely unrealistic and disregard experience, study, logistics and others mistakes..choice would be great white..purely because they have fled s Africa in big numbers due to orcas..and despite European zoo tours and wildlife watching..I really don't want to pay thousands for a place on a boat in Mexico or fly to Port Lincoln Australia..its a frustrating species due to logistics..
On a realistic front ..I worked in a big invertebrates house for years. And the largest giant water bug lethocerus maximus..would be amazing. You see abedus and a few smaller ones around..I would have said brown hyena..but went to an interview at a big private collection in the UK, and got pretty nose to nose with spotted and brown..the browns are gone from there now..Germany now
I did raptor work for about a year. Done the harpies at Berlin...other choice..Philippine eagle. 2 collections. And vanishing ..them harpies and crowned eagles Are the closest we have to the extinct haast eagle..rip..
Great topic
Plus really appreciate the species lists. Some websites have barely any info..and reading these is a good distraction from boredom during hours of cardio training on hands free machines
 
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