Taronga Zoo Taronga Visit 24/12/09
- Thread starter Hix
- Start date
To be fair, I should have added that the aviaries Taronga does have are really good - well planted out and populated with lots of small birds including such gems as crimson chats and emu wrens. And it is true that most visitors walk past them with just a quick glance.
I was amused to see that the heritage aviary just down from the gorillas seemed to be knee-deep in five-striped palm squirrels - breeding well for such an inbred species.
I was amused to see that the heritage aviary just down from the gorillas seemed to be knee-deep in five-striped palm squirrels - breeding well for such an inbred species.
are palm squirrels inbred? i guess despite being an established introduction they are still likely to be from a teeny founder stock. it fascinates me what species thrive despite a low founder population. for example we are stressing over just 3 bongo forming the base of australia's zoo population. yet just a couple of white-tail deer founded new zealands entire population. by now the species has surely evolved a natural genetic diversity
I'd bet that New Zealand's feral Himalayan tahr population started with just a few founders too, not to mention tahrs in Aussie zoos, also barbary sheep and just about every other ungulate species that we have.
Its not just Australia either - we would probably be amazed at how few founders were involved with a whole lot of established zoo animals worldwide. I think I read somewhere that all the Pallas' cats (and there are about 80 of them in European and American zoos) are descended from just 3 founders.
On the other hand many animals have been imported, flourished for a while with good breeding results then "faded away" - white-tailed deer in Australian zoos, also sitatungas and Pere David's deer are a couple that come to mind. A lot of it seems to depend on the "luck of the draw"; the genetic makeup of the few founders.
Its not just Australia either - we would probably be amazed at how few founders were involved with a whole lot of established zoo animals worldwide. I think I read somewhere that all the Pallas' cats (and there are about 80 of them in European and American zoos) are descended from just 3 founders.
On the other hand many animals have been imported, flourished for a while with good breeding results then "faded away" - white-tailed deer in Australian zoos, also sitatungas and Pere David's deer are a couple that come to mind. A lot of it seems to depend on the "luck of the draw"; the genetic makeup of the few founders.
Sir Christopher Lever ("Naturalized Mammals Of The World", 1985) says that "some" palm squirrels were released originally at the Perth Zoo but doesn't give a specific number.phoenix said:
The two populations of white-tailed deer in NZ are actually descended from nine animals (two males, seven females) released on Stewart Island and nine animals (sexes unrecorded) at Lake Wakatipu near Queenstown. These deer were imported from New Hampshire in 1905. There had been an earlier introduction of two pairs in Nelson in 1901 (with an additional one later added from the 1905 importation) but this population did not survive.
Some examples from NZ of low founder stock in wild introduced mammals are red-necked wallabies (three founders in 1874), chamois (eight founders in 1907 and one extra female in 1914), tahr (five in 1904 and eight in 1909), sika (four in 1905), sambar (just one pair, in 1875) and rusa (eight in 1908)
[The NZ examples are from "The Handbook Of New Zealand Mammals" by Carolyn M King (editor), 2005]
Long (2003) states it was six.
Ara said:
Not just zoo animals - the entire captive population of the Golden Hamster (one of the world's most popular pets and widely used in laboratories) is derived from just one female captured in 1930.
Small populations that reproduce quickly and build up in numbers quickly will more rapidly fix beneficial and neutral mutations (and select against deleterious allelles) than a slower reproducing population, thereby increasing genetic diversity and evolutionary potential.
A slower reproducing species (like the Bongos in Australia) can possibly do exactly the same, but because of the longer period of time required, the population is far more susceptible to genetic drift and the possibilty of deleterious mutations becoming fixed.
Hix
six were released but two of the males were shot almost straight afterwards, so the population is derived from just the remaining fourHix said:
Does the book say where the NZ Sambar came from.
Australian Sambar were released several times and from different populations including Sirlanka, and others are from unknown locations.
From photos I have seen NZ Sambar are very similar, while Australian Sambar seem to be more varied in there appearance.
yes, they were from Sri Lanka
you could split the thread off at post #83 or 84 and call it something like "Founder Stock Of Introduced Wild Mammals In Australasia"Mark said:
thorney_devil
Well-Known Member
Following today's sad news with the death of Porntip's unborn calf, I wanted to make a quick note that Taronga's male Silvery Gibbon passed away a few weeks ago. A replacement male was unavailable for Taronga's female who is in preparation for export to the UK. In conjunction Taronga will now join Perth Zoo's, White Cheeked Gibbon breeding programme receiving a adult breeding pair in around a month. They will be exhibited in Wild Asia's former Silvery Gibbon enclousure...