Ueno Zoo Ueno Zoo - panda politics discussion

[RatioTile]

Sorry @RatioTile, I didn't see your comment before, well that is interesting and heartening to know that the Ryuku flying fox is kept at several zoos in Japan.

Why are these subspecies being kept and presumably bred with one another ?

Also, what are the enclosures for these bats like in your opinion ?

I would hope that eventually captive colonies of the Bonin island flying fox would also be established at Japanese zoos as this is a purely Japanese endemism and one that certainly requires ex-situ.

I believe that the Amami rabbit colony that is kept at Hirakawa zoo is only down to a few individuals now and I personally think it would really benefit from being strengthened and also being kept at other zoos.

At Ueno Zoo the Orii flying fox is kept in the small mammal house, with over a dozen, with a lot of perching and things to climb around on. They climb more than they fly. Inokashira Zoo's setup is similar, but they share it with a couple of birds. Okinawa World's outdoor cage is small, but megabats kept in some rescue centers in other parts of the world are kept like that. Notably Okinawa World is not JAZA accredited. As for Okinawa Children's Zoo and Museum, they are kept in an enormous outdoor aviary about 2 stories tall, shared with Japanese wood pigeons. The Daito flying foxes are mixed in with the Orii, although from an email the staff said there are only a few Daito left and all are geriatric. When I saw them I couldn't really tell them apart, and the signage either did not mention the Daito, or did not list the species down to ssp. level.

As for the Amami rabbit at Hirakawa, where did you find this information? It's hard to find anything online about this collection, just that they have some that breed and are offshow. The only other particulary rare animal kept at this smaller zoo is the Amami thrush.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

And yet you started the discussion by saying



To be clear, I think it is a reasonable argument to make that the panda system is flawed. It is a reasonable argument to make that Japan and its zoos could do a better job of preserving indigenous species. But I don't accept that the two are connected, especially as most zoos in Japan don't have giant pandas.

Yes, that was my intention with that comment, to express the irony in spending such a vast amount of money on obtaining or continuing to rent a pair of iconic large mammals endemic to China while Japanese endemic and endangered mammal species are neglected in conservation terms.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

As for the Amami rabbit at Hirakawa, where did you find this information? It's hard to find anything online about this collection, just that they have some that breed and are offshow. The only other particulary rare animal kept at this smaller zoo is the Amami thrush.

It was a response from @aardvark250 on a thread I created about the species who sent me this link with information on the rabbits.

平川動物公園スタッフブログ — 世界でここだけ　アマミノクロウサギの保護収容をしています

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

At Ueno Zoo the Orii flying fox is kept in the small mammal house, with over a dozen, with a lot of perching and things to climb around on. They climb more than they fly. Inokashira Zoo's setup is similar, but they share it with a couple of birds. Okinawa World's outdoor cage is small, but megabats kept in some rescue centers in other parts of the world are kept like that. Notably Okinawa World is not JAZA accredited. As for Okinawa Children's Zoo and Museum, they are kept in an enormous outdoor aviary about 2 stories tall, shared with Japanese wood pigeons. The Daito flying foxes are mixed in with the Orii, although from an email the staff said there are only a few Daito left and all are geriatric. When I saw them I couldn't really tell them apart, and the signage either did not mention the Daito, or did not list the species down to ssp. level.

Thank you for your reply regarding the flying foxes @RatioTile !

It sounds like these enclosures at Ueno and Inokashira zoo aren't too bad for these bats and I hope they are managing to breed the species. I found these videos of the colony kept at Ueno and they seem to be quite content.

Yes, I agree and in fact it seems that megabats can be bred fairly easily in quite rustic type enclosures without any problems.

That is interesting, I suppose that as you've said the Daito are mixed with the Orii because of their age and because they have passed reproductive viability and so there isn't any risk of hybridization between the two subspecies.

Regarding the flying foxes kept at Hirakawa zoo I was able to find out a little more about them and posted this information on this thread that I created : Ex-situ Zoo conservation of Japanese native species