UK mammal first breedings: appeal for help

[Bele]

Mention of the Narrow-striped Mongoose prompted me to have a look at the stock recorded in ISIS for the Doctor Doolittle Madagascar Project ( they have 2.0 of these Mongoose ) under Timsbury ( near Bath ) .

They also hold 4 species of Tenrec - Lesser and Greater Hedgehog Tenrecs ( Ecninops and Setifer ) which were both bred at Jersey in the past . They are also breeding Tailless Tenrec- Tenrec ecaudatus - and Streaked Tenrec - Hemicentetes semispinosus . Wonder if they have been recorded as being bred in the UK before .

 

[zoogiraffe]

Mention of the Narrow-striped Mongoose prompted me to have a look at the stock recorded in ISIS for the Doctor Doolittle Madagascar Project ( they have 2.0 of these Mongoose ) under Timsbury ( near Bath ) .

They also hold 4 species of Tenrec - Lesser and Greater Hedgehog Tenrecs ( Ecninops and Setifer ) which were both bred at Jersey in the past . They are also breeding Tailless Tenrec- Tenrec ecaudatus - and Streaked Tenrec - Hemicentetes semispinosus . Wonder if they have been recorded as being bred in the UK before .

Now thats interesting wonder if the place is ever going to open to the public like they planed to?

 

[robmv]

Mention of the Narrow-striped Mongoose prompted me to have a look at the stock recorded in ISIS for the Doctor Doolittle Madagascar Project ( they have 2.0 of these Mongoose ) under Timsbury ( near Bath ) .

They also hold 4 species of Tenrec - Lesser and Greater Hedgehog Tenrecs ( Ecninops and Setifer ) which were both bred at Jersey in the past . They are also breeding Tailless Tenrec- Tenrec ecaudatus - and Streaked Tenrec - Hemicentetes semispinosus . Wonder if they have been recorded as being bred in the UK before .

The only tenrec breeding records I have are Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec at Jersey (1967) and an unsuccessful breeding of Greater Hedgehog Tenrec at London in 1961.

Does anyone have an email address for them as I would like to get further info.

 

[zoogiraffe]

Do you have a first breeding for Gundi on the list yet?

 

[robmv]

Do you have a first breeding for Gundi on the list yet?

Nothing definite: another species that may well have been bred by private keepers. Do they still have them at Shaldon?

 

[zoogiraffe]

Nothing definite: another species that may well have been bred by private keepers. Do they still have them at Shaldon?

Shaldon is claiming the first for Gundi will get back in touch with them over it for you.
As for the Azaras Agouti Shaldons first female was donated to them by Elizabeth Gillet and was paired up with a male from a zoo at Crystal Palace where he was born at the moment I don`t have a date.

 

[Panthera Puss]

The Setifer setosus have also been bred at IOW recently, if that's of any interest.

 

[bongorob]

The only tenrec breeding records I have are Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec at Jersey (1967) and an unsuccessful breeding of Greater Hedgehog Tenrec at London in 1961.

Does anyone have an email address for them as I would like to get further info.

The Greater Hedgehog Tenrec bred successfully at Jersey between 1968 and 1979. I obtained my information from IZYB but I also found another source.

SCALING, A. (1971): Progress report on the breeding of pigmy hedgehog tenrec Echinops telfairi and spiny hedgehog tenrec Setifer setosus. Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust Annual Report 8: 12-14.

 

[robmv]

SCALING, A. (1971): Progress report on the breeding of pigmy hedgehog tenrec Echinops telfairi and spiny hedgehog tenrec Setifer setosus. Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust Annual Report 8: 12-14.

That's perfect!

 

[Tim May]

I agree with you, Rob, that there is rather a “grey area” for London Zoo breeding records covering the period between Flower’s excellent publication (1929) and the International Zoo Yearbooks.

Unfortunately, my personal collection of ZSL Annual Reports doesn’t start until 1959, so doesn’t fill this gap. It would certainly be profitable to spend time in the ZSL Library systematically checking breeding records in the ZSL Annual Reports for the nineteen thirties, forties and fifties.

Next time I visit the ZSL Library, I’ll start to look at these.

I spent a while in the ZSL Library this afternoon looking through the London Zoo breeding records in ZSL Annual Reports for the nineteen thirties and forties.(NB For obvious reasons the reports during the World War II are not very detailed.)

I didn’t have time to complete this thoroughly and what follows is, obviously, nowhere near an exhaustive list, but it does detail some births that especially interested me. I don’t know if any of this is helpful for Rob’s project.

• pampas cat (1930)
• pygmy hippopotamus (1930)
• Syrian hyrax (1932)
• Matschie’s tree kangaroo (1932)
• sooty mangabey x white-crowned mangabey (1932)
• white-crowned mangabey (1933)
• kiang x donkey hybrid (1934)
• Indian wild ass (1936)
• crowned duiker Sylvicapra grimmia coronatus (1937)
• bay duiker (1938)
• tamandua (1947)

 

[jwer]

Can i just say it's great fun following this thread and it's really great that so many people can puzzle so much information together. It really brings out the fun in a forum like this

 

[robmv]

I spent a while in the ZSL Library this afternoon looking through the London Zoo breeding records in ZSL Annual Reports for the nineteen thirties and forties.(NB For obvious reasons the reports during the World War II are not very detailed.)

I didn’t have time to complete this thoroughly and what follows is, obviously, nowhere near an exhaustive list, but it does detail some births that especially interested me. I don’t know if any of this is helpful for Rob’s project.

• pampas cat (1930)
• pygmy hippopotamus (1930)
• Syrian hyrax (1932)
• Matschie’s tree kangaroo (1932)
• sooty mangabey x white-crowned mangabey (1932)
• white-crowned mangabey (1933)
• kiang x donkey hybrid (1934)
• Indian wild ass (1936)
• crowned duiker Sylvicapra grimmia coronatus (1937)
• bay duiker (1938)
• tamandua (1947)

This is excellent stuff and thank you for taking the time to look it up. I was aware of some of these breedings thanks to an article by Zuckerman in the 1953 proceedings. However, these are the first references I have ever some across to Pampas Cats and Bay Duikers breeding in this country, and the Tamandua birth pre-dates Amazon World's supposed first breeding by over half a century!

The pessimist in me questions how many of these births survived, but certainly some food for thought and further avenues to investigate.

 

[Tim May]

The pessimist in me questions how many of these births survived, but certainly some food for thought and further avenues to investigate.

I ignored any births where the report specifically stated that the young were not reared.

Regarding the pampas cats; three were born and two reared.

..... these are the first references I have ever some across to Pampas Cats and Bay Duikers breeding in this country, and the Tamandua birth pre-dates Amazon World's supposed first breeding by over half a century!

Indeed; these were the three species that surprised me the most.

Glad you found this useful.

There is obviously much more work still to be done; lack of time prevented me looking at the reports for the 1950s. It is frustrating that that the ZSL Library is closed at weekends, otherwise I’d use it much more often. I do intend to go through these reports in more detail when time allows.

Can i just say it's great fun following this thread and it's really great that so many people can puzzle so much information together. It really brings out the fun in a forum like this

I’m pleased you’ve enjoyed it; it is a fascinating topic. I think that there will be many more posts to come on this subject!

 

[robmv]

I ignored any births where the report specifically stated that the young were not reared.

Regarding the pampas cats; three were born and two reared.

Even more interesting then!

I fully intend to spend a day in the ZSL library myself at some point but, as you say, the fact that it is closed at weekends makes this awkward. I would like to turn up with a list of specific queries to investigate, otherwise I am likely to get overwhelmed and distracted by all the fascinating material they have.

 

[Tim May]

I would like to turn up with a list of specific queries to investigate, otherwise I am likely to get overwhelmed and distracted by all the fascinating material they have.

Agreed; it's always fascinating to browse in such a well-stocked library. Whenever I visit the library, I always get side tracked and spend time looking at books that I'd never originally intended to go there to use.

Please, what is the earliest date you have for a serval breeding in the UK?

 

[robmv]

Please, what is the earliest date you have for a serval breeding in the UK?

Serval is one of the species I listed at the start of this thread so I'm open to suggestions.

Flower makes no mention of the species breeding at London and the first breeding listed in the International Zoo Yearbooks is at Jersey in 1966. For such an easily kept and regularly bred species, this seems too late to me.

 

[Tim May]

Serval is one of the species I listed at the start of this thread so I'm open to suggestions.

Flower makes no mention of the species breeding at London and the first breeding listed in the International Zoo Yearbooks is at Jersey in 1966. For such an easily kept and regularly bred species, this seems too late to me.

Hence the reason for my question; I, too, would have expected an earlier date for the first serval breeding, but I haven’t been able to find one.

Thanks for the response.

 

[Designaka]

There used to be (or is, but I can't seem to find it again) a list of first time breedings at Bartlett Society:

I'd like to urge anyone who has a copy of the early First Breedings list downloaded from the Bartlett website in the past to destroy it as many antecedents have been added since and there are a few minor errors. I have seen a copy of Rob's new version and it is a very impressive and fascinating piece of work.

 

[Tim May]

Serval is one of the species I listed at the start of this thread so I'm open to suggestions.

Flower makes no mention of the species breeding at London and the first breeding listed in the International Zoo Yearbooks is at Jersey in 1966. For such an easily kept and regularly bred species, this seems too late to me.

The ZSL Annual Report for 1952 lists the birth of two servals at London Zoo; unfortunately, neither survived.

 

[Tim May]

Again a few more interesting London Zoo breeding records, gleaned from the ZSL Annual Reports, are listed below:-

• red-handed tamarin (1951)
• straw-coloured fruit bat Eidolon helvum (1951)
• impala (1951)
• golden spiny mouse Acomys russatus (1953)
• black-pencilled marmoset (1955)
• saiga antelope (1956)
• Kuhl’s deer (1956)
• Nilgiri long-tailed tree mouse Vandeleuria oleracea nilagrica (1956) (Described as being new to the collection in the 1955 report)