What continent do you think has the most bird of paradise species in zoos?

Which continent do you think have the most or rarest bird of paradise species in zoos.

  • Europe

    Votes: 2 15.4%

  • Asia

    Votes: 8 61.5%

  • America

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Australia

    Votes: 2 15.4%

  • Other

    Votes: 1 7.7%
  • Total voters
    13
  • Poll closed .
ThylacineAlive said:
Indeed, but in the chatroom someone said they thought it was still alive but I suspect they're mistaken or I misread them.
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I just tried googling about the manucodes. Didn't get much, but (and this is largely supposition) I think the original birds would have come to San Diego in the 1980s. There were several collecting trips by American zoos during that decade (e.g. https://journals.tdl.org/watchbird/index.php/watchbird/article/viewFile/507/491), and the San Diego timeline (available online) mentions 1989 as when an "expedition" returned from New Guinea with animals for the zoo. The manucodes bred at San Diego in 1991 (I found a reference in IZY). Anyone with a set of IZY could check for any other breedings after that year. If they only bred once then the youngest bird would now be 26 years old which would be excessive.
 
Chlidonias said:
If they only bred once then the youngest bird would now be 26 years old which would be excessive.
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Which raises an interesting digression - just how old do Birds of Paradise get? I can think of two extremely geriatric individuals in Europe - the Manucode at Zoo Berlin and "Van Dyck" the Twelve-wired at Walsrode - but I am not entirely sure how old either one is.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Which raises an interesting digression - just how old do Birds of Paradise get? I can think of two extremely geriatric individuals in Europe - the Manucode at Zoo Berlin and "Van Dyck" the Twelve-wired at Walsrode - but I am not entirely sure how old either one is.
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This page for animal longevity gives only one record - Paradisea apoda at 12.1 years (the reference for which is from 1938!): Longevity Records: Life Spans of Mammals, Birds, Amphibians, Reptiles, and Fish

This cool page says, vaguely, "life span up to 30 years": Birds of Paradise Gallery Interpreter Training

If anyone reading has any of the birds of paradise books handy they might have some more specifics.
 
Just checked - as far as Van Dyck goes he has been at Walsrode since 2008, when he arrived from Bronx Zoo. I believe he had been there for something like a decade, but I have no idea whether he was born at Bronx or arrived from elsewhere.
 
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