ZSL Whipsnade Zoo ZSL Whipsnade Zoo 2015

[Panthera1981]

It's another boy!

Also, another yak born. Interesting that the zoo seem to be breeding these readily again, along with the camels, after years of nothing.

 

[Rosie183]

Euan is thriving in Spain according to the whipsnade keeper I spoke too, he is learning how to be a male elephant, and when another zoo wants to add a male to their collection once he is considered mature he will move. It is possible that George his half brother may well be moving to join him in future !

 

[Communityzoo]

It's another boy!

For the first time in many years, it could be said there is a 'herd' of gaur in the UK, albeit with only one female. The group must be at 4.1 now including the calf, unless there have been any deaths?

Is the skew towards males replicated across the captive population, or are there institutions where this trend is flipped?

I know the Trivers and Willard hypothesis has been challenged over the years, but I'm wondering what explains this. Either this is some connection to a level of inbreeding across the captive population, or possibly there is an element of hormonal/chemical switches being activated to control the sex of the offspring while still an embryo. If there are institutions producing a lot of females, it would be interesting to compare diets, access to grazing, and the relatedness of the adults in the herd.

Gender skews also seem to occur in captivity in certain species, such as king penguin, woolly monkey, and pygmy hippopotamus.

 

[Pertinax]

For the first time in many years, it could be said there is a 'herd' of gaur in the UK, albeit with only one female. The group must be at 4.1 now including the calf, unless there have been any deaths?



I know the Trivers and Willard hypothesis has been challenged over the years, but I'm wondering what explains this.

When I saw the photo of this most recent calf, I thought, - I'll bet it is yet another male- and it is...

Can you elaborate on Trivers & Willard?

 

[Communityzoo]

Trivers & Willard studied wild reindeer and concluded that the condition/'quality' of the mother around conception may create hormonal/chemical triggers that affect the gender of the offspring. Therefore, if it was a good grazing season, the population could 'afford' to produce more males which would increase competition in adulthood to ensure continuation of only the strongest, fittest animals. If environmental conditions were poor, they hypothesised that more females would be produced to reflect the likelihood that infant mortality would be higher under poor environmental/grazing conditions. Therefore, if lots of males were produced during drought, the population would suffer more than if there was a skew towards females, as more females would reach adulthood in the latter scenario.

So, if a captive diet is more nutritious per calorie than the wild equivalent, if the weight of captive females is always much higher than wild counterparts, or if there is no seasonal fluctuation in nutritional content in the diet, there could be a case for linking this to a gender skew in terms of captive births. As in, if every year is a 'good' year in terms of food availability then, if the hypothesis is correct, any species following this would likely produce more males. It is interesting that some of the criticism of the theory posits that the reverse should be true, and we definitely see examples of species where in captivity the skew is towards females, although this is rarer.

The problem is that the levels of inbreeding in some captive populations where there is a gender skew don't exist in the same way in the wild, so in the case of the gaur it is difficult to identify whether there is a genetic trigger as well or instead.

It's an old, much challenged theory, so this 2004 paper is a good update:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1691777/pdf/15306293.pdf

The original hypothesis (not free on scholar, so here's the Wikipedia):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trivers–Willard_hypothesis

 

[Pertinax]

Thanks. I've heard it before but needed a refresher.

There are indeed some species where the skew is toward females- Spix Macaw is one I immediately think of, and again, this population is very inbred also.

 

[Panthera1981]

For the first time in many years, it could be said there is a 'herd' of gaur in the UK, albeit with only one female. The group must be at 4.1 now including the calf, unless there have been any deaths?

Considering they're now using one half the GOH rhino paddock the term "herd" is more than appropriate!

Ive always found it odd that Whipsnade have, to my knowledge, never had more than one breeding female-they've certainly got the space for a group. Why would breeding continue if this species is being phased out of Europe?

Regarding diet, I've been told that Gaur don't thrive on open pasture (case in point, Port Lympne) so a move to Passage thru Asia (which would be fantastic) would be asking for trouble. Their zoo diet is predominantly bran-based.

 

[Pertinax]

Considering they're now using one half the GOH rhino paddock the term "herd" is more than appropriate!

Do you mean the large Rhino paddocks? Doesn't that compromise their use by the Rhinos?

I suspect having only one female is due to lack of availability+ housing considerations.

 

[ajmcwhipsnade]

Do you mean the large Rhino paddocks? Doesn't that compromise their use by the Rhinos?

I suspect having only one female is due to lack of availability+ housing considerations.

I think maybe what they mean is that the two paddocks (Gaur and Rhino) were originally both for Rhinos. The one with the Gaur was the Asian Rhino and I believe the other had Black Rhino at some point.

Hopefully that is what was meant!

 

[Panthera1981]

Do you mean the large Rhino paddocks? Doesn't that compromise their use by the Rhinos?

The Gaur have access to their paddock plus the rhino paddock facing it. This is separated by a partition gate installed when the male rhino Jaffna arrived, before Rhinos of Nepal (during this time the Gaur were briefly housed in the Black rhino/gemsbok house).

The rhino's have access to one half of the house, that leads out to the Rhinos of Nepal paddocks, plus the "new" house.

 

[ajmcwhipsnade]

The Gaur have access to their paddock plus the rhino paddock facing it. This is separated by a partition gate installed when the male rhino Jaffna arrived, before Rhinos of Nepal (during this time the Gaur were briefly housed in the Black rhino/gemsbok house).

The rhino's have access to one half of the house, that leads out to the Rhinos of Nepal paddocks, plus the "new" house.

That's interesting, I didn't realise they could use both paddocks. Gaur are really very impressive animals.

 

[Bwassa]

Does anyone know why Gaur are being phased out of Europe?
This is a real shame that there aren't more Gaur in UK collections. They are very impressive animals, and it would be great to see more, especially as Banteng are now appearing in more collections in recent years (Chester & Edinburgh).

 

[Communityzoo]

Why would breeding continue if this species is being phased out of Europe?

Regarding diet, I've been told that Gaur don't thrive on open pasture (case in point, Port Lympne)

I find it pretty dismaying that species being 'phased out' by a TAG, EEP/ESB discontinuation is actually a factor for institutions disbanding a sometimes thriving group of animals. Is this so that European zoos can focus on banteng, a species with a healthy, feral population in Australia?

I've heard similar before about pasture with regard to black rhino, but in my ignorance - what is the difference between the grazing they have in their paddock(s) and 'open pasture'?

While there is obviously one or two individuals at the collection planning/curator level doing interesting things at Whipsnade in recent years, I think it will be left to one of the 'maverick' institutions (ie those not so obedient to regional collection plans, such as Hamerton, Exmoor, RSCC, even South Lakes) as they grow, to return this species to the UK if Whipsnade eventually give up, or lose their female and are unable to find a replacement. In some ways, it is understandable that the charitable zoos, if the TAG recommendation is a phase-out, won't allocate funds to overcoming the considerable red tape that would be involved to bring in new blood. I do not know of a captive situation in India where gaur are trained to assist in AI, let alone an example of a zoo importing stock from/exchanging stock with range countries.

 

[Pertinax]

I've heard similar before about pasture with regard to black rhino, but in my ignorance - what is the difference between the grazing they have in their paddock(s) and 'open pasture'?

With regard to the Gaur at Whipsnade- the two smaller Rhino paddocks they occupy were originally gravel-based hardstands, with nowadays a thin cover of short grass; the larger Whipsnade paddocks all contain normal lusher grass growth (open pasture).

That said, the Black Rhinos at Port Lympne occupy typical open grass paddocks yet seem to do well.

 

[Panthera1981]

Californian sealion Bailey has given birth to her first pup. This is the first sealion birth at the zoo since the father, Dominic, was born in 2007.

 

[thunder_monkey]

Off to Whipsnade on Friday and I just wanted to check whether anyone knows if Passage Through Asia is open again now? It was closed when we went in February; I can't see anything on the website saying it's closed but thought it might be best to be prepared!

 

[pipaluk]

Off to Whipsnade on Friday and I just wanted to check whether anyone knows if Passage Through Asia is open again now? It was closed when we went in February; I can't see anything on the website saying it's closed but thought it might be best to be prepared!

The drive through has been open on my last few visits in April & May

 

[thunder_monkey]

The drive through has been open on my last few visits in April & May

Thanks, I had assumed they probably would have re opened it by now but it's good to hear from someone who has been.

 

[Rosie183]

Oh wow , is it healthy pup do you know? I did wonder when I visited June 9th and Bailey was apparently resting from the show so only Dominic and the other female took part.

 

[Panthera1981]

GOH rhino Jamil has been transferred to Fota Wildlife Park.