In Europe the Mishmi takin can be found in quite a number of zoos ( 32 collections at the moment ). The first animal of this subspecies brought to Europe was a female brought to London Zoo were it lived from 1923 to 1935. Then it becomes a little confusing because I found several dates on animals kept at Hannover Zoo were the literature isn't clear. During 1966 Hannover recieved in July '66 a wild-caught male which is however not mentioned in all sources and at the end of the same year a female was recieved from Rangoon ( Birma ). In July 1967 this female was send to the Bronx Zoo, New York so I guess the male which Hannover should have had, had past away by this time. During 1969 another female was send from Rangoon to Hannover but this animal died shortly after arrival - still at the airport. In 1967 3 other collections had Mishmi takins : 1-1 at Rangoon Zoo - a breeding pair which had a mis-cariage in 1965 but bred succesfully later 1-1 at Bejin Zoo ( at that time still Peking ) 1-1 at Bronx New York ( don't know if the female was already the female from Hannover or if New York already had a female and recieved a second female from Hannover ?? ) Don't know nothing about the faith of these 3 pairs althrough the Rangoon-pair bred several times and the young could have been the founder-stock of the European ( and thus also the American ) population. 1974 Tierpark Berlin recieved a male ( "Ottchen" ) from Rangoon and I'm not sure if he was a wild-caught animal or Rangoon-bred. 1976 Tierpark Berlin recieved a female from Rangoon and here again I'm not sure if she was wild-caught or captive-bred at Rangoon which would mean that already the Berlin breeding-pair were ( very ) closely-releated ! Then on March 28 1980 the first young was born at Tierpark Berlin and this was the start of a very succesfull breeding. Brother-sister pairs were send to other European zoos and there they bred also succesfully further. Also American zoos recieved animals from this inbred population and althrough around 1980 the Catskill Farm in the USA had one pair ( on loan from the Bronx - New York ) I don't know if these animals were mixed on a later date with the Berlin-blood-line ? 2004 Tierpark Berlin inported a wild-caught male and I'm quite sure this animal ( which died in 2010 ) was mixed into the existing population which evenso would mean that all Mishmi takins found in zoos in the western world orginate from just 2-1 founders ! Would however be intresting to know more about how the American population got established, howmany are kept there at the moment and if the Bronx ( later Catskill ) animals made any contribution to the population. Also it would be intresting to know more about the situation in Asia ( Rangoon, Bejin ).
Incidentally, the Mishmi takin you mention, that lived at London Zoo from 1923 to1935, was the second London Zoo takin. London Zoo’s first takin, which was at the zoo from 1909 to 1918, was a White’s takin. New York Zoo’s first takin arrived in 1959 after being quarantined in Hamburg. (I think that this was the first takin in a zoo outside Asia since the last London takin died almost a quarter of a century earlier.)
Thank you Tim May for this information. Found a picture of the 1959 New York takin. On the picture it had just arrived on Amsterdam Airport to be send to Hamburg. Because the picture was taken in the Netherlands, I've placed it in the Netherlands - other Gallery : http://www.zoochat.com/705/mishmi-takin-405879/
Just found the actual numbers of Takins at Tierpark Berlin at the moment : 11 Mishmi takins 7 Golden takins 4 Sichuan takins
All current US Mishmi Takin are descendants from 1.1 imported from Berlin in 1991. The founders were at least half-siblings.
Nurnberg Zoo has also been very succesfull with Mishmi takins. In 1996 they were among one of the first zoos to recieve animals from Tierpark Berlin : 1 male and 2 females. The first young was born in 1999 and since then 28 young were born at Nurnberg. Last year ( May 2014 ) Nurnberg recieved a new breeding male from Tierpark Berlin which should be a sibling of the second wild-caught male which was imported in 2004. This new male is the father of the latest 3 young born at Nurnberg this year : female born Jan. 31 2015 female born Feb. 18 2015 female born Mar. 10 2015
Found some more information about the first Bronx-takin. The young male called Sweet Potato - his favorite food in captivity in Myanmar - was catched by coincidence near the Northern Myanmar city of Putac. It was placed by domestic life-stock in a nearby village and soon the Bronx showed intrest to obtain Sweet Potato for the price of about Euro 2200. Dutch Airways ( KLM ) was willing to transport the animal from Rangoon to Hamburg, were the animal should be placed 60 days into quarantaine before it could be send to New York. The first attemp was made but at that time the documents weren't ready but 2 weeks later a plain and an animal-stuward from KLM were send to Rangoon to collect the animal. They waited at the airport but the plain which should bring Sweet Potato from Putac to Rangoon didn't show up so the dutch plain left empty. During March again a special transport-plain was send to Rangoon but this time a tropical rain-storm made it impossible to transport the animal from Putac to Rangoon so the plain and the Animal-stuward again left empty-handed ! It was the fifth attemp which was succesfull and this time the very tame Sweet Potato was brought first to Amsterdam Airport ( see http://www.zoochat.com/705/mishmi-takin-405879/ ) and on the same day - July 27 1959 - traveled further to Hamburg were it was placed into quarantaine.
I don't know Beijing Zoo had kept Mishim takins, although Beijing Zoo had a long history of animal exchange with Rangoon Zoo...... Beijing Zoo had kept Sichuan takins since late 1950s, thus is there any possibility of mis-identification ?
17 Takins died within a week time in a Thai takin preserve : 17 takins dead at Motithang takin preserve
I hadn't seen this thread before, it was a very interesting read! Very sad that the population is so inbred; is the European population still breeding, or is the plan to breed a different species? In America, the focus is Sichuan takin, and Mishmi is currently very rare. I think there's only one in the AZA, at Detroit, but my information could be wrong. The other holder is the Metro Richmond Zoo, a private zoo (but much higher quality than most). They received their animals in 2004, I believe from San Diego. I've only seen 2-3 there. I don't think they're breeding, so this species will soon be gone from the US.
Sichuan takin in the US are very inbred as well, having all derived from 2.2 (1.2 imported from China by San Diego in 1987, 1.0 imported from Beijing in 1994 also by SDZ). They seem to be doing well though, with over 130 animals in North America.
Article about the first breeding for the Kolmarden Zoo : Handsome Takin Calf Is a First for Swedish Zoo
Mishmi takins going home ! Several European zoos have started a project to bring a group of Mishmi takins back to India. At the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park a group will be housed to give the local people more information about this rare animal. The group will be formed from animals from different European zoos. Herefor Münich Zoo already send a female to Tierpark Berlin were she will be placed by several Berlin-bred animals which also will be send ( most prop. already at the beginning of 2019 ) to India. A German article about this action can be found here : NACHHALTIGKEITS-PROJEKT für MISHMI-TAKINE Eine hochinteressante Pressemitteilung hat uns aus dem Tierpark Hellabrunn in München erreicht. (siehe unten) Es geht dabei um die Mishmi-Takine (Budorcas taxicolor) und eine gemeinschaftliche Aktion verschiedener europäischer Tiergärten! Ziel ist es, im kommenden Jahr; diese eindrucksvollen Hornträger in einem nordindischen Zoo anzusiedeln, um u. a. einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Sensibilisierung der örtlichen Bevölkerung zu bewirken. Diese Takin-Art ist in ihrem Bestand gefährdet! Vor allem ist es Bejagung und Lebensraumverlust, die die Wildbeständen dezimieren. Der Mishmi-Takin ist sowohl im Südosten Tibets, in der chinesischen Provinz Yunnan, im Nordosten Indiens und in Teilen Myanmars anzutreffen. Heute gibt es über dreißig europäische Haltungen, koordiniert wird das Europäische Zuchtbuch (ESB) im schottischen Kingussie! Es ist dem großen Tiergärtner und Zoovisionär Prof. Dr. Heinrich Dathe im Tierpark Berlin zu verdanken, dass wir heute eine stabile Zoopopulation in Europa haben. Begonnen hat das Ganze im Jahr 1974 mit der Haltung von Mishmi-Takinen in Friedrichsfelde und einige Jahre später mit der Erstzucht außerhalb des Verbreitungsgebietes. Der Tierpark Berlin hat mit seiner erfolgreichen Zucht nicht nur den europäischen Zoo-Raum mit den prächtigen Hornträgern “versorgt“, bis in die Vereinigten Staaten sind Tiere aus Friedrichsfelde gelangt. Es ist ein großartiges Projekt, das hier begonnen wird, indem die Mishmi-Takine letztendlich in einen Teil ihres ursprünglichen Lebensraumes zurückkehren. Zu den Besonderheiten des Tierparks Berlin und zu einer Einmaligkeit im weltweiten Zoogeschehen, gehört es, daß von den vier bekannten Takin-Arten, drei im großen Landschaftszoo in Berlin-Friedrichsfelde leben. Wir wünschen dem Projekt einen nachhaltigen Erfolg und danken dem Tierpark Hellabrunn für den interessanten Bericht und das Foto! Das ProZoo-Team Die Pressemitteilung aus dem Tierpark Hellabrunn: Wichtige Mission für Mishmi-Takin Ramona Vergangenen Donnerstag ist Takin-Kuh Ramona von Hellabrunn in den Tierpark Berlin gezogen. Dort wird sie gemeinsam mit weiteren Takinen auf eine große Tour vorbereitet: Voraussichtlich Anfang 2019 sollen die Tiere nach Indien reisen. Im Tierpark Hellabrunn gehören die Mishmi-Takine eher zu den weniger beachteten Tierarten – doch ein Besuch bei den zotteligen Hornträgern lohnt sich allemal: Die Tiere, die zur Gruppe der Ziegenartigen gehören, sind optimal an ihren ursprünglichen Lebensraum in den Hochgebirgen des Himalayas angepasst. Mit ihren stämmigen, kurzen Beinen und den breiten Hufen sind sie trittsicher und kommen in Höhen von bis zu 5.000 Metern vor. Ihr dichtes Fell ist mit einem öligen Hautfett getränkt und schützt vor dem feuchtkalten Klima des Hochgebirges. Auch ihre Füße sind eine hilfreiche Anpassung: Zwei ihrer Klauen können sie abspreizen – auf felsigem Terrain haben sie deshalb einen sicheren Tritt und im Schnee sinken sie nicht so tief ein. Da Mishmi-Takine auch in ihrem Verbreitungsgebiet zu den unbekannteren Tierarten zählen, hat es sich der Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park im indischen Darjeeling zur Aufgaben gemacht, die Bevölkerung auf Takine und ihren bedrohten Lebensraum aufmerksam zu machen. Im Rahmen dieses Projektes ist es geplant, dass Ramona im Frühjahr 2019 mit einer Gruppe von Takinen aus europäischen Zoos nach Indien zieht. Bevor es losgeht, werden die Tiere im Tierpark Berlin auf ihre große Reise vorbereitet. Dies beinhaltet unter anderem einen ausführlichen Gesundheitscheck sowie ein Kistentraining, damit die Tiere sich an die Transportbox gewöhnen können. Mishmi-Takine sind laut der Roten Liste bedrohter Tierarten (IUCN) als gefährdet eingestuft. Hauptbedrohung für die Tiere ist die Zerstörung ihres Lebensraumes – denn in ihrem Verbreitungsgebiet werden mehr und mehr Wälder zugunsten von Weideflächen für die Viehwirtschaft gerodet. „Wir freuen uns, dass Ramona im Zoo Darjeeling Teil einer wichtigen Mission werden soll. Genau wie wir in unserem Hellabrunner Mühlendorf auf die heimische Artenvielfalt aufmerksam machen, ist dieses Engagement auch in der Heimat anderer bedrohter Tierarten wichtig und absolut unterstützenswert“, so Tierpark-Direktor Rasem Baban. Ramona wurde 2017 im Tierpark Hellabrunn geboren. Aktuell besteht die Takin-Gruppe aus einem Bullen, zwei Kühen und einem Jungtier aus 2018. Der Tierpark beteiligt sich am Europäischen Zuchtbuch für Mishmi-Takine in Zoos. München, den 12.11.2018/69
Not about the Mishmi takin but about the Golden takin : article about the breeding of this subspecies ( and about infanticide ) at the Qinling Giant Panda Research Center : Observation of mother-perpetrated infanticide in golden takins (<i>Budorcas taxicolor bedfordi</i>)
For the record: this preserve is in Bhutan. Further, the takin in Bhutan are its own subspecies: Bhutan takin (Budorcas taxicolor whitei), the most western occurring one. Link: Motithang Takin Preserve
It would be interesting to learn about the current status of Mishmi takin in zoos in range countries like Myanmar: Naypyidaw and Rangoon Zoos and perhaps others? Does Beijing Zoo still maintain Mishmi takin or just the various takin species occurring in P.R. China? Perhaps other zoos in P.R. China too?
