I Was thinking with it being 3 years by now since Loja arrived at Chester. They've realy failed with the Bears. The same could be said for the Jaguars, as the cubs have died on both occasions. I was thinking what other animals have Chester failed to breed succsessfully?
Malayan peacock pheasant (They died shortly after arrival) Crocodile monitors (There are now no females on ISIS) Tuatara Writhed hornbill There will be more, but it is important to remember that Chester have had success with so many species.
They had imported a trio of roan antelope from Dvur Kralove about 10 years ago and never bred from them.
Gorillas Cheetahs (hopefully this will change soon) All i can think of at this time... Zoomania: I think it is less than 3 years since Loja arrived, didn't Chester first take on those two brothers (Valentin and Strolch??) I'll probably think of some more soon
Loja arrived in 2005 i think. The 2 males arrived in 2004 definatly. Didnt know the lemurs were a non breeding pair. Pied Tamarins is another one, though of course hopefully this will change in the future as a male has only arrived in the past year. Did Chester ever breed Indian Rhino
Pied tamarins: It has not been possible to breath them, as there has not been a male, until recently. I thought Loja arrived in Either late 2005, or early 2006. The males arrived in 2004, as you said. Chester never bred Indian rhinos. I think that they only held the one male (in the 90's) before Patna and Batschi. Chester will not have failed with this species until both species have been mature for a number of years.
Haven't the Tuataras been classed as juveniles (not ready for breeding) for the majority of their time at Chester?
Tuatara did lay eggs when they had the original pair which arrived in the 60's although they never hatched. The male definitely died years ago, but I think the old female was around when the new batch arrived. Does any one know if she is still alive? Can anyone tell me why the Aloatran lemurs are non-breeding please? Cassowaries Echidnas
Chester zoo were sent the gentle lemurs from Jersey who, I think, knew that they were not able to breed. The keepers would like to breed the species, but at the moment they have no suitable animals.
Loja has not been there very long at all. Its unrealistic to say they've failed with Spectacled Bears until such time as she's repeatedly failed to rear cubs. Only one Indian rhino at Chester before this pair- male Yodha, born Whipsnade, now at West Berlin. You could say they have failed with Black rhinos in some ways, considering the number of adult animals they have kept and yet only a total of six calves born over the whole time they've been keeping the species. Susie had three calves, Esther had two(very many years apart) Pangani had one... compare with Port Lympne where several females have each produced and sucessfully raised five or six offspring, with a calf born regularly every 3/4 years or so. Also three cows have died prematurely at Chester- Esther, Emma, Pangani.
My nomination would be pink pigeons, they hardly ever reared their young (when they actually hatched eggs in the first place), and I don't think the zoo has any pink pigeons at the moment.
I wouldn't say Chester failed with Gorillas particularly. Of the four that reached adulthood at Chester, only Noelle, the female Eastern gorilla, died there at quite an early age. Although the Lowland gorillas 'Jason' and 'Gogal' never bred, few zoos understood the complexities of Gorilla relationships in those days and efforts were made to remedy this failing, both at Chester(with Belle Vue's male) and also when the pair were (seperately) sent permanently to Bristol zoo in their latter years to try and remedy this (unsuccessful as it was) Mukisi, the male Eastern gorilla lived at Chester a very long time in excellent health, before finally being transferred to Antwerp. So I'd say their record with this species wasn't bad for the era they were kept in. Despite several calves being bred, I'd be more critical of the overall breeding record for the Black rhinos.
What about Croc species Chester has never hatched any young all though the West African Dwarfs laid eggs and yet they get the Phillipines over a zoo like Paignton which has bred Cuviers Dwarf Caiman.
The current tuatara are the most common species punctatus. Are they yetl classed as juveniles? Why is the sex ratio 1.5? Is that conducive to any breeding later on (Chlidonias please reply .... lol)?
