Twycross Zoo elephants » Twycross Zoo

27-08-2007

I guess the only elephant news we can await from Twycross is AI on one or more of the females. They won`t keep a bull unless they get a new director, and the enclosure has recently been refurbished, so AI is the only news I can imagine. A friend of me was told last year that they wanted to do AI on all females soon, that was a year ago, so something should happen in the near future.

27-08-2007

Lets hope your friend is right or these females are just a waste in breeding terms, as we know they are an endangered species, if they could work with woburn it would be cool

28-08-2007

If you look at what has happenend in the last 9 years since the birth of Tara and Karishma (=nothing) I fear it is possible that the talks about AI are not much more then a waiting game to avoid/delay being kicked out of the EEP for not following the advice of the EEP coordinator. I don`t know.

28-08-2007

But don't hold your breath...

28-08-2007

I would think that is highly likely. I would expect that they will sooner or later attempt AI on at least one female, to be seen to be 'doing something' about this situation. However, I feel its very unlikely that it will more than one animal at a time, or that all four animals will be successfully AI'd in the near future. Its also more likely that Karishma at Whipsnade will now concieve(naturally) before them.

29-08-2007

So what is Twycross Zoo's breeding record actually like? I know they are renowned for a comprehensive collection of primates, and seem to generally manage to maintain a collection of many rare and endangered species, but do they breed many species successfully relative to the numbers they keep?

29-08-2007

I've uploaded some of my clips of Twycross zoo. I have pictures somewhere, but I haven't seen them since 2000.

29-08-2007

I can't give you exact numbers of breeding success, but broadly speaking, Twycross are probably as successful in breeding many species as other comparative sized collections.

Where they differ a bit from other zoos is the historical aspect.The two ladies who ran it(until recently) started the zoo as an extension of another small zoo they had- and consequently their husbandry, particularly of primates, was for several decades very 'pet' based, with many humanised animals(e.g.the earliest Gorillas, chimps and Orangutans).For example, in the early years, much revenue was obtained from TV commericials for 'Brooke Bond' tea using young chimps dressed as humans. A residue from that long distant era is a number of very old, humanised chimps which still live in pairs in some of the earliest cages. A number of the earlier primate babies were handraised though I sometimes wonder if this was always necessary. So many were raised in this fashion they aquired a reputation among zoos for their success in this sphere, though obviously it produced animals with uncertain ability to socialise properly.

In more recent years,many of the lesser primates, and also the Orangutans and Bonobos breed well but the Gorillas there have always been problematic.
And the accent nowadays is on natural rearing of course.

In the last couple of decades Twycross has diversified and added many other species- culminating in the Asian Elephant exhibit which has invoked much discussion on this Forum-due to the continuing absence of a Bull elephant....

30-08-2007

I guess what I mean by successful breeding is to not only maintain, but to increase in number or self-sustain over many years with the occassional exchange to bring in new blood. I don't know a lot about twycross but they seem to have always managed to acquire rare species but many groups just appear to have lived out their lives at the zoo with the odd birth but ultimately have not sustained themselves. For example they seem to have had to replace malayan tapirs more than once over the last few years but I don't know of them breeding in the last decade at least. Their Macaroni penguins don't appear to breed well. Did the Red Howlers, Ukaris, and Proboscis monkeys that eventually died out ever breed? I read an article in the early 90's in IZN about a group of Bakial Seals maintained at the zoo, but these disappeared before long, I have no idea where or if they died out.

The impression I get is that Twycross have a reputation which somehow allows them to hold many species other UK zoos lower down the food chain would find difficult to acquire, yet the focus on breeding endangered species just doesn't seem as strong as say, chester or marwell. I think the comments here are interesting regarding the early history of this establishment, and in a few years I don't see them having any species that they do particularly well at over any other institution. Sure, they will still hold animals as part of EEP programs but I don't think they do exceptionally well at breeding a particular species.

It will be interesting to see how much trouble they go to in order to use AI on the remaining elephants there.

30-08-2007

If they are not really that comitted to breeding the elephants they should send them on breeding loan to else where and stick to breeding primates

30-08-2007

You're are getting a fairly accurate impression here!

When it first opened in the early 1960's, the collection of 'pet' apes and monkeys grew initially into a larger primate collection with some other traqditional 'zoo' animals added to fill in the gaps. Later this developed into a more general collection, but still with a very large primate collection.

Some of their primates do breed freely- Colobus, Spectacled Langurs etc, others less so(guenons) The Proboscis monkeys I think they did breed at least once before they died out. Generally speaking the lesser Primates are well catered for and they have developed a level of expertise with them over the years, although the housing is functional rather than at all naturalistic.

Orangutans have bred reasonably well over time although they mistakenly produced a number of hybrids some years ago- the result of two pairs being kept with only a mesh barrier between them! Gorillas they have a very POOR record-like the early chimpanzees, their original pair were badly humanised and never bred, subsequent ones have been erratic breeders and very little effort has been made to improve things. Effectively, there is currently only one breeding female out of five... Their gorillas and the enclosures they live in are one of the very worst features of Twycross, in my opinion. The Bonobo group, on the other hand, is thriving and is a good display too.

Baikal seals I remember. I think these died. Malayan Tapirs- they seem to be continuously replacing them- I don't think they have ever bred them.

Twycross is an odd mixture,some good, some bad, with an interesting collection but much of it is simply a display rather than anything else.

31-08-2007

grantsmb,

I do not know that much either regarding Twycross's track record on captive-breeding. They are leader in breeding some of the gibbon species (the critically endangerd pileated gibbons from Thailand-Indo China, siamangs from Sumatra) and SE-Asian leaf monkeys (the Trachypithecus family). The primates I am not too sure on. Breeding Bornean orangs, Malayan tapirs or Asian lions? I will check my EAZA Yearbook data on that.

Will get back on this. It seems true that something is not quite fully right on with conservation breeding at Twycross. Also having no news on the Asian elephants makes me think more and more that Twycross should be forced to give up elephant keeping in the interest of natural breeding for their 4 cows. It is a real damn shame!

31-08-2007

They will not easily part with the elephants. The enclosure has just undergone some major work including a lot of earthworks to install a large pool and create sandy and muddy areas. The outdoor enclosure is long and narrow which gives it the impression of having a larger area than it really does.

When I was last there earlier this summee they had a gorilla baby and several gibbon and langur babies. The other ape groups all had youngsters but no recent births. They have twin male Amur leopard cubs (born late last year) but tragically the mother died from complications during the births. They currently share an enclosure with their father but cannot be let out at the same time. They also have a young Bactrian camel.

Compared to what is being done at other UK zoos, their primate exhibits are very old-fashioned. The lesser apes and monkeys occupy depressing rows of cages. The great ape houses are ugly brick buildings (all the zoo architecture has a 1960s municipal feel, even the latest buildings) and the outdoor enclosures are sparse (although this does provide good views for visitors).

However there are signs that they are beginning to move forward. The landscaping and planting of the leopard exhibit is quite imaginative, and the tropical house with free-ranging South American species is a decent (if rather small) first attempt at an immersion exhibit. They are also renovating the woodland pond area into a walk-through wildfowl exhibit.

Definitely not a pretty zoo, but you can't bemoan the primate collection or the fact that some of them at least breed successfully. The elephant situation doesn't do them any favours though.

31-08-2007

As Chris says, there's no way Twycross will give up the elephants, having recently renovated the enclosure etc. I really don't know what can be done about this situation. I still don't fully understand why they won't keep a bull...
It hasn't been explained to me.

Jelle- Twycross have not bred Malayan Tapir to my knowledge.
Asian Lions- after exchanging males, the pair have bred at least once, possibly more cubs since.
The Bornean Orangutans have bred well- especially in recent years. Their main problem at present is overcrowding. They have never bred Sumatran orangutans despite having one male and two different females over many years. The first female produced hybrid young by mating through the bars with the Bornean male next door. The second Sumatran female- Djambe- was sent to Colchester after the male's death. She is still there.

Generally- I agree the redesigned Leopard enclosure(formerly Sumatran Tigers) is much better than their usual style of enclosure and represents a new approach. Their record with breeding Pileated and other Gibbons and S.E. Asian Langurs is good too.
The Gorillas are a reverse case though- the baby born this year is only the 2nd to be mother-reared and only five have ever been bred there, though they've had Gorillas since they opened the zoo. Attempts in the past to stimulate more breeding by changing partners or sending out on breeding loans have been very halfhearted. I REALLY don't like those Gorilla enclosures, especially the gloomy indoor areas of brick and tile, where the Gorillas sit boredly ignoring the piles of plastic and cardboard and other junk provided as 'enrichment' while the visitors bang on the glass at them. Visually its a very unappealing display, I think. Only equalled by the original chimpanzee enclosures near the House.

31-08-2007

Correction- the latest baby gorilla, a female 'Ndoki' is the third to be mother-reared. The 2nd baby for her mother 'Ozala'- who was Twycross's first mother-reared gorilla. (Unfortunately its father'Sekondi' died in February this year)