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the UK's private 'zoo'
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#1
the UK's private 'zoo'
14-03-2008
I thought it would be interesting to share what little knowledge I have of some of the small mammal species barely seen in public in the UK, which are flourishing in private hands...
this site has springhares, silky anteaters, striped/brush-tailed opossums, genets, paca, civets, galagoes, fishing cats/caracals etc http://www.thespecialistkeepersassoc...maldeluxeg.htm on the same site there appears to be someone in yorkshire busy breeding and selling Tupaia minor (lesser Tree shrews, a species which, if ISIS was anything to go by, would appear at the end of the road in captivity). I also know of NAPAK, whose members keep and breed hutias, raccoon dogs, and three-banded armadillos amongst others... do members know of any other private keepers out there who are contributing to what is essentially a national private zoological bank of species here in the UK? |
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#2
14-03-2008
There are some very interesting species there - in particular the pygmy anteater - I've never seen one of these and there is only one listed on ISIS, which is in Peru. I wonder if any have been bred in the UK.
The for sale list makes interesting reading too - fishing cat for £2200 anyone? |
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#3
14-03-2008
I'll take three!
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#4
14-03-2008
Hello everyone, I thought I would introduce myself, Todd Dalton, I set up Rare Species Conservation Centre - and from the looks of it you all seem to be quite interested in it and it's species. Feel free to fire me any questions you may have in future.
All the best Todd |
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#5
14-03-2008
Welcome to Zoobeat Todd
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#6
14-03-2008
Thank you Mark, Im sure the exchanges on here will be most interesting!
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#7
14-03-2008
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Must say I'm impressed to see that someone like yourself finds the time to get on here and be willing to answer questions - perhaps a reply in the RSCC thread would be more suitable to prevent derailing this topic too much. |
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#8
15-03-2008
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#9
15-03-2008
It appears to be an organisation representing private animal keepers in the UK, similar to NAPAK, only these guys are more organised as a lobbying body in order to protect their interests with legislation that is passed, while at the same time they appear to be trying to raise the standard of how private animal keeping operates to ensure that their members remain distinct from people who just want exotic 'pets' or just fancy cuddling a monkey or some such other rubbish you see on exotic animal 'wanted' classifieds.
But what I was particularly excited about was the fact that Tupaia minor is still being kept and bred in the UK. I worked with this species many many years ago and the 2.1 listed on ISIS as the global population is extremely depressing. It would be great to see private keepers, which collectively make up one huge zoological collection in this country, able to contribute to the same database as public collections. We would see far greater cooperation I think and a more accurate picture of what is being held and bred where. I don't think the animals photographed are for sale, this appears to be a gallery of some of the species that private UK keepers are breeding successfully. I can say I have never seen eight Nine-banded armadillos in one place at a zoo. The reason I found this site interesting is that these animals are not zoo surplus, many of them haven't been kept or bred in a UK zoo for many years. In fact, I would contest that it is the other way round, that UK collections are likely to only go back into these species through the contribution of private individuals in this country keeping various species represented (albeit off-exhibit) in Britain. A NAPAK member was doing well with Three-banded armadillos a few years ago when there were barely any armadillo on display in the UK, and supplied Edinburgh zoo at least, maybe others, with UK-bred animals. On a less positive note, one of their links seems to be to a carribean-based exporter, owned by a dutch importer, that offer silky anteaters, tayra, grison, prehensile-tailed porcupines etc, and it may well be how the silky anteaters have managed to enter the UK. An interesting pointer as to why a zoo like Amazon Zoo World on the IOW has so many species it clearly didn't obtain from other UK zoos, as I think they have links with some large importers in this country, in fact (I'm not 100%, but I'm sure I read somewhere) they may have been set up by the owners of such a company. Where more established charitable status zoos might not do business with importers for fear of a scandal, I am pretty sure this explains the array of unusual stock in a few of the smaller collections in the UK. These species are in many ways out of bounds for the larger collections until they are bred in europe. |
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#10
15-03-2008
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#11
15-03-2008
Are brush tailed possums a big deal over there? because i have enough of them in my roof to last a lifetime.
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#12
16-03-2008
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#13
16-03-2008
better to get them from NZ. They're a huge pest here, and I suspect most of the ones overseas originated from exported NZ ones. I know there used to be a big market for several smart people in shipping out live possums to southeast Asia (for pets ....apparently)
Oh, forgot to say, we've got about 80 million of the little blighters ruining our forests! |
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#14
16-03-2008
There are a fair few in private hands in the UK. They seem to breed like rabbits.
Marwell received a stray one a few months back. Long Sutton Butterfly and Falconry Centre keeps them, as does South Lakes (or it certainly used to) and what about Tropical World, Leeds? |
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#15
16-03-2008
[quote=Chlidonias;42333
Oh, forgot to say, we've got about 80 million of the little blighters ruining our forests![/QUOTE] 80 million? Are you fair dinkum? |
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