Join our zoo community
Tim May

African water chevrotain; Natural History Museum (London); July 2009

African water chevrotain; Natural History Museum (London); July 2009
Tim May, 5 Aug 2009
    • Tim May
      I would love to see a live specimen of this species in a zoo.
    • DavidBrown
      I have only seen them in a nature documentary before. The mounted specimen looks quite fantastic. Was it formerly a zoo animal? Are/were there any of these guys in zoos anywhere?
    • Tim May
      I don't know the history of this particular specimen; I have no idea if it were formerly a zoo animal.

      I'm not aware of any currently in zoos, but they have been exhibited in captivity in the past.

      The first to be kept at London Zoo arrived in 1866; one was born at London Zoo in 1883. (The earliest captive specimen that I'm aware of was one kept in Lord Derby's private menagerie at, Knowsley, in 1841.)

      There is another photo of a museum specimen here:-

      http://www.zoochat.com/683/african-water-chevrotain-natural-history-museum-150577/
    • jbnbsn99
      Bronx had a few in the 50's I think.
    • Tim May
      Crandall (1964) records that seven specimens were received at Bronx Zoo on 15th June 1949; two were sent to Chicago, the other five remaining in New York. The longest lived specimen died 31st December 1952.

      More than half a century later, this New York animal was still listed as holding the longevity record for this species in “Longevity of Mammals in Captivity” (Richard Weigel; 2005).
    • ungulate nerd
      When you say that the two water chevrotains were sent to Chicago, which zoo was it, Brookfield or Lincoln Park ?, and also I know that they were included in Zoo Miami's master plan but never ended up at that zoo
    • Tim May
      Crandall's book states that they were sent to the Chicago Zoological Park, it doesn't specifically mention either Brookfield or Lincoln Park.

      However, throughout the book, Crandall refers to Brookfield Zoo as the Chicago Zoological Park so I assume that the water chevrotains went to Brookfield Zoo.
    • Ituri
      Chicago Zoological Park is another name for the Brookfield Zoo. It's even called that on one of its entrances.

      http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c1/Brookfield-zoo.jpg
    • Hix
      That head looks rather large, even cartoonish.
    • FBBird
      African Water Chevrotain

      Is this animal over-stuffed? I've only seen Mouse-deer, but they're nothing like as fat as this, head or body.
    There are no comments to display.
  • Category:
    Natural History Museum
    Uploaded By:
    Tim May
    Date:
    5 Aug 2009
    View Count:
    7,572
    Comment Count:
    11