A lot of commotion started after the zoo announced that if they cannot find a suitable zoo for Farasi once he is weened, he will be euthanized and fed to the predators in the zoo (original announcement: „Wenn wir keinen geeigneten Platz für ihn finden, wird er eingeschläfert und verfüttert.“ ). Reason for that is that they only have space for 2 hippo's (mum and dad). Protesters have organized themselves via Facebook, PeTa urges to send him back to Africa and Circus Royal has offered to take him in ....
For all who can read German: Flusspferd-Baby soll verfüttert werden - krone.at - Top-Nachrichten Manege frei für Farasi! - Tierwelt - News - Blick.ch 20minuten.ch - Kommt Farasi in den Zirkus? - Basel suedkurier.de | Zirkus will Nilpferdbaby Farasi retten - Zoo skeptisch Flusspferd Farasi: Zolli bemüht sich zu erklären - News Basel: Stadt - bazonline.ch Farasi darf nicht sterben
Things are never as bad as they seem...This whole story is just a PR mess/stunt due to a rather clumsy zoo spokeswoman, several animal rights activists lusting for public attention and the local yellow press trying to make up a story to sell some copies. There's plenty of time to find a new home for the young bull before he has to leave the herd, and even if he has to be put down for being "surplus" (which is not very likely)-it's better than to give him to an unsuitable husbandry and cover that up. @Elly: Are you getting the Zoopresseschau-Newsletter a week later than others?
Guess I missed it last week but it's still big in the news. But don't they have a plan on where to move a hippo before they start breeding?
@Elly: Usually, yes; however, gender is a factor. Due to the well-known intraspecific territorial aggression among river hippos, it's becoming more difficult to find a place for a male than for a female hippo. And with less and less European zoos keeping the species, the choice of suitable places becomes smaller and smaller...It's a good thing that Basel, unlike other zoos, addresses this problem in public-yet in this case, it might have been a bit too premature, clumsy and imprudent.
Many Zoo-Enthuasists have no problems, if antelopes or deer are being fed to carnivors in zoos, but where is the diffrence if Basel will kill the surplus hippo and feed it to the carnivors ? Is a Hippo an better animal than an antelope ? I say no. Its better to kill this animal, than send it to a circus, where this social animal will have a long live-alone. I say, let the animals in zoos bred , its absolutly unnatural to stop the breeding.And what will hapeen if the zoos are not breeding some species a long time ? No animal get younger, and sometime the can't bred because they are to old, this thing has happen with the sibirian tigers in europe and with many,many species in the USA, thats why some species are dissappeared from us-zoos... My opinion is, breeding all the time ( big cats are breeding only every two years, for example, if the zoos let the youngsters by its mother, not as like as one big german zoo get them away after a year, so the tigers there have almost every year youngsters...) and if there is no chance to send the offspring to another zoo, kill them and feed them to teh carnivors. Zoos are not a Bambi-World, where everything is okay and beautyful and no bad things happen(wasn't Bambis mom killed by a hunter, if I remember correctly ? )
The problem is that the cute litlle babies are produced (just) to collect more money. No matter if there is even a possibility to find a home for them later.
I think this is a highly contentious point of view. I may be naive, but I really don't think that a zoo like Basle can be accused of being more interested in money than in welfare and science. The social benefits of raising young cannot be overlooked, to say nothing of the benefits to the population as a whole raised by Zebra Duiker above. In the wild, the proportion of youngsters which die is very large; there can be nothing more natural than allowing youngsters to be born and raised, and then culling them at 'adolesence'. That said, it's a horrible thing to have to do, and it would be very nice if all young could find a home. But better a painless culling than a life in an awful zoo which cannot deal with the animals it has - and there are some of those, we all know.
Send him to WHIPSNADE UK. They lost their old male 'Ben' this summer and currently have only two females(mother and daughter) with a good house and adequate paddocks/ outdoor pools. They already borrowed Basel's bull rhino for several years and returned him so have done transfers with Basel before.
I'm sure Basle now about that.... Another Point of view is, why NOt reintroduce hippos to the wild ? What speaks against that ? Hippos became now an endangered species, in may regions of africa they are very rare or extinct, and I see absolutly no problems to reintrocuce them to the wild, so as they do it with some antelopes or cape buffalos...
I'm sure Basle knows about that, so its not necessary to tell them. Another Point of view is, why NOt reintroduce hippos to the wild ? What speaks against that ? Hippos became now an endangered species, in may regions of africa they are very rare or extinct, and I see absolutly no problems to reintrocuce them to the wild, so as they do it with some antelopes or cape buffalos...
I don't get involved with Zoos 'politics' or make suggestions to them- in this day and age they should ALL be fully aware of each other's 'Vacancies' for surplus animals- though sometimes I do wonder!!!
It has been done- one or a pair(?) homebred at Whipsnade were sent to Swaziland some years ago. Must be expensive though and easier to translocate within Africa I guess..
But, one of the things for which the zoos they exist is indeed for reintroducing animal been born in captivity in the wild populations, if its expensive...bad luck, but to kill them for "no sufficient space available" reason, is to give arguments once again, and this time with reason ( I think) to the anti zoos.
I cannot believe to me! the WAZA recommends in the "Consensus Document Responsible Reproductive Management:Guiding Principles" ...3. Zoos are obligated to responsibly regulate the size of their animal stocks and populations. The following strategies can be pursued: a. Relocate surplus to other facilities (only to those operating on a humane and ethical basis; preferably to scientifically managed zoos), b. Release to sanctuaries, c. Release into the wild within the framework of coordinated species recovery projects, d. Temporarily impede reproduction. When none of these measures are feasible without causing stress or impacting upon group behaviour, then individual animals should be painlessly put down in a fear-free environment. Whenever possible, such individuals, hereafter referred to as surplus animals, should be “recycled” back into the zoo’s own food chain...
