Cologne Zoo Cologne Zoo (Zoo Köln)

I certainly hope that they will build a new enclosure. The old one is close to rubbish. The animals don't have any naturalistic encviroment, and it's hard for the visitors to see them. Plus, they need an outdoor aviary.

 

Well, Toddy, due to the new curator's interest in the species, the situation is pretty open, yet quite positive.

Another rumour is currently circulating in German zoo forums: Cologne is supposed to get a Mountain tapir from the USA...

 

That's great to hear. I really enjoyed visiting Cologne Zoo and I think that it has great potential. After seeing douc langurs there I completely fell in love with the species. Mountain tapirs would be awesome!

 

"...in negotiation" is the term used, which is the same term used by Leipzig Zoo concerning getting a Sumatran rhino from Cincinnatti Zoo.

Allthough getting a lone male tapir might not be as unlikely as Leipzig's negotiations, i don't really see a point in LA sending one male over so i highly doubt any will come...

 

Stuttgart had a pair of mountain tapirs back in the 80's - don't know if they bred them

 

@jwer: I think I might prove You wrong in terms of the Mountain tapirs for Cologne Zoo; I talked with a guy of the Cologne zoo staff yesterday at a meeting, and he assured me that the responsible curator really wants to get (amost likely also gets) Mountain tapirs (1.1) for the South American exhibit.

 

Considering there are only 4 females in captivity, it would very highly surprise me. But to be honest, i hope i'm wrong Perhaps they'll start out with a male or two.

Found out any more about the Douc's? Wonder how that'll develope...

 

@jwer: Honestly, I'd also be happy if You're wrong on that one . As far as I have heard, the US zoos want to give up breeding the Mountain Tapirs-maybe Cologne might get a "closing-down" deal.
The Doucs' status is currently in abeyance; they're first redoing the Madagascar House (which will result in giving away the Wanderus) and will then decide whether to relocate the group once new animals come in and if the current enclosure will be able to fulfill the required standards or not.

 

1. Mountain tapirs coming to EU is more than unlikely and does not fit in the regional TAG for tapirs. I guess if Koeln Zoo is preparing for another tapir type from US it will be a surplus male Baird's tapir. In actuality this species is doing relatively well in Central America (the largest part of the captive Baird's are not ISIS listed yet and quite a few transfers have been forthcoming in the last tiennium (to stimulate further unrelated pairings and more breedings). In CA the population is even more favoured towards females. Also all SSP zoo animals are part of a consortium to promote in situ conservation and research in the species.

2. Your info is reliable? From German forumsters I previously heard they had done away with Madagascar completely. The wanderus were due out to an Indian project ... but I can not yet figure out why a very successful group is completely to be broken down. New wanderus groups are formed using offshoots of related females and their youngsters and put in a new male.

3. A good chance the douc group will be saved as a new Singapore animal is due in. Besides, the Koeln Zoo has a in situ conservation project with P. francoisi and Pygathrix in northern Vietnam. They have been prime proponents of linking their captive group with conservation of endangered primates in the wild and biodiversity research and protected area management there.

 

@jelle: Yes, the source is reliable, as he is a member of the Cologne Zoo staff (and we're not talking about the souvenir shop owner or restaurant employee here...). According to him, the current curator wants something "the other (zoo)s don't have" (so probably no Baird Tapir, like in closeby Wuppertal...) for the planned new South American part of the zoo. And it seems that the curator was given the green light by both the Cologne Zoo administration and American zoos keeping Mountain tapirs to acquire a pair. However, we all know that zoo plans easily change; whether the tapirs in question will turn up as Baird's in the end, or whether they will keep their current tapirs, is another thing, but unlike Leipzig's zebra duiker for Gondwana Hall, the possibility that Mountain tapirs could come to Cologne Zoo is genuine. And about the TAG plans: that hasn't stopped zoos in the past to go through with their own ideas...
About the in-situ & ex-situ linking of Cologne Zoo in terms of the Douc's-that has already been mentioned.

 

I will second what Sun has said I have also heard about the mountain tapirs. the new curator came from wuppertal zoo and is a very nice guy who likes species that are rare in zoos!

 

I was not implying ..... Sun, I just wanted to know how concrete the tapir bit was. Personally, I feel a little uneasy with the whole affair and would have preferred if they had stayed with Baird's tapirs and somehow set up an European offshoot to the ALPZA breeding programme for them.

The thing with the mountain tapirs is that they are far rarer and the SSP population is more or less heavily inbred. The most important breeder in the past was Los Angeles Zoo and - if I am correct - San Diego bred them sometime as well. Also, the mountain tapirs are not well represented in South American zoos. Andean countries like Colombia, Peru and Bolivia do not have exactly a high number of them in captivity.

What is the plan actually once they are in Europe. Does Koeln Zoo plan to set up a similar arrangement with them as with the doucs and Vietnam? Or no such plans at this early date of the project?

 

Thanks Al for the confirmation.
@jelle: I know about the situation about the mountain tapir, including the ones in the US. As far as I know, the inbred factor and the impossibility to obtain new animals are the reasons that force the US zoos to think about fading out the husbandry in general-which would be a shame, as the species clearly does and reproduces well in captivity. According to my source of information (let's call him "Deep Throat" ), the mountain tapir Cologne bit seems to be plausible; they seem to wish to get a male first for the already existing South American exhibit (the one close to the Okapi exhibit) and then bring in a female. But he couldn't tell me any further plans about the mountain tapirs in particular. I'm just wondering whether the European zoos could achieve what the US zoo couldn't...Well, if they involve the Czechs, they surely could make it.

 

What is/are wanderus?

 

wanderoo is another name for a lion tailed macaque

 

Thanks Kiang