I know that San Diego Zoo has Doucs but what other zoos had them? I didn't know that Philadelphia Zoo had them?
I just went to ISIS and it shows that they have 1.1. I didn't know that there was Douc's being exhibited in the US.
A pair of doucs arrived in Philadelphia from San Diego in 1996; the pair produced three offspring (2 DNS) at Philadelphia from 1999-2001. The adult male died in 2004, and so the 1.1 currently at the zoo are a mother-son pair. San Diego still maintains 0.2 in their off-exhibit collection.
@Ungulate: Thanks for the info. So San Diego Zoo only has 0.2? They should update ISIS because they show to have 9.9.5, which seem like a lot, and they should exhibit their last two before they die. Do you know if they are being phased out of North American zoos or are zoos planning of bringing them back?
The amusing/frustrating thing is that San Diego's ISIS records ARE up to date ... ISIS "knows" that 21 of the reported langurs are dead (or at least the records all have a "death" line in them), but somehow it is showing them in the abstracts as currently at the zoo. Bizarre. Displaying the "last ones" is a tricky issue ... not only do you have to worry about aging animals coping with major changes, but they also take away space from potential breeding groups. And when they pass away, most zoos feel pressure to keep exhibits filled, which means having a substitute readily on hand. (And what do you do about complaints that there is a monkey living by itself?). In terms of the plans for North America, the Regional Collection Plan (RCP) for Old World Primates bumped this species from SSP to being designated for phasing out. With only four animals in North America, few in Europe, and a poor record of management ex situ, there doesn't seem much hope for bringing this species back to North America.
Which is my opinion, is a crying shame since these are amongst the most beautifull animals in the world. I like most of the old-world monkeys better then the new-world ones anyways, but they seem to do a lot worse in captivity (specially the leaf-eating types...).
Singapore zoo seem to have a nice size group of them and appear to be doing well there, but why not they are in the tropics, there are some pics of them in the gallery
It?s a shame that Philadelphia keeps the relatively young male (he should be around 10, right?) only with his mother - they should better send him to Cologne or Singapore for breeding. 10 is still young for a douc langur, they can live well into their 20´th. By the way, Cologne plans to exchange their breeding male with a male from Singapore, to stop inbreeding in both zoos. There is only one breeding female in Cologne and bringing in more females would be needed to ensure the future of that group for more then the next years but at least it`s a step in the right direction.
@Yassa It would be a step in the right direction, sending the entire group or the apes, that are still able to breed (2,1), to Singapore Zoo. I think it is already to late for Cologne Zoo to start a conservation program.
Very true, BjoernN. Port Lympne took the same philosophy to heart when they sent their last Sumatran rhino (1.0 "Torgamba") back to Sumatra (to the Way Kambas breeding centre) - it was really the only viable option for him to contribute his genes to the captive gene pool, and was done with the species' best interests in mind. (... too bad hasn't sired any offspring)
