I guess, over all, I am becoming discontented by the gradual "fading away" of smaller exotic mammals in Australian zoos. There are plenty of small native animals and still a fairly good representation of larger exotics, but smaller exotics are on the way out...... Only to be expected, I suppose.
yes they are, and sadly its not on purpose. sloth, agouti, porcupines, patagonian cavies, tree shrews...... none can currently be imported! slowly, we will hopefully get regulations through for some of them. the tree shrews are terribly inbred. i imagine the agouti are too.
sloths are a huge loss if you ask me. get the husbandry right and they are easy to care for, long lived, and brilliant for mixed exhibits. get the husbandry wrong and you'll lose 'em relatively quickly. Amazing animals that are SSSSOOOOOOOO different from the norm!!! A huge loss. Minimal effort would see this species gain a secure footing in our captive institutions yet they are doomed. Capybaras and Giant anteaters have the front row of the grid. Pity! Both lack the 'amazing' factor, ease of care, and mixed exhibit potential.
???? ill take giant anteater over sloth anyday. theyre far more interested, mix well with lots of species present in the region like tapir and maned wolf and represent south american grasslands. with the range of new world primates available representing the rainforest habitats, bring on capybarra, anteater and tapir for the grasslands
we must agree to disagree as i dont wont to get into a war of "whos the most amazing animal". the thing is...we still have sloths alive here...and so...they are easier to import than species we dont currently hold. A loop hole in the legislation so to speak. Why are we not pushing this hard????? Capybaras and anteaters can come later. Lets just save what we have before the guiletine falls...
are sloth any "easier" (i use inverted comma's because it seems nothing is easy) to import simply because they are still alive - i was under the impression almost ALL zoo animals had to be renegoitiated for import with biosecurity regardless of whether they were here in force or not? and we also used to have anteater and capybara here too remember... i do like sloths tho and i agree they are easy to maintain and mix well. but they need heated housing, and i think thats the catch. eventually i hope our zoos copy the "flooded forest" type exhibit seen overseas and build a big greenhouse. they would then be an obviously suitable addition amongst the free-ranging marmosets, agouti, parrots, fish etc..
when you have one or two geriatric specimens who would not count as founders, as in the case of sloths and a wish list of species which could be obtained and a number of zoos are interested in keeping such as anteater and capybarra then it puts both species on a level playing field again.
correctamundo glyn. and the same goes for sooooo many other species present. the current animals are old and thus don't count as founders. its as if we don't have them here at all, so its kinda useless factoring that in when drawing up collection plans. that said, husbandry knowledge must count for alot.....
where, once again, most of the zoos in the region would be considered experienced in keeping both capybarra and anteater. as i said in my earlier post, both of these species are incredibly versatile and could be displayed well by both urban and open range zoos. maybe we will see some more in the next few years..........
It's not ARAZPA that is the problem so much as the quarantine service. Australia and New Zealand are blessedly free of so many diseases (eh Foot and Mouth) that the risk is too high to bring in hoofed animals. This is a sensible position though Free Traders cry foul. quote by Jay and in NZ its MAF and ERMA . ( DoC might pop its head in too ) Australian biosecurity laws seem to be lax compared to ours , but most other countries it seems almost non existant . ARAZPA has little to do with the regions biosecurity issues and I am not aware of any of their policy which could be considered as red tape
