According to the IUCN, the captive population of black-and-rufous elephant shrews in North American zoos was founded by an import from Tanzania in 2000. Does anyone know what zoo(s) did this import and how many individuals they imported? Also, does anyone know more about short-eared elephant shrews on the continent? Were they ever common? As far as I can tell now, there are almost none left and they will be extinct from the region soon. They were being bred at Philadelphia and Smithsonian as recently as 2012, but I'm not sure that either zoo holds them any more (pretty sure Smithsonian doesn't) and the one at LA might be gone as well.
The reference used by the IUCN (and others) is below. Baker, A.J., Lengel, K., McCafferty, K. and Hellmuth, H.: Black-and-rufous sengi (Rhynchocyon petersi ) at the Philadelphia Zoo. Afrotherian Conservation. Newsletter of the IUCN/SSC Afrotheria Specialist Group. # 3:6-7, 2005. The newsletter is here - http://www.afrotheria.net/Afrotherian_Conservation_3.pdf - and it doesn't say anything about Tanzania. In 2000 the Philadelphia Zoo obtained two pairs of (reportedly) captive-bred animals from within the USA, presumably from private person or dealer given the context of the passage. The Cincinnati Zoo also obtained two pairs earlier in the same year. (The other newsletters for the group are here, if interested: Newsletter | IUCN Afrotheria Specialist Group) From other sources, the founder animals appear to be from different localities in Africa. See, for example, 4.2 in this paper: http://www.sengis.org/pdfs/Carlen et al. Rhynchocyon MPE2017.pdf
Ooh, excellent topic for a thread! I don’t believe they were ever common, but they were certainly more common than they are now. We’re down to five or less, and just about hitting the maximum lifespan for all of them. Philadelphia doesn’t have them anymore, though I saw the species there in 2007. Smithsonian had a pair of siblings (female on exhibit, male off exhibit) born in 2012, but on my last visit the exhibit was unoccupied, and I don’t have high hopes that either is still living, given their short lifespan. There was a similar situation at Bronx, though they only had one animal, a male, on exhibit. I don’t know what age it was, but on my last visit it’s exhibit was closed too, so it’s probably safe to say it kicked the bucket as well. LA had a male and Knoxville had an unsexed individual, not sure of their current status. They are probably the last of their species in America, if they’re still alive. Black and rufous is weird. They came to America, expanded a lot, fell off, and are now very slowly on the rise. Zoos that used to have the species such as Louisville and Smithsonian no longer do. A few current holders are breeding, though there is a very high infant mortality rate. However, the population is expanding very slowly overall.
Thanks for the information. I think it’s interesting that the short-eared sengis have all but disappeared, considering how common they are in Europe (particularly Germany). Perhaps it is part of the overall decline/absence of most small mammals in North American zoos. Due to lack of management, many species that were once more established have fallen by the wayside. I am curious to know what private source the R. petersi founders came from. I will do more research later.
Interesting, because this source is listed in Mammals of Africa when the statement is made that several American zoos imported R. petersi from Tanzania in 2000.
Yes, the IUCN page refers to the Afrotherian Conservation newsletter generally (rather than directly citing the specific article), but every other mention on the internet refers to the Baker article. I'm thinking someone made an assumption for Tanzania (probably while writing the IUCN page) and it stuck as "fact". The other link I gave suggests a completely different origin: "However, our analysis suggests that the zoo specimens were originally taken from R. p. adersi exported from Zanzibar or Mafia islands." It is possible that Tanzania was a mistake (a typo of sorts) for Zanzibar originally, I guess.
Well Zanzibar is part of TanZania (Tan for Tanganyika, Zan for Zanzibar), so the info would be correct .
oh. Well, fair enough then. I was going by the article which had petersi on mainland Tanzania and adersi on Zanzibar. And I didn't realise Zanzibar was part of Tanzania! Seeing as how the only other country they are found in is Kenya, I guess Tanzania probably is correct.
It seems my prediction was correct, as their exhibit is now home to greater hedgehog tenrec. It is possible one or both individuals are behind the scenes, but doubtful.
I’ve confirmed that all short-eared elephant shrews at both Bronx and Smithsonian have passed away. That leaves just Knoxville, but it is more than likely that that animal is also deceased. It was still alive in September of last year, but then again, so were Bronx’s and Smithsonian’s. Unfortunately, I think it is safe to say that the species has now vanished from American collections.
It was greater at the time of posting but had since been switched. The greater died. Check the gallery for photos. Also, turns out the elephant shrew at Knoxville is surprisingly still alive. Not for long, I’d imagine.
