History of Jersey Zoo & Durrell Trust ex-situ / in-situ conservation efforts.

I think that the death of Durrell was a huge loss for Jersey in so many ways, I mean he was the figurehead and the visionary who created the zoo and its ethos.

But I think that since that time they have really evolved and are going strong and moving with the times well for sure.

I think that what is remarkable is that they have stayed faithful to his vision (don't think we can say the same about the other place that kept babirusa if you get what I'm saying ).

I do wonder what would have happened if Durrell hadn't of had those chronic health problems which led to a comparatively early grave and had gone on to live another 10 (or even 20) years though.

 

I fully agree, In my view Durrel was the life blood of Jersey zoo and is not quite the same with out him. I believe this has also happened at Australia zoo losing its main person the driving force! In regards to that other place that had Babirusa I agree its on its way down!

 

Definitely not the same without him but his vision continues and Jersey have been very faithful to it.

Oh by the way, I found this documentary earlier about Durrell in Madagascar, you might find it interesting.

 

What I see the biggest skill of all of Gerald Durrell was his organization and ability to bring new species into conservation programs.

Currently only a handful of zoos and zoo people, like Mr Ratajszczak from Poznan, actually start new programs. 99% of zoos are satisfied with what already is.

 

Totally agree with you @Jurek7 !

I do think this has been a historic and current strength of the Jersey zoo, to take risks, to dare and to go out of their comfort zone in terms of species kept and particularly to go for those species that other zoos wouldn't bother with.

It is due to this initiative and drive that there are so many species currently in captivity like the aye-aye, Malagasy giant jumping rat, Lesser Antillean iguana, Livingstone's and Rodrigues fruitbat and Madagascar teal.

Many people visiting zoos where the species I mentioned above are held may not know or appreciate that but it was thanks to Jersey and their efforts that these species can even be seen in zoos.

I do think that the decision making process on whether to take a species into ex-situ captivity should be rigorous and scientifically based though. Morever, there are some species which just are not suitable for being at Jersey like the volcano rabbit and the pygmy hog.

However, there are an awful lot of species that are suitable and should be there and I hope Jersey will continue to provide a home for these species.

The latest species to arrive was the Madagascan big headed turtles I believe.

 

Wrap up of the Madagascar teal ex-situ situation today



Since 1998 breeding of the species continues to occur every year to date at Jersey and the teal has been bred over five generations.

Jersey born birds have been exported from the zoo to 26 collections in 6 countries.

As such the captive population of Madagascar teal has risen to over 400 animals held by over 45 zoos across both Europe and North America today.

All of the Madagascar teal continue to remain on loan from the government of Madagascar and all animals are carefully managed by Jersey zoo / the Durrell Trust through an international studbook.

Photo credit to @Kakapo.

Source: Madagascar Teal Breeding Programme

 

The aye-aye enclosures at Jersey

Four enclosures hold aye-ayes at Jersey zoo and three of these are mixed-species enclosures shared with the Malagasy giant jumping rat.

The mix is biogeographically correct as both species are endemic to Madagascar and are sympatric in the wild. Here is a video filmed of both species in their enclosure together at the Jersey zoo:




The aye-aye (and giant jumping rats) have access to both indoor and outdoor enclosures which are richly furnished with branches, ropes and other climbing materials and well planted.





The aye-ayes have a reversed day/night schedule, being on "Madagascar time" which means that they are not kept on a 12/12 light cycle as is / was a common practice in nocturnal houses within zoos across the world.



Rather, the lighting regime is changed incrementally across the year and this serves to simulate the day length throughout the year in Madagascar.



Photo credits to @jerseygorilla, @Gigit and @Daubentoniidae.

Sources: @JerseyLotte and @Carl Jones.

 

How do they get around the lighting differences between the indoor and outdoor enclosures?. When its artificial 'night' inside, it must be real daylight outside? Correct?

 

@Carl Jones posted on this so I'll have to quote him on this :

"Animals respond to variation in their environment, - the intensity of light, to a range of temperature, the rain and wind and also to be able to look out at views in a constantly changing world. Yet many animals in nocturnal houses are deprived of much of this environmental variation. The temperature is constant and the light regime is dictated by an often un-altering time switch."

"Of course it does not have to be like this and we can be a lot more creative in the way we exhibit nocturnal animals. In the Jersey Zoo they have been experimenting by allowing some of their Aye-ayes access to an outside enclosure. Since most visitors to zoos are there in the afternoon, I suggest this compromise. Light the inside and outside enclosure mid-night to mid-day and have the inside section darkened mid-day to mid-night. Then the animals will have the luxury of going outside during the night until mid-night. This is a far more desirable way to exhibit nocturnal primates, that will in the summer, and during mild weather, have access to the outside with its far more stimulating environment."

This is the thread where Carl posted this information: Trends in zoos by decade

 

I feel honoured to see my photo in this thread. These Madagascar teals were from Berlin zoo.

 

Current status of the aye-ayes of Jersey Zoo

There are currently 8 aye-aye held at the Jersey zoo.

Their names are Ala (a female originally from Ueno zoo Japan), Pan (a male who was born at the Denver zoo in the USA), Vassago (a female from the Paris zoo in France), Zanvie (a female born in Jersey), Mifaly ( a female born recently at Jersey), Marary Kenatra ( a male born this year), Patrice and Alaine.

Here is a video of the female Ala with a halloween pumpkin enrichment :



The original wild caught aye-aye males, Patrice and Alaine are now very elderly but were still alive and held at the zoo as of 2018.

 

Why thank you.

Ya se , but as there are 0 pictures of the Madagascar teal at Jersey in the gallery and as all of the teal held in captivity have at least some Jersey stock I thought I would improvise.

 

Its good that they have outside access but this schedule doesn't seem to solve the pecularity of the Aye Aye's being faced with night and day both at the same time in their two different areas...I don't see how they solve that and doesn't it totally confuse the animals?

 

I'm really not sure but this kind of management technique will of course be based on sound scientific / evidence based and informed animal husbandry.

@Carl Jones Hope you don't mind if I bring you in on this one as I know that you were instrumental in designing this set up for the Jersey aye-ayes.

 

History of the arrival of the Malagasy giant jumping rat at Jersey (1990)



Like the aye-aye and the Lac Alaotran gentle lemur it is both doubtful that the Malagasy giant jumping rat would be as common in captivity or would have avoided extinction without the efforts of Jersey zoo and the Durrell trust in the 1990 Madagascar expedition.

This is a brief history of arrival of the giant jumping rats at Jersey zoo in 1990, it is recommended that zoochatters check out the excellent book by Gerald Durrell about the Madagascar expedition to capture endangered species "The Aye-aye and I" (without a doubt the best place to read about this expedition).

The Madagascar expedition (1990)



Jersey zoo had formed a strong connection with the government of Madagascar in the early 1980's and as a result by the end of the 1980's was in a privileged position to conduct research and conservation within the country:

"Much of the vertebrate fauna of Madagascar is threatened with extinction (IUCN/ UNEP, 1988). In 1983 the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust (JWPT) entered a formal agreement with the Government of Madagascar to establish captive breeding programmes, both in Madagascar and at the Trust's zoological collection, to help save some of the threatened species, to train Malagasy technicians at the International Training Centre in Jersey and to undertake field investigations to promote the protection of Malagasy fauna."

"In 1989 the JWPT received permission to mount an expedition to capture specimens for breeding in Jersey. An initial list of 32 species warranting captive breeding was agreed. The list was reduced according to several criteria, including assumed degree of threat to the species, accommodation possibilities in Jersey and the logistics of travel and animal care by a four person team over a four month period in Madagascar."

The rationale for the capture of the giant jumping rat was the following:

"Because of insufficient field data, H. antimena is not in the IUCN red book. However, a captive breeding programe was considered prudent because of H. antimena's possible threatened status associated with its apparent requirement for primary forest and its very limited distribution."

The rat catching



The attempt to catch the rats took place in the Kirindy forest, the last stronghold of the species in Madagascar:

"The dry deciduous forests of the west of Madagascar have mostly disappeared through slash-and-burn cultivation, the creation of pasture for livestock and uncontrolled burning (Langrand, 1990). These pressures continue to threaten the remaining forest patches and their fauna, several species of which are highly localised. The narrow-striped mongoose is found only in the central west coast region (Schreiber et al., 1989), and the giant jumping rat and the flat-tailed tortoise are believed to have distribution ranges of 1000km (Cook et al., 1991) and 150km (Kuchling and Bloxam, 1988), respectively."

Traps were set and checked daily :

"Over a period of 10 days burrows of the giant jumping rat were located and National Traps, approximately 46x31x31 cm, were firmly placed flush with burrow entrances and baited with sweet potato and carrot. As it became very hot by mid-morning, traps were checked at sunrise."

Many traps were set but only a few of these animals were caught successfully, there were a few escapes and sadly a death:

"Out of approximately 60 trap placements (some burrows repeated), 10 rats were caught, three of which escaped and one of which was mortally injured in its trap, probably by a fossa Cryptoprocta ferox, the largest Malagasy carnivore."

The rats were placed into their temporary accomodation and well cared for while the expedition waited to return to Jersey :

"The rats were weighed on capture with a Salter Super Samson spring balance. They were housed in twos in two metal grill Carrier Crates wired together to give overall dimensions of 123x51x46cm, to which a tight covering of 1 cm mesh chicken wire was added after two rats escaped. Each cage was furnished with a wooden nest box 53x30x27cm. A dish of various chopped fruits and vegetables was put into each cage at dusk, but the rats ate mostly sweet potato and carrot."

The journey back to Jersey

With everything set the precious cargo of five Malagasy giant jumping rats (two males and three females) was flown by plane first to Mauritius and then on to Jersey:

"On 08 December, Q. Bloxam accompanied the animals on the commercial flight from Morandava to Antananarivo, the rats shut into their wooden nest boxes and the reptiles in individual cloth bags, and settled them into temporary accommodation at Parc Tsimbazaza. The rats were housed in caging similar to the gentle lemurs', the tortoises in a shallow wooden box approximately 100x100cm, the lizards in a wire-fronted box approximately 100x46x46cm furnished with branches, and the snake in a cloth bag. The rats and tortoises were fed on a variety of fruits and vegetables and the lizards on grasshoppers."

Sadly one of the rats, a male, died during the stop-over flight to Mauritius:

"The only mishap on the flight to Mauritius was the death of a male giant jumping rat, who had appeared in normal condition on the previous day."

The surviving rats arrived at their new home safely and were put into quarantine:

"The same route was followed as that taken by the aye-aye a month earlier, and all arrived in Jersey on 16 December in good health."

Photo credits to @gentle lemur, @JigerofLemuria and @Javan Rhino .

Source: "Notes on the Durrell Expedition to Madagascar September-December 1990", Lee Durrell, 1990 (Journal: The Dodo) & "The aye-aye and I", Gerald Durrell, 1990.

 

Husbandry of the Malagasy giant jumping rat in the early years (1990-1992)



Initially the rats were held off-show and their behaviour extensively studied:

"The two groups of animals were housed in auditory and partial visual contact in two adjacent (3.65 x 2.34 x 2.72 m) enclosures at the JWPT Behavioural Research Unit (Oliver, 1983), a facility which is not open to the public. H. antimena was held under a reverse lighting regime giving a nocturnal period of 12 hours starting at 11.00 hr. Temperature was thermostatically maintained above 22°C.

The enclosures were furnished with materials to encourage naturalistic behaviours and so avoid stress and facilitate breeding:

"Floor substrate consisted of hay straw and bark chippings. The enclosures were furnished extensively with logs and branchwork to provide terrestrial and arboreal pathways. Two wooden nest-boxes (60 x 60 x 25 cm) were provided for each group. In addition, there was a large subdivided burrow built into the floor of each enclosure. A central observation chamber afforded one-way viewing into each enclosure and burrow. H. antimena is probably a territorial species and is reported to use latrines as markers (Cook et al., 1991). Similarly at JWPT, H. antimena produced latrines and these were allowed to build up' since it was considered that their frequent removal might cause stress."

Feeding the rats



The diet supplied to the rats was based on what little was known on the feeding ecology of the species in the wild and general rodent nutrition :

"DIET OF Hypogeomys antimena AT JWPT.

Apple, carrot, orange, lettuce, cabbage, banana, Sunflower CORE DIET seeds, peanuts, rat and mouse pellets EXTRAS Any leaf or root vegetables; one sort of soft fruit per feed BROWSE Any deciduous trees, grass, maize and bean plants, bamboo, hay"

There was success achieved when the feeding preference and behaviours of the rats in captivity closely matched descriptions of the feeding ecology of this rodent in the wild:

"Feeds were given early in the animals’ active period. Food was routinely scattered around the enclosure to encourage foraging and as much browse as possible was provided to occupy the animals. While observing the rats, it was possible to gain some information, albeit anecdotal, on feeding preferences, Similar to behaviour in wild individuals (Grzimek, 1975; Cook et al., 1991), the captive rats fed on fruit, and stripped buds and bark from browse. In addition, leafy green vegetables, grass, leaves, seeds and invertebrates such as mealworms, locusts and snails were also readily eaten."

Breeding the giant jumping rat

There were no major difficulties with encouraging the giant jumping rat to breed in captivity:

"Only one bout of mating was observed. This took place between male M1642 and female M1643 four months after the animals came to Jersey. The mating was initiated by the male pushing under the female's chin and simultaneously yelping. The female stood quadrupedally, while the male manipulated her hind quarters with his forepaws and then lifted her rump. The female moved her tail, allowing him to mount and gain intromission. Mating ended after the male's thrust coincided with a hind leg kick, an action possibly corresponding to ejaculation. Mutual grooming followed. The entire sequence was repeated five times over 90min but no further sexual behaviour was seen after that."

The female began to perform interesting behaviour such as nest building:

"H. antimena habitually removed and added material to the nesting chamber, so nest-building/maintenance behaviour was not confined to parturition periods. Nest maintenance also occurred while the infant was in the nest and often involved the addition and removal of substantial amounts of material. The entrance to the burrow was usually sealed while infants were in it. Interestingly, Cook et al. (1991) reported that in the wild, active H. antimena burrows were found with a soil barrier between the diagonally descending entrance tunnel and further horizontal chambers. This was confirmed recently as burrows seen at night with open entrances were found sealed up during the day (A. Feistner, pers, comm.)."

Soon an infant was born and conservation history was once again made with this being the first captive born giant jumping rat:

"Infants were born in the burrows and in two different kinds of nest box. Females were observed to move infants to fresh nesting sites and to retrieve wandering infants."

This was followed in subsequent years by more successful births :

"November 1992 the five adults at JWPT have produced a total of 15 offspring, of which 14 survive. Two F2 generation have been captive bred."

Important lessons are learned about the giant jumping rat



Behavioural observation by the staff at Jersey zoo confirmed previous assumptions by scientists that this species was monogamous and formed strong pair bonds:

"If pair bonds are formed in this species, allogrooming would be expected to be higher in “bonded” pairs than in non-bonded animals. The limited information gained from this study supports Cook et al.’s (1991) suggestion that the species forms cohesive Social groups. Within both the trio and the pair, the animals were within a metre of each other for over 50% of the time, with the exception of one male-female dyad in the trio."

"Behavioural observations supported field observations that the species forms stable social groups based on a single breeding pair."

This had important considerations for the husbandry of the species in captivity:

"While allogrooming was seen infrequently (<8% of the time), it almost certainly has a social function. The pair of H. antimena spent over seven times as long allogrooming than the members of the trio. This could suggest a more settled social unit in the pair. This is supported by the relatively weak relationship between the male and one of the females in the trio, and by the severe fighting that occurred between the two females."

Photo credit to @littleRedPanda, @KevinB and @Maguari (Photos taken at London zoo, Amersfoort zoo and Cotswold Wildlife Park).

Sources: "PRELIMINARY NOTES ON BREEDING, MAINTENANCE, AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR OF THE MALAGASY GIANT JUMPING RAT Hypogeomys antimena AT JERSEY WILDLIFE PRESERVATION TRUST", Richard H. Veal,1992 (Journal: The Dodo).

 

Videos from Jersey zoo of the giant jumping rat :

Infant giant jumping rats born 3 years ago:



Infant giant jumping rats born 4 years ago:

 

"It was about the size of a small cat, with a very long, thick, bare tail, large but delicate pink feet and huge pinkey grey ears like arum lillies...It has a mass of stiff whiskers, though which it peered like somebody looking through a lace curtain."

-Gerald Durrell , "The Aye-aye and I"



Photo credit to @ro6ca66.

 

The history of the arrival of the Pied tamarin at the Jersey zoo (1990-1994)



The pied tamarin was not a new species to Jersey zoo and had been kept twice before early on in the first years of the zoos opening (1959 - 1960 & 1962-1963).

Tragically on both occasions these very sensitive little animals had only survived a single year before dying.

By the late 1980's the situation facing the pied tamarin in the wild with continued deforestation and the introduction of a competitor species invasive Midas tamarin had become desperate :

"Of the three sub-species of S. bicolor, the pied tamarin is the most vulnerable to extinction (Mittermeier et al., 1993). Pied tamarins occupy possibly the smallest geographic range of any neotropical primate, restricted to a 30km radius to the north and east of the Brazilian city of Manaus. The greatest threat to the species is habitat destruction due to rapid development around the city, and although S. b. bicolor, like other callitrichids, seems to favour low secondary growth and forest edges, populations may be highly fragmented."

"A recent study (Egler, 1993) has suggested that its range is even smaller than previously thought. It is also believed to be sympatric with another tamarin species, S. midas midas, whose distribution is far more extensive. The latter may be much more adaptable than S. b. bicolor, which could be a contributing factor in the overall threat to the pied tamarin, a theory currently under investigation (Egler, 1993)."

It was felt prudent that insurance populations be developed in zoos, however, the size of the captive population was alarmingly low and needed to be increased.

The rationale behind this was the following:

"The endangered status of pied tamarins in the wild means that captive breeding is extremely important for the survival of the species. Captive populations exist within North America, South America and Europe. As the world captive population is very small, it is believed that a European Endangered Species Breeding Pro gramme (EEP) studbook is not needed, and it will be absorbed into the Inter national Studbook held by Andrew Baker of Philadelphia Zoo, although the EEP, coordinated by Bert de Boer of Apenheul, will retain control over population management within Europe. Further zoos wish to join the EEP for this species, but the small size of the European population is currently the major obstacle to expansion of the programme."

The pied tamarin comes to Jersey



In consideration of the threats facing the species and the need for a well managed ex-situ captive population Jersey zoo obtained a number of pied tamarins firstly from the Rio Primate Centre in the species native range of Brazil:

"The first four pied tamarins arrived in Jersey on loan from the Rio de Janeiro Primate Centre on 31 August 1990."

Four more animals arrived later from the University of Bielefeld in Germany which held an important captive breeding centre for endangered primates and another tamarin was once again sent from Rio to Jersey :

"They were joined a year later by a pair from the University of Bielefeld. A further two animals from Bielefeld arrived in May 1993,, and a fifth tamarin from Rio in July 1994. A series of different pairings were made involving these animals."


Photo credits to @gentle lemur and @littleRedPanda (photos taken at Paignton and Chester zoos).

Sources: "PIED TAMARINS Saguinus bicolor bicolor AT THE JERSEY WILDLIFE PRESERVATION TRUST: MANAGEMENT, BEHAVIOUR AND REPRODUCTION", Dominic Wormell et al, 1996 (Journal: The Dodo).

 

Challenges of keeping the pied tamarin (1990-1996)

Maintaining good health through diet

The first difficulty encountered with keeping the tamarins at Jersey was maintaining the good health of the animals which proved to be immensely difficult and dependent on ensuring adequate nutrition to combat potentially deadly illnesses:

"Details of episodes of serious illness, and mortality of non-infants, were extracted from JWPT records. Three breeding adults and one Jersey-born subadult have died since pied tamarins first arrived at JWPT. The causes of death have varied."

"It became clear not long after their arrival that the animals' health was not always good. Pied tamarins appeared to be more susceptible to illness than many other species, being prone to diarrhoea, weight loss, and sometimes more serious illness. Similar problems have been observed in pied tamarins elsewhere (G. Mika, pers. comm. to J. B. Carroll). In addition, several different individuals have been seen engaging in coprophagy, a behaviour not seen in any other marmoset and tamarin species maintained at JWPT."



However lessons were learned early on:

"One early response to combat these problems was therefore to alter the diet to eliminate any foods suspected of promoting diarrhoea, and to increase the tamarins' protein intake. These changes appear to have contributed towards improving the overall health of the majority of JWPT's pied tamarins; however, the diet of this species would be worth investigating in detail, particularly as more field data (e.g. Egler, 1992) become available."

"In June 1993, a permanent change was made to the diet for pied tamarins to com bat health problems such as diarrhoea. Citrus fruits and other foods suspected of exacerbating diarrhoea are no longer fed. Of the foods fed to the other species, pied tamarins receive only vegetables, apple, pear, banana, melon and grape, in addition to the breakfast mix (see also Courts, 1995). Papaya and mango are added to the lunchtime feed. Papaya in particular is thought to be beneficial for digestive disorders. This change to the diet has resulted"



A diet that included a greater amount of insects and protein in general was found to be a key component in successfully keeping the animals healthy:

"The tamarins also receive more insects that the other callitrichid species; they are given at least one to two locusts each daily, plus mealworms and waxmoth larvae whenever available. The increased insect ration was introduced to try and combat the suspected lack of protein in the diet, suggested by general ill health and also by behaviour such as coprophagy. Insects, rather than an alternative protein Source such as egg or chicken, were chosen as they are a highly preferred food and form a regular part of the natural diet."


Photo credit to @AdrianW1963, @Rayane and @gentle lemur (Photos taken at Chester zoo).

Sources: "PIED TAMARINS Saguinus bicolor bicolor AT THE JERSEY WILDLIFE PRESERVATION TRUST: MANAGEMENT, BEHAVIOUR AND REPRODUCTION", Dominic Wormell et al, 1996 (Journal: The Dodo).