Is the zoo's reptile house currently open or are little to no reptiles currently on-display due to the construction of the new house? ~Thylo
The country’s oldest reticulated giraffe, Patches, has died at age 31. Zoo Knoxville: Patches, beloved giraffe, has died
Zoo reopens after being closed for 10 days due to historic flooding. Zoo Knoxville reopens after $400k in historic flood damage, hopes to recoup through ticket sales
The zoo plans to build a new reptile/amphibian complex. Zoo Knoxville announces new $18M reptile, amphibian habitat
Frances the giraffe is pregnant and due in a few weeks - this’ll be Knoxville’s first calf in 17 years. Zoo Knoxville giraffe Frances is pregnant
Frances has given birth; mom and calf are doing great. Zoo Knoxville giraffe Frances gives birth to a calf, zoo's first in 17 years
Knoxville really knocks it out of the park with this species. Only a zoo in Holland has bred more. Just wonderful. I haven't seen any studbooks for this species in 10 years when there were about 10,000 in the wild and 800 in human care. It seems as if every zoo has red pandas, and new births are announced regularly. Some individuals have even been reintroduced in the wild. Surely these old numbers have changed in 10 years? Are they still considered endangered?
IUCN last assessed the conservation status of Red Pandas in 2015. They were changed from Vulnerable to Endangered. They have specific criteria that assist in making these designations. Previously published Red List assessments 2008 — Vulnerable ( VU ) 1996 — Endangered ( EN ) 1994 — Vulnerable ( V ) 1990 — Insufficiently Known ( K ) 1988 — Insufficiently Known ( K ) Justification Red Panda is listed as Endangered because its population has plausibly declined by 50% over the last three generations (estimated at 18 years) and this decline is projected to continue, and probably intensify, in the next three generations. There is no credible quantification of decline rate from anywhere in the species' range. The overall forest loss rate at appropriate altitudes in the species' range is suspected to be sufficient for Near Threatened status (about 25% in the last three generations), but Red Panda populations are suspected to be declining much faster, reflecting a battery of direct threats, this species' fragmented present range, and poor survival in fragmented areas. (1) Red Panda diet is 98% bamboo. These plants show mass flowering followed by die off. Red Pandas will not readily find new feeding grounds in a highly fragmented landscape and are exposed to other threats when crossing unsuitable habitat. These bamboos do not easily re-establish after flowering in areas of environmental degradation and deforestation, which are now widespread across the species's range. (2) Red Pandas are highly susceptible to canine distemper (even developing the disease after vaccination with domestic dog vaccine), which is lethal to them. As more people, particularly herders, encroach Red Panda habitat, contact between domestic dogs (and their excreta) and Red Pandas increases. Unless all dogs (including feral ones) in Red Panda habitat are vaccinated against this disease the chance that it will enter and spread in the wild Red Panda population with catastrophic consequences are high. (3) Red Panda has specific habitat requirements for forest type, altitude, slope gradient and aspect, proximity to water courses, precipitation and presence of tree stumps. The gentle slopes and rich bamboo understorey of Red Panda habitat make it also a prime choice for herders with their dogs. Cattle also prefer these more gentle slopes, so trample bamboo, which is also collected extensively by herdsmen and used for fodder. In addition tree stumps are often collected by local villagers for firewood. (4) Hunting for trade seems to be increasing, Red Pandas are starting to enter the pet trade, perhaps partly in response to the increasing number of ‘cute’ images on social media. Deforestation and road building are easing access to Red Panda habitat. There are reports of poachers capturing Red Pandas in Nepal and Myanmar to satisfy the Chinese demand for the species (as wild meat, for medicine and for skins). The smaller population fragments, such as in Nepal, can support little or no off-take. (5) The human population in the Eastern Himalayas is growing at an average rate of 2.1% (doubling time 33 years). With this growth more people are moving into Red Panda habitat for their livelihoods, thereby exacerbating the above threats. Yonzon and Hunter (1991) showed that Red Panda mortality is high in disturbed areas; in their study area only three of the 12-13 cubs born survived to six months and only five of the nine adults survived the study period. They stated that 57% of these deaths were directly related to human causes. Comparable figures from undisturbed habitat are not available; but annual mortality rates such as these cannot possibly be sustainable. The Ailuridae comprises a monospecific family. In part for this reason of conservation priority, with the evidence of precise decline rate being inadequate for certain discrimination between Vulnerable and Endangered, the precautionary course is taken of categorisation as Endangered, pending more precise information. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
You clearly know more than your average individual and really it is not an unnamed zoo in a country. Just feel free to name that zoo as there really is no shame in it! For all good purposes: That zoo in Holland is the Rotterdam Blijdorp Zoo in the Netherlands, whom incidentally also are the International Studbook Keeper for the species. I have placed the path to the most recent ISB copy on here (the data are current till 31/12/2016 and were printed from the SPARKS/ZIMS database on 12/07/2017): https://www.diergaardeblijdorp.nl/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/A.f.fulgens-2017.pdf Enjoy the read! BTW some interesting in situ conservation news: At the moment, the ISB - Rotterdam Zoo (along with various other institutions) support the in situ program for the planned red panda reintroduction in India and the monitoring of wild pandas in Nepal. For the India program there is very exciting development: red panda reintroduction. Effectively, this has already happened previously from 2011 onwards, but this is the first time advanced RC technology is being applied by the Wildlife Institute of India in cooperation with the Central Zoo Authority. Blijdorp Zoo trialled the testproofing of radio collars for monitoring the released red pandas (the CZA conservation breeding program initiated by the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park in Darjeeling, West Bengal State) for captive individuals. The trial has just been completed and later in the year the PHZP - Darjeeling Zoo plans to release the 4 candidate red pandas into Singilla National Park. More information at: Darjeeling zoo to release captive bred red pandas in the wild - wePen The Nepal program is a wild-wild monitoring program and has run a Forest Guardians project and monitors the local red panda population in eastern Nepal. The project is led by the Red Panda Network. More information at: Visiting the red panda conservation project in Nepal - Rotterdam Zoo
Thank you to both of you, and especially a link to a recent studbook. One question, though, Gerenuk:. You mention the red panda as a "monospecific family.". Aren't there two sub-species of red panda, or have they had to breed hybrid animals to save the species?
I'm not sure what you are asking. I've just copied/pasted from the red panda page of the IUCN red list. The construct of a sub-species is to demonstrate that there are or may be differences within a species. Monospecific family is a term that means there is one species within a family. The two concepts aren't really related or influence each other. Also, the IUCN red list is just a programme to determine conservation status. It doesn't create or manage specific conservation programmes for a species.
Not my post above. There are US zoos that breed and exhibit the Chinese subspecies, though the nominate population is larger. ~Thylo
