I came across this 2015 article from the Prague Zoo which is interesting. It is about the Laotian Rock Rat and hints at the possibility of an attempt to establish a captive population, which would be very welcome both from the conservation aspect and from that of Zoochatters wanting to see one. There's a nice photo on the link as well. Following the Mysterious kha-nyou
I agree that zoos should try to keep and breed kha-nyous, which are the only remaining members of their family. There are several mammal families represented by one or very few species, which are rarely, if ever, kept in zoos. I have only seen dassie rats once, at Berlin Tierpark, although Zootierliste says that dassie rats were kept at Plzen Zoo from 2004-2006. It is a pity that many zoos seem to prefer preserving subspecies of some mammals, rather than preserving entire families; in some cases, these families are the only representatives of a mammalian order.
The Prague zoo director´s mentioned a little about this planned breeding program in an interview with local newspaper last month. So it´s still on cards.
