Last of their kind in a zoo

I know what you mean @Marcus Burkhardt, the chances of seeing an animal in the wild can be very slim with some species and unfortunately I think that the Jentinks happens to be one of those highly cryptic ungulates which are very hard to get sightings of in the wild.

That said, I wouldn't give up with that goal of trying to see one. I think that it is worth a try and even if you didn't see a Jentinks then you may still stand a good chance of seeing many other fauna native to that particular region of Western Africa.

I've just had a look at your site and through your portfolio of paintings and sketches and you are an excellent and very accomplished natural history artist. I particularly like your oil paintings of birds and especially of the spoonbill, the emperor penguins (love the way you've caught the light coming through the water) and the sketch of the shoebill.

I also think that what you do in terms of the donation of money earned through your artwork to the IUCN Wild cattle group is very noble so I congratulate and admire you for doing this.

 

Thanks a lot for Your words! Yes, it's worth the try. Also one chance could be if one animal would come into a wild animal shelter for orphaned or injured animals. Beside the fact that the reason for an animal to come there is always a sad reason, staying in touch with such shelters could bring a surprise one day. But I don't know of such a shelter in W-Africa, and, as You said, there is maybe lower tourism than in other african regions, what could have a negative impact in financing such facilitys.

 

No problem I love art and its great to see it being used to support such a great cause.

There is definitely a chance that one of these duiker will end up in a sanctuary.

Snares are so commonly used in poaching for the bushmeat trade that this makes the likelihood of one of these animals being brought in injured and unable to be returned to the wild quite high.

It seems very unusual to me that there wouldn't be one of these being kept in some sanctuary somewhere in West Africa.

Have you tried contacting some of the sanctuaries in the region or conservationists working within the protected areas where the Jentiks are still extant ?

 

Clement the last Cape hartebeest at Wrocklaw zoo, Poland:

Photo credit to @Tim May.

 

No, I don't know such a sanctuary in this region. I should do some research in this direction. WWF has something to do in Tai national park, maybe they would be a good contact for first surveys. Btw I know that Monrovia zoo kept at least one Jentink's duiker until the zoo was sadly destroyed in 1993 during civil war.

 

I tried looking on google for any mention of any sanctuaries or zoos in the region that keep this species but unfortunately I wasn't able to find anything out.

Yes, I did find that paper by Newing on behavioural observations of a Jentink's duiker at the Monrovia zoo but as you say the zoo and that individual is long gone so though it is interesting historically and possibly in a general ecology sense it isn't really relevant to the present day.

I think in this case it is best to ask around and correspond with some of the duiker and IUCN SSC antelope specialist group researchers. I am sure they will be in the know with regards to the status of this species in captivity and other information.

 

Oh nice, I don't know about this paper. I try to find it too. I did know about this specimen because I searched for information about the following photo, which was taken by Michael Gore at Monrovia in 1993. I contacted the photographer personally for the information. There is also a yellow-backed in the background.

 

Oh yeah, I didn't notice the other duiker at first glance.

What did the photographer say it ?

 

@Marcus Burkhardt Monrovia zoo was once famous of it's Duiker collection. This is photo from the book "Duikers of Africa - Masters of the African Forest Floor: A Study of Duikers" shows several species kept together with Bushbuck including Jentinks, Zebra and Bay duiker.


I been in LA zoo last year and, even they do not keep Zebra Duiker anymore still have great collection of Red-flanked, Yellow-backed and Black Duikers

 

If a big enough population was to be imported, would the Jentink's duiker have a possible future in captivity? Are they harder to keep than let's say Yellow-backed?

 

Looks like a beautiful book ! how did you come by it ?

 

I have absolutely no idea and I'm interested in hearing from what others more knowledgeable about duikers than me have to say.

However, I would venture a guess that given enough research put into the husbandry of a species and a realistic mindset towards the inevitable challenges that it is possible to keep most mammal species.

Moreover, judging by how long the last captive individual "Taz" lived I would imagine it could work.

That said, would any zoo consider importing Jentink's duiker anymore ?

Would there be the will to try to source the species as wild caught specimens in some very challenging field conditions and countries to work in ?

I'm inclined to think that the vast majority of zoos wouldn't have either the interest or the will to consider keeping this species.

 

Sierra Leone and Liberia are very tense areas, Ivory coast has been quieter this year and it is a country with very close political links to Europe (well much of Africa anyway as colonialism is still there in many ways). I think if someone is willing to put the money needed, they can be sourced like any other species in Africa, I mean, when did Gladis Porter Zoo receive their last Bushbucks?

 

Interesting points @Rayane !

Yes, I agree that the Ivory Coast is in a far more stable situation than Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Yep, again agree that sadly colonialism in a more insidious form is still alive and well in Africa.

Sure, if the money is willing to be put up then why not ?

But realistically speaking how many zoos would be that averse to risk to embark on such a venture.

 

Brownsville was the only zoo to breed them, but they had 31 offsprings from about 1970 to 1996, which seems to be a success. Sadly they were highly reduced there by an equine sickness around 2000, which may be a main reason that they are gone from zoos. LAZ got some offspring, as far as I know, but they never bred there. I don't think that it would be more difficult than the yellow backed, but I'm not a keeper, they should know more.

 

Not much, just the year, place of the photo and that the zoo was destroyed later in this year. He also said that in his time as a british ambassador he walked widely through the West African bush for two years, mainly to observe birds, but has never seen a Jentink in the wild.

 

The phenomenon of institutional fatigue within zoos towards the species could have been an additional factor that compounded the situation.

Doesn't suprise me that he didn't see one as one of the few things that I've read consistently about the jentinks is how incredibly elusive they are.

 

Oh this was paradise! I also want to have this book, but It is so expensive (500 € on amazon), but I have seen that I can borrow it from a libary after Corona lockdown.

 

I will not stop posting about that species on Facebook until tenthousands of people demonstrating to enforce a stable captive population of Jentink's duikers.

 

I admire your persistence but it may take some time to get 10,000 people interested in this species given the vapidity and mediocrity of most facebook users.

I do hope though that if zoos were to get into the Jentink's again that past lessons would have been learned and that the aim would be for long-term commitment to keeping ex-situ.