It would be wonderful if they could get Proboscis Monkeys, maybe they could by time become as good with their breeding as their neighbour in Singapore. As to the pigmy elephants, I hope they'll get a better exhibit than what is being offered to the zoo's present elephants.
my thoughts on it are that although they may be getting these animals from Lok Kawi (which has bred a few elephants and proboscis monkeys), it seems far more likely that they are going to be being caught from the wild.
The State of Sabah is in a fierce battle with mainland Malaysia to stop the export of wildlife from Sabah alltogether. This was mainly to do with orang utans from a rehab center, but it now seems to take in this deal as well. Personally, if well thought out and adequate facilities and good manpower capabilities are in place there is nothing wrong with an extension of several ex situ breeding programmes.
If the captive breeding of Proboscis Monkeys is to be sustained, there needs to be new bloodlines introduced. As successful as Singapore is at breeding these guys, if no other zoo achieves a similar level of success, it is ultimately a lost cause. While as a rule I'm not in favour of taking animals from the wild, Proboscis Monkeys are a species which could be easily reintroduced if captive breeding works well, and the acquisition of new blood from wild populations is important.
Zooish, I tend to agree on this one. I would even advocate this for some of the rarer langur species of SE Asia. Interpretative board signs goes only so far to highlight attention. Nothing beats seeing red langur or banded leafs pro natura (either in situ or in a zoo environment). I do hope that with the current increased level of attention to captive management in SE Asia, that SE primates including proboscis monkeys will feature more prominently in captivity and that an functioning ex situ breeding programme can be developped on the lines of the experiences at Singapore (and Surabaya zoos).
i hope that they wont import such beautiful animals to Zoo Negara from Sabah...Zoo negara should upgrade their present animal's welfares and facilities first...because alot of animals are dying there of poor maintenance...hope they can recover it and then they can import how many animals they want.....
