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Discussion in 'Singapore' started by Ituri, 28 Feb 2009.

  1. Ituri

    Ituri Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    NIGHT SAFARI OPENS NEW PANGOLIN HABITAT | World Zoo Today
     
  2. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    the first pangolin exhibit in the world? That sounds like reporter gibberish...;)

    on another note, this was in a link at the bottom of the Singapore Night safari article...
    Breeding centre for pangolins | World Zoo Today
     
  3. Ituri

    Ituri Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    That is gibberish. Phoenix Zoo displayed a Chinese pangolin in the early/mid 90's.
     
  4. Zooish

    Zooish Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    A bit of sad news, a baby Sunda Pangolin was born at Night Safari for the first time last month, but due to the mother's inexperience the baby did not survive.
     
  5. Kifaru Bwana

    Kifaru Bwana Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    It is quite commonplace that in primiparous females the offspring succumbs due to motherly inexperience.

    I would not look on it to negatively ..., it is a learning curve and on the positive perhaps a first for the Sunda pangolin.

    Given the IUCN Red List status of each, it is more than positive that successful captive-breeding can now be demonstrated in several pangolin species (viz India-Nandankan Zoo and Taiwan-National Zoo breeding success).
     
  6. Zooish

    Zooish Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    @Kifaru Bwana: Indeed the successes at the other zoos point to captive breeding as a viable conservation option for the pangolin.

    Below are links to a 30-minute Singapore-made documentary which takes viewers behind-the-scenes at the Night Safari. A rare glimpse at the park in daylight and also some insight on husbandry for elephants, pangolins, clouded leopards and more. Please note the Parental Guidance advisory due to graphic scenes of a post-mortem (hog deer).

    Part 1:


    Part 2:


    Part 3:
     
    Last edited by a moderator: 6 Jul 2017
  7. gerenuk

    gerenuk Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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  8. Fossa dude

    Fossa dude Well-Known Member

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    I'm sure San Diego exhibited there Pangolins before this.
     
  9. Zooish

    Zooish Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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  10. Zooish

    Zooish Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    San Diego sure did. Taiwan did too i think. Night Safari clarified that it's the world's first SUNDA Pangolin exhibit. SD exhibited African Pangolin while Taiwan has Chinese Pangolins.

    The marketing/publicity folk get carried away sometimes... :rolleyes:
     
  11. dragon(ele)nerd

    dragon(ele)nerd Well-Known Member

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    Are there anymore details or recent articles on the calf? Are anymore females pregnant or is there anymore breeding attempts? Four of the females at the zoo are at a fertile age.
     
  12. Zooish

    Zooish Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    No further news releases, probably because the calf still hasn't passed the critical survival period (typically such births are announced 1 to 2 months later).

    I can't confirm it, but I don't believe any of the other females are pregnant.

    Out of the four at the zoo, two are E.m.sumatranus (the rest are E.m.indica) so they won't be part of the breeding programme. The other two have been introduced to the bull but no breeding success yet.

    Attempts to mate the two other cows at Night Safari with the bull have also not been successful.
     
  13. dragon(ele)nerd

    dragon(ele)nerd Well-Known Member

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    Subspecies of asian elephants have been bred together many times before. Two females at Berlin TP are also of the sumatran subspecies but have been bred with a E.m indica bull. I'm just curious if Singapore zoo gives a detailed reason why not to breed Intan and Aprila?
     
  14. dragon(ele)nerd

    dragon(ele)nerd Well-Known Member

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    It's too bad Gambir ( from the zoo) never concieved
    "Gambir, the most promising elephant cow reproduction-wise, visited the elephants in Night Safari almost every morning during May and June 2008 to be mated with Chawang. "

    www.sg | Singapore | Singapore Yearbook
     
  15. Zooish

    Zooish Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    While the zoo has never publicly mentioned that Intan and Aprila won't be part of the breeding programme, it would only be wise of a zoo to maintain genetic purity right down to subspecies level as far as possible. There is less conservation value in perpetuating hybrids.

    And you never know, a few years down the road scientists might declare E.m.sumatranus a separate species altogether (as with Pongo abelli).
     
  16. Kifaru Bwana

    Kifaru Bwana Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I do hope the Singapore Zoo become so foresighted as to initiate a separate programme for breeding Sumatran elephants with the evt. introduction of several more individual eles from Sumatra (incl. 1-2 bulls).

    I personally deplore the fact that several EU zoos maintain known separate ssp. Asiatic eles with other mainland eles. In order to conserve known ESU's zoos have a duty in that respect too. In the end, their hybridisation will serve no real conservation or educational purpose (viz the zoo mix lion debacle almost everywhere).
     
  17. Jurek7

    Jurek7 Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    AFAIK there are indeed two breeding Sumatran famales and two breeding Bornean females. For these, EU needs to import at least one bull of each form!

    I agree that both Sumatran and Bornean elephants make very good candidates for separate breeding plans. Both are endangered and habitat degradation means that they no longer can become common in the wild, and are maintained in captivity in Asia now.
     
  18. Zooish

    Zooish Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I don't think that will happen in the near future. The 2 Sumatran females were brought in to the Zoo to take on "working" roles such as giving rides and being in the shows, and therefore freeing up the E.m.indica females to be part of the breeding programme.

    The Zoo lacks the space to house a separate Sumatran elephant herd.
     
  19. Zooish

    Zooish Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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  20. Kifaru Bwana

    Kifaru Bwana Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    And apparently not the first Sunda pangolin to be born.
    It relates to 4+ individuals now at the NS.