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Pangolin apocalypse! Can the zoos of the world do anything to help prevent it?

Discussion in 'General Zoo Discussion' started by DavidBrown, 6 Oct 2011.

  1. Dassie rat

    Dassie rat Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Thanks Ian

    I hadn't seen that article before. Some keepers at London Zoo were keen to try and keep the pangolin, but I can't tell whether it would have survived or not.
     
  2. fkalltheway

    fkalltheway Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Not like this book would ever be made into a mainstream movie, but I remembered seeing a children's book about a pangolin and I tracked it down. It's called "Roly Poly Pangolin" by Anna Dewdney, here's a link to it: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Roly-Poly-Pangolin-Anna-Dewdney/dp/0670011606/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319203384&sr=8-1]Amazon.com: Roly Poly Pangolin[/ame]. Not sure what the storyline is (I assume very basic as it's a children's book) but at least it gives some exposure to these lesser known creatures.
     
  3. pinkback

    pinkback Well-Known Member

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    Newquay Zoo funded the establishment of a pangolin research facility in partnership with its existing Small Carnivore Project based in Cuc Phuong National Park in Vietnam six years ago – the first of its kind in Asia.

    The main aim of the project is raising awareness of the trade and the problems of keeping pangolins in captivity and rehabilitating them into the wild. The problem is immense – hundreds, if not thousands, of tonnes of pangolins are traded in Asia and through Vietnam mostly to China. When seized, the animals are in appalling condition having travelled in sacks without food or water for many days. Dehydrated, malnourished and mostly with dog bite or snare wounds, the survival rate, even if they reach a rescue centre, is very low.

    Pangolins are sold by weight and there is a barbaric practice of pumping their stomachs full of flour and water so that they weigh more. This also kills them eventually. The research has shown that even low levels of stress causes intestinal ulcers which is the most common cause of death. Just taking a pangolin into captivity, even a healthy one, is usually stressful enough to kill it long before it has adapted to an artificial diet.

    Asian rescue centres simply don’t have the resources to tackle the problem of receiving seized pangolins which can be in shipments of up to two hundred or more. Usually there is no choice but to release the animals immediately back into the wild. In poor health and injured, it is doubtful whether many of them survive and sick and disorientated animals are easily recaught by hunters.

    Successfully maintaining pangolins at Cuc Phuong has been dependent on giving surviving animals a natural ant diet which is very labour-intensive. Trials with a whole range of artificial diets have not been successful. They now farm their own ants and silk worms which our study group of pangolins thrive on. There have been several births but survival rate of the offspring beyond a year is still a problem.

    The project has been most successful in networking the pangolin crisis between range countries to provide data to make a case for increasing protection, facilitating conferences and increasing the number of prosecutions for smuggling.

    Taipei has had some success, it is true, but they have also lost a lot of animals and breeding success has been low. Their complex diet is based on bee larva, not easily replicated certainly in rescue centre throughout Asia.

    I agree that finding a key to maintaining pangolins in captivity may be possible but I feel this still requires a great deal of research. Shipping the animals off to zoos would not help. The majority would simply take longer to die.

    Anyone travelling in Vietnam is welcome to visit the Carnivore and Pangolin Conservation Programme (CPCP) at Cuc Phuong National Park by appointment Home Currently the website is being worked on but anyone contacting the project can request to recieve newsletters. Almost the entire budget for the project over the six years so far as been provided by zoos.
     
  4. Hix

    Hix Wildlife Enthusiast and Lover of Islands 15+ year member Premium Member

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    @Pinkback: Thanks for such a detailed and current response, I found it very interesting. And although I have no immediate plans to visit Vietnam, if I ever do I will make visiting this facility a priority.

    :p

    Hix
     
  5. Zooish

    Zooish Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Does the Cuc Phuong facility house Sunda or Chinese pangolins? If its the Sunda species, it may be worthwhile to contact Singapore Zoo for their pangolin diet formula which had been adapted from the Taipei one to better suit the Sunda species. I don't think the Singapore formula uses bee larvae, but it does use mealworms, harvested wild ants and termite mound material.
     
  6. DavidBrown

    DavidBrown Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    It has been five years since I started this thread and sadly the conservation status of the world's pangolins does not seem to have improved.

    I'm curious if pangolins are starting to appear in more zoos? As of summer 2016 the San Diego Zoo continues to be the only North American zoo with a pangolin on exhibit.

    Is the Leipzig Zoo still the only European zoo with pangolins? Do they still have pangolins?

    Have any Asian zoos outside of Singapore and Taiwan started exhibiting pangolins on a regular basis?
     
  7. Giant Panda

    Giant Panda Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Leipzig is still the only European zoo with pangolins.

    This review should answer most of your questions: Captive breeding of pangolins: current status, problems and future prospects
     
  8. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    I linked Giant Panda's article elsewhere on the forum a while ago but I can't remember which thread it was on. But when I did that I noted that their list of "Institutes (programs) holding pangolins in captivity in the last decade." (Table 1) was missing some obvious examples. However they call the inclusions "programs" so maybe they have their own definitions of what to include.

    Anyway, apart for those in Table 1, Sunda Pangolins get kept at many local zoos (although perhaps not for very long per individual) - I've seen them at Lok Kawi in Borneo and devilfish saw them recently at the Bali Zoo in Indonesia; and Chinese Pangolins are at Ueno Zoo in Japan. Brookfield Zoo in the USA has White-bellied Pangolins off-display.
     
  9. Maguari

    Maguari Never could get the hang of Thursdays. 15+ year member Premium Member

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    I saw Chinese Pangolins at Saigon Zoo in 2012, but no idea if they are still there now.
     
  10. devilfish

    devilfish Well-Known Member

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    Apparently not; a friend of mine who visited a couple of weeks ago was told they don't have any currently.
     
  11. Vision

    Vision Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I recently saw 2 sunda pangolins in seperate exhibits in Batu secret zoo, Indonesia. They seemed very young though, so I'm not sure if the park has been keeping them for long.
     
  12. aardvark250

    aardvark250 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I recently saw some chinese pangolin in Ueno zoo,I really hope to see some wild,though.(I mean,there is pangolin in hong kong)
     
  13. pachyderm pro

    pachyderm pro Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    early this year the Brookfield zoo recived 8 pangolins 9 if you include a recent birth and 3 more current pregnince's that's a very good step for the spieces. Note:they are not yet on exhibit but are planned to soon
     
  14. MikeG

    MikeG Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Two more zoos in the USA have received Tree Pangolins within the last week. It seems that a serious effort is now underway to establish this species in captivity. Unfortunately, the zoos have so far been wary of making the information public. Hopefully this situation will soon change.
     
  15. Coelacanth18

    Coelacanth18 Well-Known Member Premium Member 5+ year member

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    If it were highly publicized and then failed, I imagine there could be a potential backlash. What they're doing is of very high importance, though, as captive breeding of pangolins could prove a successful key to saving them from extinction and the husbandry is far from figured out. We should wish these institutions good luck and hope they succeed.
     
  16. Dassie rat

    Dassie rat Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    How many times have zoos publicised giant pandas and then kept quiet about females not giving birth? Pangolins are worth publicising and animated versions appeared in 'Wild Life' or 'Robinson Crusoe' this year.
     
  17. Coelacanth18

    Coelacanth18 Well-Known Member Premium Member 5+ year member

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    @Dassie rat : I see your point, and I do think that zoos can and will have a major impact on educating the public about these amazing creatures. On the other hand, perhaps it will be easier for them to operate and work without having the public spotlight on them, and if that's what is necessary for them to continue their work then it's worth the wait until they see some progress.