I've just uploaded a lot of the photos to the gallery: Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens - Photo Galleries | ZooChat I still have about twenty to go (mainly the primate and Big Cat cages) but I had to stop because the site started giving me an error message. They will be added in due course.
you didn't see the wierd white foxes when you were there? The photo doesn't show the animal at all well, but you can see the picture on the sign at least. It is just labelled as "Vulpes sp.". White Fox watching Smooth-coated Otters | ZooChat
I checked my notes and the gibbons on the island were signed as Nomascus gabrielle in January 2016, so they probably still are. I think I missed the Sun Bear pit, not a big loss by the sound of it.
yep the ones on the island were the gabriellae - it is the ones in the cage which I thought I may have been confused on. And yes, the sun bear pit is best missed...
sorry for bumping up the old thread, but the animal in question seems to be the Arctic fox (according to ZIMS they have 0.1 Vulpes lagopus pribilofensis)
Thanks for that. At the time of the visit I thought they were Arctic Foxes but the sign only had them as "Vulpes sp." (apart for the Vietnamese name which I can't read), and so in the species list on the first page of this thread I put a question mark after the name. Since then I have thought that Arctic Fox was really unlikely in a Vietnamese zoo, so figured they must instead have been some farm-bred white form of Red Fox or Raccoon Dog. Interesting that they are indeed Arctic Foxes.
Of course there is always the possibility of misidentification/data entry error in ZIMS. A few years ago my home zoo (Maryland Zoo) exhibited a definitive farm-bred white fox, which was labeled and recorded in ZIMS as an Arctic fox. So if the zoo misidentifies an animal the ZIMS records would reflect that... Unfortunately, ZIMS does not record where the Saigon foxes came form - it simply states that 1.1 were received in January 2017 and 1.1 in March 2017, of which 0.1 is still alive
@Chlidonias I would also think it is the arctic fox. The name of that sign translates to "snow fox", so that would make sense
I found this news article from June 2016: Saigon Zoo to exchange tigers, monkeys for camels, Arctic foxes The Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Ho Chi Minh City downtown has affirmed plans to work with other local zoos and exchange some of its tigers and monkeys for camels and Arctic foxes. A statement from the zoo, which is one of the most popular family destinations in District 1, said it will transfer two Bengal tigers, four Indochinese tigers and three langurs to Cu Chi Water Park in the northwest district to receive two camels and four Arctic foxes in return. The water park, also doubles as a zoo, will also send over two white tigers, one zebra and five ostriches. The zoo will also exchange two Bengal tiger cubs, two yellow-cheeked gibbons and a python with the Prenn, a tourist park in Da Lat famous for the namesake waterfalls, for two ostriches and five shelducks. A tourism company in Hanoi will also deliver two hyenas in exchange for two yellow-cheeked gibbons from the zoo.
What species of langur will go up to Cu Chi? The tourism company in Hanoi? You know what facility that would be?
I found an old news item regarding Indochinese tigers at Saigon Zoo. Link: Another endangered tiger delivers cubs at Vietnam zoo Any idea how purebred their IndoChina tigers would be? They also hold - I am afraid - "white" and Bengal tigers? (both have since been bred unfortunately ...)
The langurs will be Annamese Silvered Langurs (Saigon only have those and doucs, and they would have specified doucs if it were that species). The Hanoi company is the Bao Son Group which owns the Bao Son Paradise Park.
What I know about douc langur at Saigon Zoo. That up till 2016 they had received 4 red-shanked youngsters from various confiscations in and around Da Nang (reserve). Link: Endangered baby monkey finds new home at Saigon Zoo Not sure how large their groups of red shanked douce would be now (you would be in a better position to judge as I have not recently visited Ho Chi Minh Zoo at the Thao Cam Vien site. I would appreciate any info on the current housing at HCM Zoo for leaf eating primates. I do hope they learned a few things off Cuc Phuong and Nam Cat Tien staff.
According to ZIMS, they currently hold 1.1 red-shanked douc, 1.2 grey-shanked douc, and 1.2 black-shanked douc, as well as 5.17.12 silver langurs.
Thanks for you access shot of ZIMS here. BTW: silver langurs is actually a very large complex of different species. As estimado Childonias observed earlier these should be the Annamese species T. germaini. Link to species: https://www.primatewatching.com/t-germaini One can only wonder then how accurate and current the ZIMS system allows the known and accepted speciation within the Trachypithecus complex has actually come through in the system. Please do remember species richness and biodiversity are very important (and not just for in-situ populations) and it must be avoided at all costs that interbreeding and mixing of known origin and different species occurs in Trachypithecus both captive and wild.
Yes you are absolutely right there! I checked the media gallery and found an excellent photo of the species there. Indochinese silver langurs have quite recently been split into the Annamese Trachypithecus margarita (south-central Vietnam) and the Indochinese T. germaini (Cu Phuoc island and Kien Luong karst landscape on the southern tip of Vietnam). I have also added for convenience / reference sake's the correct species link: https://www.primatewatching.com/t-margarita
