The narrow striped mongoose / boky boky

Some footage of when ZSL London's little one was born:



Jersey's latest little boky boky born:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=203705877601585

Some footage of Jersey's narrow striped mongoose who seem very fond of their keeper (and his / her wellington boots):

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1617517148386690

Some footage of the species at Berlin zoo (very irritating background music unfortunately):

 

Overwhelming cuteness.

 

Boky-boky is one of my favorite small mammals too. They were one of the most interesting species, I have seen in London back in 2016. Saw them also in Plzen and Wroclaw and spent a lot of time watching the Wroclaw's very cute and very active girl. They were off-show when I was in Berlin and Chester. Haus des Meeres in Vienna is the newest Boky-boky holder in Europe in their Madagascar exhibit.

I was lucky to see Fossas, Ring-tailed Vontsiras and the Magdeburg's Grandidier's Vontsiras, but the Covid 19 canceled my Fanaloka quest to Exmoor, unfortunately. Neunkirchen was planning to put the Fanalokas on-show last year, but after the newborn tragic lost, they postponed.

 

I know you to be a huge fan of the Euplerids @twilighter so was hoping you would comment.

So you have seen four species too but are missing the Fanaloka rather than the Grandidier's.

The narrow striped mongoose is definitely one of my favourite small carnivores and I suppose small mammals too (but there are a lot of those on my favourite list).

I didn't know that Plzen or Wrocklaw had them too, but it doesn't come as a suprise as I know they have some real rarities over there in zoos in Poland and the Czech Republic.

That is such a shame about the Fanaloka trip, but there will be future opportunities for sure .

 

Yes, as many ZooChaters, I adore Euplerids and generally spend a lot of time to observe them. The exhibits of Ring-tailed Vontsiras and Bokys in Plzen are next to each other and it is a huge delight to see them together.

I was also very fascinated by the Grandidier's Vontsiras , they were my most exciting sighting last year !

And yes, the Fanalokas are definitely my major nemesis animals , but I will try to reach them again asap. I had ticket to Vienna too and was planning to to see the Bokys in Haus de Meeres, but hopefully it will happen soon.

 

The Grandidier's look quite similar to the narrow striped mongoose to me, the most notable difference being the distinctively darker stripes, a beautiful looking animal indeed.

The quest for the fanaloka continues then...I'm sure you will see one of these eventually and when you do the wait will have been worth it

 

I have another question for you @twilighter

Just out of curiosity when did you develop your interest in the Euplerids ?

What was it that got you interested in this particular group of mammals ?

 

Long time ago actually. I was captured by the Fossas since small kid and remember that was particularly interested in the Falanouc in a later stage. The true love to the whole group started, when I received the first volume of the Handbook of Mammals of the World (Carnivores) and found out that they are combined in a new family and a new very exciting names have been proposed to replace, the not so phylogenetically accurate Mongooses and Civets. The fact that they had appeared millions of years after the Madagascar was separated from Africa was also very interesting for me. One of the hypothesis is that their ancestor cross the Ocean estivating. I wrote a small article in a science magazine for Euplerids in Bulgarian ( my mother language) ten years ago and they became one of my favorite families since than, matched only by the Cats and Bovids

 

Thank you for sharing this @twilighter !

Its amazing what a contact with a book or any kind of early experience with an animal can have in formative terms isn't it ?

I also find the oceanic dispersal and the speciation and radiation of the euplerids and the lemurs to be fascinating it is one of those amazingly beautiful evolutionary accidents.

I would love to see that article by the way, if you can and feel comfortable sharing it please do it would be wonderful to see.

Do you remember the first time you saw a fossa in the flesh in a zoo ? When was this and what was the experience like ?

 

Yes, any early contact with a book drawing or animal in flesh was a real event for me. I will try to find the article and translate it, but it doesn't have any scientific value.

I saw my first Fossa only last summer in Paris and it was fantastic moment . Later on I enjoyed them in Chester, Duisburg, San Diego, Bronx and LA, but the most unforgettable Fossa experience was the close encounter with the four babies in Frankfurt this September.

 

So what were your first thoughts upon seeing the fossa in Pairs, if you dont mind please describe it to me ?

It seems like you have seem these animals in a good few zoos, but what was the close encounter in Frankfurt ? I mean how close was this encounter?

I remember my first encounter with a fossa at a zoo, I remember admiring what a handsome and strange looking creature it was and particularly the large and curious looking eyes.

I also remember perceiving from the very start just how strong and undulled its predatory instinct was even in captivity. I remember thinking to myself "I would hate to be a lemur and faced with a killing machine like that".

 

Paris had tree young individuals back than and I was impressed how agile and fast they are, playing with each other and chasing each other on the trees. They looked somehow clumsy on the ground, but perfectly designed for a treetop killers.


The scene in Frankfurt was centimeters close and much more sentimental, cos all four of the babies were cuddling around their loving mother.

 

Incredible shots ! I love the one of the fossa in mid leap !

Did you take these ?

 

Yes, thank you !

 

They are great shots, the cubs are adorable.

 

Seeing as this species isn't kept by too many zoos at all, thought I would profile the different enclosures for it at zoos beginning with Germany, Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Berlin Zoo

These are the indoor enclosures for the species:






Here are the outdoor enclosures which look quite traditional in style and size:


Haus des Meeres

Not too many pictures of what their enclosure looks like unfortunately.


Zoo Plzen

Not sure if this is the full extent of the enclosure at Plzen:


Wroclaw zoo

Hard to tell what the enclosure looks like in full but it appears similar to the one at Plzen:

Photo credits to @ronnienl , @lintworm , , @twilighter, @TeaLovingDave ,@gulogulogulo and @Maguari.

 

Now for the holdings of this species in the UK

Newquay zoo

The pair kept at Newquary seem to be very charismatic and make full use of their lovely enclosure (which interestingly is shared by crowned lemurs):




The enclosure looks to be really beautifully planted and very impressive IMO:



Jersey zoo

View of indoor housing (right) and outdoor enclosure (left) for the Boky boky, it looks like a really great enclosure for these guys:





London zoo

This is the only enclosure of the ones I've posted so far that I've seen in person. Can't really tell from the pictures but it is an ok enclosure and quite large but I wasn't especially overly impressed with it.

I would say it does the purpose (and certainly quite well if the boky boky have bred here so often) and is utilitarian.

Personally, I really don't think it is particularly good at showcasing the species to the public though and I think that Jersey and Newquay zoos do far better in this regard.



Photo credits to @JamesB, @gentle lemur, , @JerseyGorilla , @ThylacineAlive, @JigerofLemuria, @Al , @littleRedPanda , @TeaLovingDave and @gulogulogulo.

 

Some additional photos to your great photo review:

Zoo Plzen Indoor







Outdoor



Wroclaw zoo

 

This is brilliant @twilighter ! thanks for sharing !

These pictures certainly give a much better impression of the enclosures these animals are held in.

So the boky boky share their enclosure at Plzen with a lemur species (is that a collared lemur ?), that is interesting, the same kind of set up as Newquay.

What enclosure for this species is the best that you have seen yet ?

 

Yes the Boky has sharing enclosure with Brown Lemurs.