It's pretty common in US collection, though I believe the numbers here are declining as well. They certainly aren't very popular animals at the collections that have them.
Constantly providing fresh blood for creatures that somehow disappoint most visitors ("Those are vampires? Where? They are so tiny and smelly. Let's go back to the meerkats and ring-tailed lemurs"), keeping them constantly warm and in large nocturnal enclosures (that might be detrimental to breeding) doesn't make them a priority species that also has no conservation value as the last saving grace. They are something for zoological nerds. ^^
Yes, I guess there could be challenges in terms of maintaining temperature and particularly in Northern hemisphere countries and also yes they do have absolutely no conservation value and in fact are as the name suggests incredibly common. I guess I am one of those Zoological nerds then as I would definitely prefer watching them to seeing s**** ring tailed lemurs and meerkats. But anyway Welt der gifte Salzburg can hardly be considered your normal / average zoo so you are not restricted by those limitations and if vampire bats do become available and the enclosure considerations etc can be met then my advice would be to just go for them.
They are, like many other microbats, rodents, insectivores, fish, amphibians, invertebrates... but only for the fan, not for the mainstream. Still, since I have a very soft spot for bats, I'd love to keep them one day at WdG.
I saw vampire bats for the first time in the Cincinnati Zoo last year. Their enclosure was really interesting - a medium sized "cave" like exhibit in the nocturnal house. They had blood out so you could watch the bats feeding. It was very engaging. I didn't experience any negative smell, but they were well shielded behind glass so maybe that helped.
How do you know this, birdsandbats? I suspect that the opposite of what you say is true. It would be interesting if someone has done visitor surveys and/or observational studies of this in front of vampire bat exhibits. I suspect that the small number of places exhibiting them has more to do with their being high-maintenance animals than being uninteresting to people.
Despite being a huge bat fan, I do think @birdsandbats has a point. I have never seen vampire bats draw a huge crowd, not even in Cincinnati. You might devalue this as anecdotal evidence, but the aspect that the number of European zoos keeping vampire bats has shrunken down to a single institution without hardly anyone noticing indicates that they do not have a great following, both among the majority of visitors and the zoo nerds. And unlike elephants, polar bears, great apes etc., there is not even a single ZC thread dedicated solely to them. Displaying vampire bats in a zoo faces most of the same issues of displaying other microbats. Due to their small size, secretive behavior, dull coloration and the usual dark conditions in nocturnal houses, normal visitors have a hard time seeing them. And when they see them, they are, due to the expectations set by years of watching horror movies, disappointed, as they expect them to be at least the size of basketballs, to sport glowing red eyes and huge fangs dripping blood. And maybe to sparkle in the sun and say "Blebleble" in a fake Romanian accent...The rather blant presentation by most zoos does not help to improve the impression.
This was unintentionally hilarious Batto especially the bit about the Romanian accent, literally spat out my coffee laughing and my significant other is looking at me as if I've lost my mind.
Well it was hilarious anyway and also very true because I do think that the notoriety that the species has due to popular culture makes people have wild expectations that get quite disappointed when they see it in the flesh and think "WTF".
I suspect the fact the species seems not to breed very well in captivity has a bearing on the matter too - the sizeable group at Zoo Berlin was present for about 15 years with no successful breeding, and the group at Poznan has only bred once or twice in the mid-1990s. I have a feeling Krefeld had a decent-sized group which were killed by a thermostat malfunction - perhaps things would be a shade less dire had this not happened.
Quite interesting that these have never been as prolific breeders in captivity as they are in the wild and I wonder why this is exactly. I know most microbats can be very difficult to accomodate in captivity but the Phyllostomids are not as challenging as other bat species (with the exception of the species in Battos profile picture which as far as I'm aware of has never been kept successfully for long).
@Batto By the way, I'm checking the facebook page out of your zoo and just have to say that is one excellent logo. Very cool Gaboon viper design.
I think the federal requirements for their husbandry in some European countries might have to do with that; Berlin's mammal curator had similar suspicions. The Austrian standards, for example, require 20 qm at 2.5m height for 20 microbat specimens (and that you offer insects to vampire bats). In comparison: the minimum requirements for a pair of slow loris is 4qm and 2m height. Judging from the more successful breeding results in American zoos and more basic husbandries in laboratories, vampire bats seem to do better (and breed) at "cozier" conditions, maybe due to having to invest less energy in maintaining their optimal temperature when huddled together?
If I recall correctly from the Zoobat thread, a pair of Vampyrum spectrum was kept for several years in captivity. Thank you; a Spanish/Austrian friend designed it for us. AFAIK, the first gaboon viper logo ever used for a zoo.
For those who do not follow WdG on Facebook: Due to the new Austrian COVID-19 Lockdown regulations for zoos and museums, I'll have to close the WdG for visitors, starting tomorrow, till probably the end of November (for now). I'm still continuing to work in my day job, so I can cover the rent and the additional costs (for now). One of the benefits of working in a position "relevant to the system". I wonder whether I'm going to be compensated by the government, since I had to cancel several events for November.
Yes, I remember reading a paper on that Vampyrum spectrum pair too, but it wasn't too long considering that they are believed to be able to live up to almost a decade. Excellent logo, the Gaboon viper is such a characteristic and charismatic looking snake that they make the perfect symbol of your zoo.
