What species would you like to see at Jersey Zoo ?

I wholeheartedly agree with your views on Jersey Zoo's policy of concentrating on endangered species; this is indeed its strength and should remain the focus of its activities.

You've certainly compiled a fascinating list of species that could be potential additions to Jersey's animal collection.

Taking the Hispaniolan solenodon as an example then, if Jersey Zoo were to acquire this species, I'm sure that scores of ZooChatters would make a pilgrimage to Jersey especially to see it. (I know I would!)

However the majority of visitors to Jersey Zoo are holidaymakers staying on the island; most are not serious zoo enthusiasts who would be excited about seeing an obscure small mammal.

Consequently, important as Jersey Zoo's conservation work undoubtedly is, I have no issues with the zoo keeping some popular zoo animals to attract visitors. I think it would be short-sighted to replace well-liked animals such as the otters and meerkats.

 

Thank you for your comment Tim ! Much appreciated !

I totally agree, I for one would most definitely make a pilgrimage both to Jersey and eventually to the Dominican Republic to see these animals. However, the Aspinall thread on the forum did get me thinking critically recently on the subject of the solenodon and other species too.

Considering that recent data obtained from studies suggest that the Solenodon is actually more numerous and its populations more stable on Hispaniola than recently thought, would it not be unnecessary to take the species into ex-situ management outside of the range country ?

Respectfully disagree about the meerkats and short clawed otters, but then admittedly I am a bit stuck in my ways when it comes to thinking about those species.

Also, to get back to the original question are there any species that you would like to see at Jersey and that you think would be good fits with the zoo ?

 

Incidentally, I did see a Hispaniolan solenodon in London Zoo's Clore Pavilion back in 1967; that was more than half-a-century century ago. I've never seen one since and would love to see the species again.

That's fine. We're all entitled to our own opinions.

I would like to see some more endangered tamarins and marmosets.

I also like your suggestions of some small ungulates like chevrotains and pygmy hogs or, maybe, some small antelopes such as duikers or dik-diks.

 

I think that might well be a possibility with regards to tamarins and marmosets.

I know that the main obstacle to the white footed tamarin coming to Jersey is mainly down to governmental bureaucracy in the environmental ministry of Colombia that prevents the species from leaving the country.

The sad irony is that the species is actually being kept in a lot of rescue centres all across the country and where they are even put on contraceptives to prevent breeding so there are no shortage of suitable animals for an ex-situ breeding programe at Jersey. It seems to be just a matter of hard long-term work to surmount the bureaucratic hurdles.

In terms of our buffy tufted marmoset, Jersey have consistently helped us with our in-situ and for that we are immensely grateful because their support is essential for us to achieve our goals of conserving both of our focal species here in Brazil.

 

I do really like the idea of Philippine mouse deer and pygmy hogs at Jersey as I think given their small sizes and conservation status they would be excellent fits with the collection.

Could duiker not be mixed with gorilla ? I seem to remember reading that this had been achieved at a zoo but I can't remember where this was.

Roloway monkey too could be a good fit for Jersey IMO.

 

I think the meerkats, in particular, are more justifiable at Jersey than at other zoos, given how few ABCs they already have (though I would personally prefer a rarer species instead!). I do wish the otters were represented by a more unusual taxon though - smooth-coated perhaps? Marine otters were also mooted at one stage, but I'm not sure how seriously.

The zoo did once consider keeping mountain coati and helped to establish a small group at a Columbian zoo. I suspect these were the western species, which may be more secure in the wild than was once thought.

In terms of species others haven't mentioned, I'd like to see the zoo capitalise on its lemur collection - rarities such as sifaka, broad-nosed gentle or Sclater's black lemurs would really complement the Trust's work in Madagascar. It would also be nice to see some Madagascar pochard or Alagoas curassow, and the return of gharials.

 

Wow ! That is very interesting to hear, do you know why the marine otter possibility was disregarded in the end ? I would have thought this species (Lontra felina) would have ultimately been a fairly good fit with Jersey but perhaps not as good as giant otters.

Ah, I see that is interesting about the coatis, shame that none came to Jersey and that these didn't replace the ring tailed though.

In regards to lemurs I fully agree with you, they could definitely capitalize on these primates as they are a strong point of their collection and there are just so many in need of ex-situ conservation management.Black blue-eyed lemur, crowned lemur, gray headed lemur, mongoose lemur, black lemur and any sifaka or bamboo lemur species would all be good fits IMO.

To be honest, I think I would like to see Jersey capitalize on not just lemurs but endangered Malagasy mammals as a whole including with Euplerids and maybe a tenrec or two.

I had no idea that gharial were once kept at Jersey

 

According to ZTL, Jersey had gharials from 1959-62

 

Thank you for sharing @Dassie rat !

Ah I see, that would have been way back in the early days of the zoo then, I just can't remember them being mentioned in any of the books that I read though.

I do know that they had a tuatara at one point as I remember reading it in Menagerie manor (possibly, not 100 % sure).

 

They did of course breed more than one tenrec species back in the day

 

Thank you for your comment FBBird ! Do you know what species these were ?

There are a couple of tenrecs that are still of conservation concern and could also be good fits for Jersey.

 

Durrell mentioned force-feeding gharials in Menagerie Manor. The zoo has shown interest in bringing them back, but I suspect a lack of suitable space would make this tricky.

No idea about the otters I'm afraid.

 

I’ll try to access my old Jersey reports and get back to you on this.

My fantasy species for Jersey (which isn’t going to happen) would be Sumatran Tiger, with lake access.

a project which never got off the ground was the Gorilla Bai, which would still be worth doing.

 

That woud be brilliant and thank you !

Not sure I like the idea of Sumatran tiger but I definitely think that at least some small cat species would be a nice addition to the collection.

The gorilla bai project ? would this be as in Mbelli Bai ?

 

It would be quite an interesting species indeed.

I don't know what Jersey is like in terms of space as have never been there but from the pictures I've seen in the zoochat gallery of the reptile house perhaps a full grown gharial would be quite difficult to accomodate.

 

Both of these points you make are very interesting and I was totally unaware of this situation.

With the Philippine mouse deer that is quite shocking to read both in terms of premature deaths and the skewed sex ratio neither of which can be very good for ex-situ management.

I did read that Chester had managed to breed the species fairly recently but I take it that this resulted in more female births ? Also is there something that the males are commonly dying of ?

Regarding the falanouc this also comes as a suprise to me, I have to admit I didn't really know much about the species and its history in captivity other than it being a rarity so to know that they don't do very well ex-situ is kind of startling.

Do you know why the falanouc is so hard to keep alive in captivity ? is it something relating to their dietary requirements or perhaps just a general difficulty in adapting to captive environments ?

 

Very interesting, I think I'll do some reading around chevrotains in captivity as I have a feeling that this may be a problem that is common across all the Tragulidae species.

I really hope that more males of the species are obtained by zoos in the near future to reverse that situation. It is clearly unsustainable the way things are currently going and it is a great shame considering that the species is in urgent need of ex-situ populations.

Interesting to know this about the falanouc too, I'm not very familiar with the species but I think it is another one that I'll have to do some reading up about.

 

Indeed both lesser hedgehog tenrec and greater hedgehog tenrec were bred at Jersey Zoo.