I was just looking through the list on Animals that can be imported and I was wondering why we have no captive populations or species suck as: Night and Owl Monkeys Nilgai Sloths Great-tailed Trioch Armadillos Bush Babies Badgers Giant Anteaters And the list goes on. I understand that zoos don't have any because the AZARP (I think that's it) have phased them out, but these are awesome and often endangered animals that will bring the Zoos popularities up heaps and are (occasionally) unique in zoos. How can the AZARP let this happen?
I was just looking through the list on Animals that can be imported and I was wondering why we have no captive populations or species suck as: Night and Owl Monkeys Nilgai Sloths Great-tailed Trioch Armadillos Bush Babies Badgers Giant Anteaters And the list goes on. I understand that zoos don't have any because the AZARP (I think that's it) have phased them out, but these are awesome and often endangered animals that will bring the Zoos popularities up heaps and are (occasionally) unique in zoos. How can the AZARP let this happen?
Yes, armadillos are great. My zoo recently got a six-banded armadillo for an education animal. We made a hexagon acrylic container about two feet tall, that people can reach in to touch him. He is very active and everyone loves him. Would certainly be a great addition to your country, as would the very popular giant anteater, which is fairly common in U.S. zoos (and the symbol of my zoo, which manages the giant anteater studbook).
its a close relative of the Australian striped possum and looks very similar (its from New Guinea, as Shirokuma says) of those animals listed above by nrg800, they aren't "often endangered" examples, and I doubt they would improve the popularity of zoos by their presence. Bushbabies and armadillos are cute but they're not going to make people rush in droves to the zoo to see them I had a browse through the list linked to and there are a LOT of cool animals on there though. I noticed (just as an aside) that the crab-eating/long-tailed macaque has been given the common name of "cynomolgus monkey" (?!)
... a name I had never heard before yet just tried and it gets over 100,000 results on Google. According to Wikipedia: Presumably the main reason they expected the species to be of interest was as a lab animal!
i think you'll find that that list contains most species that have ever been imported into the country - and thus is pretty extensive. it doesn't mean that an IRA exists for each species. and it DOESN'T mean that its possible to import them. being on that list is just one of a long list of boxes that must be ticked in order to import. badgers, like trioch's, night monkeys, bushbabies and any other nocturnal species - make lousy exhibit animals. as long as i can remember until very recently melbourne has always kept badgers - i don't think i have ever once seen anything but a sleeping pile of fur in their dimly lit burrow.
hi a bit of topic but since were talking about animals being imported. Australia is lifting a 9 year import ban on beef from countrys that have had mad cow, so i think it is a bad idea for the beef industry. But would this mean that zoos could import more ungulates for there zoos, And if so does anybody know of any that wish to.
In my younger years a visit to the Melbourne Zoo always included the armadillos, which would always get a scratch behind the ears. I guess they were pretty much my favourite animals, which probably says something about me. I do also remember the giant anteaters, although only for a few short years many years ago. As for badgers I saw enough of them over the years to enjoy them too and be sad that Melbourne Zoo decided to get out of them. The Zoo really needs a good small mammal / nocturnal facility. Not much chance of that happening from what I can see.
Badgers can make good displays, although it is true they sleep alot. Melbourne never invested in a proper nocturnal display (or house) for this species, and the fact they aren't a conservation concern and the only individuals in Australia sealed their fate. Cynomolgous monkey is a very old term for crab-eater/long-tailed macaque, and can often be seen in very old texts. Largely ignored by modern scientists.
i don't like nocturnal houses. they deny the animals the elements - sunlight (be them nocturnal its still important) fresh air. wind. rain and real vegetation. in addition the enclosures are almost always ridiculously small. zoo life can be a boring affair, no doubt made even more boring when your kept indoors.
I agree 100%. Memphis (a zoo I really like) is the worst - they put mirrors on the back of the nocturnal walls to trick you into thinking they are bigger.
