Sumatran rhino move. » Los Angeles Zoo

13-04-2007

Dont forget London zoo ( 36 arces) is very old and cant really expand unless the London city council let them have some of Regents park.

javan rhino in captivity...
13-04-2007

the idea of bringing javan rhinos into captivity is highly unlikely - the idea of bringing them into captivity in the UK is rediculous and counter productive.

currently the only real thing stopping the rhinos from bouncing back is adequate protection and expansion of their habitat in indonesia. nonetheless they are breeding in the wild, seem well protected from poachers and have very few predators other than the possiility that the occasional newborn is lost to leopards.

the vietnamese rhino however are a total write-off. these could be captured and brought into captivity, but any real attempt at breeding is likely to rely on indonesia agreeing to animals being captured in java to hybridise with the mainland subspecies. thats unlikely and arguably not even particuarly benificial.

better off take any breeding age animals from vietnam to java...

13-04-2007

Its been talked about a number of times- unfortunately I don't think it will ever happen.

13-04-2007

[quote=patrick;11097]the idea of bringing javan rhinos into captivity is highly unlikely - the idea of bringing them into captivity in the UK is rediculous and counter productive.

It was only a 'zoo' rumour that I heard about this- however Howletts/Port Lympne do seem in another expansion phase at present and may be looking for a species which no other zoo has.

I think it would be very risky to deliberately capture animals from the Javan population to go into any zoo. Maybe the tiny Vietnam population can only survive if an adult male is translocated from Java- it seems there may be no male in the tiny fragmented group, in which case this population is moribund already (I think there's a term for this type of situation)....

14-04-2007

It would be sad if they became extinct.

15-04-2007

agreed grant.

the habitat in vietnam is less than ideal. so taking the breedable vietnamese animals (if any) to java might be a smarter option.

this is one scenario where i would support capture, the population is going to die anyway and we may find its more benificial to species as a whole if we have something to learn from studying animals in captivity. however, id'e still suggest a sumatran rhino-type sanctuary in asia - not a zoo.

15-04-2007

Couldn't rhino keepers from around the world go to Java/Vietnam and work to improve the habitat of the rhinos and give the keepers some advice as to how to care for the species.

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15-04-2007

I have a suspicion, though I could be wrong, that the National Park where the Indonesian Javans live is isolated by agriculture, that there is little room for the population to expand. Wasn't there some talk a decade ago about moving some animals onto an offshore island?

15-04-2007

That would have been a good idea. But like all conservation programmes it relies on international cooperation.

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15-04-2007

[quote=patrick;11223]agreed grant.

the habitat in vietnam is less than ideal. so taking the breedable vietnamese animals (if any) to java might be a smarter option.

Patrick- at present there's one viable(Java) and one non viable(Vietnam) population for this species. I think a 2nd viable population would be a very good thing to set up to avoid total catastrophe e.g. a Tsunami or other natural disaster/disease/ whatever wiping the single viable population out.

I don't know if capturing a pair or so to go to zoos, or better still, a secure reserve is a good insurance option, or not- however I have a feeling that if successfully captured(the tricky part) they would settle down and be basically quite easy to manage in confinement- like their very close relative, the GI Rhino. (Sumatrans are completely different and as we know have not adapted well to captivity at all)

I should have thought translocating the 2-10 scattered Vietnamese animals in Cat LOc(?) to a safer place might be the best option- if, as is believed, no male was found during this operation, then add one or two from Java.

Did you know Adelaide Zoo had at least one Javan Rhino many years ago? I've seen a photocard of a keeper feeding it....

15-04-2007

I feel taking a couple of spare males from Java could be good good idea and releasing them with the females in Vietnam.

15-04-2007

What other zoos have had Sumartran or Javan Rhinos? There is Cincinnati, Bronx, Los Angeles, Port lympe and London.

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Jonathan Beilby-www.zooscene.co.uk

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15-04-2007

Nope. Only Cincinnati have and breed Sumatran rhino. Nwhere else in zoos anywhere. No Javan rhino in captivity anywhere.

15-04-2007

Bronx used to have an Elderly female and Los Angeles own the pair at Cincinnati but they are on loan.

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15-04-2007

Sorry, misread it- HAVE HAD, okay you're correct.

Cpenhagen & Basel each had a female Sumtran rhino in the 1960/70's. Copenhagen's lived for many years. Calcutta kept Sumatran rhin0 in 1800's- that's where first breeding was. Los Angeles had Andalas for a while before being returned to Sumatra.

Only Javan I know of was at Adelaide but probably others elsewhere..