Harpij 2 2008
Sable antelope in captivity
Rolf Veenhuizen
While
sable antelope are well known zoo animals, they are no
longer so common in zoos, with only 300 individuals found
now world-wide in captivity. Almost all captive sable
antelope are of unknown origin or are the southern
subspecies Hippotragus niger
niger. Safaripark Beekse Bergen, the only Dutch or Belgian
zoo with sable antelope, received the original group from
Namibia in 1972. In the past the sables at the safari park
were housed with white rhinos and watusi cattle without
problem, but now are held with Rothschild giraffes and
Grevy
zebras, also
without problem. The zebras respect the sables’ impressive
horns, and will not enter the barn until all the sables are
in their stalls when the hoofstock come inside at night.
However zebras are
not kind to young sables if they find them hidden in the
vegetation, where the calves normally spend the first few
weeks of life. Therefore pregnant sables at the safari park
are held in a separate pen when they are ready to give birth,
and a sand bed is placed in the stall to prevent the legs of
the newly born calf from spreading. It is sometimes
difficult to tell when a birth will occur as the gestation
period varies between 240 and 280 days. Furthermore the
udder may fill up with milk and slime ooze from the vulva
for up to a month before the calf is born. Young sables are
sensitive for cold and dampness, but if the weather is good
the calf and mother can join the herd when the calf is six
weeks old, under supervision of a keeper in a car. Problems
do not usually occur, as the herd defends the young.
Sables live in a
family group in the wild, with females remaining in the herd
and males leaving the group at three years of age.
At the safari park they are held in a herd of several
females and an adult male. While an adult male can be
introduced without problem into a female group, it is
difficult and time consuming to introduce unrelated females
and males less than three years of age to a herd. A sable
being introduced to the herd is first placed with a few of
the calmest individuals, and the group is gradually enlarged.
There are frequently problems even in stable herds, and most
of the animals have to be separated at night if they are in
the barn (during the summer months they are in the outdoor
enclosures day and night). Much depends on the character of
the individual animals.
A European studbook for sable antelope was initiated in 2002. In addition to accidents at birth, another 24% of the young die in the first month. While sables easily live 16 to 18 years in the wild, in captivity the average longevity is 7.1 years. Males have an average lifespan of 2.7 years, primarily because many are euthanized due to lack of space, as they create too much disturbance in groups. There are currently few bachelor groups. The ESB population is skewed towards males, for example in 2005 26.10 calves were born. The figure “nakomeling” shows the number of males (blue) and females (red) born at the safari park each year since 1972 from the total of 46.38.0 calves born there. The figure “sterfgevallen” shows the number of sables that died by year of age at the safari park. Most did not live over 15 years of age, but the oldest was 19 years 6 months of age.
Amphibian courses “around the world”
Ben
van Dijck, Jouwerens-Jan Nederlof en Robbert Kurpershoek
The
year 2008 is heralded as “The year of the frog” by EAZA
and WAZA to draw attention to the amphibian crisis. There
are 6000 species of amphibians, many of which of course are
not frogs. Because of the increased involvement of zoos in
amphibian conservation activities, four Dutch and Belgian
zoo employees attended courses in Chemnitz, Germeny; Toledo,
USA, India; and Jersey, British Isles in February and March
2008. The Amphibian Husbandry Conservation course in Jersey
was aimed at “teaching the teachers”, so that course
participants could then further the message in their own
countries in their own languages,. Indeed, a course
organized by Antwerp, Rotterdam and Amsterdam Zoos will be
held at the end of 2008. The three courses attended in the
USA and Europe were oriented towards western zoos, while the
course in India was directed towards amphibian biology and
conservation issues in South Asia. Because of the very
different culture and economic situation in India, specific
problems were quite different.
However, many of the same topics, including a wide range of theoretical and practical issues were covered in all the courses. The causes of the amphibian crisis were discussed in great detail. Of the 6000 species, approximately 2/3 are threatened with extinction. The causes are habitat loss, environmental degradation, climate change, and mass consumption for food and by the animal trade. An important threat to frogs and toad is now the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatides, which is often fatal if untreated. Other areas covered were the gathering of information on species ‘in situ’ and on ‘ex situ’ experiences, husbandry issues such as culturing food-animals, suitable lighting, enclosure needs, and water quality. Pathology, recognition and treatment of fungal infections and other diseases, disease prevention, and quarantine protocols, were discussed. Field research involving marking of animals (e.g. color or transmitters) was also emphasized.
Bio-security was discussed in all the courses, with the objective of breeding populations of threatened species in closed systems in which they cannot receive or transmit diseases. Any space can be made bio-secure if all the technical work can be done outside the space (so technical personnel do not enter space), and there is an adjacent room where keepers can change clothes and shower. All the water must be purified when it comes in but also before it enters the sewage system. While it is not necessary to hold animals in bio-secure spaces in enclosures that are visually appealing to visitors, it is important to ensure the well-being of the animals when furnishing the enclosures.
Based on our collective experiences, we formulated the following objectives:
-Expand amphibian collections to focus more visitor attention on these animal
-Increase education about the amphibian crisis
-Establish bio-secure areas where threatened species can be protected from extinction
-Maintain international contacts
-Establish training and internships in amphibian husbandry and have a basic course on husbandry
We clearly need to do more regarding the amphibian crisis, and the well-attended workshop held under the Harpij umbrella at Rotterdam 27 March was a good preparation for the course to be held at the end of the year, and for the next Harpij amphibian workshop in 2009.