Monday, September 1, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
A Blog designed for discussion of topics related to, but not limited to, Circus, Zoos, Animal Training, and Animal Welfare/Husbandry. Sometimes opening up the dialog is the best starting point of all. And if for nothing else when people who agree and don't agree, get together and start discussing it, it will open up a lot of peoples minds. Debate and discussion even amongst themselves opens a window where there wasn't one before.
The Circus "NO SPIN ZONE"
Relevent Stops On The Information Highway
- Custom Motorcycle Accessories by Ian
- Bob Cline's Sawdust and Spangles
- Buckles Blog
- Christophe Roullin Circus News
- Gary Robinsons Circus Blog
- Jamie Clubbs Blog
- Marco Kristens Circus Williams
- Ryan Easley's ShowMe Elephants
- Showbiz Daves Blog
- The Bartlett Society
- Thomas Bohners Cage Act History
- World of Dancing Horses
Manure Pile/Post Archive
Consultants
Wade G Burck
Adam R Burck
Eric G Burck
Adam R Burck
Eric G Burck
Posts
7 comments:
Wade - you must have a pretty good spy in Oz!
It's only been the "Taronga Conservation Society" [not a zoo anymore!] for a couple of months.
And to get a behind the scenes tour means you've got a spy with influence. Steph and I got to visit with the new elephants [two of which are now confirmed pregnant] but only because we have "friends". No way were we able to go behind the scenes with the tapir!
Obviously you are posting these photos to compare a modern day tapir exhibit with the tiled , public restroom type earlier photo.
Don't let the photos fool you. The tapirs in Australia are technically blind. Their eyes could not handle the harsh Aussie sunshine. The camaflouge [sp?] nets in your photos are comparatively recent innovations but the damage has already been done and is irreversible. Zoo people here argue that this species should never have been approved for this country but the people who control zoo "politics" want Australia to concentrate on South-east Asian species - despite the fact that our climate and geography is, for the most part, nothing like South-east Asia. Apparently this blindness is peculiar to the Malayan Tapirs held in Australia - they all have it. The condition is virtually unknown in Europe so on that score at least, those old tiled stables might not be so bad.
Also, in one of your photos you will notice a pair of Ruddy Shelducks in the background. There are about 50 of these birds left in this country. Those of us who hold them are trying desperately to breed them and build up the numbers as importation of fresh bloodlines is not allowed. Your photo does not show that the Taronga "Conservation" Society keeps two pairs of these fiercely territorial ducks in the one enclosure. Instead of breeding they spend all their time fighting over the territory.
So much for progress in zookeeping!
Wade, I got your e-mail address from Casey, but I was having trouble trying to send you some stuff for you to read or for the blog, don't know if you got it? My e-mail is mswain@consolidated.net
Mike,
I did not receive anything. My email is wburck3@aol.com Please try again.
Wade
Steve,
I had heard about the tapirs going blind. They said they had better tell me or that fellow Steve Robinson would. LOL Just kidding, mate. Are they 100% sure it was the Australian sun, and not some water condition or something like that? Anything unfortunate that happens to an animal in a captive situation is devastating. I have a bigger problem with realizing what will happen, and continuing with it anyway realizing the end result.
You can't imagine all the zoo's here in the States that all of a sudden had "Australian Outback" exhibits in their facilities. I got real sick of looking at Wallabies after a while. I think one of the problems with zoos, is they tend to follow a trend or a "one up manship", which is a flaw of the circus also. They are often times afraid to innovate on the off chance it doesn't work, and they have to deal with the heat. I also don't think the tiled restroom type exhibit is the answer either. I hope the camouflage netting is the answer. Again learning from a mistake, and correcting it is more valuable then, just ignoring and going on because it is the way it has always been.
I had Ruddy Ducks one time when I was raising ducks, and at that time eggs could be bought for 2.00 a piece. They used to fight like dog's with my Egyptian Geese. Yes they do need to do something more with those ducks, I agree.
Wade
This is the neatest Malayan tapir exhibit I’ve ever seen, complete with underwater viewing. We’ve seen many of those for hippos but this is the first of which I’m aware for tapirs.
It seems that the Malayan must have a pool of water in which to bathe (they love it) and also for defecation. When pools are drained there are reports of the animals having problems relieving themselves.
There was an interesting paper in the March 2008 issue of >>International Zoo News<< by tapir keepers Dowman and Parker about the husbandry, management, and breeding of these animals. It was based on their keeping of Malayan tapirs in the Port Lympe Zoo in England. There they once had the rarest mixed species exhibit anywhere, namely a male Sumatran rhino in the yard with Malayan tapirs. Of course they do inhabit the same rainforest areas in Malaya and Sumatra.
Now when will someone find out the details of that exotic act or procession that Hans Brick said he once showed on Circus Novacek and Richter? He said it included a Malayan tapir. He described it in his 1960 book >>Jungle Be Gentle.<< In addition to the tapir, it included a rhino with a gaudy macaw perched on his back, a hippopotamus, two goats, a zebra, and a giraffe (with a chimp as jockey). He said he presented the number when the Circus toured Egypt and the Far East. This sounds like pre-World War II.
There has been stuff about Brick on the blogs before, and he seems to have been somewhat of a mystery. Until something more definitive turns up, I am skeptical of his claim about this exotic act.
Richard,
I agree, what a beautiful exhibit, particularly for the Malaysian Tapir and hope the issues are worked out. In regards to the mess Brick is assumed to have trained, a monkey tied on a pony or a parrot sitting on a tapir, or even a rhino, hippo walking around is not training in the truest sense of the world. And I will still contend it is harder to get 3 lions to roll over together then to get a lion a tiger and a leopard to sit together on a pyramid.
Wade
Yyep, people who are cleverer than me have eliminated factors like water etc and reckon that the sun is the cause. The nets alleviate the problem a bit but don't solve it as they don't eliminate enough sunlight. Malayan Tapirs in the wild live in rainforest where very little direct sunlight reaches the forest floor. From that point of view, a circus menagerie tent would be a better environment for them! But I won't be suggesting that to the zooworld powerbrokers over here anytime soon! They have enough trouble already accepting my circus background ie - they don't accept it!
On a big picture basis - the zoo politicians have not yet agreed to phase out Malayan Tapirs. That would mean admitting to have made a mistake. And wait till we start talking about Indian Rhino sometime. Our record with these is abysmal and yet still we're looking at importing more from San Diego.
Our Ruddys are kept in a big area between Mandarins and Egyptian Geese kept in equally big areas. But the Ruddys are continually working the fencelines even if the neighbours are 100' away. We're growing vegetation along the boundaries but we've been in drought here for 6 years now so growth rates are slow.
$2 eggs eh? I'd like to see that!
Post a Comment