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News Archive
Below are the news reports for Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, covering significant events concerning the animal collection, such as births, arrivals, departures, and deaths.
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust Details
Birth: January 2012
Two Lesser Antillean Iguanas have hatched, the first time in 11 years these rare Iguanas have bred successfully at the Park.
Depart: September 2011
7 Bali Starlings, bred at Durrell Wildlife, have moved to Bali, where they will join 13 other European-bred birds in a local breeding centre. This is to strengthen the local breeding stock to provide birds for future reintroductions to the wild. Existing reintroduction attempts have so far failed due to poachers for the illegal pet trade targeting the new arrivals. The wild population is now down to less than 10.
Depart: July 2011
Ya Kwanza, Durrell's resident silverback male Gorilla is to be moved to an all-male group at La Vallee des Signes, France, in exchange for younger male called Badongo who was born there. This is because Ya Kwanza's breeding record has not been particularly successful, only mating with one of the resident females, and then with poor results.
Update, 28 July: Badongo has now arrived safely, and the tricky process of introducing to the resident females has begun.
Arrival: 7 June 2011
A group of 22 Orange-Tailed Skinks have arrived from Mauritius, as part of the rescue plan for this Critically Endangered reptile, which is now believed to be extinct in its last remaining wild habitat of Flat Island, the largest of the Mauritian islands. This is due to the invasion of the Island by the predatory Indian Musk Shrew, a side-effect of development of the Island for tourism. In 2008, a small group of skinks were relocated to the Gunner's Quoin nature reserve after the development plans had been revealed. Then a much larger group were relocated in 2010 when shrews were detected on the island. A year later, an expedition was unable to find any skinks in their original location, despite intensive and lengthy searches using sensitive techniques. The group transferred to Durrell Wildlife is to act as a safety-net while the relocated populations become established, or a solution to the shrew problem can be found.
Birth: April 2011
Recent births include Ring-Tailed Lemur twins, Oriental Short-Clawed Otter pups, and baby Pied Tamarins.
Birth: 22 March 2011
A baby male Black Lion Tamarin has been born, the first of the species to be born outside of Brazil for 8 years, and thus very important for the European breeding programme for this Critically Endangered species. The baby has been named Francisco and was born to new mum Roxanne, who has previously lost two babies and had several miscarriages. The new baby was therefore born by caesarean section, and he is being hand-reared.
Birth: January 2007
Two Spiny Turtles have successfully hatched, the third and fourth for Durrell in only two years. Only two other zoos in the world have succeeded in hatching this endangered species.
Birth: 28 April 2006
Four Meerkat kittens, 3 males and 1 female, have been born. Although one of the least threatened of the mongoose family, the Meerkats are helping the development of husbandry methods for saving more seriously threatened species such as the Narrow-striped Mongoose from Madagascar.
Arrival: April 2006
A family of Black Howler Monkeys, a mother and her three children, have arrived from Bristol Zoo to join the `Cloud Forest' exhibit. Although not endangered themselves, this species will help highlight the plight of their critically endangered cousins, the Brown and Coiba Island Howlers.
Depart: March 2006
Twelve rare Northern Bald Ibis have been transferred to Jerez Zoo, Spain to take part in a breeding programme with the ultimate aim of reintroducing the species into the wild in Southern Spain.
Notes:
Where possible, the dates given are for the event itself, but some zoos do not make this information available, when the date of announcement is used instead.
Seasons: Winter = Jan - Mar, Spring = Apr - Jun, Summer = Jul - Sept, Autumn = Oct - Dec.
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