EXOTICS NEWS

The latest from the world of exotic pet keeping

First Ape to Use New Gadget

As previously mentioned, a new non-invasive method has been developed to safely monitor the heart health of great apes in captivity. The “KardiaMobile” finger EKG has now been installed at Zoo Atlanta and “Satu”, a 17-yearold Bornean orangutan, is the first great ape to be trained for a voluntary electrocardiogram (EKG). At Zoo Atlanta many of the great apes are trained for various voluntary medical procedures, including echocardiograms, injections, blood pressure measurement, X-rays, and blood collection. In this way, the apes are participating in their own healthcare – while also enjoying a fun game that includes great treats.

“KardiaMobile” is also now available to purchase for mobile human heart monitoring.

Red Wolf Conservation

For the first time Akron Zoo has bred the critically endangered red wolf. Female red wolf “Juno” gave birth to eight pups sired by male ”Waya”. As first-time parents, Juno is an excellent mother, while Waya is extremely protective of his new family. Four of the pups were designated by the Red Wolf Recovery Plan, a program led by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to be cross fostered to a den in their native habitat, where a native red wolf had recently given birth.

The pups, two males and two females, were transported to North Carolina on Saturday May 1st and USFWS officials successfully introduced the pups to the foster den that day. This is the first time since 2014 that red wolf pups have been reintroduced into their native habitat. Red wolves are critically endangered, with fewer than 20 wolves estimated to be left in their native habitat. The release of the pups was part of a collaborative partnership for a historic release. Four adult red wolves collectively from the Endangered Wolf Center, Wolf Conservation Center and

Wolf Haven International were also released on April 30th. The four red wolf pups remaining at the Akron Zoo, three males and one female, are doing very well. The pups are currently living in a den box offshow, they may begin venturing out of the den box around the end of May, and visitors may begin to see the pups in the red wolf habitat in June.

Bamboo Sharks Bred By Artificial Insemination

Scientists have produced 97 white-spotted bamboo sharks (Chiloscyllium plagiosum) by using artificial insemination. The species from the Indo-Pacific Ocean is regarded as being “Near Threatened” by the IUCN. Its relatively small size, only reaching three feet (1 metre) in length made it easier to handle for reproductive procedures. In addition the species is widely held in aquariums enabling semen to be exchanged between collections.

The study was led by scientists from the South-East Zoo Alliance for Reproduction & Conservation, a non-profit facility based in Florida, in collaboration with the Aquarium of the Pacific in California, Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies in Tennessee, The Florida Aquarium, Adventure Aquarium in New Jersey, and the Field Museum in Chicago.

Artificial insemination of sharks could foster healthier populations in aquariums by encouraging genetic diversity, by removing the need to transport sharks between institutions for mating purposes, according to the researchers. Moving sharks from one place to another is a costly process that is also stressful for the animals.

Scientists collected semen from 19 male whitespotted bamboo sharks and used it to inseminate 20 females. The study took four years to complete, according to lead author Jennifer Wyffels, who conducted research for the study with the South-East Zoo Alliance for Reproduction & Conservation and is now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Delaware. The fact that white-spotted bamboo sharks lay eggs was also key.

“It is much easier to monitor eggs for embryo

Rare Coelacanths Found by Shark Hunters

A group of South African shark hunters have unwittingly rediscovered a population of the Coelacanth fish in the West Indian Ocean off the coast of Madagascar. The fishermen were using “Jarifa gillnets” to target sharks, these deep-sea nets reach between 328 – 492ft below the surface, when they accidentally captured the rare fish.

The prehistoric coelacanth dates back 420 million years, and was thought to have been extinct until 1938, when the first living coelacanth in recent memory was discovered off the South African Coast. Now the fear is that the coelacanths are at risk of development than it is to examine a pregnant female shark,” Wyffels said. “Two to three females were inseminated at a time, Wyffels explained, but they each had to be monitored for about six weeks prior to confirm they were laying eggs, and that those eggs weren’t being fertilized with sperm stored in the body from previous mating encounters -- an ability of many shark species”. “Females that store sperm are no longer dependent on repeated mating with males to fertilize their eggs throughout the laying season and can instead focus their energy and efforts on other activities such as feeding,” Wyffels said.

Each trial required nearly nine months to complete before a new one could start, according to Wyffels. In some cases, male and female sharks involved in the study were located in the same aquarium, but scientists also experimented with the viability of cold-stored semen shipped overnight between participating institutions -- from New Jersey to California, and from Florida to Tennessee.

Out of 31 species of Oceanic shark species 16 are classified as being critically endangered or endangered.

Fossilized Turtle Species New To Science

A team of researchers from Universität Freiburg, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Université d’Antananarivo and Stony Brook University have discovered a new species of Pelomedusoid turtle in Madagascar. In their paper published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the group describes the features of the turtle and why they believe it represents the convergent evolution of specialized suction feeders among pleurodire.

The ancient turtle`s fossilized skeleton was found in a geological formation in a part of Madagascar generally rich in fossilized birds, mammals, crocodiles and even dinosaurs. Study of the turtle, which the team has named Sahonachelys mailakavava, showed it to be from the Late Cretaceous period and that it was a Pelomedusoid (freshwater turtle) and that it was less than a half-meter long. They note that the turtle find is particularly important because it has both a shell and a skull—most others from its era have one or the other. Having a complete skeleton, they note, makes it easier to place the turtle on the family tree. They have found it to be a predecessor of podocnemidid turtles, in modern times they live in South America and Madagascar. They also suggest that the find confirms that fauna in Madagascar was already unique by the Late Cretaceous period. The researchers suggest the ancient turtle most likely fed on small prey such as fish fry, insect larvae or tadpoles. Its name comes from a mix of Malagasy and Greek and means “quick-mouthed frog turtle.”