Proceedings of the First Symposium on Marsupials in New Zealand
Development and Maintenance of Colonies
Development and Maintenance of Colonies
Records are incomplete prior to 1975, but from information available it is clear that only in the last few years have viable and expanding colonies been established. Stock losses from disease or injury were substantial until the introduction of new management and feeding techniques, and the application of a strict preventative medicine programme. Figures for additions through importation and births, and for losses from disease or injury are shown in Table 1.
YEAR | IMPORTS | BORN | TOTAL ADDITIONS | DEATHS | TOTAL LOSSES | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
INJURY | DISEASE | |||||
1968 | 3 | n.r. n.r. no records. |
3 | n.r. | n.r. | 3 |
1969 | 25 | n. r. | 25 | n.r. | n.r. | 26 |
1970 | 0 | n.r. | 0 | n.r. | n.r. | 13 |
1971 | 23 | 2 | 25 | 12* | 18 | 30 |
1972 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
1973 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
1974 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
1975 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 8* | 1 | 9 |
1976 | 23 | 4 | 27 | 6† | 0 | 6 |
1977 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 3* | 0 | 3 |
to May |
Species | No. ♂♂ | No. ♀♀ | No. ? sex | TOTAL |
---|---|---|---|---|
Agile | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
Parma | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Red-necked | 3 | 5 | 0 | 8 |
Rock | 3 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
Tammar | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
Total | 9 | 18 | 3 | 30 |
Deaths from injury are tabled separately to highlight the disastrous results that attacks by feral dogs can have on wallaby colonies. In 1971 and 1975 twenty wallabies were either killed outright or died shortly after attack from injuries received or from shock. Only eight days ago a further three suffered the same fate. Although the Zoo has a three metre perimeter fence surrounding it and all precautions are taken to prevent entry of dogs through open gateways, it has proved impossible to entirely eliminate the risk, and dog traps are now set every evening as a precautionary measure. Any animal caught is destroyed. In our experience attacks have been by two or more animals acting together, and any organisation considering setting up colonies for display or research purposes should be aware of the danger, particularly in urban areas where roaming dogs are liable to form packs.
The numbers of each species currently held are shown in Table 2.
* killed by dogs
† 4 dead on arrival from Australia
2 died after capture and translocation