Reptile & Amphibian Forums

NEW STRAITS TIMES (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) 24 October 05 Zoo Negara’s Jenjulung feat (Nurris Ishak)
Kuala Lumpur: The Buaya Jenjulung was so rare that it was known for over a century only as a museum specimen.
The Jenjulung, or False Gharial Crocodile (Tomistoma schlegelii), is a secretive creature which seldom ventures out during the day and is harmless, unlike its infamous cousins that overturn boats and make a meal of people and animals who venture their way.
Its known habitats are peninsular Malaysia, West Borneo, Java and Sumatra.
To conserve the endangered species, Zoo Negara has earned the distinction of being the first zoo in the world to breed the crocodiles in captivity.
"Breeding them was a learning process. The success was exhilarating as so little is known of their habits and behaviour," said Roz- wan A. Majid, the supervisor of reptiles.
The zoo bought the crocodiles from Singapore in 1989 but it was only in 2003 that they finally bred.
"It takes 90 to 100 days for the eggs to hatch. The eggs had to be left with the mother as we were unable to hatch them in a controlled environment, such as an incubator.
"We checked on the nest once a month. Of 10 eggs, seven hatched but only four hatchlings survived. They have now adapted to their surrounding," he said.
False Gharials are so named because they resemble Indian Gharials, native to India, but do not share similar DNA.
The False Gharial is distinguished by its long thin snout, the length in adults ranging from 50cm to 1m. Their diet in the zoo is fish and occasionally chicken, white rats, guinea pigs and lean beef. They need to be fed once every seven to 14 days.
"However, because of the bird flu, we have stopped feeding them chicken."
Prior to 2002, the zoo had three males and two females. The creatures not only did not show any signs of aggression, there were also no signs of courtship even though they were mature.
It was only after the death of one female in 2002 that courtship behaviour was noticed in early 2003.
"We think keeping the females in the same enclosure suppressed their breeding habits," he said.
"People have complained that the zoo does not clean the crocodile enclosures, allowing weeds to grow uncontrollably, but from our experience, a clean environment does not seem to promote breeding and thus we allowed it to be as close to their natural environment as possible.
"They need the thick vegetation to build a nest and hide their eggs," he said.
The greatest threat to the False Gharial is habitat destruction. With more mangrove swamps cleared and more rivers polluted, the last count listed only 2,500 in the wild.
Zoo Negara is also the first zoo in Southeast Asia to breed in captivity the African Dwarf crocodile, whose teeth stick out, giving them a buck-toothed appearance.
Billed as the smallest species of crocodile in the world, they grow up to 190cm in length.
Zoo Negara’s Jenjulung feat

Zoo Negara is NOT the first zoo,which Tomistoma bred in captivity! The first have been both Miami Metro Zoo and the Bronx Zoo in 1985, Florida´s Cypress Gardens in 1999.
The most successful place is the Utairatch Crocodile Farm & Zoo in Thailand- more than 600 Tomistoma hatched there during the last few years.
With Bill Moss´s help, I will post some photos.
CSG´s Tomistoma Task Force

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Tomistoma

Ralf,

Beautiful pictures. The specimens are even more beautiful than the juveniles off exhibit at Dusit. Where is Uthairatch Crocodile Farm located? What Province?

Michael

Michael,
the Utairatch Fram is located in Uthai Thani Province, near the city Uthai Thani, but is not open to the public. Thats probaly the reason, why they are so successfull in breeding Tomistoma...
I saw the off exhibit animals at Dusit in January, they have been confiscated as far as I know. I visited Dusit last week and saw two juveniles/subadults on exhibit,which I supposed to be the animals I saw in January behind the scenes.
CSG´s Tomistoma Task Force

Ralf,

Thank you for the information. You explained why I have not heard of the Utairatch Farm. I have seen most of the reptile exhibits here (there are not that many). Uthai Thani is not very far away from me. Do you know if they allow people to volunteer time to work with them? I would love to learn the secrets of their success and maybe replicate it one day myself.

So, you are the one that Suthat had told me about. He asked if I knew you. Tomistoma schlegelii is a species I am very interested in. I will let you know if Dusit still has their juvenile Tomistoma after I go next time. I could not imagine how their Tomistoma could have been confiscated; they do everything by the book. I have a very rare preserved Varanus reisingeri to donate to them (after presevation it looks more like Varanus macaei).

Please contact me directly, I would love to be of help to the Tomistoma Task Force over here in SE Asia.

Michael

Greetings to Suthat!

The Dusit animals have been confiscated before coming to Dusit.

Will contact you directly.

Enerybody is very welcome to support the CSG Tomistoma Task Force
and Tomistoma conservation as a "Friend of Tomistoma" - please see www.tomistoma.org for details.
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