# New homes needed for Aye-ayes



## trw (Mar 2, 2009)

Hey everybody, I dont often post on RFUK anymore, and never really use the mammal section, but I figure many of the people on here would be sympathetic to this cause. 
My name is Tom and I am currently a working at Durrell wildlife conservation trust as a student keeper on the herp section. My Girlfriend Belinda has a placement on the mammal section working with the Aye-ayes, so this is something she is very passionate about. The current Aye-aye enclosures at the zoo are old and outdated and the aye-ayes have no access to natural sunlight, which despite being nocturnal animals, they will occasionally use. 
We are planning to do a charity walk around the coastline of the island to raise money for the proposed new off show aye-aye enclosures. This is the basic details of the plan and why we are doing it, Belinda has included more details on our just giving page, so please take a look, and please donate. 
Thanks
Belinda Tonkins is fundraising for The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust UK


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## sn8ks4life (Jul 27, 2011)

if your thread title is correct, ill have one:whistling2:

bless them thou, amazing animals


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

Sounds very worthwhile, I visited the zoo the same week that they had baby Aye Ayes born for the first time, didn't get to see them of course. We hoped to see them the last time we were in Madagascar about 7 years ago, but despite 3 all-night treks into the forest didn't see a single one, several other nocturnal lemurs but no Aye Ayes!


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## gmccurdie (Jun 1, 2012)

sn8ks4life said:


> if your thread title is correct, ill have one:whistling2:
> 
> bless them thou, amazing animals


Freebie rush to the fingers:lol2:
If your eyes had dropped for a couple of seconds you would have seen that you are giving them a home, but they aren't moving.


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## sn8ks4life (Jul 27, 2011)

gmccurdie said:


> Freebie rush to the fingers:lol2:
> If your eyes had dropped for a couple of seconds you would have seen that you are giving them a home, but they aren't moving.


HAHA yea i know i was only playing... shame thou :lol2:

just like when they say "adopt a tiger today" well if i adopt a child i get too take it home, why does it not work the same with animals :lol2:


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## gmccurdie (Jun 1, 2012)

sn8ks4life said:


> HAHA yea i know i was only playing... shame thou :lol2:
> 
> just like when they say "adopt a tiger today" well if i adopt a child i get too take it home, why does it not work the same with animals :lol2:


Knew you were joking.

Know what you mean, keep opening jiffy bags in the morning expecting to see those pandas and tigers, b:censor: postman, arriving any day now:lol2:


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## gmccurdie (Jun 1, 2012)

trw said:


> Hey everybody, I dont often post on RFUK anymore, and never really use the mammal section, but I figure many of the people on here would be sympathetic to this cause.
> My name is Tom and I am currently a working at Durrell wildlife conservation trust as a student keeper on the herp section. My Girlfriend Belinda has a placement on the mammal section working with the Aye-ayes, so this is something she is very passionate about. The current Aye-aye enclosures at the zoo are old and outdated and the aye-ayes have no access to natural sunlight, which despite being nocturnal animals, they will occasionally use.
> We are planning to do a charity walk around the coastline of the island to raise money for the proposed new off show aye-aye enclosures. This is the basic details of the plan and why we are doing it, Belinda has included more details on our just giving page, so please take a look, and please donate.
> Thanks
> Belinda Tonkins is fundraising for The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust UK


Aplogies for the attempted humour.
No offence meant.
Keeps it bubbling at the top


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## sn8ks4life (Jul 27, 2011)

haha yea OP were only having a laugh, sure you know that: victory:

good luck with the venture, if i had some money ide support yours two cause.....



and hahahahaha yep damn posties are useless, my duck billed platopus still is not here:devil: LOL


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

sn8ks4life said:


> just like when they say "adopt a tiger today" well if i adopt a child i get too take it home, why does it not work the same with animals :lol2:


That's cos no-one would keep a child for you! :lol2: They cost too much money, answer back, are always wanting something and bring more problems to your life than any animal ever could!


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## trw (Mar 2, 2009)

gmccurdie said:


> Aplogies for the attempted humour.
> No offence meant.
> Keeps it bubbling at the top


No worries, this place would be rubbish if people werent able to take and have a joke on it, besides, the more attention on the thread, the more people that see it and hopefully the more donations we end up getting *hint hint*


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## animalsbeebee (May 19, 2008)

I am just building an enclosure for cape hunting dogs that is costing thousands and wondered if any one would like to give me a donation towards the cost !!!!!!


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## philipniceguy (Mar 31, 2008)

animalsbeebee said:


> I am just building an enclosure for cape hunting dogs that is costing thousands and wondered if any one would like to give me a donation towards the cost !!!!!!


i'll give you a £1.00 to come see them :whistling2::whistling2::whistling2:

it's funny how zoos that make thousands cant make a cage with the profit.


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## trw (Mar 2, 2009)

philipniceguy said:


> i'll give you a £1.00 to come see them :whistling2::whistling2::whistling2:
> 
> it's funny how zoos that make thousands cant make a cage with the profit.


many zoos dont run at a profit and require donations and corporate sponsorship to keep afloat. Durrell has apparently been running at a loss for a few years now and is certainly struggling.


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## animalsbeebee (May 19, 2008)

so what would you tell a private keeper who couldnt afford to house / feed !!!!


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

I'd tell them they couldn't afford to keep them???


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## trw (Mar 2, 2009)

animalsbeebee said:


> so what would you tell a private keeper who couldnt afford to house / feed !!!!


Firstly, i have no clue why you seem so bitter about this, but im guessing you work in/own some animal related business/ have some other personal gripe with zoos?

In my opinion at least, zoos are different to private individuals. Zoos arent like the private keeper who cant afford to keep, or doesnt have enough room to keep x many snakes, but gets them anyway just because they want to keep them, and then stuffs them into small, crappy enclosures without heat, and neglects them because they cannot provide for their needs. 
Zoos are conservation organisations, and many of them are charities. Zoos are also businesses and need to bring in money, so while zoos do often move on animals if they dont have the facilities or money to look after them, they cant move on all of their very rare and impressive animals because they are the ones which the public pay to see. The public dont want to pay to get into a zoo to see things you could see in a pet shop. Good zoos and I know that Durrell at least raise money for conservation projects in the wild, as well as for the upkeep of the captive collections and research, and this money comes in through charitable donations and money from the shops and entrance fees. 
The Aye-ayes at Durrell all do currently have enclosures which they have lived in for years, and in the past bred in them. However new advances in aye-aye husbandry have shown that the aye-ayes would benefit from a different sort of enclosure with outdoor access and so the zoo aims to provide them with these better enclosures. Aye-ayes are very rare in captivity with few zoos in the UK and Europe having them, so they are a valuable addition for Durrell to have and so they want to keep them, but want to provide them with the most up to date and suitable accommodation for the animals to ensure they have the best possible life in captivity. New enclosures will be built for them whatever happens, but the amount of money they have avaliable will dictate whether the new enclosures will be better, or much better for the animals. Thats my thoughts on it all at least. Noone is making you donate money, it is a voluntary donation which you can make if you feel that the work of zoos is important and that they are a good cause to donate to. 
Thanks for reading


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## PETERAROBERTSON (Jul 2, 2008)

trw said:


> Firstly, i have no clue why you seem so bitter about this, but im guessing you work in/own some animal related business/ have some other personal gripe with zoos?
> 
> In my opinion at least, zoos are different to private individuals. Zoos arent like the private keeper who cant afford to keep, or doesnt have enough room to keep x many snakes, but gets them anyway just because they want to keep them, and then stuffs them into small, crappy enclosures without heat, and neglects them because they cannot provide for their needs.
> Zoos are conservation organisations, and many of them are charities. Zoos are also businesses and need to bring in money, so while zoos do often move on animals if they dont have the facilities or money to look after them, they cant move on all of their very rare and impressive animals because they are the ones which the public pay to see. The public dont want to pay to get into a zoo to see things you could see in a pet shop. Good zoos and I know that Durrell at least raise money for conservation projects in the wild, as well as for the upkeep of the captive collections and research, and this money comes in through charitable donations and money from the shops and entrance fees.
> ...


This kinda contradicts itself.

You state private keepers cant afford to keep etc.

But this zoo is looking for donations for what private keepers pay for themselves.

Reads to me like animalsalbee has a good point.
And your personnal view of private keeping speeks for itself.

Some private keepers could teach zoos few things.


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## gmccurdie (Jun 1, 2012)

*Don’t think there is any need to get into a slanging match. The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust is an international charity trying to save species from extinction. It has worldwide recognition for its commitment to conservation projects and is a pioneer of conservation techniques.*
* It can hardly be compared with a private collection. No more than Dr Barnardos can be compared with the average parent raising a family.*
*The OP has posted his partners sponsorship form should you wish to click on the link and participate. If you do not wish to donate it would be far more charitable to ignore the thread as you would the collection tin....*
*Just my opinion*


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## PETERAROBERTSON (Jul 2, 2008)

Dont see any slagging match.
Just people doing what forums do.
Giving the same as you.
An opinion...
But dont take personnal as kinda see where your coming from.

But as a private keeper myself.
I need to work hard to keep going.
Same as most on here...


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## trw (Mar 2, 2009)

PETERAROBERTSON said:


> This kinda contradicts itself.
> 
> You state private keepers cant afford to keep etc.
> 
> ...


I have no problem with private keepers. I myself am a private keeper of reptiles. 
Maybe you disagree with me, and that is fine, you dont have to donate, but I believe charities and private keepers are different. We as private keepers keep purely because we want to keep the animals. I am not disputing the fact that some private keepers do amazing work and that zoos do indeed learn from private keepers who have made husbandry advances, or had breeding success with rare or difficult to keep species. However, private keepers are self funding and keep as a hobby. Zoos which are run as charities fund themselves through the entrance money and money from gift shops etc, but they also rely on charitable donations. This thread was not posted to see who disagrees with zoos, or charities, or donating money. This was started to see if anybody was willing to donate some of their money to a cause which I believe is very worthy, that is all, no more no less. Donations are voluntary, so if you object with the principle on which this thread was started, then vote with your wallet, and dont donate. Simple as that.
Thanks


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