Husbandry and Breeding Management Practices in South American Camelids kept in Europe

Kateřina Berková

Master's thesis

Abstract:

In the last few decades, breeding SACs has become an increasingly popular activity for many breeders. Currently, there are not enough papers summarizing the status of SACs in zoos. For this reason, the first objective of this thesis was to summarize and evaluate breeding and reproduction techniques in selected Czech zoos. European zookeepers have been regularly recording data relating to animals kept in zoos for last 50 years. In this paper, these data were exported and, by merging them with data obtained by visits of the zoo, they were compared and analysed. The analysis revealed that the selected Czech zoos were mainly breeding domesticated species - llamas and alpacas and that the percentage of mortality of young animals during the first month was 58 %. Alpacas were bred mostly in zoos (67 % of all species) and also on farms (70 % of all species). A more in-depth study would be needed to understand SACs’ husbandry and breeding management methods practiced on zoos. SACs are used primarily for their high-quality wool and because of their calm temperament as hobby companions. Several papers summarized the status of these animals on European farms and on farms outside Europe. The breeding of domestic species, llamas and alpacas, is becoming more popular nowadays compared to previous years. The second objective was also to summarise breeding and reproductive techniques, but for this matter, on selected European farms. The collection of the data was carried out by means of a questionnaire survey. Numbers, breeding techniques and reproductive information were obtained and afterwards analysed. A prevalence of farms that bred only alpaca species was observed (56 %). A total of 57 % of farmers answered that they use some breeding method, in most cases it was the selection of males and females for reproducing. For this part of the problematics, it is also in demand to analyse data about breeding and reproductive management more deeply.

Keywords

husbandry of camelids, reproduction, European farms, Czech zoos, SAC

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 22. 4. 2022

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Ing. Tamara Fedorova, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Master programme / specializace:
Wildlife and Livestock Production, Management and Conservation / Wildlife Management and Conservation