New Zealand Journal of Zoology abstracts
Captive husbandry of stoats Mustela erminea
Robbie A. McDonald*
School of Biological Sciences
University of Bristol
Bristol BS8 1UG
United Kingdom
Present address: The Game Conservancy Trust, The Gillett, Forest-in-Teesdale, Barnard Castle DL12 0HA, UK. Email: rmcdonald@gct.org.uk
*Author for correspondence.
Serge Larivière
Delta Waterfowl Foundation
R.R. #1, Box 1, Portage La Prairie
Manitoba, Canada R1N 3A1
email: slariviere@deltawaterfowl.org
Abstract Captive stoats are essential for testing technological developments for pest control in New Zealand. We have reviewed husbandry practices and experiences of keeping stoats in captivity for a range of purposes. Stoats can be kept individually outside and subjected to normal regimes of light and temperature if sufficient bedding and shelter is provided. They appear to survive and breed best when fed on freshly killed rodents. Live prey is desirable though will rarely be permissible due to regulatory constraints. Breeding in captivity has been problematic in most cases, and although in a few instances wild-caught females carrying embryos in delay have given birth, this is a rare event. Procedures taken to minimise stress in captivity may reduce the loss rate of blastocysts due to resorption and facilitate rapid expansion of captive colonies.
Keywords animal husbandry; captive breeding; diseases; feeding; housing; Mustelidae; zoo biology
Z01002; published 9 September 2002; received 8 January 2001; accepted 25 February 2002
New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 2002, Vol. 29: 177–186
0301–4223/02/2903–0177 $7.00/0 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2002
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