In 2000, six rheas (including one male) escape from a farm in Schleswig-Holstein.

The birds survived and indeed thrived in the lightly forested areas around Schaalsee. In 2012 their numbers were estimated to be near 100. A more comprehensive survey by the Nandu Monitoring Working Group in 2016 found more than 200 feral rhea in northern Germany.

The birds are protected by Germany’s conservation laws, to the disgruntlement of some farmers. ( The Germans call the rheas nandu, which is the word for rhea in a south American language.)

In Argentina, rhea live in Chubut region as far south ss the 44th parallel. The area where these feral rheas live in Germany is on the 53rd parallel north, but the minimum winter temperatures in Chubut are similar to those of the Schaalsee area. The major climatic difference is that Chubut is a good deal more arid, receiving only around 250 mm of rainfall per year.

http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-a-wild-nandu-bird-in-a-field-near-schattin-germany-30-october-2016-125152881.html

dv said:

In 2000, six rheas (including one male) escape from a farm in Schleswig-Holstein.

The birds survived and indeed thrived in the lightly forested areas around Schaalsee. In 2012 their numbers were estimated to be near 100. A more comprehensive survey by the Nandu Monitoring Working Group in 2016 found more than 200 feral rhea in northern Germany.

The birds are protected by Germany’s conservation laws, to the disgruntlement of some farmers. ( The Germans call the rheas nandu, which is the word for rhea in a south American language.)

In Argentina, rhea live in Chubut region as far south ss the 44th parallel. The area where these feral rheas live in Germany is on the 53rd parallel north, but the minimum winter temperatures in Chubut are similar to those of the Schaalsee area. The major climatic difference is that Chubut is a good deal more arid, receiving only around 250 mm of rainfall per year.

http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-a-wild-nandu-bird-in-a-field-near-schattin-germany-30-october-2016-125152881.html

and they all ran wild.

dv said:

Totally.

kii said:

dv said:

Totally.

No, once again dv is quite wrong.

> The area where these feral rheas live …

Try saying “feral rheas” five times quickly without stopping.

On a more serious note, do you have any other examples of surprising feral animal species?

There used to be a big book in one of the university libraries on the topic of “feral birds of the world” giving maps of each distribution. For example, Peregrines are feral on the Indian Ocean islands. I don’t remember seeing rheas, though.

From the web.
Greater Rheas, a species the Germans call Nandu, are very popular in Germany and frequently kept in zoos as well as private enclosures. It is not unusual to drive by a farm building and see a bunch of Greater Rheas on the farm’s fenced-in pasture next to sheep or goats. Therefore, some will occasionally escape and roam the land until they are – inevitably, as they are large and cannot hide very well in the open landscapes they frequent – caught again by their owner. The following map shows all observations of Greater Rheas throughout Germany since 1999. You can see mostly small dots, indicating single individuals over a short period of time.

“On a more serious note, do you have any other examples of surprising feral animal species”

Well… who can say what is surprising? Some might be surprised by feral dear in NZ, or that there are half a million camels in Australia.

There are reports of wallabies in Emance, France, but they have been sporadic and there seems to be doubt that any of these are thriving and breeding in the wild. It might be that all sightings are cases of individual escapees from the zoological reserve. Unlike the rheas, no on in France ever sees more than one wallaby at a time.

There’s no doubt there are wallaby colonies in Cornwall, as there have been photographs taken of small groups. There was a good colony in the Peak District for a while, now wiped out. Red-neck wallabies were deliberately released on Inchconnachan Island in Scotland some 70 years ago, and are still going strong.

There is stack of macaques in Florida, descended from theme park escapees.

dv said:

“On a more serious note, do you have any other examples of surprising feral animal species”

Well… who can say what is surprising? Some might be surprised by feral dear in NZ, or that there are half a million camels in Australia.

There are reports of wallabies in Emance, France, but they have been sporadic and there seems to be doubt that any of these are thriving and breeding in the wild. It might be that all sightings are cases of individual escapees from the zoological reserve. Unlike the rheas, no on in France ever sees more than one wallaby at a time.

There’s no doubt there are wallaby colonies in Cornwall, as there have been photographs taken of small groups. There was a good colony in the Peak District for a while, now wiped out. Red-neck wallabies were deliberately released on Inchconnachan Island in Scotland some 70 years ago, and are still going strong.

There is stack of macaques in Florida, descended from theme park escapees.

Those feral dear are quite lovely.

sibeen said:

dv said:

“On a more serious note, do you have any other examples of surprising feral animal species”

Well… who can say what is surprising? Some might be surprised by feral dear in NZ, or that there are half a million camels in Australia.

There are reports of wallabies in Emance, France, but they have been sporadic and there seems to be doubt that any of these are thriving and breeding in the wild. It might be that all sightings are cases of individual escapees from the zoological reserve. Unlike the rheas, no on in France ever sees more than one wallaby at a time.

There’s no doubt there are wallaby colonies in Cornwall, as there have been photographs taken of small groups. There was a good colony in the Peak District for a while, now wiped out. Red-neck wallabies were deliberately released on Inchconnachan Island in Scotland some 70 years ago, and are still going strong.

There is stack of macaques in Florida, descended from theme park escapees.

Those feral dear are quite lovely.

Possums in NZ

Deer oh deer oh deer…..

Tamb said:

sibeen said:

dv said:

“On a more serious note, do you have any other examples of surprising feral animal species”

Well… who can say what is surprising? Some might be surprised by feral dear in NZ, or that there are half a million camels in Australia.

There are reports of wallabies in Emance, France, but they have been sporadic and there seems to be doubt that any of these are thriving and breeding in the wild. It might be that all sightings are cases of individual escapees from the zoological reserve. Unlike the rheas, no on in France ever sees more than one wallaby at a time.

There’s no doubt there are wallaby colonies in Cornwall, as there have been photographs taken of small groups. There was a good colony in the Peak District for a while, now wiped out. Red-neck wallabies were deliberately released on Inchconnachan Island in Scotland some 70 years ago, and are still going strong.

There is stack of macaques in Florida, descended from theme park escapees.

Those feral dear are quite lovely.

Possums in NZ

Gum trees in California.

Australian white-faced herons are considered endemic species in New Zealand, even though they have only been there for a few decades, less time than brushtails.

mollwollfumble said:

Tamb said:

sibeen said:

Those feral dear are quite lovely.

Possums in NZ

Gum trees in California.

Australian white-faced herons are considered endemic species in New Zealand, even though they have only been there for a few decades, less time than brushtails.

NZedders shouldn’t complain. They are feral in OZ.

mollwollfumble said:

Australian white-faced herons are considered endemic species in New Zealand, even though they have only been there for a few decades, less time than brushtails.

Good good or ill, zoologists treat anthropgenic introductions as a separate case.

Australia hosts a feral donkey population.

“Large colonies of feral parrots are present in various parts of the world, with rose-ringed parakeets, monk parakeets and red-masked parakeets being particularly successful outside of their native habitats.”

There have been reports of feral emus in the USA over the last couple of decades, and even a couple of vehicular interactions, but again this appears to be isolated incidents of escapes from emu farms.

How about that feral pygmy hippo?

The Florida macaques all have Herpes-B

dv said:

The Florida macaques all have Herpes-B

Why?

Peak Warming Man said:

dv said:

The Florida macaques all have Herpes-B

Why?

Dirty habits.

Peak Warming Man said:

dv said:

The Florida macaques all have Herpes-B

Why?

I don’t rightly know.

dv said:

The Florida macaques all have Herpes-B

You wouldn’t want to get bitten by one then.

Bubblecar said:

Peak Warming Man said:

dv said:

The Florida macaques all have Herpes-B

Why?

Dirty habits.

filthy minkeys.

JudgeMental said:

Bubblecar said:

Peak Warming Man said:

Why?

Dirty habits.

filthy minkeys.

Dirty habits. Are Florida Macaques a religious Order of Nuns?

According to WP the last known human fatality from simian Herpes B virus occurred “ in 1997 when researcher Elizabeth Griffin was splashed in the eye at Yerkes National Primate Research Center”.