Task A (Record Keeping) - Identification
Topic Summary:
The evidence presented below includes records kept relating to the permanent marking of carnivores (by microchipping) and ungulates (by ear-tagging) at The Scottish Deer Centre, as well as other records containing identifying information on individual animals. These are:
- Microchip Registration Form
- In-field Deer Tagging Record Sheet
- Specimen Report Header containing ID information
- Photographic ID Guide for a species grouping.
The microchipping and tagging forms have been completed by myself, the former due to assisting the Head Keeper in a chipping procedure and the latter due to tagging five of the six deer documented in the record personally. The Specimen Report header contains ID information I provided to the Park Manager at the time the report was created, and the photographic ID record was created by myself using my own photographs and ID details I have documented based on intimate knowledge of each of the animals shown from the time they arrived at the centre (Keisha) or from birth (Olivia, Huey, Nipper and Bruce).
Microchipping
Whereas all deer born at, or transferred to the Deer Centre, are marked with a unique identifying ear tag, all carnivores (and also some deer i.e. reindeer) are microchipped on site by the Head Keeper - a registered 'Petlog' implanter - with the assistance of other keepers. This is normally done at the recommended age for the species i.e. six weeks old for Short-Clawed Otters.
Following microchipping, a Petlog registration form is completed by keepers to show the microchip number, location and key details relating to the specimen which has been fitted with the chip. This information is related to 'Petlog' by the Head Keeper and the form passed to the Park Manager for filing and to add to the animal's specimen report.
The registration form below was completed by myself following the chipping of 'Huey', Asian Short-Clawed Otter, at six-weeks-old, and was updated following his neutering in January 2015. I was responsible for restraining Huey and each of his two littermates throughout the microchipping procedure, whilst the Head Keeper implanted and then double-checked the chip number using a reader. The same procedure is shown in the photograph in 'B - Effective Handling and Restraint', with Short-Clawed Otter 'Bruce'.
Whilst the otters are easily identifiable by appearance alone, I have conditioned them to being scanned with the microchip reader, which is helpful for checking whether the chips have migrated to another part of their body. If this is the case, computerised specimen reports are updated with the new location of the chip.
Microchip Registration Form
Specimen Reports
Alongside the paper daily specimen report records completed by keepers (see 'A - Health'), the Park Manager also maintains a computerised report for each individual animal, all of which carry information relating to the identification of the relevant specimen.
As shown below in the identification section of the specimen report for Short-Clawed Otter 'Huey', information captured includes:
- Sex
- Microchip number, date implanted and location of chip
- House Name
- House Name and ID Number of Sire and Dam
- Method of Rearing (parent, foster or hand-reared)
- Species Details (including order, family, taxonomic name and common name of species)
Further information relating to for example, weights, lengths, unique markings, behaviour, health and feeding, are all included in the main body of computerised specimen reports, however are not shown in this preview. All information to be collated in the computerised specimen reports are passed on to the Park Manager by keepers both verbally and in the paper records kept.
Tagging
In line with DEFRA recommendations for ungulates and also due to the greater complexity in microchipping ungulates and the fact that it can be more difficult to identify them by physical appearance alone, all deer born at the Deer Centre are caught up 24-48 hours after birth and fitted with a unique identifying ear tag, which can be used to identify individuals at a distance. Fitting tags to the right ear in females and left in males is common practice within the zoo industry and is helpful for identifying the gender of deer at a glance. This is particularly useful in immature deer pre-antler development, and in species such as the Chinese Water Deer (Hydropotes inermis), which do not gro antlers.
The tag record form shown to the right is kept in a master folder within the 'tagging bag', which also contains ear tags and necessary equipment. Once each deer is tagged, details on the species and sex, the ear the tag is fitted in and the tag number are recorded and the initials of the keeper who tagged them noted alongside the relevant record. These details are then passed to the Park Manager for entry into the computerised specimen reports, as per the microchipping procedure.
In this example, any deer marked 'AD' have been tagged by myself (i.e. all but the most recently-born Pere David's Deer calf).
Photographic Records
Photographic records are incredibly useful, especially for new-starts or students on work placements, in order to help them to learn how to identify animals fairly quickly. Whereas some species can still be difficult to identify by appearance alone (making tagging more important), others - particularly carnivores - are more distinctive, with facial markings and other appearance details therefore able to be used for identification purposes.
With this in mind, my keeper colleague and I began producing photographic ID sheets such as the one shown below, which I compiled in relation to our five Short-Clawed Otters (using my own photographs). Where there has been a change in appearance - for example with 'Bruce' who is still growing and maturing - these sheets can be simply updated with a new photograph and descriptive details.