A Unique Insect at Prague Zoo!

Lord Howe Island stick insect. Photo: Miroslav Bobek, Prague Zoo

Lord Howe Island stick insect lived only on the small Lord Howe Island, located in the Pacific Ocean about seven hundred kilometres from Sydney. It was utterly common there and the few locals referred to them as “tree lobsters”. But in 1918 the steamer Makambo was shipwrecked next to the local Ned’s Beach and rats escaped from it. They quickly took over the island and became a disaster for the local endemic species. Within a few years, the Lord Howe Island stick insect was wiped out to the last individual.

For decades it was supposed that Lord Howe Island stick insect was definitely gone. However, when in 1960s mountain climbers scaled Ball’s Pyramid—a sheer cliff that raises 562 metres high above the waves—a fascinating discovery was made: a small population of Lord Howe Island stick insect was surviving on this inhospitable rock, more than twenty kilometres away from the Lord Howe Island!

Ball’s Pyramid. Photo: Miroslav Bobek, Prague Zoo

It was not until much, much later—in 2003—that two pairs were removed from Ball’s Pyramid in an attempt to save the species and their breeding started on the Australian mainland. The breeding itself is not at all easy, besides other factors due to their susceptibility to bacterial and virus infections. After all, out of four zoos outside of Australia, where Lord Howe Island stick insect had been provided in last years, only one (in San Diego) plans to continue breeding it. However, two others have joined—London Zoo and ours!

We joined the effort to save Lord Howe Island stick insect years ago, when we started to support financially the genetical research; after all, the entire population in human care originates from such a small number of specimens that you could count them on the fingers of one hand (only Vanessa, the female, joined the original two pairs recently), and also on the Ball’s Pyramid the stick insect hover on the edge of survival. Also, years ago we started striving to get the Lord Howe Island stick insect for our zoo. It meant a protracted negotiation for many permissions and agreements and creating the conditions for their breeding in our zoo as well.

In the area of the former elephant house, we created the breeding facility with a window for visitors, and in addition to the greenhouses with the necessary nutrient plants we added an impressive model of Ball’s Pyramid (2,8 metres high, created by 3D print), a large model of Lord Howe Island stick insect, a detailed information system and the projection of an animated film. On the occasion of opening the new main season we will introduce the Lord Howe Island stick insect for the first time!