Auckland Zoo Auckland Zoo - South American Section

Zoofan15

Zoofan15

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
Auckland Zoo – South American Section

Introduction

Like many zoos of the early to mid 1900s, Auckland Zoo had little to no organised grouping of its animals. Animals were simply accommodated where there was suitable space or resources (i.e. a running stream for hippopotamus) to build an exhibit for them.

During the 1990s, initiatives to group animals based on species or biome began with the development of the Rainforest (featuring macaques, spider monkeys, tamarins and siamang), Pridelands (featuring giraffe, zebra, springbok, hippopotamus, baboons and lions) and the Primate Trail (featuring chimpanzees, orangutans and ring-tailed lemur), with some animals moving from enclosures in isolated areas of the zoo (baboons and hippopotamus for example) to new enclosures within these developments.

In recent years, Auckland Zoo has moved towards exhibiting it’s animals based on the continent from which they originate. Pridelands formed the basis for the Africa section, with new exhibits for flamingo (2001), serval (2004) and cheetah (2006) completing the section. The New Zealand Native section opened in 2011, the Australian section in 2016 and development of Wild Indonesia in now underway.

With only minor modifications, a South American section has developed, based around the Rainforest exhibits, which opened in 1996.

As of 2018, Auckland Zoo’s South American animals include the following species:

Mammals

Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaerus)

Brazilian Agouti (Dasyprocta leporina)

Pygmy Marmoset (Cebuella pygmaea)

Cottontop Tamarin (Saguinus oedipus)

Golden Lion Tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia)

Bolivian Squirrel Monkey (Saimiri boliviensis)

Black-handed Spider Monkey (Ateles geoffroyi)

Reptiles

Green Iguana (Iguana iguana)

Galapagos Giant Tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra)

American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)

Birds

Blue and Gold Macaw (Ara araurana)

Arachnids

Costa Rican Zebra Tarantula (Aphonopelma seemanni)

Peruvian Pinktoe Tarantula (Avicularia urticans)

Mexican Red-knee Tarantula (Brachypelma smithi)

Goliath Stripe-legged Tarantula (Lasiodora striatus)

Bolivian Blue leg Tarantula (Pamphobetus aninous)

Previous South American species held at Auckland Zoo have included:

Mammals

Jaguar (Panthera onca) phased out 1990s
Lhama (Lama glama) phased out 2000s

Birds

Humboldt Penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) phased out 1970s

As no doubt noted by many Zoochatters, the Siamang from South East Asia may fit the rainforest theme of the 1990s, but not the South American theme and they will soon be relocated as part of the Wild Indonesia Development. This will leave a decent sized enclosure available for renovation.

I’m interested to hear what species people would like to see occupy this exhibit:

An additional enclosure to accomdate a South American species already at the zoo? #kindaboring

A South American species previously held at Auckland Zoo that has been phased out? #veryexciting

A whole new species all together? #lasoexciting

Bear in mind, it may be possible to extend this exhibit from behind, so your thoughts and suggestions should not be limited to only what species could currently be comfortably accommodated in this space.
 
Species I'd Like to See Added:

There are many South American species that I would like to see, including spectacled bear, caiman, armadillos, giant anteater, sloths, tapir and ocelot but for me there are two clear choices (remember this is personal preference, not logistical feasibility or likelihood):

1) Jaguar

I’d love to see jaguar reinstated at Auckland Zoo (and in the Australasian zoos). As the largest big cat species in South America and third largest worldwide, the jaguar makes for an impressive exhibit. In addition, it enjoys swimming and is a beautiful cat, commonly seen in both the golden and melanistic variety.

While the current siamang exhibit is probabaly similar in size to the enclosure Auckland Zoo’s last jaguar inhabited prior to his death in the mid 1990s, it would require an extension, not to mention extensive modification to renovate it to an acceptable international standard for a world class zoo.

While highly unlikely due to the region wide phase out of this species, not to mention the high costs involved, the jaguar remains my top preference.

2) Maned Wolf

My second choice would be the Maned Wolf, which is gathering considerable interest in Australian Zoos. It’s the largest canid in South America but unlike many canid species, does not live in packs. Maned wolves are stunning animals, often referred to as a fox on stilts and have urine that smells like marijuana.

Again, the current siamang enclosure would require significant modification, as well as an extension, though probably not to the extent required for the larger jaguar.

While acquisition of the species would be by no means be straight forward, I think it would be valuable addition to the zoo none the less, while supporting an established breeding programme in the region currently involving a small but growing number of zoos and therefore a reasonably strong possibility.
 
I would think that an arboreal species would be best suited for that enclosure, and that the most likely species would be capuchins, but it will be interesting to see what happens. Coati may be an option too, and both these options are possible based on their presence within the region.

I'd like to see Maned Wolves in NZ, but I don't think that enclosure (and especially the elevated viewing) would work for a terrestrial species. I think jaguars are less likely, and less useful for regional programs (because the spaces they would take up would take away from other big cat programs).
 
Adelaide Zoo wants to develop a strong South American collection including Jaguar, Giant Anteater and Sloth.

Additional species aren't out of question to bring into the region. However, they would be more expensive to get completed the required Import Health Standards and get added to the MPI approved new organism list.
 
gerenuk said:
Adelaide Zoo wants to develop a strong South American collection including Jaguar, Giant Anteater and Sloth.
Click to expand...

This is news to me. Where did you hear this? Last I heard they were planning to import Sri Lankan leopards.

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Photo credit: Phoebe Buffay GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY
 
Sorry guys, I could have sworn I had some additional concept art with these species. Must be confused with something else. Developing a South America section for Adelaide is decades off anyway.

It wouldn't surprise me with whatever Auckland might do. They seem to be going to great lengths to develop an interesting collection for this new tropical hall for the Southeast Asia precinct. It wasn't that long ago a curator at the zoo was interviewed about allowing snakes into NZ zoos.
 
gerenuk said:
Sorry guys, I could have sworn I had some additional concept art with these species. Must be confused with something else. Developing a South America section for Adelaide is decades off anyway.

It wouldn't surprise me with whatever Auckland might do. They seem to be going to great lengths to develop an interesting collection for this new tropical hall for the Southeast Asia precinct. It wasn't that long ago a curator at the zoo was interviewed about allowing snakes into NZ zoos.
Click to expand...

Unless jaguar have the backing of a regional breeding programme (which they don't), sadly none of our major zoos will import them and I can't see this situation changing anytime soon. It's frustrating to see the reduction in the number of cat species held in Australasian zoos - we've lost Jaguar, Siberian Tiger, Temminck's Golden Cat, Leopard Cat and gained only Caracal.

The Tropical Hall at Auckland Zoo will hold False Gharial as the main drawcard, with some sort of turtle as the supporting act.
 
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