Mustelids in captivity

drill said:
I'm pretty sure it is. I asked a worker there. She said that it is one of the only Zorillas in American zoos.
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ThylacineAlive said:
TLD's point is that there are several species labeled "Zorilla" in the private trade that aren't actually Zorilla. It could very well be one, but it could also be one of the striped weasels. Either way it's a super rare find.

~Thylo
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It is also not unknown for Striped Skunk to be passed off as Zorilla by unscrupulous breeders :p the photograph is pretty unclear (to the point I'm not even certain where the head is!) but I'm afraid I cannot rule out this option. I am pretty sure it is not Saharan Striped Weasel, at least.
 
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Zoovolunteer said:
Zorilla and Marbled Polecat are definitely my own top 2 mustelids to see. Incidentally, this blog is really great on mammals and has a long series on all the worlds mustelids starting here:
Synapsida: The World of Weasels
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It is indeed a great blog :) unfortunately you are a few years too late to see Marbled Polecat in the UK where public collections are concerned, but just in time to see Zorilla - after an interregnum of about 6 or 7 years the species is once again on-display in UK collections, at Cedars Nature Centre and Hoo Farm.

Marbled Polecat is not merely my favourite mustelid, but also my favourite small carnivore of all..... as my user avatar might hint at!
 
Here are all the mustelid species I have seen (and where I have seen them):

Tayra (Milwaukee County Zoo, no longer on exhibit)
Greater Grison (Timbavati Wildlife Park)
Wolverine (Minnesota Zoo)
Fisher (Minnesota Zoo, Special Memories Zoo, Lakewood Zoo (latter now closed))
Least Weasel (wild)
Black-Footed Ferret (NEW Zoo)
Domestic Ferret (everywhere)
American Mink (wild, Milwaukee County Zoo (no longer keeps this species), Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary)
American Badger (so many places)
Asian Small-Clawed Otter (Minnesota Zoo, Brookfield Zoo, Lincoln Park Zoo)
Sea Otter (Shedd Aquarium, Minnesota Zoo, and possibly Special Memories Zoo (if I saw it there, it is certainly not kept there anymore))
North American River Otter (many places)
 
Several of us on ZooChat decry the lack of non-otter mustelids in USA (and other) zoos. It is surprising how they sometimes show up in very small non-accredited facilities. @snowleopard did a tour of some really lousy zoos in and around Wisconsin last summer and saw American mink in at least two or three of them. Heritage Park Zoo, a small rescue zoo in my state of Arizona, sells a postcard in their gift shop of a genet they used to have (sadly died before my first visit). Someone (I forget who) recently posted photos of some really nice species at Moscow Zoo.

When I was a docent at Reid Park Zoo several years ago, we had a marbled polecat as one of our ambassador animals (I assume it has passed away by now). We had a nice two sided acrylic case that we could take out to show visitors. One side would have the polecat and the other side would have domestic ferret for comparison. (Docents could handle the ferrets but not the polecat so we had to get a staff member to put it in the case for us).
 
ThylacineAlive said:
Mustelids I've seen:
-Cape Clawless Otter
-Oriental Small-Clawed Otter
-Guianan Tayra
-Southern Sea Otter
-Eurasian Wolverine
-Spotted-Necked Otter
-North American River Otter
-European Otter
-Indochinese Smooth-Coated Otter
-American Marten
-Northern Yellow-Throated Marten
-European Marten
-European Badger
-South African Ratel
-Central African Ratel
-Californian Long-Tailed Weasel
-Spanish Mink
-Middle Russian Mink
-Black-Footed Ferret
-Welsh Polecat
-Fisher
-Northern Giant Otter
-Mexican Badger
-Great Lakes Badger
-Siberian Weasel
-Zorilla
-Greater Grison
-Beech Marten
-Marbled Polecat

29 taxa (30 if you count Domestic Ferret), not bad :)

~Thylo
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Thylo, I don't mean to be nitpicky or bump this thread, but the vernacular name for Mustela frenata latirostra is the San Diego long tailed weasel.
 
Mustelids I've Seen:
  1. African clawless otter - captivity (San Diego Zoo)
  2. Asian small-clawed otter - captivity (Sea World San Diego)
  3. Ferret - captivity (Six Flags Discovery Kingdom)
  4. Giant otter - captivity (Los Angeles Zoo)
  5. North American river otter - captivity (Sacramento Zoo)
  6. Southern sea otter - wild and captivity (Monterey Bay and Monterey Bay Aquarium)
  7. Spotted-necked otter - captivity (San Diego Zoo)
  8. Wolverine - captivity (San Francisco Zoo)
Mustelids I'd like To See:
  1. African striped weasel
  2. American badger
  3. American mink
  4. Fisher
  5. Hog badger
  6. Honey badger
  7. Least weasel
  8. Marbled polecat
  9. Marine otter
  10. Tayra
  11. Zorilla
 
I don't think I've seen any other than the various otters (southern sea otter, north american river otter, asian small-clawed, giant, and spotted-necked, don't remember what species DWA has), and plenty of black footed ferrets.
The wolverine is probably in my top 5 of species that I want to see that can be found in multiple zoos. I'd be happy to see any new mustelids, really! But especially tayra, grison, sable, and any/all of the badgers.

I plan on making a trip to ZooAmerica sometime in the next year and they have American Marten, which I probably saw last time I visited but that was in middle school, ~20 years ago. They surprisingly don't have wolverine.
 
TinoPup said:
I don't think I've seen any other than the various otters (southern sea otter, north american river otter, asian small-clawed, giant, and spotted-necked, don't remember what species DWA has), and plenty of black footed ferrets.
The wolverine is probably in my top 5 of species that I want to see that can be found in multiple zoos. I'd be happy to see any new mustelids, really! But especially tayra, grison, sable, and any/all of the badgers.

I plan on making a trip to ZooAmerica sometime in the next year and they have American Marten, which I probably saw last time I visited but that was in middle school, ~20 years ago. They surprisingly don't have wolverine.
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Do you know if there are any North American collections that keep Beech Marten?
 
These are all the mustelid species I have seen, either in the wild or captivity:

1. Eurasian otter Lutra lutra (wild and captivity - Wildwood Trust, Wilhelma Zoo and Rotterdam Zoo, probably more)
2. North American river otter Lontra canadensis (captivity - Bristol Zoo and Slimbridge, probably more)
3. Asian small-clawed otter Aonyx cinerea (captivity - an awful lot of places)
4. Smooth-coated otter Lutrogale perspicillata (captivity - Colchester Zoo, Rare Species Conservation Centre and Wingham Wildlife Park)
5. Giant otter Pteroneura brasiliensis (captivity - Rare Species Conservation Centre)
6. European badger Meles meles (wild and captivity - Wildwood Trust)
7. Honey badger Mellivora capensis (captivity - Edinburgh Zoo)
8. Wolverine Gulo gulo (captivity - Edinburgh Zoo and ZSL Whipsnade Zoo)
9. Yellow-throated marten Martes flavigula (captivity - Rare Species Conservation Centre)
10. Marbled polecat Vormela peregusna (captivity - Tropical Wings Zoo)
11. American mink Neovison vison (wild)
12. Western polecat Mustela putorius (captivity - Wildwood Trust)
13. Stoat Mustela erminea (wild)
14. Least weasel Mustela nivalis (wild)

As for the species I would like to see, five that I would particularly enjoy would be the greater hog-badger Arctonyx collaris, tayra Eira barbara, European mink Mustela lutreola, marine otter Lontra felina and Nilgiri marten Martes gwatkinsii.
 
TinoPup said:
Thanks @ThylacineAlive



I don't believe there's any in north america, unless one of those small roadside zoos happens to have one (weird animals tend to show up in those places).
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I am asking because the species was formerly farmed for fur in North America, and an introduced population exists in the Milwaukee area.
 
Concerning the Beech Martens, we now know where N.A. zoos can now get some to start a captive population.:) No animals would be taken from their native range, no import issues and it would help control an introduced species.
 
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RFI, wasn't sure where to ask this but I figured this would be the best thread. What zoos in the United States have Wolverines? Both my daughter and I want to see them, and it seems there are none in New England.
 
Birdlover said:
RFI, wasn't sure where to ask this but I figured this would be the best thread. What zoos in the United States have Wolverines? Both my daughter and I want to see them, and it seems there are none in New England.
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Minnesota keeps them. I am sure others do as well.
 
I think Columbus keeps Wolverine as well. My question is, is there anywhere that keeps American Wolverines? It seems to AZA has been importing Wolverines from European zoos in recent years.

~Thylo
 
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