Ranking the stars; what are the popular zoo animals?

amur leopard said:
I'm not sure I know anyone who would actually pay £1600 to adopt a tiger, but? Maybe they like their tigers in Prague
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Usually big companies and/or rich people. Sometimes it could be also crowdfunding effort i. e. some school deciding to adopt something, raising money from teachers, students and their parents and then adopting something that is in the range of amount raised. We did it at my elementary school many years ago and we ended up adopting addax and a some crane species IIRC.

Also for these big sponsors, Prague usually does something "extra." I mean, one of the Silvery gibbon offspring is called "Silver Arrow" because of Mercedes sponsoring...
 
I can't work anything yet, I have visited 12 zoos.
50: dolphins, giant panda
45: elephants, meerkat, seals, giraffe, polar bear, apes
40: catta, koala, baboon, hippo, rhino, cheetah, bears, giant tortoise
35: ostrich, big cats, zebra, camel, llamas, eagles and vultures, crocodiles, pythons
30: monkeys, bison, domestical goat, tapir, canids, sloth, parrots, flamingos
25: antelopes, deer, other carnivores, small tortoise, caimans
20: barking deer, wild goats, takin, duikers, capybaras
15: other reptiles, little birds, insect-eater mammals, rabbits, maras
minus infinite: rats, mouses, little snakes, insects
 
Using the information from these posts, here are the most popular animals:

1 Giant panda 48
2 Apes 45
3 Old World monkeys, orcas, beluga, white tiger 44
7 Dolphins 43
8 Tiger, polar bear, elephants, penguins, whale shark 42
13 Koala, whales, lion 41
16 Ring-tailed lemur, giraffe, rockhopper penguin 40
19 New World monkeys, great apes, gorilla 38
22 Orang-utan, puma, sharks 37
25 Manatees, bears, hippo 36
28 Chimpanzee, meerkat, black leopard, black jaguar, snow leopard, sea lions, dugong, king penguin, pythons 35
37 Bonobo, brown bear, red panda, rhinos, manta ray 34
 
A quick reminder for everyone who would still like to participate. I will wait until the end of this week for responses. The easiest way to contribute is via this survey:

Zoo animal popularity

Dassie rat said:
Using the information from these posts, here are the most popular animals:

1 Giant panda 48
2 Apes 45
3 Old World monkeys, orcas, beluga, white tiger 44
7 Dolphins 43
8 Tiger, polar bear, elephants, penguins, whale shark 42
13 Koala, whales, lion 41
16 Ring-tailed lemur, giraffe, rockhopper penguin 40
19 New World monkeys, great apes, gorilla 38
22 Orang-utan, puma, sharks 37
25 Manatees, bears, hippo 36
28 Chimpanzee, meerkat, black leopard, black jaguar, snow leopard, sea lions, dugong, king penguin, pythons 35
37 Bonobo, brown bear, red panda, rhinos, manta ray 34
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You could have spared yourself the effort, as I will be doing this once all replies have come in and I have standardized them. You will have missed at least 16 responses from another forum and the survey...

Andrew Swales said:
I've been to quite a lot of zoos - but where are Manta Rays, Dugong, Whales and Whale Sharks, the 'popular zoo animals'?
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Aquariums that do have Manta Rays and Whale Sharks use them a lot in their marketing and they are their drawcard animals (think Georgia Aquarium). Also in any zoo in which Manatees are properly displayed (every zoo except Berlin basically) you will find a lot of attention for Manatees with many people being fascinated by them. They have star appeal in e.g. River Safari, Nuremberg and Burgers' Zoo. So I am not really surprised about these rankings.
 
@lintworm Are you still focusing mainly on Europe or worldwide? I initially didn't notice that you were planning to do that and was going to contribute. If you are covering worldwide, I will try and fill in the survey.
 
In total I got 33 responses from zoo nerds who were willing to fill in the questionnaire, a big thanks to all of you!

When analyzing the results I found relatively high agreement across most users on the popularity of most groups/species groups (more about that below). When comparing to the little available literature my results are pretty comparable overall, with the same species mentioned as popular. The big exception to this are otters. Small-clawed Otters only come on rank 41, below flamingos, lemurs, manatees and others. But this is an exception rather than the rule. In general my results also show that mammals, especially large ones, and active animals are more popular, just as species which have a high cuddlyness factor. in total there were 21 species that were given on average 35 points or more out of 50, shown in the graph below:

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Note that you cannot say based on just these data that e.g. penguins are more popular than sea lions, just that both are among the most popular taxa. It is also important to note that a priori popularity (attractiveness) doesn't necessarily mean that visitors spend time looking at these animals in practice. That also depends on interactions, animal activity and likely on enclosure design. As an example, nobody would give high points for Fiddler Crabs on attractivity, but people in Burgers' Zoo spend a lot of time observing these animals, due to the enclosure design.

The least popular species (groups) were amphibians, small birds, Elephant-shrews, small rodents, waterfowl and fowl and hedgehogs. Echidna and Hyrax also didn't exactly score many points, just like other small mammals and ectotherms.

There was relatively high disagreement (based on standard deviations) for several groups. Most disagreement was about how popular (in decreasing order) Whale Sharks, Belugas, Manta Rays, Platypus, Octopus, Peacocks, Orcas, Clownfish, Dolphins, Ostriches, Komodo Dragons and some other fish groups are for the general zoo going public. So generalizing, there is higher disagreement for popularity of fish, birds and animals about which there are serious welfare concerns.

Stay tuned for more, such as which European zoos have the most popular collection, both in total score, but also relative to their total species richness.
 
It looks like popularity is largely a function of intensity of the optical stimulus: has to be large, colorful and move a lot. ;)

However, of course, presentation, interaction and a social group matter a lot. For example, a group of chimps with a youngster is much more attractive than a group of adults, which are much less active.
 
These are common/well-known zoo animals that I decided to rank.

Mammals:

Orcas & Dolphins: 45
Elephants: 40
Giraffes: 35
Lions: 40
Tigers: 45
Jaguars: 25
Leopards: 25
Cheetahs: 30
Polar Bears: 35
Brown & Black Bears: 30
Pandas: 50
Walrus: 30
Seals & Sea Lions: 40
Rhinos: 35
Hippopotamus: 40
Okapi: 15
Camels: 20
Zebras: 30
Buffalo: 10
Moose & Deer: 10
Antelope & Gazelles: 10
Tapir: 5
Warthog: 20
Domestic Livestock (horses, cows, goats, etc): 20
Gorillas: 40
Chimpanzees: 30
Orangutans: 25
Gibbons: 15
Monkeys: 35
Lemurs: 30
Sloths: 35
Wolves: 20
Hyenas: 15
Fennec Foxes: 35
Other Foxes: 10
Small Cats: 15
Kangaroos: 35
Wallabies: 15
Koalas: 48
Tasmanian Devils: 25
Wombats: 20
Other Marsupials: 10
Platypuses: 30
Meerkats: 40
Bats: 10
Anteater: 6
Aardvark: 17
Pangolin: 3
Porcupines: 10
Capybara: 5
Beavers: 15
Prairie Dogs: 30
Naked Mole Rats: 15
Literally Every Other Rodent: 3

Birds:

Ostriches: 30
Emus: 10
Cassowaries: 15
Eagles: 38
Hawks & Falcons: 15
Vultures: 10
Secretary Birds: 25
Owls: 35
Penguins: 45
Flamingos: 40
Cranes: 17
Storks & Herons: 7
Shoebill: 15
Ibises & Spoonbills: 7.5
Pelicans: 10
Gulls: 3
Puffins: 30
Swans: 10
Geese: 5
Ducks: 15
Peafowl: 40
Turkeys: 6
Pheasants: 5
Chickens: 3
Curassows: 3
Hornbills: 10
Toucans: 25
Macaws & Parrots: 30
Turacos: 7.5
Pigeons & Doves: 5 :(
Woodpeckers: 8.5
Kookaburras: 25
Other Kingfishers: 8
Shorebirds (lapwings, plovers, stilts, etc): 10
Superb Lyrebird: 30
Every Other Passerine: 2-25; Usually depending on how colorful or noisy the bird is

Reptiles & Amphibians:

Crocodilians: 40
Giant Tortoises: 23
Smaller Tortoises: 10
Sea Turtles: 45
Regular Turtles: 15
Komodo Dragons: 35
Iguanas & Tegu Lizards: 10
Gila Monsters: 4
Chameleons: 13
Blue-Tounged Skink: 10
Other Skinks: 3
Geckos: 5
Pythons & Anacondas: 30
Venomous Snakes: 25
Non-Venomous Snakes: 8
Toads: 4
Poison Dart Frogs: 14
Every Other Frog: 3

Invertebrates:

Octopuses: 37
Squid & Cuttlefish: 15
Nautiluses: 7
Japanese Spider Crab: 25
Regular Crabs: 3
Lobsters: 5
Butterflies & Moths: 2-10; Depending on how colorful it is
Bees: 1
Spiders & Tarantulas: 7
Every Other Insect: 1-3
Coral: 0

Fish:

Whale Sharks: 50
Pelagic Sharks: 45
Small Sharks & Dogfish: 20
Manta Rays: 35
Stingrays: 17
Large “Gamefish” ( tuna, trevally, jacks, etc): 19
Colorful, Tropical Fish (Tangs, surgeonfish, angelfish): 8

With fish it’s flat-out simple: If it’s not one of these fish above, usually the average zoo guest could care less.
 
Based on a mixture of limited experience, and experience within my own media/literary research, I would say the top three most popular species any zoo could exhibit:

- Gorilla - 50
- Elephant (any) - 49
- Tiger/Lion - 49

I think everyone is underestimating the popularity of gorillas with most zoo chatters giving them a 30-45 rating. From experience taking family members to zoos, to managing school field trips, to studying the evolution of film in Western media, the gorilla might be the single most influential animal in media behind domesticated species like the prevalence of dogs, cats, horses, and mice in cartoons, film, literature, and other media.

Remember that gorillas are a relatively recently displayed zoo animal, their husbandry took decades of trial and error to get the Western Lowland Gorilla displayed due to poor husbandry and research of the species, making them a very rare species for zoos to exhibit for many decades. If you do research on vintage newpapers and newletters it is very common to find adverts for zoos "now displaying gorillas, ferocious ebings of the forest" or some variations of newsletters. Historically they are a very important species that forced many zoos to improve their husbandry, and their elusiveness in zoos combined with their bigfoot-like mystique and intrigue made them a historically important species. This increased their importance in the eyes of many zoo goers.

The realization and further research changing the perspective of gorillas as carnivorous monsters to the gentle giants they are was a massive change in perspective and added a more human perspective towards the species increasing their populaity and relevance in the eyes of the general public. Their historical popularirity in media from King Kong, to their usage in cartoons like Mickey Mouse and Betty Boop, to more modern features like Disney's Tarzan has absolutely made them a favorite among casual zoo-goers. Not to mention events like the Binti-Jua New Jersey incident and the Cinconatti Harambe incidents have also increased their relevancy in the eyes of the public.

Even amongst my own family I've always been surprised to se how much they wanted to/enjoyed seeing gorillas. My own mother who has never showed any care towards zoos lit up with joy like a child when I took her to San Diego and the first thing she asked when we entered those doors was "Do they have gorillas!?" She never showed any interest in gorillas prior and I still have no idea why gorillas in particular sprung to her mind. Since then she has become a member of both San Diego and Los Angeles and returns frequently just to ss their gorillas, she's purchased gorilla related merch from San Diego's website to contribute to their conservation, has binge watch DAK's show on D+ just to see the gorillas enjoying their lush gorilla exhibit, purchased y y Brenda Scott Royce's Angela and Lulingu book, and constantly rewaatches Peter Jackson's King Kong, Disney's Tarzan, and even Kevin James' Zookeeper films just for the gorillas! My grandfather, father, multiple students I've chaperoned, and many others have also expressed similar excitement and love towards the anticipation and witnessing of gorillas in zoos. In general of every species I've seen in a zoo I have never seen larger crowds than at the Los Angeles zoo in front of their gorilla exhibit. Every time I go I struggle to see the gorillas since their exhibit is constantly crowded, I'm not exagerrating when I say that the crowds get as wild as Disneyland and Universal Studios ride lines.

While one could make an arguement for giant pandas, I believe their popularity is being somewhat overestimated here due to their rarity in zoos. If they were as common as any other bear I don't think they would be much more popular than any other bear species, especially with how inactive they usaully are. Plus their lack of rarirty would make them no less special than seeing giraffes or tigers. They'd still be a top five species perhaps thanks to their popularity in media like Andy Panda and Kung Fu Panda, but still. Not hating on pandas, but I think most zoochatters are under estimating the popularity of gorillas among the general public since we're more used to them, while overestimating the popularity of other primates like gibbons and bonobos, when I still think a good percentage of the general public does not even know what those are or that they exist. While elephants and big cats are also popular, I've never seen crowds get as packed around their exhibits as I have around gorillas.
 
At the Seneca Park Zoo our Headliner Animals would be The Red Panda, Snow Leopard, Amur Tiger, Polar Bear, African Lion, African Elephants and White Rhino
 
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