Underrepresented animals in zoos

@TZDugong I am well aware of that but it's more of an ego-trip than a smart project. Same can be said about the owner's Jabiru madness. Even if they bred the sloths, I don't think many zoos would have been suitable to keep them considering how expensive it is to feed them. Not sure if DWA planted a tree or imported the leaves though.
 
This is an easy one: insects. Insects make up 80(!)% of all species on earth, as they are the most diverse, most adaptable, and most ubiquitous of all animals on the planet. Very few zoos have dedicated insectariums, and even the ones that do only showcase a tiny sliver of the extraordinary entomological diversity out there. Most are easy to take care of and live in very small spaces, so my guess is that a general lack of public interest is what keeps them as underrepresented as they are.
 
imaginarius said:
This is an easy one: insects. Insects make up 80(!)% of all species on earth, they are the most diverse, most adaptable, and ubiquitous of all animals on the planet. Very few zoos have dedicated insectariums, and even the ones that do only showcase a tiny sliver of the extraordinary entomological diversity out there. Most are easy to take care of and live in very small spaces, so my guess is that a general lack of public interest is what keeps them as underrepresented as they are.
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Yes, that was what I was thinking of too! Luckily there are some wonderful insectariums out there in some zoos, like Saint Louis and Cincinnati. I remember enjoying the Cincinnati one very much, with their very large and extensive information surrounding all of the exhibits, and the Unique design of showcasing some of their predators with the insects as well. And something else, a lot of other people seem to be Unimpressed with insects, yet I feel like they underestimate just how pretty some of these species are, such as Jade-headed buffalo beetles, Orchid mantises, and especially jumping spiders, (Yes, I know they are arachnids not insects) but still, both arthropods.
 
CheeseChameleon2007 said:
Yes, that was what I was thinking of too! Luckily there are some wonderful insectariums out there in some zoos, like Saint Louis and Cincinnati. I remember enjoying the Cincinnati one very much, with their very large and extensive information surrounding all of the exhibits, and the Unique design of showcasing some of their predators with the insects as well. And something else, a lot of other people seem to be Unimpressed with insects, yet I feel like they underestimate just how pretty some of these species are, such as Jade-headed buffalo beetles, Orchid mantises, and especially jumping spiders, (Yes, I know they are arachnids not insects) but still, both arthropods.
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I was so very saddened to hear that the Audobon Insectarium and Butterfly Garden permanently closed earlier this year due to COVID-related financial stressors. One less great place to see creepy crawlies.
 
imaginarius said:
I was so very saddened to hear that the Audobon Insectarium and Butterfly Garden permanently closed earlier this year due to COVID-related financial stressors. One less great place to see creepy crawlies.
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Sadly, That seems to be happening again with other great indoor exhibits, especially some near my area.
 
Rayane said:
An Impossible to represent animal could be 3-toed sloths, makes no sense to try to bring them in European / American zoos, even though they're nice and underepresented and I would love to see one, but it's just useless considering how much it would cost to feed them. Let them be in South America, if conservation needs to be done than in-situ will do better than ex-situ anyway.
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Sloths have become far more popular in the past few years. How much does it cost to feed three-toed sloths?

When I was a little boy, I saw An-An and Chi-Chi at London Zoo. They were the only giant pandas outside China. Now, several zoos have paid a fortune to keep giant pandas.

Koalas were rarely seen outside Australia, but are now found in several zoos.

Are three-toed sloths more expensive to keep than are giant pandas or koalas?
 
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Dassie rat said:
Sloths have become far more popular in the past few years. How much does it cost to feed three-toed sloths?

When I was a little boy, I saw An-An and Chi-Chi at London Zoo. They were the only giant pandas outside China. Now, several zoos have paid a fortune to keep giant pandas.

Koalas were rarely seen outside Australia, but are now found in several zoos.

Are three-toed sloths more expensive to keep than are giant pandas or koalas?
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Three-toed sloths are comparable to Pandas and Koalas because they also eat a very limited list of plants. However, when it comes to crowd pleasing and attracting, I think Koalas and Pandas are a bit higher on the list. Sloths are appreciated but definitely not as much.
How much it costs, I have no idea. Maybe not that much if you manage to plant the specific species required to feed them. But it's definitely way easier to feed two-toed sloths.

Eucalyptus and Bamboos are now planted all over the world, many zoos plant their own bamboo. There is probably someone here in Europe that specialises in Eucalyptus as well, probably selling to many of the zoos who keep Koalas.
However, as the demand for Cecropia leaves is probably very low to non existent as I'm not aware of any three-toad sloth outside of its range (except in DWA) publicly kept, either you make you grow your own Cecropia, either you import it on a regular basis.
 
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Dassie rat said:
Sorry, I can't remember anything unusual except for the earthworms. The Dresden Zoo website says that the Underground Zoo has ants and moles. I think if there were moles at the zoo in 2001, I would have remembered them.
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No worries, sounds interesting anyway.
 
Rayane said:
Three-toed sloths are comparable to Pandas and Koalas because they also eat a very limited list of plants. However, when it comes to crowd pleasing and attracting, I think Koalas and Pandas are a bit higher on the list. Sloths are appreciated but definitely not as much.
How much it costs, I have no idea. Maybe not that much if you manage to plant the specific species required to feed them. But it's definitely way easier to feed two-toed sloths.

Eucalyptus and Bamboos are now planted all over the world, many zoos plant their own bamboo. There is probably someone here in Europe that specialises in Eucalyptus as well, probably selling to many of the zoos who keep Koalas.
However, as the demand for Cecropia leaves is probably very low to non existent as I'm not aware of any three-toad sloth outside of its range (except in DWA) publicly kept, either you make you grow your own Cecropia, either you import it on a regular basis.
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Also, Koalas and Giant Pandas are charismatic species in their own right, whereas Three-toed Sloths are relatively similar to the Two-toed forms, of which two species are present here in the U.K.
 
Batto said:
Given the diversity of sea snakes, I'd be careful to make sweeping generalization regarding their husbandry. Quite a bunch of them are nutrional specialists whose diet requirements are very hard (and pricey) to meet adequately. Chronic stress, problems with proper hydration, prolonged anorexia, parasite overload (they do have some of the weirdest snake mites I've ever seen), technopathies (from booping their noses too often against the glass)...there are several reasons for sea snakes not being common in captivity. And don't forget the potent venom in some species with little available antivenom - not the dream scenario for any modern security-minded zoo / aquaria director...
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I've never even thought about sea-snake mites before! How do they survive being submerged in the ocean for presumably most of their life?
 
Chlidonias said:
I've never even thought about sea-snake mites before! How do they survive being submerged in the ocean for presumably most of their life?
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I have no idea, but they look completely alien. Orange, with big spikes - like something from The Fifth Element.
 
There were no ZTL zoos with bear cuscuses a few years ago. 3 ZTL keep them now and 3 other zoos kept them a few years ago. There are also plans for Berlin Tierpark to have the species next year.
 
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