Which zoo has the best / most diverse suid & peccary collection ?

Sarus Crane said:
You'd love Jacksonville's exhibit for them in Land Of The Tiger. You almost feel like you're in the jungle itself!
Click to expand...

Not too bad an enclosure for these guys, though a little on the small side and they could do with bark chipping to root around in and forage through.

To some extent though I am just glad that Jacksonville hold the species because a lot of zoos do not seem to be interested in holding Visayan warty pigs and they do need ex-situ :
full

full


Interesting mixed species exhibit for babirusa and Asian shortclawed otter (anyone know how this has worked out ?) :
full

full

full

A large group of warthogs too is evidently kept at Jacksonville too:
full

full


Photo credits to @GraysonDP and @Sarus Crane.
 
Last edited:
Logically I kind of understand why this is an underrepresented group of animal. One thing people haven't mentioned yet is that pigs tend to be relatively sedentary in zoos. Even when they are active (which from my experience is less than half the time), it is simply walking around and they don't Exhibit any special behavior.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Not too bad an enclosure for these guys, though a little on the small side and they could do with bark chipping to root around in and forage through.

To some extent though I am just glad that Jacksonville hold the species because a lot of zoos do not seem to be interested in holding Visayan warty pigs and they do need ex-situ :
full

full


Interesting mixed species exhibit for babirusa and Asian shortclawed otter (anyone know how this has worked out ?) :
full

full

full

A large group of warthogs too is evidently kept at Jacksonville too:
full

full


Photo credits to @GraysonDP and @Sarus Crane.
Click to expand...
Chico has the most impressive tusks I've ever seen on a Warthog boar. His keeper told me that he weights about 260 lbs.
 
Last edited:
It's such a shame that Bearded Pigs are gone from collections in North America except the Capitol of Texas Zoo. If only zoos could import some Giant Forest Hogs (Hm.meinertzhageni) into their exhibits. Then you could Mount Kenya themed exhibits with more bamboo and forested areas. add in some African Elephants, Eastern Bongos and some Colobus monkeys and you don't have to create a massive multispecies savanna exhibit.
 
Sarus Crane said:
It's such a shame that Bearded Pigs are gone from collections in North America except the Capitol of Texas Zoo. If only zoos could import some Giant Forest Hogs (Hm.meinertzhageni) into their exhibits. Then you could Mount Kenya themed exhibits with more bamboo and forested areas. add in some African Elephants, Eastern Bongos and some Colobus monkeys and you don't have to create a massive multispecies savanna exhibit.
Click to expand...

They have nearly disappeared in US zoos too ?

Such a shame ! I thought they were still going strong there unlike in Europe.

Sarus Crane said:
Chico has the most impressive tusks I've ever seen on a Warthog boar. His keeper told me that he weights about 260 lbs.
Click to expand...

Yep, I definitely wouldn't want to mess with him.
 
Neil chace said:
Logically I kind of understand why this is an underrepresented group of animal. One thing people haven't mentioned yet is that pigs tend to be relatively sedentary in zoos. Even when they are active (which from my experience is less than half the time), it is simply walking around and they don't Exhibit any special behavior.
Click to expand...

True, but then again a lot of what are deemed as "charismatics" are sedentary too.

For example lions and tigers are phenomenally sedentary.

I think the underrepresentation may have more to do with a concious or unconcious disgust or aversion held towards suids and peccary.

I don't think there is necessarily a solution to this underrepresentation though.

I simply feel that I would like to see more zoos get into the keeping of endangered suids and peccary and particularly the Chacoan peccary and the Asian wild pigs.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
True, but then again a lot of what are deemed as "charismatics" are sedentary too.

For example lions and tigers are phenomenally sedentary.

I think the underrepresentation may have more to do with a concious or unconcious disgust or aversion held towards suids and peccary.

I don't think there is necessarily a solution to this underrepresentation though.

I simply feel that I would like to see more zoos get into the keeping of endangered suids and peccary and particularly the Chacoan peccary and the Asian wild pigs.
Click to expand...
Bring in Javan Warty Pigs too! They have some height on them like Bearded's due to their long legs.
 
Sarus Crane said:
Bring in Javan Warty Pigs too! They have some height on them like Bearded's due to their long legs.
Click to expand...

Yes, fully agree.

But I also wonder whether another thing that deters zoos from keeping suids & peccaries is the way that they tear up the turf and grass of their enclosures, create mud wallows and generally end up making it look like a WW1 battlefield.

Possibly also the strong smell that can emmanate from these enclosures which may irritate or be commented on by visitors (same could be said for big cats or gorillas though).
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Yes, fully agree.

But I also wonder whether another thing that deters zoos from keeping suids & peccaries is the way that they tear up the turf and grass of their enclosures, create mud wallows and generally end up making it look like a WW1 battlefield.

Possibly also the strong smell that can emmanate from these enclosures which may irritate or be commented on by visitors (same could be said for big cats or gorillas though).
Click to expand...
Their destructive nature is probably a big part of it. Most endangered pig species also aren't very cold tolerant, making them poor choices for zoos in cold climates. Not saying it cant be done, just that it adds a layer of difficulty.
 
Neil chace said:
Their destructive nature is probably a big part of it. Most endangered pig species also aren't very cold tolerant, making them poor choices for zoos in cold climates. Not saying it cant be done, just that it adds a layer of difficulty.
Click to expand...

Yep, these could all be factors which add to what may be a reluctance by many zoos to keep these animals.
 
Last edited:
Youssarian said:
Audubon Zoo (New Orleans) has successfully mixed babirusa and ASCO for many years, even with new individuals of both species who have never been exposed to the other. Never any major issues.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comment @Youssarian (cool name by the way, reminds me of the protagonist of the book "catch 22").

Interesting how these two species adjust to eachother so well, I would have thought that the otters might display agonistic behaviour to the babirusa.
 
Visayans are starting to pop up in non-AZA zoos.

Columbus's male warthog has huge tusks, too. The only animals they have in Africa that require protected contact are the lions, hyenas, and male warthog.

I love Dallas's warthog exhibit. It's large, with natural-looking mud walls, like a big wallow. If I'm remembering correctly, there's also a bridge where you walk over their exhibit.
 
TinoPup said:
Visayans are starting to pop up in non-AZA zoos.

Columbus's male warthog has huge tusks, too. The only animals they have in Africa that require protected contact are the lions, hyenas, and male warthog.

I love Dallas's warthog exhibit. It's large, with natural-looking mud walls, like a big wallow. If I'm remembering correctly, there's also a bridge where you walk over their exhibit.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing @TinoPup !

Is the male hog at Columbus aggressive then ?

I'll have a look at Dallas it sounds interesting.
 
I don't think he's necessarily aggressive really, I know they do a lot of training with him, it's more that he's large, powerful, has big tusks, and is capable of seriously injuring someone very very quickly. Temperamental, maybe? Like the hyenas are very sweet, but their jaws can inflict so much damage with one grab, even playing.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Saint Louis zoo in the USA appear to have not only quite a decent collection of suids and peccary but also keep them in some rather nice looking enclosures.
Click to expand...

I thought of Saint Louis when I saw this thread but forgot to mention it.

The yards are part of the Red Rocks hoofstock complex, which was built during the Great Depression as a government works project. It's still very functional today and holds a large and diverse collection of ungulates. Most of the yards are grassy, but the ones holding wild pigs have dirt and mulch on them instead... one can only guess why :p

Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
But I also wonder whether another thing that deters zoos from keeping suids & peccaries is the way that they tear up the turf and grass of their enclosures, create mud wallows and generally end up making it look like a WW1 battlefield.
Click to expand...

It may in the sense that it potentially limits holding space for them in mixed-species yards. Their digging and rooting can create potholes and other depressions that could cause another ungulate to trip and injure itself.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top