Mixed species exhibit ideas

[Haliaeetus]

I think it would depend a lot on the size of the exhibit.

Also, zebras often cause problems in mixed exhibits due to their aggression, and can be danger to calves of antelopes that lie down and remain more or less hidden during their first few weeks.

The only successful mixes with Grevy's zebras that I know of are with large antelopes and/or giraffe in large facilities like safari parks.

For the interactions between the different antelope species the only resource I can think of quickly would be the AZA ungulate mixed exhibits manual (see the resources thread for that one).

In Beauval, Grévy's Zebras live in a 2 ha plain with Giraffes, White Rhinos, Sable Antelopes, Blue Wildebeests and Ostriches, all the mammals breed successfully.
For a very long time a herd of Springboks lived there too, before they have been phased out. They bred successfully as well. There used to be birds (Egyptian Goose, Marabou Stork...) in the past, I'm not sure that they bred but there were only "decorative" species, the exhibit wasn't designed for them.
I add there are several paddocks to isolate some of the animals, in addition to the main plain.
And there are separated night quarters for each species.

 

[Bisonfan]

could mandarin ducks live with koi?

 

[birdsandbats]

I think pretty much every waterfowl species is fine with Koi. If the Koi are breeding certain fish-eating duck species (such as mergansers) may snatch a few young ones, but the adult Koi would have no issues.

 

[TinoPup]

Royal Woods Zoo & Aquarium Species List

Don't mind the name, it's one of my former fantasy zoos that I gave up on.

All of your lists, except giant pandas, are wrong. Several of these species have lists on zc that you could utilize. As examples, there's 14 sun bear holders (not 3), 19 sloth bear holders (not 11), and around 237 american black bear holders (not 27).

 

[Mr Gharial]

Would a mix of Humboldt penguin, Peruvian pelican, Inca tern, Southern lapwing, Black-necked swan, Chilean tinamou, Red-crested cardinal and Andean condor work?

 

[birdsandbats]

Would a mix of Humboldt penguin, Peruvian pelican, Inca tern, Southern lapwing, Black-necked swan, Chilean tinamou, Red-crested cardinal and Andean condor work?

The condors and pelicans (especially the pelicans) may be an issue. I think the other birds would probably work fine together, I've seen Humboldt Penguin and Inca Tern mixed before (Gray Gull was also involved in that mix).

 

[KevinB]

Would a mix of Humboldt penguin, Peruvian pelican, Inca tern, Southern lapwing, Black-necked swan, Chilean tinamou, Red-crested cardinal and Andean condor work?

Humboldt penguins are housed with Inca terns and waders (although stilts rather than lapwings) in the large South American aviary at Planckendael.

Planckendael's aviary also houses black-necked swans, but I have never seen them in the penguin exhibit before and I'm not sure they can get there (though I have seen the steamer ducks in that aviary on both sides). Swan can be fairly aggressive, I'm not sure how well they would do with penguins (which also aren't always super friendly).

I'm not sure how well tinamous would do in a relatively open aviary with lots of open water.

Cardinals would probably work, but would require a large surface of small netting which could be costly. Also an area with shrubs or small trees and some tall grasses would be needed for the cardinals.

Pelicans and condors I think might pose a threat to smaller birds, and I wouldn't risk it.

 

[Mr Gharial]

The condors and pelicans (especially the pelicans) may be an issue.

I assumed it work work, since there's also the mix of Dalmatian pelican and Eurasian griffon vulture in Amersfoort

 

[KevinB]

I assumed it work work, since there's also the mix of Dalmatian pelican and Eurasian griffon vulture in Amersfoort

Perhaps the pelicans and condors could work together - although they are from quite different habitats (coastal versus high Andes) - but I wouldn't mix them with other, smaller bird species.

Humboldt penguins are housed with Inca terns and waders (although stilts rather than lapwings) in the large South American aviary at Planckendael.

Planckendael's aviary also houses black-necked swans, but I have never seen them in the penguin exhibit before and I'm not sure they can get there (though I have seen the steamer ducks in that aviary on both sides). Swan can be fairly aggressive, I'm not sure how well they would do with penguins (which also aren't always super friendly).

I'm not sure how well tinamous would do in a relatively open aviary with lots of open water.

Cardinals would probably work, but would require a large surface of small netting which could be costly. Also an area with shrubs or small trees and some tall grasses would be needed for the cardinals.

Pelicans and condors I think might pose a threat to smaller birds, and I wouldn't risk it.

Also, small addition and clarification to my previous posts, for those not familiar with Planckendael: that aviary has Humboldt penguins and Chilean (and lesser) flamingos on either sides of the visitor area, most of the other birds (Inca terns, steamer ducks, whistling ducks, ibis and stilts) can access both areas. I have however not seen the black necked swans outside of the flamingo area so far, so I'm not sure they can move between the areas by walking, and they are not flighted as they used to live in an open exhibit.

 

[Great Argus]

Perhaps the pelicans and condors could work together - although they are from quite different habitats (coastal versus high Andes) - but I wouldn't mix them with other, smaller bird species.

I second this. Condors are more aggressive and more predatory than griffons, mixing them would be problematic and is rarely done successfully.


Also, small addition and clarification to my previous posts, for those not familiar with Planckendael: that aviary has Humboldt penguins and Chilean (and lesser) flamingos on either sides of the visitor area, most of the other birds (Inca terns, steamer ducks, whistling ducks, ibis and stilts) can access both areas. I have however not seen the black necked swans outside of the flamingo area so far, so I'm not sure they can move between the areas by walking, and they are not flighted as they used to live in an open exhibit.

 

[HungarianBison]

Could these mixes work?
-Asian arowana with adult Clown loach and Siamese algae eater
-Malayan bear with Binturong
-Rhesus monkey with Mishmi takin and Himalayan goral
-Garrulax leucophus with Roulroul, Gallus gallus, Psittacula alexanderi and Pitta moluccensis
-Yellow-spotted rock hyrax with Straw-coloured fruit bat
-Vervet with Lesser kudu
-Red duiker with Angolan colobus

 

[Haliaeetus]

Could these mixes work?
-Asian arowana with adult Clown loach and Siamese algae eater
-Malayan bear with Binturong
-Rhesus monkey with Mishmi takin and Himalayan goral
-Garrulax leucophus with Roulroul, Gallus gallus, Psittacula alexanderi and Pitta moluccensis
-Yellow-spotted rock hyrax with Straw-coloured fruit bat
-Vervet with Lesser kudu
-Red duiker with Angolan colobus

Arowana + Clown Loach + Siamese Algae Eater : OK
Sun Bear + Binturong : OK if they have enough space
Takin + Goral : OK but without the macaques, too aggressive
The bird mix : OK
Hyrax + Fruit Bat : OK
Vervet + Kudu, Duiker + Colobus : OK if you prevent the monkeys escapes

 

[HungarianBison]

Arowana + Clown Loach + Siamese Algae Eater : OK
Sun Bear + Binturong : OK if they have enough space
Takin + Goral : OK but without the macaques, too aggressive
The bird mix : OK
Hyrax + Fruit Bat : OK
Vervet + Kudu, Duiker + Colobus : OK if you prevent the monkeys escapes

Thank you very much!

 

[Great Argus]

-Asian arowana with adult Clown loach and Siamese algae eater

Yes, so long as the individuals of the latter two species are adults. (Ie too big to be eaten by the arowana)

-Malayan bear with Binturong

Been done, but success varies afaik.

-Garrulax leucophus with Roulroul, Gallus gallus, Psittacula alexanderi and Pitta moluccensis

Fine, though the laughingthrushes may inhibit breeding by the other species.

-Red duiker with Angolan colobus

Fine, just have to be able to contain the monkeys.

 

[Mr Gharial]

Three mixes:

- Grand Cayman blue iguana, Cuban tree frog, Cuban grassquit, Indigo bunting and Cuban emerald hummingbird (In a large enclosure)

- Mountain chicken and Western bearded anole (in a medium-sized terrarium)

- Rhinoceros iguana, Montserrat oriole, Indigo bunting and Cuban amazon parrot (In a larger enclosure)

 

[Haliaeetus]

Three mixes:

- Grand Cayman blue iguana, Cuban tree frog, Cuban grassquit, Indigo bunting and Cuban emerald hummingbird (In a large enclosure)

- Mountain chicken and Western bearded anole (in a medium-sized terrarium)

- Rhinoceros iguana, Montserrat oriole, Indigo bunting and Cuban amazon parrot (In a larger enclosure)

I think all the mixes would be possible except perhaps the last with the Amazons.

 

[Jarne]

Would a mix of Humboldt penguin, Peruvian pelican, Inca tern, Southern lapwing, Black-necked swan, Chilean tinamou, Red-crested cardinal and Andean condor work?

For the pelicans, it seems to work in Marlow with penguins, inca terns, gulls and steamer ducks.

Could these mixes work?
-Asian arowana with adult Clown loach and Siamese algae eater
-Malayan bear with Binturong
-Rhesus monkey with Mishmi takin and Himalayan goral
-Garrulax leucophus with Roulroul, Gallus gallus, Psittacula alexanderi and Pitta moluccensis
-Yellow-spotted rock hyrax with Straw-coloured fruit bat
-Vervet with Lesser kudu
-Red duiker with Angolan colobus

Rhesus monkey and takin have been combined for a long time in Blijdorp, with both species breeding I believe. Certainly the takin bred. And that wasn’t even that great of an exhibit in terms of size and complexity.

 

[OstrichMania]

Spot-necked otter and Vervet monkey. Seen these otters be mixed with other species of monkeys, but not sure about vervets.

 

[Jarne]

Spot-necked otter and Vervet monkey. Seen these otters be mixed with other species of monkeys, but not sure about vervets.

Otters and monkeys is always a big risk, with casualties on both sides being a semi-common occurrence. It can even go right for many years like Bronx, and then go horribly wrong. I don’t see vervet’s being a worse nor better cohabitant however than most other African species mixed with them. At least they probably won’t eat the pups, like some macaques tend to do.

 

[OstrichMania]

Otters and monkeys is always a big risk, with casualties on both sides being a semi-common occurrence. It can even go right for many years like Bronx, and then go horribly wrong. I don’t see vervet’s being a worse nor better cohabitant however than most other African species mixed with them. At least they probably won’t eat the pups, like some macaques tend to do.

It's an odd situation. I'm leaning towards a single-species exhibit like you are saying, but manuals such as the AZA state that mixed-species exhibits are important for the otter to have, backed up by organisations such as the SDZ.