If you had a zoo, what 5 species would yo definitely have?

Hard to narrow it down to the top 5, but I’ll go with:

  1. Montezuma quail
  2. Black crested finch
  3. Any of the pygmy parrots (unlikely, I know)
  4. Gang gang cockatoo
  5. Harlequin duck
 
A zoo? Well then I'll limit it to land animals.

Nile crocodile
Common vampire bat

That's it. That's all you need.
 
I would like to amend my answer to say "Any crocodilian" instead of just Nile crocodile
 
1. American bison. A zoo near where I live used to keep them when I was a kid, but got rid of them a long time ago. It's not a species you see in many places, so for that reason I'd want to include them.
2. Leafcutter ants. I love seeing leafcutter ant set-ups where you can see them climbing along ropes, so they'd be an absolute must for my zoo.
3. Honey bees. This may sound like an odd one, but bees are one of the most important species in any land ecosystem, and I'd argue bee conservation is much more important to educate people about than, say, giant panda conservation. Plus my zoo could always collect the hive's honey and sell it in the gift shop.
4. Not one singular species per se, but I would definitely want to have a coral reef aquarium tank with real corals, sea anemones, and species such as clownfish, yellow tangs, azure damselfish and Pacific cleaner shrimps. It's the kind of thing I wish more standard zoos had.
5. African elephants. Sadly only a small handful of zoos in the UK keep elephants now, so I would definitely want to have them as a signature species.
 
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Jambi said:
3. Honey bees. This may sound like an odd one, but bees are one of the most important species in any land ecosystem, and I'd argue bee conservation is much more important to educate people about than, say, giant panda conservation. Plus my zoo could always collect the hive's honey and sell it in the gift shop.
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I have a friend who is a bee conservationist. They get incredibly frustrated by people & organisations talking about saving honey bees over wild, native pollinators (such as the many threatened and locally extinct bumble and solitary bee species the UK has) and refers to them as 'the cattle of the insect world'.
 
Swampy said:
I have a friend who is a bee conservationist. They get incredibly frustrated by people & organisations talking about saving honey bees over wild, native pollinators (such as the many threatened and locally extinct bumble and solitary bee species the UK has) and refers to them as 'the cattle of the insect world'.
Click to expand...

I certainly would agree with them! I know a few zoos in the US display bees/wasps but very few, if any, colonize bumblebees over honey bees despite the fact that the latter are the legitimately endangered ones! As far as European zoos go, however, aren't honey bees native (albeit non-endangered)?

~Thylo
 
I would like to say the following. I will try and be realistic with my list:
1. Zebra mantis shrimp
2. Zebra pleco
3. Emperor snapper
4. Any kind of pistol shrimp
5. Coral catshark
 
Regarding my redesigned list, there would probably be far more animals that I would have loved to place here. But even so, the following list has been mainly condensed to help address about the more note-worthy animals that the zoo would have. Also, regarding the arrangement of the following list, (which have five animals in each category); would this type of arrangement still technically count?. Because if not, I will also post a smaller list to make up for this arrangement:

(Mammals):
* West Indian Manatee

* Okapi

* Jaguar

* Matschie’s Tree Kangaroo

* North American River Otter


(Birds):
* California Condor (if all things go smoothly)

* either the Lesser or American Flamingo (either one would be fantastic to have)

* West African Crowned Crane

* Hummingbird (any species)

* Black-Necked Swan


(Reptiles, Fish, and Amphibians):
* American Crocodile

* Black Pacu

* Eastern Hellbender

* Galapagos Giant Tortoise

* African Rock Python (for educational purposes regarding invasive species)
 
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  1. Aardwolf (Proteles cristata) - beautiful animals that can be crowd-pleasers but are also extremely rare.
  2. Spotted Fanaloka (Fossa fossana) - to reflect my love for euplerids.
  3. Shoebill (Balaeniceps rex) - whenever I have seen them at a zoo, their striking appearance has silenced every spectator. They are also very rare in captivity.
  4. Black-faced Spoonbill (Platalea minor) - something about these animals has always fascinated me; not to mention they are endangered.
  5. Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) - amazing animals, quite intimidating but very impressive.
Hardly very realistic, but ideally, all five of those animals would be present in my zoo. :)
 
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African Pygmy Dormouse
Thailand Beauty Stick Insect
Mandarin Duck
Golden Pheasant
Purple Glossy Starling

I’ve got all those already:)

I’d find it very hard to stick with five species……which is why I’ve got other stuff. :)
 
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