I'm a bit confused, I don't see anything in the AZA Otter manual that recommends this. Indeed the remarks for Spot-necked Otter on mixing with monkeys are largely negative. SDZ I see where it mentions it, but it's pretty vague.
Mixed species exhibit ideas
- Thread starter LowlandGorilla4
- Start date
I'm a bit confused, I don't see anything in the AZA Otter manual that recommends this. Indeed the remarks for Spot-necked Otter on mixing with monkeys are largely negative. SDZ I see where it mentions it, but it's pretty vague.
They are not wrong, when looking only at the welfare of the otters combining them with certain other species is beneficial. But considering that even Asian small-clawed otters can kill primates as large as langurs, and that the bigger species don’t even shy away from attacking full-grown humans nor from biting adult rhino’s, I doubt that the risk is worth it for the monkeys.
Yes, it does seem like you are correct, and that was a fault of memory of mine. Think I will stick with a single-species exhibit considering what the AZA manual says about past mixed-species incidents and what @Jarne has mentioned.
I have a couple of questions with regards to helmeted guineafowl.
- Are they in general aggressive birds? Are they suitable for walk-through exhibits?
- Can they be kept with other ground-dwelling birds like francolins or ducks, in a large aviary or tropical house setting?
- Could they, in the aforementioned setting, be problematic for tortoises with regards to food competition?
- Is mixing hoofstock with guineafowl a safe option for the guineafowl?
I think you already have seen the answer to three off these questions, at least in an aviary-setting. I’ve never heard about any problems in the Buffalo aviary in Antwerpen, the only reason they left there was because they found groups of two species of guineafowl too much. So when they expanded the crested group they left. They weren’t aggressive there nor in other places, co-existed well with ground-dwelling birds (there and in other places) and especially when they can fly they should be nimble enough to avoid conflicts with hoofstock should they arise (which is less likely with smaller birds than with cranes and storks).
I don’t think they will be a big problem with tortoises either.
The guineafowl that are kept in some zoos in open exhibits or as free-roamers, would those generally be flighted or not?
Those are usually pinioned, which is admittedly less dangerous for them than it is for vultures, cranes and storks since they are still quite nimble.
If I recall correctly, helmet guineafowls share an habitat with ostrich, greater kudu and another antelope at Berlin Zoo
That other antelope being Blesboks
Could a mix of Southern ground hornbill, Vulturine guineafowl, Yellow-spotted rock hyrax, Cape porcupine and a group of smaller birds work?
I would not mix hornbills with smaller birds or with hyrax as they could prey on the young individual or even adult small birds. I think the mix with guineafowl might be possible, but only if the guineafowl are non-breeding, as any eggs or chicks would almost certainly be predated.
Not sure about the mix of hornbills and porcupines, as ground hornbills obviously spend a lot of time on the ground.
I don't think mixing ground-dwelling birds and porcupines would be a good idea.
However I do think mixing porcupines and smaller non-ground-dwelling birds might work. Hyrax and smaller birds would probably also work, as long as the birds have nesting and feeding areas away from the hyraxes.
So if I take out the hornbills it should be fine?
Guineafowl, hyrax and other smaller birds would be possible.
I'm not sure about mixing porcupines with ground-dwelling birds, I don't know how aggressive, intolerant or dangerous the porcupines would be to guineafowl. Guineafowl generally aren't that aggresive outside their own species though.
Then I'll give them an area the porcupines can't get to
I know mixes of primates and ungulates work, but would Himalayan tahr, Rhesus macaque and Tajik markhors go well together?
I think Rhesus macaques and ungulates has been done before, and would be possible. I'm not sure whether male ungulates of both species would not fight or injure each other though, so I would go with just one ungulate species. Or give the Rhesus macaques access to two diferent ungulate exhibits.
I've seen on Zoorope.hu that wolves have been successful in (generally large-sized) mixed exhibits, but the site does not mention coyotes at all. I tried searching ZooChat for coyote mixed exhibits to no avail. Is there something about them that makes them just not work?
Coyotes are just a very low prioity speces, it is not endangeres (it is thriving because of humans and invading many parts of north america). They don't live in larger groups liek wolfs are smaler, are seen as a pest nad don't share the smae mythos as wolfs. You could probelly even keep them more easy in many mixed exhibits. But nobody is intestred in the species
Disagree
But yes, seeing that coyote are less social than wolves, its probably not a good idea to mix them
I wouldn't keep them with anything but maybe bears, similar to wolves. They are smaller but highly opportunistic. Singletons might be more mixable but frankly I still wouldn't mix them.
Nobody is interested in them at all over here, they're pretty much only found as rescues in non-AZA places, and not super common afaik.