Animals you miss from your hometown zoo

My hometown zoos are the National Zoo and The Baltimore Zoo (now Maryland Zoo). It wasn't flashy or fancy, but the part of the National Zoo that I miss the most was the section of the Valley Trail between the Bird House and Connecticut Avenue entrance that was taken out when Asia Trail was built. It was a very quiet, forested section of the zoo that had simple but attractive habitats for Malayan tapir, bongo, and marabou stork, as well as the Australia House. These exhibits weren't anything too special, but I really appreciated the contrast from the rest of the zoo, which is very developed.

Maryland Zoo has lost a lot of ABC species over the course of my life - tiger, polar bear, orangutan, snow leopard, almost the entire reptile collection and much of the bird - but the three species that I miss the most were pygmy hippo, lion-tailed macaque, and aardwolf. Especially the last two, since they are disappearing from the US. These are species that the zoo did a lot of great work with in terms of building the US collection, breeding, and doing research. I remember half of the Mammal House (all the large cages) were LTMs and there were three or four aardwolf exhibits around the zoo at certain times. Exhibits for the pygmy hippo and macaque weren't great (though the zoo had flirted with moving the pygmy hippos to an outdoor exhibit and briefly gave the macaques one in the Main Valley), so from a welfare perspective their phase-out wasn't completely unexpected. Still, I miss seeing those guys.
 
Black Footed Beast said:
I have two Zoos I treat as my hometown zoo, Brookfield and Milwaukee, I'll start with Brookfield
Hippo- I feel the old hippo exhibit at this zoo is a lot better than the one at Milwaukee
Congo Buffalo- I don't think I ever was able to see this
Milwaukee Zoo
Asiatic Black Bear- I didn't really get a chance to appreciate this animal
Moose- Less didn't get to appreciate it, more of one of my favorite animals
Tree Kangaroo- Very hard for me to find without going farther than an hour, plus I really like this animal
Koala- Probably one of the animals I want to see again the most
Also one small animal for Lincoln Park Zoo
Drill- Never got a chance to appreciate it
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To add on from Brookfield the ibex and baboons. For Lincoln park the mained wolves sun bear and andean bear and orangutans and various cat species for Lincoln park zoo
 
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Johannesburg Zoo:

Snow Leopards - These were leased to the zoo from someplace in Europe for 5 years, They left in 2010.

Eurasian Brown Bear - Luanda, a female rescued from an abandoned Angolan Zoo, died in 2019.

Polar Bear - Wang, A 30 year old male, died in 2014.

Red River Hog - The last individual died in 2021, replaced with European wild boar.

Ross' Turaco - Replaced with Blue-winged Kookaburra.

Wrinkled Hornbill - Replaced with Black-casqued Wattled Hornbill.

Southern Tamandua - Left in 2011

Mountain Gazelle - Arrived in 1996, departure unknown.

Cape Fox - Arrived in 1996, departure unknown.

Capybara - died out in 2015.

Concolor Gibbon - Left for Lory Park Zoo in 2016, they reside there today.

Pretoria Zoo:

Addax - left/died in 2019.

Red Panda - Sent to Denmark.

Babirusa - Died/left in 2013.

Nilgai - Two females, both died in 2014.

Bactrian Camel - Died in 2020.

White-throated guenon - Sent to Mystic Monkeys Wildlife Park in 2010.

Lesser Spot-nosed Monkey- Sent to Mystic Monkeys Wildlife Park in 2009.

Maned Wolf - Died in 2021.

Black-and-White Colobus - Sent to Joburg Zoo in 2018.

Malayan Tapir - Died in 2019.

Queensland Koala - Last male, died in 2019.
 
Capron Park Zoo:
- Ocelot (used to be my favorite when I visited as a kid, probably been gone about a decade now)
- Japanese Macaque (a lot more interesting than the red pandas that replaced them)
- Llama (not that I really like llamas, just that they had better personalities than the alpacas that replaced them)
- Reeve's Muntjac (species was not replaced, now the cranes are in their own exhibit not mixed-species)
- Visayan Warty Pig (recently deceased, although I'm looking forward for the arrival of their replacement)
- Pygmy Slow Loris (Nocturnal House species list has definitely taken some hits in recent years, especially losing the Nocturnal Primates)
- Grey-legged Douroculi
- Six-banded Armadillo
- Weid's Marmoset (resided in the Rainforest probably a decade ago now)
- Violet Turaco (I love turacos, and its a shame the zoo no longer has either species)
- Red-crested Turaco
- Victorian Crowned Pigeon (used to be a focal point of Rainforest but left the zoo recently, definitely seems off not seeing them)
- Superb Starlings
- Binturong (replaced with Asian water monitor)
- Southern Screamer (exhibit demolished, and replaced with... nothing).
- Golden Lion Tamarin (recently deceased)

Roger Williams Park Zoo:
- Humboldt Penguin (sadly was replaced with a farmyard expansion, would've rathered a better replacement)
- Arctic Fox (childhood favorite at this zoo)
- Polar Bear (self-explanatory, I think every RWPZ visitor misses this one)
- African Wild Dogs (more interesting than the cheetahs imo)
- Chiloe Wigeon/other Waterfowl (formerly mixed with Flamingos, would be more interesting of an exhibit if they returned)
- Jamaican Fruit Bats (formerly kept in old Rainforest exhibit)
- Grey Kangaroos (had a nice walk-through exhibit, but demolished to build Faces of Rainforest)
- Parma Wallaby (cuter than bennett's Wallaby imo, a shame this species has been phased out of AZA)
- Chinese Alligator (thematically fit in the Australasia area much better than the otters)
- Northern Tree Shrew (short-term resident of Australasia Building)
- LEMURS! (I forget exactly what species, nor do I care, but I really miss the Madagscar exhibit, which has been poorly utilized ever since)

Buttonwood Park Zoo:
- the only zoo I don't have any missed species for. Many of the exhibits have stayed remarkably similar for years, and I don't remember the old Aquatic Center well enough to pin-point species. Plus the Rainforest is better anyways. If they aren't replaced, the bison will join this list.

Stone Zoo:
- Capybara (I'm not criticizing Caribbean Coast, which replaced this area, but it'd be nice if this species was still in the collection)
- Queensland Koala (I know it was a short-lived exhibit/temporary, but still one I fondly remember)

Franklin Park Zoo:
- Bongo (sadly a species that wasn't replaced)
- Amur Leopard (a victim of the new Children's Zoo)
- Mandrill (more interesting than the debrazza monkeys imo)
- Matschie's Tree Kangaroo
 
Zoo Tampa: In general the pig collection - Warty pigs, warthogs, and bearded pigs. They were all there about the same time and they all left about the same time (early 2000's). Babirusa and red river hogs are still kept.
 
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Southwick’s Zoo: the zoo kept elephants for a long time up until the very early 2010s, some of my earlier zoo memories are seeing an Asian elephant at this facility. I would love to see the zoo get some once again but they would definitely need to care methods for them, which weren’t great back in the day. That being said the standards at the zoo have really improved in the last 5ish years and I believe they would do things appropriately if they were given the proper amount of space for elephants
 
Dyl0526 said:
Southwick’s Zoo: the zoo kept elephants for a long time up until the very early 2010s, some of my earlier zoo memories are seeing an Asian elephant at this facility. I would love to see the zoo get some once again but they would definitely need to care methods for them, which weren’t great back in the day. That being said the standards at the zoo have really improved in the last 5ish years and I believe they would do things appropriately if they were given the proper amount of space for elephants
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For Southwicks, I miss when they had bearded Pigs. Those were always neat to see.
 
SwampDonkey said:
Zoo Tampa: In general the pig collection - Warty pigs, warthogs, and bearded pigs. They were all there about the same time and they all left about the same time (early 2000's). Babirusa and red river hogs are still kept.
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The zoo still had warty pig in 2013 when I visited. I was told they were what replaced the Bearded Pigs.

~Thylo
 
ThylacineAlive said:
The zoo still had warty pig in 2013 when I visited. I was told they were what replaced the Bearded Pigs.

~Thylo
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It's possible they were all moving about that time. I am pretty confident they had them both for a time, I believe they may not have had babirusa in that interlude - but I could be wrong. The warty pigs were replaced with.....Burmese black tortoise.
 
SwampDonkey said:
It's possible they were all moving about that time. I am pretty confident they had them both for a time, I believe they may not have had babirusa in that interlude - but I could be wrong. The warty pigs were replaced with.....Burmese black tortoise.
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They had warty pig, babirusa, and Red River Hog still when I visited in 2013.

At least they replaced the pigs with an endangered tortoise :p

~Thylo
 
I’m old. I have had a few hometown zoos.

Mystic Aquarium: Bottlenose Dolphins (although the California Sea Lions occupying that space now are pretty cool). Grey Seals (they were rehabbing one when I visited in March). Walrus (way back in the 1970’s).

Bronx Zoo: A lot. Summed up: the Nocturnal House, Sumatran Rhino, and European Wild Boar. Barbary Macaques.

Catskill Game Farm: All of it.

San Antonio Zoo: African Hoofstock. Cape Buffalo in particular.

Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch: Jaguar.

Alaska Zoo: Arctic Fox, Northern Hawk Owl, and Glacier Bear.
 
Pleistohorse said:
Mystic Aquarium: Bottlenose Dolphins (although the California Sea Lions occupying that space now are pretty cool). Grey Seals (they were rehabbing one when I visited in March). Walrus (way back in the 1970’s).
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Mystic used to have dolphins in the sea lion area?! I did not know that! What year did the switch happen?

I remember they temporarily kept dolphins when Shedd was re-doing the Oceanarium, but that was only for a few months. I also didn't know they kept walrus, but that's cool. Would be nice if that species returned at some point.
 
I missed the Asian water monitor and coconut crab in Jakarta Aquarium. When they were there, their exhibit is really suitable and in my opinion one of the best for the species.
 
NEW: South African Shelduck, Bennett's Wallaby, Red Fox, Cougar

Milwaukee: Ornate Flying Snake, Asiatic Black Bear, Mule Deer, Tayra (still at the zoo but now BTS), night monkey, Potto, Matschie's Tree Kangaroo, Red Kangaroo, Emu, Red Lionfish, Malayan Tapir, Moose, Diana Monkey, Golden-headed Lion Tamarin, Polar Bear, Sora, Golden-backed Woodpecker, Eastern Gray Squirrel, Meerkat, Common Dwarf Mongoose, Wedge-tailed Eagle
 
Neil chace said:
Mystic used to have dolphins in the sea lion area?! I did not know that! What year did the switch happen?

I remember they temporarily kept dolphins when Shedd was re-doing the Oceanarium, but that was only for a few months. I also didn't know they kept walrus, but that's cool. Would be nice if that species returned at some point.
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I believe the last time I saw them there might have been circa 1996 (maybe 1994). For a while in 1979 they had a Dall Porpoise in the adjacent tank. The Walrus (named Goliath…I remember because he apparently did not like my step-dad, named David) was in the area (now renovated for the Beluga’s) back in 1977. Before we left Connecticut in 1980 he was gone. I remember the Dolphin’s they kept for the Shedd Aquarium. I’m thinking that was sometime around 1996 as well or later (2004)? I’m trying to estimate the date of their presence by visits home. But when I saw them they were in the outdoor tank near the African Penguins. The shallow rocky area off the Beluga tank used to be where the Harbor and Grey Seals were kept. I saw during my recent visit this past March that the Harbor Seals were housed with the Northern Fur Seals.
 
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