Charles
Well-Known Member
I heard of the short clawed otters but it causes the otters a lot of distress as the orangutans are over curious haha
Mixed species exhibit ideas
- Thread starter LowlandGorilla4
- Start date
See below.
@Galapagos Penguin , I will echo @Neil chace and @Great Argus in saying that no matter the situation, a RRH and crowned crane mixed habitat is not one I would reccommend. RRH mixes almost always end up going badly because they're either too orney for their own good or they end up going after or injuring other animals. I've heard stories of them being kicked unconscious by okapi, gored by nyala, and attempting to catch and eat bat-eared foxes. Being highly intelligent, their personalities vary greatly, so mixes can work out for extended periods of time just because of the specific pigs or specific individuals of the other species. It's always just a safer bet to house them separately and to not use birds as fancy lawn ornaments in mixed exhibits.
I have personally worked with both RRHs and warthogs, and it is true that warthogs are generally more even-tempered and less destructive than RRHs; however, that does not mean that they are still not ornery pigsMales, especially, with their much larger tusks are more of a threat, if provoked. The warthog mix at the SDZSP fell apart after introducing new pigs that were less tolerant (they always had to be separated when either species had young), and Caldwell also no longer has warthogs in their mixed savanna (they recently switched them for RRHs, which I will be interested to see how that goes, as I can definitely see an ornery RRH being much too confident with one of their Grevy's and not coming out as lucky as the RRH that took on an okapi...)
Charles
Well-Known Member
They’ve been mixed with the eland zebra and giraffe for many years and been fine, however they have their own personal enclosure with access to the much larger space as well
I believe that Detroit Zoo mixes their mandrills with gorillas and maybe a deer species, but the gorillas and mandrills are all males, so its a big bachelor group.
Corangurilla
Well-Known Member
First of all, it was Drills, not Mandrills.
Second of all, they don’t have them anymore. One of the Drills died prior to 2019 and they sent the remaining one back to Atlanta.
But yeah, it was a pretty cool mix when it was around.
Savannah Sunset: Aardvark, large-spotted genet, straw-colored fruit bat.
Twilight Creek: A nocturnal exhibit for greater Malay chevrotain, ruddy shelduck, and night heron. Next door is a separate exhibit for fishing cat.
Patagonian Coast: Dedicated exhibits for Chilean flamingoes, southern pudu (mixed with the flamingoes), Andean condors (dedicated spot for them, and they can free fly everywhere), and Magellanic penguins in a free-flight aviary also holding Inca terns, Chiloe wigeons, and Coscoroba swan.
Chinese mountain exhibit A: A recreation of a lake habitat within the mountains of China. Tufted deer, red pandas, Temminck's tragopans, Himalayan monal, demoiselle cranes, swan goose, scaly-sided mergansers, tundra swan, and bar-headed geese all live in this lush space. On one side of a water feature is a spot exclusively accessible to the birds. to get away from the red pandas.
Chinese mountain exhibit B: Chinese goral and cinereous vultures live in this rocky exhibit meshed-over for the birds.
Twilight Creek: A nocturnal exhibit for greater Malay chevrotain, ruddy shelduck, and night heron. Next door is a separate exhibit for fishing cat.
Patagonian Coast: Dedicated exhibits for Chilean flamingoes, southern pudu (mixed with the flamingoes), Andean condors (dedicated spot for them, and they can free fly everywhere), and Magellanic penguins in a free-flight aviary also holding Inca terns, Chiloe wigeons, and Coscoroba swan.
Chinese mountain exhibit A: A recreation of a lake habitat within the mountains of China. Tufted deer, red pandas, Temminck's tragopans, Himalayan monal, demoiselle cranes, swan goose, scaly-sided mergansers, tundra swan, and bar-headed geese all live in this lush space. On one side of a water feature is a spot exclusively accessible to the birds. to get away from the red pandas.
Chinese mountain exhibit B: Chinese goral and cinereous vultures live in this rocky exhibit meshed-over for the birds.
Haliaeetus
Well-Known Member
OK for most mixes except the first Chinese exhibit. I wouldn't display birds, especially threatened species, with Red Pandas.
The presence of Condors in the South American mix may be problematic for the other animals.
Savanna sunset: I think genets might prey on bats, and straw-colored fruit bats aren't that big. I'm not sure if aardvark would deal well with bat faeces.
Patagonian coast: minus the condors and with the pudus in a separate space for themselves rather than in the flamingo exhibit, this would probably work.
Chinese mountain A: Tufted deer and red panda would work, but I wouldn't house pandas with birds. The bird mix might work, although I'm not sure about the presence of geese and swans given their aggression.
Chinese mountain B: I think this would work.
Corangurilla
Well-Known Member
Cincinnati has Aardvarks living with fruit bats (albeit a different species). Why is guano a problem?
Also, Patagonian Coast would work better as an area with multiple exhibits than as one big exhibit.
Haliaeetus
Well-Known Member
The guano could contain toxic pathogens, maybe?
Red Pandas have been successfully mixed with white-naped cranes, red-breasted geese, and a few Pheasant species. Mixes with birds are certainly within the realm of reason with red pandas.
I would be very uneasy at mixing Red Pandas with any ground-living birds. I have known at least one that caught and ate a wild Mallard in an open topped enclosure so I would guess geese or pheasants would be at risk as well.
Mixed species idea:
Wallaby and Bilby Walkabout
Wallaby and Bilby Walkabout
ZooTampa had silvery lutang/languar mixed with their Bornean orangutans...but they stopped for reasons that I am not aware of. They no longer hold the lutangs at all.
Tyrannosaurus-PicoPico
Well-Known Member
Honestly, I don't know if these would work at all, but heres a few mixed exhibit ideas I came up with. :]
Sub Saharan Africa: Red River Hog, Marabou Stork.
South America: Giant Anteater, Cotton-Top Tamarin, as well as a pond in front of the enclosure containing some small fish native to South America.
Australia: Koala, Greater Bilby, and Duck-Billed Platypus.
Honestly, again, I don't know if these would work, but I kind of like the concept of having 3 different species that live on different spots ( the trees, the ground, and the water ) living in the same enclosure. I don't know what it is about it, but it kind of looks nice.... Well, atleast on paper.
Sub Saharan Africa: Red River Hog, Marabou Stork.
South America: Giant Anteater, Cotton-Top Tamarin, as well as a pond in front of the enclosure containing some small fish native to South America.
Australia: Koala, Greater Bilby, and Duck-Billed Platypus.
Honestly, again, I don't know if these would work, but I kind of like the concept of having 3 different species that live on different spots ( the trees, the ground, and the water ) living in the same enclosure. I don't know what it is about it, but it kind of looks nice.... Well, atleast on paper.
Sub Saharan Africa: Not entirely sure about this one. I think the marabous would be at risk from being attacked or bitten by the hogs, and they would also have to be klept clipped or pinioned, which could impact breeding results. Also I think baby river hogs might be within the prey size range of marabous. But if done inside a sizable aviary with a separate area for the birds, maybe.
South America: Giant anteaters and monkeys overhead might work, but I would not put fish in with them, as anteaters will go into pools and/or poop into them, which would make maintaining water quality for small fish an impossible task.
Australia: I think koala and a ground-dwelling species like bilby might work, but I think platypus have too specific needs to mix them with anything.
Haliaeetus
Well-Known Member
For me it should work, but the Tamarin species should hybridize (you may avoid mixing males and females of both species, or choose only one species).
Brookfield formerly mixed Giant Anteaters with a variety of South American primates (large and small) as well as various bird species. So the South America mix would work.
Would it be possible to mix Plains bison with Przewalski's horses and/or camels and peccaries? I've had a bit of a crackpot idea for making a Pleistocene-based exhibit, and if this wouldn't work, what would be some good alternatives?