Tanganyika Wildlife Park Thoughts About Tanganika Wildlife Park

RandomZooVisitorYT

RandomZooVisitorYT

Well-Known Member
Tanganika Wildlife Park Is a wildlife facility 20 minutes east of Wichita, not to be confused with the Sedgewick County Zoo, it opened in 2008-2009 and I cannot finds whether or not it is AZA Accredited, A lot of it is wire mesh enclosures but I would say 75% of them are good sized. However there are cubs found in the nursery that don't have parents at the zoo that are not normally bred in AZA Facilities. Nobody talks about so I thought I would.

Animals:
Giraffes
Bongo
Okapi
Caracal
Colobus
Mandrill
Javan Langur
DeBrazzas Monkey
Red River Hog
Pygmy Hippo
Indian Rhino
Siamang
White Handed Gibbons
Various Macaws, Cockatoos, Lorikeets, etc.
Eagle Owl
Other Birds
Serval
Snow Leopard
Clouded Leopards
Asian Small Clawed Otters
Cheetahs
Zebras
Camels
Tortoises (Aldabra, Leopard, Spur thighed)
Giant Anteaters
Ratels
King Vulture
Ring Tailed Lemurs
Sloths
Albino Gator
African Penguins
Black and White Ruffed Lemurs
Crested Porcupines
Amur Leopard
White Tiger- From A Different Facility
More

Animals That Make Me Think This Could Be Unaccredited:
Baby Bengal Tiger
Baby African Leopards

Does Anybody Have Thoughts, Information, Etc. I am just curious not trying to say they are bad without proof.
I will upload photos
 
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Tanganyika is not AZA accredited, nor have they ever been. They do receive animals from AZA facilities occasionally however, accounting for some of the unusual species on the list. Though pretty much your entire list can be found in private facilities in some number.
I've not been to the place myself so can't comment too much on their exhibits, but I do know they frequently send big cat cubs to quite unreputable facilities. They are rather a breeding hub of sorts, supplying various species to worse places.
 
While it has been stated, they are not AZA accredited, but they are ZAA accredited and work with AZA zoos - they operate in a similar manner to many of the "better" non-AZA zoos like Wildlife World and Bright's.

Thanks for making the thread and the information, sometimes these non-AZA zoos don't have a lot of information here.
 
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@RandomZooVisitorYT , about how long did it take to go through? Wichita is on my list of visits, and I would have two days to do both zoos if I went.

Was the red faced spider monkey still present?
 
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SwampDonkey said:
@RandomZooVisitorYT , about how long did it take to go through? Wichita is on my list of visits, and I would have two days to do both zoos if I went.

Was the red faced spider monkey still present?
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Red-faced Spider Monkeys are not on exhibit (nor have they ever been)

Tanganyika only takes 2 hours tops. Sedgwick can take quite a bit longer.
 
I visited this facility twice back in 2011/2012. I easily coupled it with an earlier visit to Sedgwick. They are easily this most prolific breeder of clouded leopards in the country but also Amur leopards and snow leopards as well. Jim Fouts, who owns the facility, is a well known animal dealer and former keeper himself. He did work at Sedgwick but not liking the zoo politics, decided to open his own facility. The amount of rarities the facility has had over the years is amazing including the only time I was lucky enough to Zorillas.
 
PSO said:
I visited this facility twice back in 2011/2012. I easily coupled it with an earlier visit to Sedgwick. They are easily this most prolific breeder of clouded leopards in the country but also Amur leopards and snow leopards as well. Jim Fouts, who owns the facility, is a well known animal dealer and former keeper himself. He did work at Sedgwick but not liking the zoo politics, decided to open his own facility. The amount of rarities the facility has had over the years is amazing including the only time I was lucky enough to Zorillas.
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I read that he was a keeper. How on earth did he finance this place to even exist? It seems to be better than most private zoos (with a few notable exceptions).
 
I'm not quite sure how he got the finances, whether he had money or his animal brokering. I also know he bought out the animals from the Oak Hill breeding facility in Oklahoma which is were most of the felids came from. Those who remember the "growing up" series on Animal Planet, the clouded leopard episode starts from the Oak hill center, just before Fouts bought them
 
SwampDonkey said:
While it has been stated, they are not AZA accredited, but they are ZAA accredited and work with AZA zoos - they operate in a similar manner to many of the "better" non-AZA zoos like Wildlife World and Bright's.

Thanks for making the thread and the information, sometimes these non-AZA zoos don't have a lot of information here.
Click to expand...

Of course they're ZAA, he was one of the founding members.
 
PSO said:
I visited this facility twice back in 2011/2012. I easily coupled it with an earlier visit to Sedgwick. They are easily this most prolific breeder of clouded leopards in the country but also Amur leopards and snow leopards as well. Jim Fouts, who owns the facility, is a well known animal dealer and former keeper himself. He did work at Sedgwick but not liking the zoo politics, decided to open his own facility. The amount of rarities the facility has had over the years is amazing including the only time I was lucky enough to Zorillas.
Click to expand...

I think this simplifies things a bit. He stopped being a keeper in *1977*. He was only there for 5 years, and initially was just the night keeper of the domestics. There's 31 years between that and Tanganyika opening as a zoo. He was a dealer for decades, and one with a not so great reputation. His money came from selling animals.
 
@TinoPup For anyone that was curious, especially since the proximity of the two facilities, he was involved at one time with Sedgwick. Also 1977 isn't as far back for some of us.
Since you seem to know something about Fouts and his facility please elaborate
 
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