Rodents kept by North American zoos

StellarChaser

StellarChaser

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
We all know that Rodentia is the largest order of Mammals, about 40% of Mammal species are Rodents. But many rodents are either short-lived, hard to be kept, or unnecessary for conservation. Anyway, how many Rodents species are kept by North American zoos? As far as I know including:
- Woodchuck
- Black-tailed Prairie Dog
- Prevost's Squirrel
- American Beaver
- Northern Luzon Giant Cloud Rat
- Barbary Striped Grass Mouse
- Eurasian Harvest Mouse
- African Pygmy Mouse
- Long-tailed Chinchilla
- Malagasy Giant Rat
- Bushy-tailed Jird
- Lesser Jerboa
- Cactus Mouse
- Pale Gerbil
- California Mouse
- North American Deer Mouse
- African Grass Rat
- House Mouse
- Pocket Gopher
- Capybara
- Guinea Pig
- Lowland Paca
- Patagonian Mara
- African Crested Porcupine
- African Brush-tailed Porcupine
- North American Porcupine
- Prehensile-tailed porcupine
- Red-lumped Agouti
- Common Degu
- Naked Mole-rat
- Damaraland Mole-Rat
- Springhare

Zoos in the Caribbean region may have more local endemic rodent species. Additionally, does any US zoo has Hutias and Dormouse?
 
StellarChaser said:
We all know that Rodentia is the largest order of Mammals, about 40% of Mammal species are Rodents. But many rodents are either short-lived, hard to be kept, or unnecessary for conservation. Anyway, how many Rodents species are kept by North American zoos? As far as I know including:
- Woodchuck
- Black-tailed Prairie Dog
- Prevost's Squirrel
- American Beaver
- Northern Luzon Giant Cloud Rat
- Barbary Striped Grass Mouse
- Eurasian Harvest Mouse
- African Pygmy Mouse
- Long-tailed Chinchilla
- Malagasy Giant Rat
- Bushy-tailed Jird
- Lesser Jerboa
- Cactus Mouse
- Pale Gerbil
- California Mouse
- North American Deer Mouse
- African Grass Rat
- House Mouse
- Pocket Gopher
- Capybara
- Guinea Pig
- Lowland Paca
- Patagonian Mara
- African Crested Porcupine
- African Brush-tailed Porcupine
- North American Porcupine
- Prehensile-tailed porcupine
- Red-lumped Agouti
- Common Degu
- Naked Mole-rat
- Damaraland Mole-Rat
- Springhare

Zoos in the Caribbean region may have more local endemic rodent species. Additionally, does any US zoo has Hutias and Dormouse?
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That is one order I've never given much thought to. By far the two I've remembered the most have been black tailed prairie dogs and beavers. Didn't Omaha have nutrias and muskrats at one time? Or am I just imagining that.
 
elefante said:
That is one order I've never given much thought to. By far the two I've remembered the most have been black tailed prairie dogs and beavers. Didn't Omaha have nutrias and muskrats at one time? Or am I just imagining that.
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Omaha had nutrias until a couple years ago, they are no longer held
 
Several zoos keep Eastern Chipmunk.

ASDM keeps one of the grasshopper mice and I think they still have White-throated Woodrat.

I've seen Eastern Gray Squirrel at several different zoos but none of them keep them anymore.

Several collections keep Southern Flying Squirrel.
 
elefante said:
That is one order I've never given much thought to. By far the two I've remembered the most have been black tailed prairie dogs and beavers. Didn't Omaha have nutrias and muskrats at one time? Or am I just imagining that.
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Also, does Audubon still have nutrias?
 
Excluding the domestics, the following species from your list are the only ones that have been common in my experience:

Black-tailed Prairie Dog
Prevost's Squirrel
American Beaver
Capybara
Patagonian Mara
African Crested Porcupine
North American Porcupine
Prehensile-tailed Porcupine
Red-rumped Agouti
Naked Mole-rat
Woodchuck (maybe)

Most of the rest are held by a very small number of zoos.
 
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Coelacanth18 said:
Excluding the domestics, the following species from your list are the only ones that have been common in my experience:

Black-tailed Prairie Dog
Prevost's Squirrel
American Beaver
Capybara
Patagonian Mara
African Crested Porcupine
North American Porcupine
Prehensile-tailed Porcupine
Red-rumped Agouti
Naked Mole-rat
Woodchuck (maybe)

Most of the rest are held by a very small number of zoos.
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Woodchuck are super common, just not in AZA zoos. They're ridiculously common in private zoos.
 
Smaggledagle said:
Several facilities hold Indian crested porcupine (Henry Vilas, Columbus, Santa Ana, Mill Mountain, etc.).
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And that's also a phase out species that I'd expect to be completely gone from US collections within a decade or two (unless there are some in the private trade I'm unaware of). A shame, because I happen to like the Indian species more than either of the African ones.
 
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Fort Worth Zoo keeps Merriam's Kangaroo Rat and I believe they are the only institution to have bred them aswell (they are currently off-exhibit at their exhibit is closed for renovations)
 
There are a few more rodents I forgot to mention in my earlier post including:

Vancouver Island marmot (Toronto Zoo)
American red squirrel (Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center)

and who could forget about the domestic rat
 
I am fairly certain that Cape porcupines are also common. I saw Palawan porcupines at Sustainable Safari in Minnesota with my grandparents five months ago. I had hoped to see Sunda porcupines, which their website claimed were kept. I'm not sure if they still have either species but I hope to go back this April and can find out.
StellarChaser said:
African Brush-tailed Porcupine
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I am pretty sure that these animals are still in North America, but where?

MonkeyBat said:
Peoria Zoo list their mole rats as Giant Zambian (Cryptomys meachowi)
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I've never heard of Giant Zambian mole rats, or their apparent scientific name, Cryptomys meachowi. Does anyone know more?
 
Neil chace said:
Cape porcupine is the most common Hystrix species in US Zoos. In the AZA, a lot of the so-called "African crested porcupines" are in fact Cape Porcupines, Hystrix africaeaustralis, not Hystrix cristata.
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Nearly all, if not all, in fact.
 
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