Rare Animals in US AZA Facilities

Blackleopard207

Blackleopard207

Well-Known Member
This thread is a forum for discussing animals that are rare in US AZA collections. One species that I find to be rare is the Cuban crocodile. I know there are a couple facilities that hold them including the 1.1 pair (Miguel & Rose) at Zoo Knoxville that I’ve seen. Their exhibit was really unique and it had a tunnel with a dead-end that you could crawl to and the crocodile was resting on the glass right above me. This exhibit was part of the newer ARC Campus which is a really well-done area and personally my favorite reptile/amphibian area I’ve ever seen. Does anyone know of any facilities that hold rare species that are worth visiting? Maybe even a facility that a rare species in particular is what makes it worth it?
 
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Unless I'm mistaken, Yellow Bellied Mangabeys are only found at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. They have an elderly pair right now.
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I was thinking more and remembered the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. They are the only facility outside of Australia to house platypus. They have a 1.1 pair, and their Przewalski’s horse herd is also not common to find in US AZA facilities.
 
Saint Louis Zoo I believe is the only US facility to have horned guans on display to the public. Of course, with the bird flu and all, that's a bit spotty as the Bird House, the exhibit they are kept in, is often closed to the public. Other rare species at the Saint Louis Zoo include Chinese goral, Transcaspian urial, northern carmine bee-eater, cackling goose, Edward's pheasant, buff-crested bustard, white-throated ground dove, Soemmering's gazelle, sun bear, and spectacled langur.
By the way, this thread might be of interest to you :)
 
Blackleopard207 said:
This thread is a forum for discussing animals that are rare in US AZA collections.
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What qualifies as rare? 5 facilities? 10? Makes a big difference in how many species qualify.

Blackleopard207 said:
One species that I find to be rare is the Cuban crocodile.
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Roughly 10 AZA facilities and a handful of non AZA.

CMZman said:
Unless I'm mistaken, Yellow Bellied Mangabeys are only found at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. They have an elderly pair right now.
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They are indeed the last in North America. They used to be more common, pity to lose the colorful species.

Blackleopard207 said:
I was thinking more and remembered the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. They are the only facility outside of Australia to house platypus. They have a 1.1 pair, and their Przewalski’s horse herd is also not common to find in US AZA facilities.
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Przewalski's is at about 10 facilities. Certainly not the rarest hoofstock they hold, compared to Red-fronted Gazelle.

Also, this thread might be of interest.
Species no longer held/nearly gone from US zoos
 
This thread has some out of date examples now unfortunately, but I also recommend it.

The white-bellied tree pangolin at Brookfield is pretty well-known around zoochat, though the individual has changed at least twice. I am pretty sure it is the main reason anyone on zoochat checks that facility out.

Minnesota Zoo has the only Hawaiian monk seal in captivity outside of Hawaii... actually I think there is currently an individual in California but not long-term.

Denver is the only traditional zoo in the AZA that currently displays African Buffalo. Their total holder count is higher but I believe every other example is a safari park.

I think Cincinnati is currently the only remaining AZA holder of potto, but I may be completely wrong on this one.
 
JVM said:
The white-bellied tree pangolin at Brookfield is pretty well-known around zoochat, though the individual has changed at least twice. I am pretty sure it is the main reason anyone on zoochat checks that facility out.
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It's not the only one in the AZA but it is the most visible by far, and a notable rarity.

JVM said:
Minnesota Zoo has the only Hawaiian monk seal in captivity outside of Hawaii... actually I think there is currently an individual in California but not long-term.
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There is indeed one in California currently - has been for some time actually, just not necessarily the same seal.

JVM said:
Denver is the only traditional zoo in the AZA that currently displays African Buffalo. Their total holder count is higher but I believe every other example is a safari park.
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Not sure what traditional zoo has to do with the thread subject, but you are right. Though not sure I'd classify White Oak as a safari park particularly.
 
Great Argus said:
It's not the only one in the AZA but it is the most visible by far, and a notable rarity.
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You know, you're correct Argus.

The original post mentioned 'worth visiting' and I incorrectly misremembered this fragment as part of a sentence explicitly asking about animals on public display, as opposed to those simply present in an AZA facility collection, which is a distinct question that I am much less informed on.

I tried to amend the previous post but took a moment too long and fell out of the 1-hour limit.
 
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JVM said:
The white-bellied tree pangolin at Brookfield is pretty well-known around zoochat, though the individual has changed at least twice. I am pretty sure it is the main reason anyone on zoochat checks that facility out.
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You don't seem to like the Chicago collections much, huh? Trust me, pangolins are not the only reason people check out Brookfield. It's a great zoo with a massive collection and some great exhibits. It's stagnated a bit and is no longer at its original glory, but there's a lot to love and it's easily in the top percentile of US zoos. Top 15-20 US zoo at worst.
 
birdsandbats said:
You don't seem to like the Chicago collections much, huh? Trust me, pangolins are not the only reason people check out Brookfield. It's a great zoo with a massive collection and some great exhibits. It's stagnated a bit and is no longer at its original glory, but there's a lot to love and it's easily in the top percentile of US zoos. Top 15-20 US zoo at worst.
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It is the only animal or exhibit at Brookfield I have personally seen non-locals draw positive attention about on zoochat. I don't know if that rating is the one I would expect from this community. I like all of my local facilities but given my lack of travel that means very little for argument.
 
Personally I usually define rare as anything with 5 or less zoos and very rare as one or two zoos. Anything more than 10 is not common, but also not really rare IMO.

Drill - Atlanta
Giant Panda - Atlanta, Memphis, National
Shoebill Stork - Tampa, Dallas World Aquarium
Mountain Tapir - Cheyanne, Los Angeles
Emperor Penguin - SeaWorld San Diego
Elephant Seal - Pittsburg (non-AZA)
Rough-toothed dolphin - Gulfworld, Clearwater Marine (both non-AZA)
Tiger Shark - Georgia Aquarium
Whale Shark - Georgia Aquarium
Great Hammerhead - Georgia Aquarium, SeaWorld Orlando, Adventure Aquarium
Scalloped Hammerhead - Monterey Bay, Point Defiance

Tyra - Wildlife World, several small private places (does anyone else hold tyra on display these days?)

I am pretty sure on most of those other than the sharks.
 
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SwampDonkey said:
Mountain Tapir - Cheyanne, Los Angeles
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Cheyenne’s last mountain tapir passed away last year, so LA is the only US facility with them.
I think honey badgers are pretty rare. Only 4(?) zoos in the US keep them afaik.
  • San Diego Zoo
  • Naples Zoo
  • Tanganyika Wildlife Park
  • Living Treasures
  • Oklahoma City Zoo has them in their plans for their new African exhibit, but we’ll see if they actually follow through
 
SwampDonkey said:
Personally I usually define rare as anything with 5 or less zoos and very rare as one or two zoos. Anything more than 10 is not common, but also not really rare IMO.

Drill - Atlanta
Giant Panda - Atlanta, Memphis, National
Shoebill Stork - Tampa, Dallas World Aquarium
Mountain Tapir - Cheyanne, Los Angeles
Emperor Penguin - SeaWorld San Diego
Elephant Seal - Pittsburg (non-AZA)
Rough-toothed dolphin - Gulfworld, Clearwater Marine (both non-AZA)
Tiger Shark - Georgia Aquarium
Whale Shark - Georgia Aquarium
Great Hammerhead - Georgia Aquarium, SeaWorld Orlando, Adventure Aquarium
Scalloped Hammerhead - Monterey Bay, Point Defiance

Tyra - Wildlife World, several small private places (does anyone else hold tyra on display these days?)

I am pretty sure on most of those other than the sharks.
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You can add The Seas at Epcot as a holder of Scalloped Hammerhead
 
I believe Oklahoma City is the only remaining US holder of tanuki. (Now that those in Atlanta have passed.)
 
Dallas Zoo holds the last Double-Eyed Fig Parrot outside of Australia, also have Perentie and Tuatara
Naples Zoo has the last White-Headed Lemur in the AZA,
San Antonio has quite a few rarities when it comes to birds and herps, a main one being their Psychedelic Rock Geckos. alonside Habu, Guam Rail, Micronesian Kingfisher
Miami, Gladys Porter, and Bronx are the last 3 holders of Indian Gaur
Miami also holds Brown Kiwi but currently only can be seen via a tour until a permanent habitat is constructed.
Fort Worth Zoo holds Red Wolf, Jararaca, Harpy Eagle, and if their new expansion keeps its promise will have African Leopards in the coming months.
St. Augustine Alligator Farm and Zoo are one of the few holders of Freshwater Crocodiles and the only holder I am aware of with Mugger Crocodile, Black Caiman, Hall's New Guinea Crocodile, and Desert Crocodile.

These are just a few, some of the zoos mentioned above have tons of rare species especially when you start getting into herps.
 
King of Komodo Dragons said:
Dallas Zoo holds the last Double-Eyed Fig Parrot outside of Australia, also have Perentie and Tuatara
Naples Zoo has the last White-Headed Lemur in the AZA,
San Antonio has quite a few rarities when it comes to birds and herps, a main one being their Psychedelic Rock Geckos. alonside Habu, Guam Rail, Micronesian Kingfisher
Miami, Gladys Porter, and Bronx are the last 3 holders of Indian Gaur
Miami also holds Brown Kiwi but currently only can be seen via a tour until a permanent habitat is constructed.
Fort Worth Zoo holds Red Wolf, Jararaca, Harpy Eagle, and if their new expansion keeps its promise will have African Leopards in the coming months.
St. Augustine Alligator Farm and Zoo are one of the few holders of Freshwater Crocodiles and the only holder I am aware of with Mugger Crocodile, Black Caiman, Hall's New Guinea Crocodile, and Desert Crocodile.

These are just a few, some of the zoos mentioned above have tons of rare species especially when you start getting into herps.
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There are some Hall's Crocodiles at a few private zoos. Wild Florida being one of them.
 
Roger Williams Park Zoo: Asiatic Black Bear, Giant Wood Rail, Blue-Throated Piping Guan

Capron Park Zoo: Blue-Winged Kookaburra

Buffalo Zoo: Gemsbok, Roan Antelope, Dumeril's Monitor, Black-Capped Squirrel Monkey

Rosamond Gifford Zoo: Thorold's White-Lipped Deer, Large Hairy Armadillo, Armenian Mouflon, a few bird species they have are on the rarer side as well

Utica Zoo: Transcapian Urial, Striped Hyena
 
SwampDonkey said:
Personally I usually define rare as anything with 5 or less zoos and very rare as one or two zoos. Anything more than 10 is not common, but also not really rare IMO.

Drill - Atlanta
Giant Panda - Atlanta, Memphis, National
Shoebill Stork - Tampa, Dallas World Aquarium
Mountain Tapir - Cheyanne, Los Angeles
Emperor Penguin - SeaWorld San Diego
Elephant Seal - Pittsburg (non-AZA)
Rough-toothed dolphin - Gulfworld, Clearwater Marine (both non-AZA)
Tiger Shark - Georgia Aquarium
Whale Shark - Georgia Aquarium
Great Hammerhead - Georgia Aquarium, SeaWorld Orlando, Adventure Aquarium
Scalloped Hammerhead - Monterey Bay, Point Defiance

Tyra - Wildlife World, several small private places (does anyone else hold tyra on display these days?)

I am pretty sure on most of those other than the sharks.
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There's probably about 10-15 places with Tayra, mostly non-AZA.
 
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