How do zoos aquire their animals?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dom
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That's worse... Although I guess he's ok now, but think of what he went through at the time :(
 
That's worse... Although I guess he's ok now, but think of what he went through at the time :(

Nothing much can be done if the animals owned by a private individual. At least he came to a good home and is now a fine young bull.
 
I guess, but I would have thought a zoo director (especially for a zoo like ChesteR) would have known better.
 
Does anyone know the whole story then?
 
Chester Zoo will loan or exchange animals. They have a policy of never buying. (As far as I know).

One other main source of acquisitions is customs confiscations.

Are you suggesting that Chester grows all of it's mealworms, crickets, mice, rabbits, cattle, fish etc etc rather than buying it in???

Only kidding. But I'm sure that Chester doesn't stick to their policy all the time. It is just the more controversial mega-fauna that they wouldn't buy.
 
Re Upali, Chester's accounts show animal purchases totalling £11,000 for that year.
 
Re Upali, Chester's accounts show animal purchases totalling £11,000 for that year.

I wonder what they are buying? Domestic hoof stock? thats allot of chikens!

I would have sworn that Chester would not be involved in the purchase of exotic flora and fauna.
 
If US zoos are prepared to do a "deal with the devil" (in the form of large game hunting ranches in the south-west US) they can stock up on many ungulates.

I read a recent article which claimed that there are in excess of 30,000 Indian blackbuck in the state of Texas alone, mostly for hunting.

Addax are an endangered antelope in the wild. According to ISIS there are 740 in zoos throughout the world. The same magazine article claims that there are over 1,000 on Texas game ranches.
 
That is very true about Texas. I was driving back from the Houston zoo about a year and a half ago and to my surprise off to the side of the road was a herd of scimitar horned oryx. Blackbuck are not uncommon in the Texas Hill Country as are exotic deer species.
 
Apparently, there are as many blackbuck on game ranches as in India. Unfortunately, the other side of the coin is that it is not unheard of for zoos to send their specimens to these private ranches...
 
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