Zoos giving animals to individuals/private collections

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kate person

Active Member
Sorry if this question already exists. I’ve been reading some forums on here and a few have mentioned that some zoos have given animals to individuals or private collections. My question is do they still do it? I know that most zoos who are apart of an association can only give/receive animals from zoos in an association but what about zoos that aren’t in an association. Can/do they give animals to private owners? Of course the private owners must prove that they have all the licenses and knowledge required to care for this animal. But do zoos do it still?
 
Allwetterzoo Münster for example "rented" a female Peruvian bush anole from a private breeder and later even some more animals from the same person. The breeder offered the animals to the zoo so they could breed them and in exchange he wanted to keep half of the eggs / offspring. Before that the Zoo was the only holder of Peruvian bush anole with a single male. After the succesfull breeding they gave some of the offspring away to other zoos.
I think it's quite common that zoos exchange with private breeders when it comes to reptiles.
 
kate person said:
Sorry if this question already exists. I’ve been reading some forums on here and a few have mentioned that some zoos have given animals to individuals or private collections. My question is do they still do it? I know that most zoos who are apart of an association can only give/receive animals from zoos in an association but what about zoos that aren’t in an association. Can/do they give animals to private owners? Of course the private owners must prove that they have all the licenses and knowledge required to care for this animal. But do zoos do it still?
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Many major zoos in Europe with a sizeable collection of small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians or fish works together with selected private keepers. Many of the species concerned are quite rare in zoos, but less so with private keepers. Interest of other zoos in say Montezuma quails also doesn't tend to be very high, so working together with private keepers is essential for zoos interested in maintaining a diverse collection.

What generally doesn't happen is major zoos selling animals for money to anyone interested in them.
 
It is rare, but quite regular for animals with low monetary value, kept in hobby trade and breeding well. They are given and received by well-known hobbyists. Insects, aquarium fish, small reptiles, common parakeets, waterfowl, rodents, sometimes domestics or commonest ungulates like fallow deer.

But don't expect, that if you ask nicely, a zoo will sell you a monkey ;)

For zoos, it is a way to obtain more diverse small animals that zoos only could support.
 
Was just scrolling through the Duisburg media and found this. Thought it might be interesting:
full

@vogelcommando "1994 at Geflügel Börse - a hobby-magazine for animal-keepers..."
 

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kate person said:
What does it translate to if you don’t mind me asking?
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It just lists the different animals the zoo is offering. The title says "Zoo Duisburg is offering:". The number behind the animal name shows probably the year they were born.

The animals listed are the following:
4.0 Patagonian mara
1.1 Porcupine
1.0 Common mona monkey
0.1 Allen's swamp monkey
2.2 Arctic fox
1.0 Raccoon dog (part albino)
1.0 Leopard cat
0.2 Bobcat
1.0 Bobcat
1.0 Eurasian lnyx
3.0 Burchell's zebra
1.0 Shetlandpony
3.1 Curly-hair hog
1.0 Watussi
1.1 European Bison
0.2 Hinterwald cattle
1.0 Pere David's deer (only to be left in good hands)
 
Loro Parque sells off surplus birds. According to their last released annual report, they made close to $400,000 a year from it. Probably more now they use a third party seller.
Loro Parque Foundation - Aves do Jorge

I'm in the UK and I've seen birds for sale in pet shops (including macaws and other often rehomed species) that listed LP as the supplier.
 
To add up what Jurek said, in the German speaking world, there is a project called Citizen Conservation which zoos collaborate with private hobbyists and lend them certain species. However as far as I understand, the zoo that gives away the animals are the owners of the animals.
 
PossumRoach said:
To add up what Jurek said, in the German speaking world, there is a project called Citizen Conservation which zoos collaborate with private hobbyists and lend them certain species. However as far as I understand, the zoo that gives away the animals are the owners of the animals.
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Thanks for sharing! This Citizen Conservation looks like a very promising conservation project! Do you know how old this initiative is, and how many people take part?
 
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