Ratites and Tinamous in North America
- Thread starter Great Argus
- Start date
Utica Zoo in New York claims to have a (0.1) Somali ostrich.
Utica Zoo - Attention Animal Lovers: now that our 2 female...
Utica Zoo - Attention Animal Lovers: now that our 2 female...
Per the pictures, I'm not convinced it's Somali. Anyone know if Dallas or LA moved their bird?
King of Komodo Dragons
Well-Known Member
Dallas still had theirs back in June, so unless they sent theirs out recently then Dallas should still have their Somali Ostrich.
Sacramento transferred out there two female ostriches.
Since July 2, 2020, I have never seen elegant-crested tinamous at Fresno Chaffee.
Since my first visit to Charles Paddock Zoo in 2022, I have never seen elegant-crested tinamous or emus there.
The only time I've seen elegant-crested tinamous at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park was on my first trip on December 10th, 2021. By my December 10th, 2022 trip, they were transferred out.
I emailed the Utica Zoo to point out that the Somali ostrich is in fact a distinct species and if she is indeed a Somali ostrich, to please not hybridize her with their male, Boomer. Let's see how this goes.
Yes the tinamou list in that post should have been considerably smaller - the population nose-dived about 2020-21. Not sure why it didn't get reflected on the list.
The current population is just a handful at Bronx, DWA, St. Louis. Possibly Toronto. I've heard of some in the private trade but not sure where that stands at this point.
I haven't seen anything to confirm Utica indeed has a Somali. For that matter, I haven't seen anything pertaining to either known Somali since 2023. Anybody know what the status is? USDA only lists 1 Common Ostrich for LA since early 2024, though the Somali appears in Oct 2023 report. Dallas had 3 Common in Dec 2024, is one of those being mislabeled?
USZOOfan42
Well-Known Member
Seems DWA is doing pretty good, I saw 5 individuals of one species and 8 of another! (Don’t remember which one was which though)
That post specifically said Blue-Necked COMMON Ostrich. Nowhere is she identified as a Somali. Southern Ostriches sometimes are also referred to as “Blue-Necked”
When was this? DWA only had 3 Elegant Crested in Feb this year, they do have almost a dozen Great though.
USZOOfan42
Well-Known Member
My numbers are probably off, I vaguely remember the elegant crested, but I remember a lot of the greats in the “mundo maya”. This was in late March of this year.
I have NEVER heard of South African subspecies of common ostriches referred to as “blue necks” (though I can see why they would have that moniker); I’ve heard of them sometimes referred to the Cape ostrich. I’m also guessing that they are the go-to subspecies represented in zoos around the world (I know in Europe and in most EAZA zoos, they do make an effort to focus breeding the North African subspecies). I’ve only read that blue-necks being the go-to name for the Somalia.
For the longest time, the Somali ostrich was just considered the “blue-necked” subspecies until they found out, thanks to genetic testing, visual differences, and some behavioral differences, that the Somali is, in fact, a separate species.
Plus, most American zoos don’t update their species list to follow the current phylogenetic studies or put a lot of effort stating subspecies (I give props to the San Diego zoos for at least providing subspecies-specific names when possible and Sacramento Zoo for having a board educating the public on the different giraffe species, but I digress).
Nevertheless, I did receive this response:
“Thanks for your interest in our ostrich. Currently, we have no intention of allowing eggs to hatch within our group of ostriches. We will investigate genetic testing if we ever decide to move forward with breeding. Once again, thanks for reaching out.”
Not surprising, Ostrich are so readily available from the private trade pretty much no zoo bothers breeding them. The genetics of many birds are likely a bit muddy though.