SUMMARIZING UNGULATES & CETACEANS
After primates the ungulates and cetaceans are the group with the largest net loss of all mammal groups covered, with a net loss of 13 species. Cetaceans lost half of the species kept at 2000 and even-toed ungulates had a net loss of 9 species from 118 in 2000 to 109 species in 2023. There are a few more species that are all but certain to join the list of losses in the near future with only singletons of hartebeest, mountain anoa, slender-horned gazelle, bearded pig and gray brocket remaining.
@amur leopard Bearded pigs are now a member of the last chance saloon
While the net loss has been sizable it was also unavoidable. Of the 4 cetaceans that have disappeared since 2000 none had ever bred in Europe and were represented by singletons, or in the case of sotalia dolphins by 2 old males. The situation of the remaining 4 species is largely unchanged. For all but the bottlenose dolphin the continued survival of them in European zoos continues to be dependent on 1 or 2 institutions. With bottlenose dolphins being at capacity currently in Europe and a likely increase in countries / regions banning cetaceans in the future, it is even questionable whether there will be captive cetaceans at all in Europe in 50 years time. That is certainly not a given, but given the welfare concerns, even among zoo-minded people, it is more likely than that dolphins will revive again. The huge costs of creating a new modern enclosure certainly plays a role here too. The best facility remains one built 25 years ago, which would be unimaginable for most other animals.
@snowleopard The Dolphin Delta in the Dolfinarium is still standing at the top of cetacean habitats in Europe
For the ungulates a part of the losses were also unavoidable and include animals that were never on show (Javan warty pigs) or not recognized as a species at the time (Cavendish’s dikdik). Most other losses (and coming losses) were of animals that were only ever kept or bred at 1-2 zoos, though in some cases clung on for decades. Such small inbred populations are always vulnerable, so it is no surprise some have died out. Others are still clinging on, but a species like the mountain reedbuck could with some bad luck easily follow the klipspringer and the pampas deer. That ungulates kept in small numbers tend to disappear is nothing new, what is new is that this century they are hardly replaced. In the period 1990-2000 some 8 ungulate species were lost, but it also saw the new arrival of 12 others. The big difference since 2000 is the difficulty with which ungulates can be imported into the EU. Until Poland joined the EU (and shortly afterwards) there was still a workaround and especially Poznan Nowe Zoo had a quarantine area that was a regular stopover for animals from outside the EU. This is also the place that became the Hotel California of the Javan warty pigs on their way from Surabaya to San Diego. Visayan warty pigs and Balabac chevrotains were the last truly new ungulates to come into the EU via Poland IIRC. But it was also used as a stopover for imports of animals already present in Europe, such as Thomson’s gazelles from Israel.
@Ding Lingwei With only a single male at the start of the century, the red goral was a certain loss
With that route closed only very few ungulates were imported to Europe anymore from other continents. Most of these imports came from the US, and specifically to Tierpark Berlin that has imported gerenuks, barbary stags, Chacoan peccaries, babyrusa, Thomson’s gazelles and more from the US since 2010. Tierpark Berlin was also the final destination of imports of Marco Polo argali and Sichuan takin from Moscow. Very few other zoos have gone as far as to import ungulates from outside Europe, which makes the gaur import by Zlin-Lesna in 2019 stand out all the more.
@Jackwow Thomson's gazelle have high name recognition but are rare in Europe and don't always adapt to the mixed-species enclosures in which they are often held
But changes to import regulations are underway, recently the BALAI directive was replaced by a new EU animal health law. According to the EAZA this should make it easier to move animals around within the EU. Under BALAI animals could only be transferred relatively easily between zoos that were designated as “ABIC”s, which had a provision that these establishments had to be free of certain diseases (including tuberculosis) for a certain amount of time. In the new law the approval as a confined institution (formerly ABIC) is not coupled to disease freedom, but based on animal health practices, policies and facilities in place. That should make stuff easier within the EU. It remains possible to import animals from 3rd countries, such as the US and the UK if they are labelled as confined institutions too. In practice it will probably remain very hard to import hoofstock. Had this been easier there would likely have been a much smaller net loss as enough zoos have indicated an interest in e.g. giant elands and klipspringer.
@Andrew_NZP If it were easier giant eland would long have made their way to Czechia
From the species that are kept in Europe it is apparent that ones gaining popularity are often endangered and managed in an EEP. This includes species that were already well established such as scimitar-horned oryxes, but rarer species also profit. Mhor gazelles, tufted deer, white-lipped deer and takins used to be real rarities, but are now rising in popularity to the point where some species are becoming “just” uncommon. In the near future this will possibly also apply to species such as Nubian ibex and Cuvier’s gazelle that 10 years ago were real rarities. The consequence is that some species now listed as phase-outs or were stripped of their ESB/EEP will either disappear or at least become much less common. This applies to species like gaur, east-Caucasian ibex and springbok. In the case of the ibex, breeding has ceased. But there are zoos ignoring the TAG recommendations and some places continue breeding gaur. Springbok were downlisted, but are a clear case where the species in question can’t easily be replaced by the species the TAG recommends, either because zoos use a stricter geographical approach or because the exhibits are not suited to the recommended replacements (which might be already present at the zoo too). That it can make sense to continue with species listed as phase-outs or which are not preferred is proven by impala and white-tailed gnu which were initially not recommended, but for which an EEP was created more recently. In the case of ungulates, gone often really means gone, so one has to be sure zoos won’t regret their choices. Many EAZA zoos treat the absence of an EEP label as a sign not to obtain a certain species when a reasonably similar EEP alternative is available. So for some species the future lies in the hand of a few interested zoos.
@gentle lemur Saved by the bell, when the value of Europe's white-tailed gnu was recognized, they were uplifted into an EEP, with 100 animals in Europe and 8 zoos breeding the past 12 months this species does have a future
Deer, antelope and wild goats aren’t exactly the animals that draw people to the zoo, though they do take up space. This means that in many traditional major zoos the number of ungulate species kept has been somewhat reduced. Holding capacity has however increased too as, especially in France, newer zoos have been adding ungulate species. Mixed-species savannas remain popular exhibits and it is increasingly common to see elephants or rhinos being mixed with some hoofstock species too. This ensures that even though less zoos opt for “endless” rows of paddocks there is space for the more “boring” species like hog deer too.
@Tomek Such enclosure rows are not the future of European ungulates
Zoochat had a pretty bleak view of how ungulates are doing in Europe, which is roughly correct. A single person expected a gain of tapir popularity and 2 persons thought suids would increase in popularity, which with the strong gains of Visayan warty pigs and red river hogs, is something that is correct in the number of holders. Cetaceans and ungulates, with bovids, caprids, deer and antelope as mentioned subcategories, were also often mentioned as having declined in popularity. For cetaceans that is true beyond doubt. For ungulates there has indeed been a net reduction in species, but not as big as in the old world monkeys and there are plenty of species that have made gains too. From a species hunter point of view there have been notable losses though, also of some unique subspecies.
Given the difficulty of importing new ungulates and the vulnerability of small zoo populations it is quite likely we will see more losses of ungulates in the near future. I do however think the number of species will somewhat stabilise at a high level given that many species are managed in EEPs or doing fine without them. It will be interesting to see whether non-EAZA zoos can continue to manage some of the species EAZA zoos are not interested in, but which could be “saved” just yet such as bighorn sheep. What is certain is that ungulates will remain one of the most widespread animal groups and there will be a large number of species that will remain to be kept. Just how much depends a bit on luck and on whether someone other than Tierpark Berlin is crazy enough to go through the paper battle of importing from non-EU countries. The US remains the most likely source of new imports, but given declines in number of hoofstock species kept there it will be interesting to see what they would still have to offer apart from a klipspringer or 2.
@Julio C Castro O klipspringer, when will we see your like again
This is really it when it comes to all the species, family and order accounts for mammals. There will be several summarising posts focusing on:
- Why did most Zoochatters expect a decrease in species richness (when there is none)?
- Summarising trends on families & orders
- Which zoos were first/last holders and when did species appear or disappear
- Is animal size (weight) a factor in mammal trends
- Is the IUCN status a factor in mammal trends
- What are the geographical biases in mammal trends
- What do these trends tell us about the future?
Some information on the new EU animal health directive from the EAZA:
https://www.eaza.net/assets/Uploads/Zooquaria/ZQIssues/2021/ZQ111v6-web.pdf
The master excel is finished, but we are talking about a multitude of species compared to mammals, so I am thinking of the right format. There are a lot more small species and a lot more short holdings of obscure species. So there are less stories about individual high profile species. Endless lists with years and zoos aren't very appealing, so the format will be slightly different. What is sure is that there will be a significant break between the end of mammals and the start of the birds.
