Three, technically - Zoo de Sauvage in Quebec has them as well. Not US but worth mentioning.
Species no longer held/nearly gone from US zoos
- Thread starter SusScrofa
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Three, technically - Zoo de Sauvage in Quebec has them as well. Not US but worth mentioning.
From what I can tell, there is only 1 holder of Assam macaque on the continent, Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Florida.
Suncoast Primate Sanctuary
Suncoast Primate Sanctuary
"sanctuary". more like a prison, that place is terrible.
Zoo adventures
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I just searched in internet the sanctuary, the animals are in small cage.
I almost duplicated this thread. Fascinating to know Sunda slow loris were still held here quite recently; I assumed they had died out in the nineties. It's a species I'd desperately like to see but it looks like there's not much long-term hope for them in captivity here or in Europe.
I think the last decade and a half or so has been particularly bad, and it is frustrating, especially in a few cases where zoos lost multiple species in a short time, but I think we're starting to reach the territory where it is going to level out. There are significantly fewer rarities now that represent the relicts of near extinct captive populations and many of the remaining populations are those that are still breeding and may persist for more than a couple years at a time. The new Consortium management system also offers a lot of hope and the possibility of imports across countries is becoming slightly more common. There will continue to be losses and some animals are still in phase out status long-term but the overall rate of loss will decrease, I think.
I will say a few things about this:
- The reality of losses vs. gains in AZA and non-AZA zoos are very different. This has long been most obvious in ungulates, with a lot of non-AZA zoos working with species virtually if not entirely absent from the AZA, and it has been becoming more pronounced in primates as well as many species have been phasing out of the AZA.
- Given the AZA has started accrediting more international members, especially in South America and Eastern Asia, I wouldn't be surprised to see AZA zoos *gain* a few species in recent years due to cooperation with these zoos. For example, Cali Zoo in Colombia works with and breeds a handful of native species that are completely absent from US zoos, but could become available via imports if interest exists.
- The reality of gains versus losses is vastly different between different taxa. In primates, the worst losses are yet to come, mainly because a lot of the species are long-lived and as such populations can last a long time with little to no breeding. Species such as red-capped mangabeys, Geoffroy's tamarins, lion-tailed macaques, and some gibbon species have been on their way out for over a decade now, but still have "stragglers" that are becoming more and more elderly. In birds, the situation is vastly different because there is much more cooperation with non-AZA specialist facilities and which species are displayed is greatly dependent on the interests of individual zoo curators. Right now, it appears as though fruit doves are a favorite of curators at a handful of major zoos, while waterfowl is an area a lot of specialist collections provide assistance.
Very well-stated and agreed on all points. The bird example is what I think is best emulated going forward - dedicated specialist facilities acting partly as support for the broader network of major zoos, in addition to obviously providing research and being conservation centers in their own right. Between that and growing international collaboration, I think the amount of future losses will still be relatively level with gains and small populations versus losses being overriding.
Very good reminder about primates though as I admit I sometimes think of those losses as having occurred rather than to come.
Very good reminder about primates though as I admit I sometimes think of those losses as having occurred rather than to come.
Quite a few managed bird species are relatively recent arrivals on the scene at that. Blue-bellied Roller, Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, Scaly-sided Merganser, Baer's Pochard, and Great Blue Turaco have all largely or completely arrived since the mid 1990's.
If we're considering AZA only, a majority of the losses have already occurred. There are still some to come, but things are largely starting to stabilize out. Outside the AZA, it's more of a mixed bag. There's always a constant flux of species in and out over the decades regardless of the group.
I did not realize blue-bellied rollers were a recent arrival, that's certainly interesting. I remember being so shocked recently when I learned scaly-sided mergansers were first imported in 2010! It certainly has to be one of the biggest success stories of a fast growing population in recent years, along with the Visayan warty pig.
Indeed - they arrived in the AZA in 1996, first young in 1998 - and two and a half decades later 44 AZA zoos currently house them. Impressive all things considered.
King of Komodo Dragons
Well-Known Member
which marsupials are at the most risk of disappearing from AZA?
Parma, swamp, and yellow-footed rock wallabies for starters.
According to ZTL, the following marsupials are kept in up to 5 US zoos
The southern hairy-nosed wombat and eastern grey kangaroo are held at 5 US zoos.
Derby's woolly opossum, parma wallaby, swamp wallaby, yellow-footed rock wallaby and narrow-toed feather-tailed glider are held at 4 US zoos.
The Tasmanian devil is held at 3 US zoos.
The New Guinea ground cuscus, agile wallaby and common wombat are held at 2 US zoos.
The four-eyed opossum, bear cuscus and grey short-tailed opossum are held at 1 US zoo.
The southern hairy-nosed wombat and eastern grey kangaroo are held at 5 US zoos.
Derby's woolly opossum, parma wallaby, swamp wallaby, yellow-footed rock wallaby and narrow-toed feather-tailed glider are held at 4 US zoos.
The Tasmanian devil is held at 3 US zoos.
The New Guinea ground cuscus, agile wallaby and common wombat are held at 2 US zoos.
The four-eyed opossum, bear cuscus and grey short-tailed opossum are held at 1 US zoo.
Evirapo
Well-Known Member
Common wombat, bear custo cus, Tasmanian devil, hairy-nosed wombat, agile kangaroo, and some non-CW opossum species are good explain
I believe AZA lost the grizzled tree kangaroo, Goodfellow's tree kangaroo, tiger quoll, striped possum, and bare-tailed woolly opossum after 2010.
Evirapo
Well-Known Member
The four-eyed opossum is already dead, ABQ zoo has a common wombat on display, and there should be more helder for Derby’s woolly opossum and short-tailed woolly opossum
King of Komodo Dragons
Well-Known Member
I know Tasmanian Devils are a special case due to the fact we get post-reproductuve animals as ambassadors, but I hope that we can turn the wombat situation around and try again with Tiger Quoll, cuscus, and Australian possums, I know Europe is doing fairly well right now with Common Wombat, Brushtail Possum, and Eastern Quoll.
I would take some of those numbers with a grain of salt. US entries only started getting added a month ago, and there are still many holdings left to enter as well as errors to fix. As an example, I suspect there are more than 5 US zoos with Eastern Grey Kangaroo...
Also worth noting that some species being in low numbers aren't necessarily a sign that they are "disappearing". Tasmanian Devils in the US have always been dependent on imports from Australia, so they've never been common and their numbers fluctuate based on when the most recent imports were. Also not sure either of the wombats are actually in decline; Common Wombats are not a breeding species here, and Hairy-nosed I think have had more or less the same number of zoos holding them for a while.