Bronx Zoo how many species of giraffes are Bronx Zoo have?

King of Komodo Dragons said:
I was told by a keeper at Jacksonville Zoo that Bronx has some pure Kordofan and Nubian giraffes, any way to confirm this?
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That keeper was either messing with you, or hilariously uninformed.

Kordofan giraffes have never even been imported to the US, much less established a breeding population here.

And the term "Nubian giraffe" is just another name for the Rothschild's giraffe. Those were imported in the past, in decent numbers at that, but because no one really understood just how many subspecies of giraffes existed at the time... they were indiscriminately bred with Reticulated giraffes.

Ergo, that's how the US population of "Generic giraffes" came to be.

The only purebred subspecies of giraffe in the US is the Masai giraffe.

All other giraffes are of mixed-blood. Yes, even when they're signed as Reticulated or Rothschild's. They aren't pure, the AZA knows that, they just allow member zoos signpost their generic giraffes as whatever subspecies they most physically resemble.
 
Jasonlikeokapi said:
thank you!
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The same was true with, “Bengal tigers” of which, I believe , are almost all hybrid in USA collections - AZA or not.
A giraffe does not change its spots but it does its species or sub species .
To my knowledge , there is no AZA SSP to breed giraffe by , the recently redefined “species” criteria for giraffe
If there is , I would like to know about it
It would be a great idea
As to keepers giving reliable info . I have found them well intentioned but generally uniformed . Few curators would know unless they ,zealously , pursued a particular subject (Marvin Jones , Tom Foose, William Conway) above and beyond their own positions .
I have people , in general, hate to say,
“I do not know” - particularly when their positions might imply they do.
Mind you , there are zoo keepers who passionately follow the doings of zoos and particular genus and species and would know - more so than some of the
PHDs in charge
 
Mary said:
AZA recognizes two giraffe species for SSPs: generic and Masai.
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Being that Masai giraffe are listed as
“Endangered” is there a specific ex situ breeding program for them within AZA facilities
And, aside from , ostensibly, keeping census for the captive population with AZA institutions wouldn’t “generic “ basically be synonymous with “hybrids”?
 
Don Majeski said:
Being that Masai giraffe are listed as
“Endangered” is there a specific ex situ breeding program for them within AZA facilities
And, aside from , ostensibly, keeping census for the captive population with AZA institutions wouldn’t “generic “ basically be synonymous with “hybrids”?
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Both points have been answered several times in this thread; yes, Masai giraffes have their own Species Survival Breeding Program with AZA, and yes, generic essentially means hybrid.

I know it can seem confusing because the subspecies were recently identified, but as Wisp O’Mist mentioned, giraffes were being bred indiscriminately between subspecies for many years in America before we had an understanding of the different subspecies.
 
Mary said:
Both points have been answered several times in this thread; yes, Masai giraffes have their own Species Survival Breeding Program with AZA, and yes, generic essentially means hybrid.

I know it can seem confusing because the subspecies were recently identified, but as Wisp O’Mist mentioned, giraffes were being bred indiscriminately between subspecies for many years in America before we had an understanding of the different subspecies.
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Thanks Again.
And to reiterate an answer to JasonlikesOkapi’s original question :
The “Bronx Zoo” (New York Zoological Park) holds one , generic , mixed , specie of various individuals
 
Wisp O' Mist said:
All "Bengal" tigers outside of India are of mixed-breeding. Bengal/Amur, almost exclusively.
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Thanks .
Amazing, as virtually every tiger exhibited - in zoos, circuses and menageries throughout the 19th and 20th centuries was listed as a “Bengal” or, even, the hyperbolic “Royal Bengal” tiger when , in fact , they were Siberian (Amur) hybrids
I know, occasionally , a Sumatran tigers made it into collections and read of a pair of , alleged , Bali tigers in a circus.
Surprising, with the amount of collecting and trade in wild animals in tbe 19th and 20th century that no pure bred Bengal nor cross bred Caspian tigers made it into collections
 
Don Majeski said:
Thanks .
Amazing, as virtually every tiger exhibited - in zoos, circuses and menageries throughout the 19th and 20th centuries was listed as a “Bengal” or, even, the hyperbolic “Royal Bengal” tiger when , in fact , they were Siberian (Amur) hybrids
I know, occasionally , a Sumatran tigers made it into collections and read of a pair of , alleged , Bali tigers in a circus.
Surprising, with the amount of collecting and trade in wild animals in tbe 19th and 20th century that no pure bred Bengal nor cross bred Caspian tigers made it into collections
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In all fairness, they started out as purebred Bengals.

The Amur blood was added in overtime by circuses, private owners, and yes, even the odd zoo. This was done with the intent creating tigers that were more "physically impressive" for entertainment and exhibition purposes.
 
Don Majeski said:
Being that Masai giraffe are listed as
“Endangered” is there a specific ex situ breeding program for them within AZA facilities
And, aside from , ostensibly, keeping census for the captive population with AZA institutions wouldn’t “generic “ basically be synonymous with “hybrids”?
Click to expand...

Hi Don, I'm sure that the AZA would love to reboot their giraffe program with non-hybridized populations of reticulated, Masai, and Rothschild's (Nubian) giraffes, but there is no way to import giraffes into the United States because of USDA regulations to prevent hoof stock diseases. The existing giraffe breeding program is to keep what exists in American zoos genetically healthy, and to recognize that the Masai giraffes are genetically distinct as a probable species.
 
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