From Lechwe to Waterbuck to TWO species in today's post.
When I was a kid, my favourite antelope was the Sable Antelope as I had some marvellous examples in my toy animal collection. As an adult, I've essentially gone with the flow and switched over to Bongo, but Sable Antelope are almost as large and have really impressive horns and the darker coat of the males is eye-catching. This mammal species has been in the mid-range of popularity for me, having seen the species all over the USA, Europe, a few zoos specifically in Scandinavia and even Southeast Asia, but never in big numbers anywhere. These days, there's only around 10 AZA zoos with Sable Antelope and those numbers are down big time as I saw the species at approximately that total just on two trips in 2008 and 2010.
Mountain Reedbuck, as listed in the publication All the Mammals of the World (2023), also called Southern Mountain Reedbuck, are apparently only found at Berlin Tierpark (Germany), Dvur Kralove (Czech. Rep.) and Johannesburg Zoo (South Africa) if Zootierliste is to be believed. They aren't difficult to spot in Berlin as the zoo has several of them in one of those famous paddocks with the green fencing and Dvur Kralove seems like an incredible zoo to visit for its rarities and astonishing African collection. I definitely need to get to the Czech. Rep. one day!
I've seen Sable Antelope at 32 zoos:
1- Alberta Game Farm/Polar Park (Canada) – Sable Antelope – 1975
2- San Diego Zoo (USA) – Sable Antelope – 2006
3- San Diego Zoo Safari Park (USA) – Sable Antelope – 2006
4- Lincoln Park Zoo - Illinois (USA) – Sable Antelope – 2008
5- Toronto Zoo (Canada) – Sable Antelope – 2008
6- Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium (USA) – Sable Antelope – 2008
7- Oklahoma City Zoo (USA) – Sable Antelope – 2008
8- Disney’s Animal Kingdom (USA) – Sable Antelope – 2008
9- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge (USA) – Sable Antelope – 2008
10- Zoo Miami (USA) – Sable Antelope – 2008
11- Baton Rouge Zoo (USA) – Sable Antelope – 2010
12- Gladys Porter Zoo (USA) – Sable Antelope – 2010
13- Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium & Safari Park (USA) – Sable Antelope – 2011
14- Jackson Zoo (USA) – Sable Antelope – 2012
15- Wild Wilderness Drive-Through Safari (USA) – Sable Antelope – 2015
16- Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch (USA) – Sable Antelope – 2015
17- Fossil Rim Wildlife Center (USA) – Sable Antelope – 2015
18- Out of Africa (USA) – Sable Antelope – 2015
19- B. Bryan Preserve (USA) – Sable Antelope – 2017
20- Safari West Wildlife Preserve (USA) – Sable Antelope – 2017
21- Safari Parc Monde Sauvage (Belgium) – Sable Antelope – 2019
22- ZOOM Erlebniswelt (Germany) – Sable Antelope – 2019
23- Beekse Bergen (Netherlands) – Sable Antelope – 2019
24- Berlin Zoo (Germany) – Sable Antelope – 2019
25- Serengeti-Park (Germany) – Sable Antelope – 2019
26- Givskud Zoo (Denmark) – Sable Antelope – 2022
27- Odense Zoo (Denmark) – Sable Antelope – 2022
28- Kolmarden Wildlife Park (Sweden) – Sable Antelope – 2022
29- Copenhagen Zoo (Denmark) – Sable Antelope – 2022
30- Zoo Negara (Malaysia) – Sable Antelope – 2024
31- Taman Safari II Prigen (Indonesia) – Sable Antelope – 2024
32- Batu Secret Zoo (Indonesia) – Sable Antelope – 2024
AND...
I've seen Mountain Reedbuck at 1 zoo:
1- Berlin Tierpark (Germany) – Mountain Reedbuck – 2019
A fully-grown male Sable Antelope is a stunning sight. Here's an example at San Diego Zoo Safari Park (USA):
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@TheoV
Toronto Zoo (Canada) had Sable Antelope during my only visit in 2008, but that species is gone now just as it's disappeared from many AZA zoos.
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@arcticwolf
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo (USA) has had Sable Antelope for as long as I can remember and when the zoo opened its $73 million African Grasslands complex a brand-new exhibit was created for the species. This paddock is more than an acre in size and you can see the zoo's train going past in the background.
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Back in the day, Oklahoma City Zoo (USA) had one of the best hoofstock collections in America, with many chain-link yards for species such as Sable Antelope. It's amazing how lush and grassy some of the enclosures were.
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@Baldur
I like this image of the sunlight coming through the trees and a Sable Antelope standing in what appears to be a meadow setting. It's apparent from the distinctive moat edge at the front that this can only be Zoo Miami (USA). Perhaps the greatest soccer player of all time regularly sneaks in visits to this zoo with his wife and 3 sons!
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@Pleistohorse
It doesn't get much more flat and boring than this Sable Antelope exhibit at Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium & Safari Park (USA):
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Jackson Zoo (USA), which is barely staying open and viable these days, had a really interesting African Savanna when I toured this zoo in 2012. Four of the hoofstock species in this paddock were all gems back then: Sable Antelope, Klipspringer, Dama Gazelle and Springbok.
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A dry, arid environment at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center (USA) is home to a significant herd of Sable Antelope.
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@Kudu21
My photo from Safari Parc Monde Sauvage (Belgium) shows a Sable Antelope with Giraffes, which seems like a bit of a rare situation judging from my list of zoos with the species. You can see an Ostrich in the background, as well as the African Elephant exhibit (which is awful!)
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Sable Antelope are also found at ZOOM Erlebniswelt (Germany) and the colour variation in this photo is neat to see.
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@Joker1706
Serengeti-Park (Germany) in Hodenhagen has a vast hoofstock collection in their drive-through area, including a herd of Sable Antelope.
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I saw 3 Danish zoos with Sable Antelope, including Givskud Zoo (Denmark) with its sprawling African Savanna. This paddock also had 6 White Rhinos, a dozen Black Wildebeest, 10 Gemsbok, and even signs up for Cape Buffalo. There's a second African Savanna elsewhere at this excellent zoo.
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When @twilighter and I visited Zoo Negara (Malaysia), we were toured around for 5 hours by one of the curators. He told us that the Sable Antelope often just jump out of their African Savanna exhibit at night and can be found wandering near their exhibit by staff who arrive early in the morning. The antelope then simply leap back into their paddock, as the barrier is extremely low. Apparently this has been going on for a long time and the zoo never has any problems with the animals going far into the zoo's grounds and they don't leave their enclosure during the day with visitors around.
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At Batu Secret Zoo (Indonesia), their African Savanna was unique to me. There's no chance of the Sable Antelope leaping out of their exhibit here, as everything is glass-fronted and there's walls at the back.
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As for Southern Mountain Reedbuck, I have seen this species only once and it was in 2019 at Berlin Tierpark (Germany).
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@twilighter
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@Fat-tailed dwarf lemur
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@Green_mamba
Family Bovidae: 44 species so far
American Bison - 104 zoos
Bongo - 58 zoos
Common Eland - 58 zoos
Greater Kudu - 51 zoos
Blackbuck - 45 zoos
Waterbuck - 43 zoos
Nilgai - 40 zoos
Impala - 38 zoos
Dama Gazelle - 36 zoos
Sable Antelope - 32 zoos
Sitatunga - 29 zoos
Banteng - 27 zoos
Yak - 26 zoos
Nyala - 25 zoos
Southern Lechwe - 22 zoos
Cape Buffalo - 21 zoos (including 7 with African Forest Buffalo)
Kirk's Dik-dik - 21 zoos
Gerenuk - 19 zoos
Lowland Anoa - 18 zoos
Thomson's Gazelle - 18 zoos
Asian Water Buffalo - 17 zoos
Gaur - 16 zoos
Lesser Kudu - 16 zoos
Muskox - 16 zoos
Springbok - 16 zoos
Wisent - 15 zoos
Nile Lechwe - 12 zoos
Grant's Gazelle - 11 zoos
Speke's Gazelle - 11 zoos
Slender-horned Gazelle - 9 zoos
Guenther's Dik-dik - 7 zoos
Cuvier's Gazelle - 6 zoos
Giant Eland - 5 zoos
Goitered Gazelle - 5 zoos
Soemmerring's Gazelle - 5 zoos
Steenbok - 3 zoos
Cavendish's Dik-dik - 2 zoos
Dorcas Gazelle - 2 zoos
Mountain Anoa - 2 zoos
Royal Antelope - 2 zoos
Mountain Reedbuck - 1 zoo (Berlin Tierpark - Germany)
Northern Bushbuck - 1 zoo (Gladys Porter Zoo - USA)
Saiga - 1 zoo (Alberta Game Farm/Polar Park - Canada)
Red-fronted Gazelle - 1 zoo (San Diego Zoo Safari Park - USA)
Bonus species: (similar to my New Guinea Singing Dog example)
Gayal - 2 zoos
Hadn't realised you hadn't got to Czechia yet, you are going to love it when you do.
Can I also just say how much I have been enjoying this thread? The perfect amount of FOMO and "Perfect, I've seen that too".
