Bronx Zoo What was the Bronx zoo like?

[Aspiring_zoologist]

This is a bit of an odd post so please bear with me, and let me know if it’s against any rules.

I’ve been using Zoochat for probably 3 years now and one thing that I continue to see is many zoochatters stating how glorious the New York zoos (specifically the Bronx) were back in the day. Having been born in 2006, I either was not alive or too young to remember most of them. The only one I can think of off the top of my head is the green acouchi and Malagasy giant rat in the mouse house. My mom has told me tales of proboscis monkeys and Sumatran rhinos. So to any zoochatters who remember these animals, what other rarities did the Bronx have? Would you say there’s any chance the zoo can reobtain any of these species in the future? (Sumatran rhinos are an exception, that will probably never happen anywhere in my lifetime)

 

[Don Majeski]

This is a bit of an odd post so please bear with me, and let me know if it’s against any rules.

I’ve been using Zoochat for probably 3 years now and one thing that I continue to see is many zoochatters stating how glorious the New York zoos (specifically the Bronx) were back in the day. Having been born in 2006, I either was not alive or too young to remember most of them. The only one I can think of off the top of my head is the green acouchi and Malagasy giant rat in the mouse house. My mom has told me tales of proboscis monkeys and Sumatran rhinos. So to any zoochatters who remember these animals, what other rarities did the Bronx have? Would you say there’s any chance the zoo can reobtain any of these species in the future? (Sumatran rhinos are an exception, that will probably never happen anywhere in my lifetime)

This is a bit of an odd post so please bear with me, and let me know if it’s against any rules.

I’ve been using Zoochat for probably 3 years now and one thing that I continue to see is many zoochatters stating how glorious the New York zoos (specifically the Bronx) were back in the day. Having been born in 2006, I either was not alive or too young to remember most of them. The only one I can think of off the top of my head is the green acouchi and Malagasy giant rat in the mouse house. My mom has told me tales of proboscis monkeys and Sumatran rhinos. So to any zoochatters who remember these animals, what other rarities did the Bronx have? Would you say there’s any chance the zoo can reobtain any of these species in the future? (Sumatran rhinos are an exception, that will probably never happen anywhere in my lifetime)

Well, to give some perspective , in 1962, the Bronx Zoo alone ,held 1,108 species/ sub species.
Among those held within a decade , sometimes simultaneously: African Bush and Forest elephants , Eastern lowland gorillas , Western lowland gorillas, orangutans, Bonobos, Indian rhinos, takins, giant otters, Emperor penguins , Monkey Eating eagles of the Philippines,Sumatran tigers, Nile hippos, Pygmy hippos, Giant salamanders , Cassowary - you name it, they had it.
There were plans to create an African Savanah the equivalent of Wild Asia wild elephants, lions, zebra.
The NYZS became the WCS and took over the well intentioned ,but poorly maintained , municipal zoos but , aside from the Queens zoo -which a cohesive , mono - thematic Nearctic ( Quasi Neo Tropical zone) theme tbe Centeal Park and Prosprct Park have deteriorated into warehouses that are surplus repositories that do not serve a scientific purpose of specializing in unique orders (Mammals, Birds, Reptiles or Amphibia) , classes ( Primates, Carnivores, Marsupials, Raptors, Crocodilians, Ratites) or zoogeographic mono themes: Indo Australasian, Neo Tropical, Ethiopian
Instead they are a grab bag of this and that
Central Park aimed different themed areas but, for the most part , replicated the Bronx Zoo’s species
Prospect Part had no direction - though they attempted to specialize in felids but theee species does not make a unique collection - like Duke lemur Center

 

[Aspiring_zoologist]

Well, to give some perspective , in 1962, the Bronx Zoo alone ,held 1,108 species/ sub species.
Among those held within a decade , sometimes simultaneously: African Bush and Forest elephants , Eastern lowland gorillas , Western lowland gorillas, orangutans, Bonobos, Indian rhinos, takins, giant otters, Emperor penguins , Monkey Eating eagles of the Philippines,Sumatran tigers, Nile hippos, Pygmy hippos, Giant salamanders , Cassowary - you name it, they had it.
There were plans to create an African Savanah the equivalent of Wild Asia wild elephants, lions, zebra.
The NYZS became the WCS and took over the well intentioned ,but poorly maintained , municipal zoos but , aside from the Queens zoo -which a cohesive , mono - thematic Nearctic ( Quasi Neo Tropical zone) theme tbe Centeal Park and Prosprct Park have deteriorated into warehouses that are surplus repositories that do not serve a scientific purpose of specializing in unique orders (Mammals, Birds, Reptiles or Amphibia) , classes ( Primates, Carnivores, Marsupials, Raptors, Crocodilians, Ratites) or zoogeographic mono themes: Indo Australasian, Neo Tropical, Ethiopian
Instead they are a grab bag of this and that
Central Park aimed different themed areas but, for the most part , replicated the Bronx Zoo’s species
Prospect Part had no direction - though they attempted to specialize in felids but theee species does not make a unique collection - like Duke lemur Center

Wow. Hard to believe that only 2 of those species are left now. I wonder what led to most of them being phased out. Was there another large exhibit for the orangutans? Is there any hope that some past species could come back?

Also in regards to central and prospect park, I feel like the same can be said for most zoos (that I’ve been to anyway). I do agree that CPZ is pretty much just a smaller Bronx, the snow monkeys, some birds, and some herps are the only main differences in their collection. I’ve only been to PPZ once (when I was like 12) and I was pretty impressed with their collection. The main reason I wanted to go was to see the dingos, but I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of other species they had. Hamadryas baboons, Pallas and black-footed cats, North American river otters, kinkajou, big-headed turtle, crocodile newts, all species the Bronx doesn’t have. They had some more (sand cats, several tamarin species, red-rumped agouti) that the Bronx came to display in recent years, but IMO it’s the second best zoo of the four.

 

[JVM]

Wow. Hard to believe that only 2 of those species are left now. I wonder what led to most of them being phased out.

A lot of the larger pachyderms and apes are a major victim of a combination of rising standards of care and rising costs of construction. The pachyderms were once held in the current Zoo Center, then Elephant House, but there is no room to keep multiple elephant, rhinoceros, tapir and hippo species there, so it now houses only one rhinoceros species and monitor lizards. Orangutan in particular are known to be extremely costly to support and even with tens of millions of dollars many exhibits for them may still be inadequate; so many zoos only focus on one or two ape species. I also don't think eastern lowland gorillas or forest elephants were ever held in very high numbers to build a population.

Several additional species, such as blesbok and buff-cheeked gibbon, were phased out due to budget cuts during the financial crisis, when New York City pulled funding from the zoo, leading to the closure of Rare Animal Range, World of Darkness, parts of African Plains, and so forth.

Was there another large exhibit for the orangutans? Is there any hope that some past species could come back?

Orangutan were intended to return in a future Jungle World expansion that no longer looks plausible by current care standards; if they ever return it would probably be a completely new development. The zoo has mentioned an interest in bringing in giant otters and pygmy hippos before in potential renovation projects that haven't taken off, so I would consider both reasonably possible to return in the future.