Wild Animals on Zoo Grounds

Ituri

Ituri

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
What zoos have interesting wild animals on zoo grounds? The Phoenix Zoo has gray fox, raccoon and occaisionally coyote and javelina. That along with many native birds and reptiles (chuckwalla, desert spiny lizards, gopher snakes, California kingsnakes)

Here in Boise I have seen raccoons, red fox and mink on zoo grounds.

Mule deer, bobcats, golden eagles, coyotes at the SDWAP.
 
At the LA Zoo I've seen Deer and Coyotes by the perimeter fence, and on zoo grounds I've seen Skunks, rattlesnakes, racoons, red-tailed hawks, red-shouldered hawks, and native birds and reptiles.

I've also heard from people around the zoo that mountain lions and red foxes have been seen outside the zoo walking around the perimeter fence.
 
Woodstorks, Bald Eagles, and Snowy Egrets nest at various places at the Jacksonville Zoo. In addition, Otters, Alligators, and some other larger animals make their way in that need to be removed.
 
At Dallas, our Bobcat was wild caught inside the zoo grounds (eating a small antelope I might add).
 
Wild animals can be a pest on zoo grounds; for example, some time ago foxes were gradually decimating Taronga Zoo's colony of Little Blue Penguins until drastic action was taken.

Wild birds love zoos (particularly those with lots of vegetation), increase greatly in number (Taronga is knee-deep in White Ibis) and will eat a large proportion of the food meant for the zoo animals.

Sometimes the wild animals are welcome. When T.Western Plains Zoo was set up and Red Kangaroos were required, the existing mob on the land was simply fenced in. They are now a zoo exhibit but continue to live where their ancestors have lived, with a guaranteed food supply in times of drought.
 
Toronto Zoo has deer which are frequently seen; I've spotted them on an number of occasions. There's also a wide assortment of wild birds, songbirds, waterfowl, birds of prey, they're all there, as well as rabbits, squirriels (both red and grey), chipmunks and groundhogs. There's also foxes, raccoons (which I've also seen) and the zoo vet said in a chat room that there was a Black Bear! He tranquilized it and moved it into the Rouge Valley.
 
I've seen wild red kites over a falconry centre in wales, wild buzzards and lots of wild rabbits
 
Wild animals are definitely a nuisance on zoo grounds. Raccoons and possums climb on our aviaries and defecate through the wire, passing along some nasty diseases. We have coyotes in the park surrounding the zoo. Chipmunks burrow into every conceivable exhibit and sometimes make the mistake of visiting the kookaburras, a mistake they generally make only once! Coopers hawks like to sit on some cages and torment the inhabitants. Wild sparrows are constantly nesting in the door tracks for the kangaroo barn. We've also had fox take penguins and deer have been seen on grounds a couple of times.
 
In the grounds Edinburgh Zoo there are rabbits (lawnmowers), fox, grey squirrels (the freeloaders they are)and there is at least one badger set near one of the restraunts. There the ones I have seen for definite but there have been reports of other birds and small animals.
 
There is a badger sett in Marwell's yew tree walk, but I believe it is abandoned. And whilst not actually in the zoo itself, soon after the park opened in the 70's they recieved a call from the police of a wild boar running wild nearby. They caught him and were unable to trace an owner, so was likely a farm escapee. He was named Constance and lived a fulfilled life at Marwell for about ten years.
 
Just to add to the Toronto Zoo is Peacocks. I thnk you forgot the most important one Meaghan! They may not be considered wild but they thrive from the climate!
 
In Bioparc I see : Common frogs, swallows, house martins, White Wagtail, yellow wagtail, sparrows, Spotless starlings,blackbirds,Hoopoes,Eurasian Collared Doves,European robin, serins,and Common Moorhen, spiders,and at least two dragonfly species.
 
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Quartz92 said:
Just to add to the Toronto Zoo is Peacocks. I thnk you forgot the most important one Meaghan! They may not be considered wild but they thrive from the climate!
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Yes :) Although I haven't seen any, there's apparently coyotes on the zoo grounds (it was mentioned int he member's magazine that a cougar was agitated hearing them howling), and I read a cougar sighting as well in the Rouge Valley.
 
mstickmanp said:
At the LA Zoo I've seen Deer and Coyotes by the perimeter fence, and on zoo grounds I've seen Skunks, rattlesnakes, racoons, red-tailed hawks, red-shouldered hawks, and native birds and reptiles.

I've also heard from people around the zoo that mountain lions and red foxes have been seen outside the zoo walking around the perimeter fence.
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To add to the LA Zoo list, there is also peacocks running wild in the zoo. I found out recently that the peacocks don't belong to the zoo and that they are wild.
 
Ara said:
Wild birds love zoos (particularly those with lots of vegetation), increase greatly in number (Taronga is knee-deep in White Ibis) and will eat a large proportion of the food meant for the zoo animals.

Sometimes the wild animals are welcome. When T.Western Plains Zoo was set up and Red Kangaroos were required, the existing mob on the land was simply fenced in. They are now a zoo exhibit but continue to live where their ancestors have lived, with a guaranteed food supply in times of drought.
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Those White Ibis were actually released by Taronga in the 70's - they are not native to Sydney. Taronga also has of kookaburras, as well as lots of other wild birds (over the years I've also seen a channelbilled cuckoo chick being reared by a currawong in the zoo grounds, a large flock of more than 20 Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos, and a flock of Swift Parrots that dropped in once for a few days).

Ringtailed and Brushtail Possums can often been seen in the zoo at night, and Goldencrowned Snakes have been found in the zoo on more than one occasion. Plus there are lots of Eastern Water Dragons all over the zoo during spring and Summer.

And I saw a wild echidna at Western Plains Zoo some years ago.

:p

Hix
 
Singapore Zoo is situated within secondary rainforest and has quite a few native animals roaming its grounds, from common ones like long-tailed macaques, plaintain squirrels, white-bellied sea eagles, herons and egrets, to very rare ones like Malayan colugo and Sunda pangolin.

But the biggest menaces are the reticulated pythons and malayan water moniters which prey on the zoo's small mammals and birds (up to the size of pelicans!).
 
The wild red squirrels in Madrid Zoo (Casa de Campo) are a real favourite with visitors , and this is a zoo with Giant Pandas.It just reinforces my opinion that many zoos assume they know which species are crowd-pleasers , but forget to actually ask the visitors themselves.The Madrid mammal collection is almost devoid of anthing smaller than a lemur and the bird collection has almost no "cute" species.On youtube , you can see the huge viewing figures for sugar-gliders,slow-loris, etc - there is a real interest in these species.Zoo visitors can be very disappointed to find none of these in a zoo, and consequently be hugely excited by the view of some wild squirrels!
 
Just as you enter Edinburgh Zoo trhere is a sign saying what wild birds and other animals you can see in the zoo if you look carefully enough (I saw another fox on Friday night). In fact part of Edinburgh Zoo's master plan was to take on the management of a neighbouring wildlife are next door to the zoo, not to bring it within the boundaries of the zoo but to manage the area for the benefit of native wildlife and all to enjoy for free!

Edinburgh really does seem to have an all inclusive approach to animals on both sides of the fences! All animals are important and that is the message the zoo tries to convey.
 
Is there still badgers in the sett, behind the Asian lion enclosure and next to the wolf wood?
 
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