No longer kept/rarely kept species in North American zoos?

Kiwis, Cuscus and Salamanders Updates

Ituri said:
Kiwis can also be found at the National Zoo in DC and Cincinnati Zoo.
Woodland Park has a kea.
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You might be thinking about Columbus Zoo having kiwis. They received their kiwis from Germany a few years ago and have one on exhibit in the Southeast Asian nocturnal area, and the others off exhibit in natural light conditions. I know the National Zoo keeps a kiwi in the nocturnal area of the Bird House ( which I actually saw for the first time 2 weeks ago ) and the rest are off exhibit including the one born this spring.
Speaking of kiwi, does anyone know why Brookfield Zoo in Chicago doesn't exhibit kiwi anymore, or if they do, why they are removed from the website.

Busch Gardens Africa in Tampa Bay has a ground cuscus on exhibit in the relatively new Jambo Junction interactive area - when we expressed interest in it the keeper brought it out for us to see and touch. This was in March.

Unfortunately, the Buffalo Zoo has their giant salamanders off exhibit because of lack of funding for a suitable exhibit in the Reptile House.

The Cincinatti Zoo had 1 giant salamander on exhibit in the old Reptile House, but the tank kept leaking so when I was there it was off exhibit. Actually they were all off exhibit, housed in the basement of the Gorilla World area. The 2 Chinese giants are in an area of interconnected rectangular pools, while the Japanese giants are in a rocky pool that is quite large. But alas, all quite off exhibit. One of the keepers told me that he took a giant salamander for granted once in an interaction, in China I believe, and it got hold of his finger before he could react and took the flesh down to the bone. They stitched it back on and he has a partially functional finger. Pretty gnarly looking , but rather amazing story.

I really appreciate and enjoy this site.

Eric in Portland, Oregon
 
Pygathrix said:
Have giant salamandeers been bred outside their home range? Do you know how many are kept in China and Japan and what the breeding success is? Thanks
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The Japanese giant salamander was first bred in captivity at the Amsterdam Zoo at the start of the 1900s; the Asa Zoo in Japan has been breeding them since the 1980s. These may be the only two places that have bred them.

The Chinese giant salamander has only been bred in China I think. There is a breeding centre there but apparently they breed them mainly for food and traditional "medicine" (which takes the pressure off the wild populations).

In both countries there are also programmes where eggs are collected from the wild and hatched out in captivity (rather than the animals actually being bred in captivity)
 
Ungulate said:
Over the past decade or so, there have been quite a number of species which have disappeared from North American collections, or at least accreditted facilities.* Here is a quick list of some mammal species that are either gone (from accreditted collections - I know there may be some in private hands), or very rare:"Extinct"Grizzled grey tree kangarooTasmanian devilGround cuscusMountain pacaTarsiersProboscis monkeyEastern lowland gorillaYellow-throated martenAmazon river dolphinLesser Malayan chevrotainBawean deerBlack muntjacPampas deerHunter's hartebeestWhite-tailed gnuOribiRussian saigaZebra duikerNilgiri tahrSnow sheepVery rare:Tiger quollLeadbeater's possumPacaPacaranaCrowned guenonDouc langurJavan gibbonTemminck's golden catJaguarundiRusty-spotted catDholeRaccoon dogSouth African fur sealKiangNorthern white rhinoBushpig(Giant forest hog)VicunaSiberian musk deerPersian fallow deerJavan rusa deerRed brocketTopiRed-fronted gazelleSuni antelopeWisentBushbuckMaxwell's duikerJentink's duikerCommon (grey) duikerChamoisEast Caucasian turSpanish ibexSiberian ibexBlue sheep
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Very nice list but like you said "private hands".* Blue sheep have been transfered to at least two ranches and one has nearly 50 head and the other is doing remarkble now they have worked out some kinks.* Siberian ibex can be found on very few ranches and kept pure but are still quite a few keeping them true, as for Spanish i only know of one ranch that got all of San Diegos and i'm not sure how they are doing.* Red brocket are doing well in at least 2 private facilities and bred on a regular basis and with Gladys they will probably be around for a while.* Wisent are very rare in US i know of 2 ranches one who got all of San Diego last ones and Catskills 3 cows and they have been very hard to raise but have calved quite a few this season as for the other ranch i think they came out of canada and there were 22 a few years ago when he sold them but alot were high percentage crosses.* Wisent have been very hard for many US ranches and will eventually die out in my oppionion unless new blood is imported.* Javan Rusa Deer are quite plentiftul on Texas ranches and else where. Persian Fallow are extremely rare with one private ranch with about 10 animals as for them ISIS shows a Green Bay zoo having them but couldn't be right(i don't think?). San Diego show 14 kiang and i know one other facility has 3.4 so they are extremely rare. Paca's are held by the hundreds in non-isis facilties and are readily available. Nilgiri tahr are at Peace River's facility who recieved all that were in AZA so should be numerous but this is only a guess. Black wildebeast are numerous among private facilities but nowhere near other wildebeast numbers. I have personally seen 50 head at a ranch in west, tx and i've seen them in florida, missouri, new york, new mexico, tennessee, and a small number are in oklahoma, and new jersey. Other animals that are near extinct that were once numerous that come to mind our dorcas gazelles, SOUTH AMERICAN TAPIR(which frustrates me so because they faced them out now but it 10 years they will want to start another program and import more), chinese water deer, javalinas, hog deer, i want to say nyalas but there are quite a few but nothing like they once were, damara zebra, bearded pig, and defasa waterbuck.
 
Replying to the OP, I've noticed the same thing you have about hyenas. I've seen the ones you mentioned in Toronto, a striped hyena in San Diego (back in 1996), an aardwolf in the indoor Colobus monkey exhibit in Cincy (also no longer there as this exhibit is housing gibbons), the Denver spotted hyena in the pre-Predator Ridge carnivore building, and a spotted enclosure near the cheetahs and elephants in St Louis. Oakland has spotteds as well, and are a good bet to have them for awhile. The University of California Berkeley, which is very near the Oakland Zoo, has a colony of spotteds for research purposes in a non -public compound located in the hills behind campus. I'll look it up, but I believe they have quite a few of them there.
Other critters I haven't seen much of are Asiatic lions (the ones in New Orleans aren't really Asians, or so I was recently told), Doucs, and dholes (last saw them in Toronto, don't think San Diego has them anymore).
-Just looked it up. The Berkeley Field Station houses 35 spotted hyenas. They brought in 20 wild caught hyenas in 1985 for study.
 
groundskeeper24 said:
Other critters I haven't seen much of are Asiatic lions (the ones in New Orleans aren't really Asians, or so I was recently told)
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Are Asian Lions really that uncommon in North America? Is there a particular reason (fondness of african theme in collections?)

Here in the UK there are quite a few collections which keep Asians (Chester, London, Paignton, Bristol, Edinburgh, Twycross, Dudley and Chessington I think) and Africans seem to be the staple of the safari parks (but Whipsnade, Colchester, Blackpool and South Lakes keep them as well).
 
@Safaripark. Nilgiri Thar are extinct now in the USA ? What happened to the big group of them I've seen at the San Diego Zoo in 2002 and 2005 ? ( off exhbit )
 
Zebraduiker said:
@Safaripark. Nilgiri Thar are extinct now in the USA ? What happened to the big group of them I've seen at the San Diego Zoo in 2002 and 2005 ? ( off exhbit )
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Like I said Peace River's Texas Facility recieved all that were in AZA. Memphis had a breeding group as well as San Diego and a few odd animals scattered around. I don't know how these animals are doing but they had a good group to start with so they should be successful.
 
Ituri said:
I would seriously love to see a list of what Peace River keeps.
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Yes, I would love to know what all they keep in Texas, i'm sure it's mind boggling. I do have a list of all they have in florida at the Rum Creek Preserve for last year. The craziest thing is 9.8 Pygmy Hippo!!!
 
Just saw North America's ONLY raccoon dogs this past weekend in Omaha. Fascinating animal.

Other rare animals in zoos: Mountain tapirs (3), Giant Otters (3), Giant pandas (5)
 
Just saw North America's ONLY raccoon dogs this past weekend in Omaha. Fascinating animal.

Other rare animals in zoos: Mountain tapirs (3), Giant Otters (3), Giant pandas (5)
 
I'm counting 11 giant pandas in 4 zoos. Am I missing something?
 
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Dwarf Forest Buffalos are kept in only three Zoos in the States,and Blesbok are very rare too. I think, a lot of american animals are rare in Us-Zoos, too. I've seen american badger in only one Zoo for example. Maybe the native animals are too boring for the visitors there, as like as the european species are too boring for the people in europe.
 
Zebraduiker said:
Dwarf Forest Buffalos are kept in only three Zoos in the States,and Blesbok are very rare too. I think, a lot of american animals are rare in Us-Zoos, too. I've seen american badger in only one Zoo for example. Maybe the native animals are too boring for the visitors there, as like as the european species are too boring for the people in europe.
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American badgers habits don't make them the most interesting of display animals, so many zoos that keep them have them off display and use them for education programs.
 
A few Zoos do the same with oppossums. I've seen them mostly in children zoos, but always off exhibit and not to see for the visitors. I know, oppossums are very common in the usa, and I think, thats the reason why they are not on display, it would be the same with our european wild rabbit. No german zoo is keeping them....
 
CZJimmy said:
Are Asian Lions really that uncommon in North America? Is there a particular reason (fondness of african theme in collections?)

Here in the UK there are quite a few collections which keep Asians (Chester, London, Paignton, Bristol, Edinburgh, Twycross, Dudley and Chessington I think) and Africans seem to be the staple of the safari parks (but Whipsnade, Colchester, Blackpool and South Lakes keep them as well).
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An SSP for Asian Lions existed many years ago, however through DNA analysis, most of them were found to actually be hybrids. The remaining pure breed Asian Lions were uncapable to reproduction. Thus the US population became extinct.
 
Giant Pandas

Ituri said:
I'm counting 11 giant pandas in 4 zoos. Am I missing something?
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Ituri,
Maybe I lost track of what we were talking about -- the USA or North America. If North America, then I believe Mexico City is the 5th zoo to have giant pandas, isn't it? (Then again, I haven't looked up recently if they still have them.)
 
Ahh, I was only counting US. Yeah, I think Chapultapec still has pandas.
 
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