Almost every puma in a U.S. zoo is a wild caught orphan, meaning they are all pure North American pumas. Previously, there were many more subspecies listed, but all pumas in North America are now considered one (this includes the so-called florida panther).
As for their other animals, they are all native to the Sonoran desert so yes I suppose they are pure subspecies where that applies. I did notice, for example, in the reptile house it said sonoran desert sidewinder, not just sidewinder. The one out of place animal in regards to subspecies would be their ocelot. Since they are AZA accredited, they must go with the SSP recommended Brazilian ocelot, but of course their signage just says ocelot.
OK, thank you for this information ! Is it a recent development that they lumped all North American pumas together as being one subspecies because I remember that a Dutch zoo in the 1970-ties ( if I remember well it was Rotterdam Zoo ) was very proud about it's large Canadian pumas !
Yes it is a recent discovery that was largely the result of genetic testing performed by Dr Melanie Culver (whom I have met) at the University of Arizona - only about a mile from my condo. Earlier this week I actually got a quick tour of their lab from a friend of mine who is finishing his PhD on mountain lion genetics.
