Regarding the pacaranas, I don't know where San Diego Zoo got them, I wasn't sure if they at one time happened to have surplus that ended up in the private sector so I was just curious, as for the Palestine blind mole rats, they got them from the Philadelphia Zoo for their 75th birthday in 1991 (the year before I was born), as for the Cuban hutias and Siberian weasels and Hoofed Mammals that I asked about, do you know which private collections or dealers had or have them and which private collections would have which species ?
I'm not sure the name of the zoo/ research center, but they have a large collection of pacaranas in Peru. There are pictures of the keepers in the enclosure with a large amount of the pacaranas. Also Peruvian zoos are getting better and better as time goes on but I wouldn't doubt that San Diego obtained their stock(If they still have them) from one of these establishments…
I also know of another case where a zoo (forgotten name again…) imported their Zambian mole-rats from a research center in SA.
Siberian weasels have come up three times in recent adds… Two of those being a pair from the same dealer and one was apparently a new blood line. (doubtful of the truth behind that.)
Cubian Hutias are very uncommon but are kept in the private sector (mostly Netherlands and Denmark I believe). You can find older posts on Exotic Mammals Forums.
There would honestly be no way of knowing what all is exactly, ungulate wise, in the private sector. Heck! I'm sure half of the people who are keeping the species don't know exactly what sub-species it is and how horrid its blood line is in the US. That being said, the majority are very responsible and educated on their animals… for the most part
Regarding the pacaranas, I don't know where San Diego Zoo got them, I wasn't sure if they at one time happened to have surplus that ended up in the private sector so I was just curious, as for the Palestine blind mole rats, they got them from the Philadelphia Zoo for their 75th birthday in 1991 (the year before I was born), as for the Cuban hutias and Siberian weasels and Hoofed Mammals that I asked about, do you know which private collections or dealers had or have them and which private collections would have which species ?
As I used to investigate about my city zoo history (Cali Zoo), I found out there was an animal exchange with SDZ, Cali sent the Pacaranas (which bred in SD), a female mountain tapir, a female Harpy eagle, Tayras and some pygmy marmosets in exchange of Condors, Black bears, Dromedary camels, Cockatoos and Ground Hornbills. Therefore, the Pacarans came from Colombia, not Peru.
