This photo shows maybe 50% of the patas monkey enclosure, which is yet another brilliant habitat at the naturalistic Woodland Park Zoo. The cool thing about this immersion exhibit is that sometimes ostriches, giraffes, Grant's gazelles, fringe-eared oryx and ostriches stroll past in the background. Like many immersion enclosures there is zero hotwire (except for the outermost edge of the exhibit) and only a hidden moat separates the monkeys from the multi-acre African Savanna.
snowleopard, I've been reading about both species, but I still can't decide if an inter-species exhibit housing both waterbuck AND patas monkeys would work. Patas monkeys are ground-dwelling monkeys, and waterbuck tend to inhabit open savannas, so there wouldn't be the need for a lot of trees. However, waterbuck live close to the water, and while this photo only covers 50% of the exhibit, there doesn't seem to be much water in that enclosure.
That being said, that only covers one aspect. Another would be how the two species actually get along with one another. How do you think that would work out? And can waterbuck and patas monkeys live side by side in captivity?
Woburn Safari Park has Patas mixed with Bongo (and the potentially more powerful Drills and Barbary Macaques) with no sign of problems. I wouldn't think there'd be much difficulty in that area.
And despite the name, waterbuck do just fine with no access to (bathing) water, so that wouldn't be a problem. In fact, even when given access I'm not sure I've ever seen them actually wallowing - unlike species like rhinos or even Pere David's Deer that make extensive use of wallows.
@AnaheimZoo: I'm sure that patas monkeys could be mixed with any number of hoofstock, but at Woodland Park they are alone in their exhibit. It often appears that this primate enclosure is part of the multi-acre African Savanna but there is a cleverly hidden moat that keeps the species apart.
Woburn Safari Park has Patas mixed with Bongo (and the potentially more powerful Drills and Barbary Macaques) with no sign of problems. I wouldn't think there'd be much difficulty in that area.
And despite the name, waterbuck do just fine with no access to (bathing) water, so that wouldn't be a problem. In fact, even when given access I'm not sure I've ever seen them actually wallowing - unlike species like rhinos or even Pere David's Deer that make extensive use of wallows.
Strange... a lot of websites say waterbuck prefer to live near water because it provides shelter from predators... I knew they didn't need large wallowing areas like rhinos, but I still thought they at least had to be close to a body of water. That's why I thought the habitat would be a bit of an issue only because it said patas monkeys inhabit semi-arid climates as well. But thanks for telling me about the bongo exhibit, so now I have some reassurance that it could work out!
Strange... a lot of websites say waterbuck prefer to live near water because it provides shelter from predators... I knew they didn't need large wallowing areas like rhinos, but I still thought they at least had to be close to a body of water. That's why I thought the habitat would be a bit of an issue only because it said patas monkeys inhabit semi-arid climates as well. But thanks for telling me about the bongo exhibit, so now I have some reassurance that it could work out!
I think the key thing is that zoo waterbuck don't have predators.
I've also seen Patas kept on islands in quite damp countries (as at Apenheul - Dutch weather is almost as murky as British weather!) so there'd be no problem keeping the Patas in an exhibit with water either (though probably slightly safer not to!).
I think the key thing is that zoo waterbuck don't have predators.
I've also seen Patas kept on islands in quite damp countries (as at Apenheul - Dutch weather is almost as murky as British weather!) so there'd be no problem keeping the Patas in an exhibit with water either (though probably slightly safer not to!).
Yeah, but there's definitely bound to be a place where waterbuck and patas monkeys co-exist without problems, so I'm sure a zoo exhibit holding both species would probably work out like you said. If it works with bongos, then why not with waterbuck?
Wait... so exactly how dependant are waterbuck on water? I'm no waterbuck expert, but I know it's not nearlyas dependant as lechwe and sitatunga are. While their name might not mean they need a water source, I just want to know how much they need it. Can't they go like 3 days without drinking it anyway? (or something like that)
Wait... so exactly how dependant are waterbuck on water? I'm no waterbuck expert, but I know it's not nearlyas dependant as lechwe and sitatunga are. While their name might not mean they need a water source, I just want to know how much they need it. Can't they go like 3 days without drinking it anyway? (or something like that)
As far as I'm aware, the main reason they live near water is as you say - to enable them to escape predators. A lot of ungulates are pretty good at going without water if they need to as they can source it from their food but I don't know if waterbuck are specialised in this way, particularly.
As far as I'm aware, the main reason they live near water is as you say - to enable them to escape predators. A lot of ungulates are pretty good at going without water if they need to as they can source it from their food but I don't know if waterbuck are specialised in this way, particularly.
So I might just abandon the thought of waterbuck as wetland antelope altogether . They might as well just be regular savanna-going ungulates like wildebeest or gemsbok or something...
And by the way, when you say there would be no problems with patas monkeys and waterbuck, are you saying that like the waterbuck would just ignore the monkeys completely or would they actually interact with one another without issues?
Sorry, I know that's a hard question to answer... One might actually need to observe behaviors for a while in order to answer it... Just what do you think?
