Red-Necked Ostrich sign

Two young male Red-Necked Ostriches have just arrived as part of the breeding programme described on the sign. September 2011

Another example of sub-species gone mad?

Do zoos intentionally try and make the more common species sound endangered by forever splitting them into smaller and smaller sub-groups.

The four extant ostrich subspecies have all been described since at least the 19th C. - this is just zoos starting to catch up!

EDIT: And S. c. camelus is not at all common in Europe, so this is an interesting acquisition! That said, it doesn't appear to have been individually IUCN evaluated, so calling it 'Critically Endangered' with capitals is a little disengenuous.

IUCN classified the ostrich as Least Concern in 2009. Another example of a zoo marketing department not finding out the facts by the look of it.

Struthio camelus (Ostrich, Common Ostrich)

bongorob said:

IUCN classified the ostrich as Least Concern in 2009. Another example of a zoo marketing department not finding out the facts by the look of it.

Struthio camelus (Ostrich, Common Ostrich)

Click to expand...

Yes, the Ostrich has been evaluated as a species but its subspecies have not, so any claims to an official status for those subspecies are dubious at best.