Well many were familiar to me from books, but certainly not because they're kept in captivity in the US. Or anywhere outside South America for that matter. I saw approximately 48 new mammal species on this trip (not easy to do when I had already seen over 800 species) 8 of which I saw at Sorocaba. A fantastic day! They even had a Rondon's marmoset (Mico rondoni), but it was recovering in the hospital, so not possible to see
Brilliants sets of photos Giant Eland. Thanks for sharing them.
One question about a lot of the rarities before I start booking a trip. Did you have special access at a lot of the zoos ie off exhibit animals, special access for photos etc. Just wondering if the average visitor would see a fraction of what you were able to see
A very late reply to your question but these porcupines are on show to the public in a row of enclosures just up from the Giant and Neotropical otter pools. There are about six of these rodents currently and they share a fairly large enclosure with a Brazilian porcupine and several Tapeti rabbits.
Also housed in this row of enclosures are a trio of meerkats (meh... very boring species in my opinion) next door, and in the first enclosure a Southern tamandua , a pair of agouti, and a subadult Giant armadillo.
