Philadelphia Zoo Animals the Philadelphia Zoo Used to Have

CarLover

CarLover

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
This is something I recently saw someone else do with another zoo.

The Philadelphia Zoo is the oldest zoo in the United States, and over the 161 years since the zoo was chartered, the zoo has seen many animal species come and go. I will list as much as I can and for those that I am aware of. If I missed anything, feel free to comment.

African Bush Elephant
Asiatic Elephant
African Wild Dog
Andean Condor
Aardvark
Rhinoceros Hornbill
Polar Bear
Mainland Clouded Leopard
Fishing Cat
Buff-crested Bustard
Common Dwarf Mongoose
Egyptian Fruit Bat
Red-shanked Douc
Matschie's Tree Kangaroo
Bontebok
Ostrich
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Sable Antelope
Common Eland
Fat-tailed Gerbil
Lesser Egyptian Jerboa
Harris's Antelope Squirrel
Short-eared Elephant Shrew
Short-nosed Echidna
Common Warthog
Bearded Pig
Okapi
Addax
Black Crowned Crane
Donkey
Black Swan
Coscoroba Swan
Mandarin Duck
Chimpanzee
Guinean Baboon
Australian Green Tree Frog
Iberian Ribbed Newt
American Alligator
Chinese Alligator
Roti Island Snake-necked Turtle
Alligator Snapping Turtle
Central American River Turtle
Asiatic Black Bear
Domestic Dog
Red-necked Wallaby
Kea
Hyacinth Macaw
Dumeril's Boa
Grey-banded Kingsnake
Red Diamond Rattlesnake
Merriam's Kangaroo Rat
Striped Possum
Northern Tree Shrew
Cape Barren Goose
Indian Rhinoceros
Spectacled Langur
Monarch Butterfly
White Peacock Butterfly
California Kingsnake
Pipevine Butterfly
Atala Butterfly
Northern Bald Ibis
Sacred Ibis
California Sea Lion
Llama
Black-tailed Prairie Dog
Dromedary
White-nosed Coati
Brown Pelican
Capybara
Patagonian Mara
Egyptian Plover
Snowy-headed Robin-Chat
Magpie Shrike
African Collared Dove
Cedar Waxwing
Amazonian Motmot
Chiriqui Quail-dove
Blue Ground Dove
Southern Lapwing
Screaming Piha
Little Tinamou
White-lined Tanager
Green Heron
Blue-and-yellow Tanager
Eurasian Red Squirrel
Giant Anteater
Leopard Tortoise
Rainbow Lorikeet
Red Lory
Blue-streaked Lory
Dusky Lory
Coconut Lorikeet
Black-capped Lory
Goeldi's Marmoset
Yellow-knobbed Curassow
Crested Oropendola
Collared Imperial Pigeon
Hooded Crane
Curly-crested Aracari
Green Aracari
Rock Monitor
Brazilian Agouti
African Striped Weasel
Chinese Alligator
Southern White-faced Owl
Secretary Bird
Asian Garden Dormouse
Black-footed Cat
Hawaiʻi ʻAmakihi
Blue-throated Piping Guan
Forsten's Tortoise
Jambu Fruit Dove
Milksnake
Goldie's Lorikeet
Mindanao Bleeding-heart
Panther Chameleon
Bog Turtle
Eastern Box Turtle
Black Tree Monitor
Weber's Sailfin Lizard
Engineer Goby
Gaboon Viper
Brazilian Lancehead
European Blackbird
Beauty Rat Snake
Northern Giant Mouse Lemur
North American Least Shrew
Cattle
Shoebill
Scarlet Ibis
Greater Roadrunner
White-lipped Tamarin
D'Albertis Python
Common Snake-necked Turtle
Drill
Kinkajou
Swift Fox
Prevost's Squirrel
Snowy Owl
Bobcat
Pallas's Cat
 
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They no longer have any gaboons? :(
Really wish they'd get a few of those mammals back.
 
TinoPup said:
They no longer have any gaboons? :(
Really wish they'd get a few of those mammals back.
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They still have West African Gaboon vipers which are a different species than the ones found in Central Africa.

And yes, I wish the zoo still had African wild dogs. I find them so much more interesting and beautiful than maned wolves. There's nothing wrong with maned wolves, other than the fact they smell like weed, but African wild dogs are more threatened and I personally like them more.
 
CarLover said:
They still have West African Gaboon vipers which are a different species than the ones found in Central Africa.

And yes, I wish the zoo still had African wild dogs. I find them so much more interesting and beautiful than maned wolves. There's nothing wrong with maned wolves, other than the fact they smell like weed, but African wild dogs are more threatened and I personally like them more.
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That's what I thought...

I love maned wolves, they're second only to cheetahs for me, but I really wish they'd give them nicer exhibits like all of the others have been getting :( I'm a Philly member and I've never seen their maned, it's always hiding. I loved the wild dogs, too; I wish they could have all 3. I wish they'd bring back okapi and giant anteater, as well.
 
Just to add to the list, first visit '89
Harbor Seals
Seal lions
Malayan tapir
Babirusa
Bearded pig
Artic wolf
Striped Hyena
Jagurundi
Clouded leopard
Tomistoma
American Croc?
African stripe weasel
Honestly cant remember everything but that Small Mammal house rocked in the early to late 90s

Also, it was mentioned as a previous species but I saw the chimps in RMH, and I remember at least 20-30 spread across at least 3-4 enclosures, anybody have recollections or numbers?
 
PSO said:
Just to add to the list, first visit '89
Harbor Seals
Seal lions
Malayan tapir
Babirusa
Bearded pig
Artic wolf
Striped Hyena
Jagurundi
Clouded leopard
Tomistoma
American Croc?
African stripe weasel
Honestly cant remember everything but that Small Mammal house rocked in the early to late 90s

Also, it was mentioned as a previous species but I saw the chimps in RMH, and I remember at least 20-30 spread across at least 3-4 enclosures, anybody have recollections or numbers?
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I would love to see a striped hyena. I only know of a few zoos that have them, like the Naples Zoo in Florida.
 
CarLover said:
I would love to see a striped hyena. I only know of a few zoos that have them, like the Naples Zoo in Florida.
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Closest to Philly would be Carson Springs. Then there's a half dozen about 1000-1200 miles from Philly. I saw one at Fort Worth, but it was sleeping in the far corner of the exhibit :(
 
Scottish Highland Cattle (though am not sure if they just relocated after the Pachyderm House conversion)
 
TinoPup said:
Closest to Philly would be Carson Springs. Then there's a half dozen about 1000-1200 miles from Philly. I saw one at Fort Worth, but it was sleeping in the far corner of the exhibit :(
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Utica NY has and probably a few others much closer than that.
 
I heard from somewhere that Philly used to house koalas in the late 80's/early 90's. Does anyone know if this is true or not?
 
ZPA said:
I heard from somewhere that Philly used to house koalas in the late 80's/early 90's. Does anyone know if this is true or not?
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With the magic of Google, the very first hit is this article about a Koala named K'Bluey from San Diego Zoo which was displayed temporarily at Philadephia Zoo from July to September 1985:
Philadelphia Zoo gets unusual, demanding visitor

In July 1991 another Koala, named Kupala, was on display for four months also.
PLAY AREA AT DORNEY TICKLES THE IMAGINATION
The article mentions the previous Koala in 1985, and says that they hope to get a pemanent Koala within the next two years.
 
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I remember reading a poem in an old book about a swan and a boy (forgot title) the boy somehow became head of Philly Zoo and wrote a poem about the animals there. All I remember is frigatebird and vesper rat being mentioned. Any truth to these?
 
A species kept at the Philadelphia Zoo in the past and now most possibly Extinct is the Glaucous macaw. A single bird was donated to the Zoo during the period March 1896 - March 1897.
 
Now to a species I'm not sure to which species it belongs :
Again between March 1896 and March 1897 a pair of Squirrels from Java came to the zoo. Only the scientific name of the species is mentioned in the records I have : Sciurus badging.
The problem with this is that Sciurus badging is the synonym of 2 different species:
Plantain squirrel - Callosciurus notatus
Black-striped squirrel - Callosciurus nigrovittatus
There is no further discription of the species in the notes I have and because both species are found on Java, I don't know which of the 2 was kept at the zoo.
 
Do you think there could be a possibility of seals/sea lions returning? They are very common and are practically zoo staples. Maybe if they expand and get rid of the beer garden which, I have still yet to see someone actually go to, there could be an exhibit similar to the bronx zoo?
 
ZPA said:
Do you think there could be a possibility of seals/sea lions returning? They are very common and are practically zoo staples. Maybe if they expand and get rid of the beer garden which, I have still yet to see someone actually go to, there could be an exhibit similar to the bronx zoo?
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I actually know someone who used to work with sea lions at the zoo and she said that the zoo is very unlikely to get sea lions in the future, with the reason being that it's a zoo, not an aquarium. Also, the sea lions did not have a great exhibit when they used to live at Philly, and were sent to facilities better suited to their needs.
 
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