Capron Park Zoo Capron Park Zoo Species List (9/30/2023)

ZooElephantMan

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
I visited Capron yesterday and figured I'd post a species list since there isn't one for this zoo yet. I was surprised to count less than 50 species in the entire zoo, but I guess that makes sense for a place of this size. If anyone has any corrections or additions to the list, please feel free to comment!

Lemur Islands

Black and White Ruffed Lemur- DIDN’T SEE
Red Ruffed Lemur- DIDN’T SEE

Sadler Building
Amur Leopard
Red Panda
Reeves Muntjac
Red Crowned Crane
DeBrazza’s Monkey
Serval
Rodriguez Fruit Bat
Indian Flying Fox
Meerkat

Rainforest
Blood Python
Red Tailed Rat Snake
Cuvier’s Dwarf Caiman
Magpie Shrike
Beautiful Fruit Dove
Black Naped Fruit Dove- DIDN’T SEE
Sunbittern
Mindanao Bleeding Heart Dove
Blue Winged Kookaburra- DIDN’T SEE
Red-Footed Tortoise
Palawan Peacock Pheasant
Nicobar Pigeon
Purple Glossy Starling
Ringed Teal
Green Tree Python- EXHIBIT CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE

Small Animal Building
North American River Otter
Geoffrey’s Marmoset
Hoffman’s Two-Toed Sloth
Nine-Banded Armadillo- DID NOT SEE
Asian Water Monitor- EXHIBIT CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE

Capron Education Center (Former Nocturnal House)
Chinchilla
Palawan Porcupine
Blue Fronted Amazon Parrot
Brush Tailed Bettong- DIDN’T SEE

Australia
Emu
Red Kangaroo
African Spurred Tortoise

Grottos
Sloth bear- DIDN’T SEE
African Lion

Other Misc. Exhibits
Black and White Tegu
Honey Bee
Silvery Cheeked Hornbill

Domestics
Boer Goat
Alpaca
 
No, the Chinchilla was in the former Fennec Fox enclosure.
That is quite an interesting choice, fennec isn't really a huge loss but chinchillas aren't exactly the most exciting replacement either. It is a better exhibit for them than what they had behind-the-scenes, however. So what's the current line-up? Is it chinchillas, empty terrarium, porcupine on the left, and bettong, amazons, empty exhibit on the right? Or do I have something in the wrong location.

I noticed you mention them as having less than fifty species, and that certainly seems like a slight reduction than what they once had. If I think back to 2017 when I first started volunteering, I can count 48 species that were on display (I might be forgetting something), but that rose to around 58 when the Rainforest building re-opened in 2018. 45 species are on the list above.
 
That is quite an interesting choice, fennec isn't really a huge loss but chinchillas aren't exactly the most exciting replacement either. It is a better exhibit for them than what they had behind-the-scenes, however. So what's the current line-up? Is it chinchillas, empty terrarium, porcupine on the left, and bettong, amazons, empty exhibit on the right? Or do I have something in the wrong location.

I noticed you mention them as having less than fifty species, and that certainly seems like a slight reduction than what they once had. If I think back to 2017 when I first started volunteering, I can count 48 species that were on display (I might be forgetting something), but that rose to around 58 when the Rainforest building re-opened in 2018. 45 species are on the list above.

From front to back the lineup was Chinchilla, empty terrarium, and Amazon on the left; and Bettong, empty exhibit, Porcupine on the right.

I am not sure why the species count has dropped that much, as most of the lost species were then replaced with new species. But I am guessing the empty nocturnal house exhibits play a part in the low count. I also noticed that they only have two lemur species when I thought they used to have three, so that is another case of a species leaving without a replacement.
 
From front to back the lineup was Chinchilla, empty terrarium, and Amazon on the left; and Bettong, empty exhibit, Porcupine on the right.

I am not sure why the species count has dropped that much, as most of the lost species were then replaced with new species. But I am guessing the empty nocturnal house exhibits play a part in the low count. I also noticed that they only have two lemur species when I thought they used to have three, so that is another case of a species leaving without a replacement.
Biggest losses come in the bird collection. The number of birds in the Rainforest declined some (crowned pigeon, turacos), while a lot of the small birds from the old Rainforest remained in Sadler alongside the Indian Crested Porcupine, but gradually left between 2018-2020. The exhibit they were in now holds fruit bats. Ring-tailed lemurs, six-banded armadillo, red-rumped agouti, grey-legged douroculi, pygmy slow loris, golden lion tamarin, and Visayan warty pig are also species to leave the collection, while the new additions since 2021 are nine-banded armadillo, Geoffroy's marmoset, Palawan porcupine, amazons, honeybees, chinchillas, and Reeve's muntjac.
 
Biggest losses come in the bird collection. The number of birds in the Rainforest declined some (crowned pigeon, turacos), while a lot of the small birds from the old Rainforest remained in Sadler alongside the Indian Crested Porcupine, but gradually left between 2018-2020. The exhibit they were in now holds fruit bats. Ring-tailed lemurs, six-banded armadillo, red-rumped agouti, grey-legged douroculi, pygmy slow loris, golden lion tamarin, and Visayan warty pig are also species to leave the collection, while the new additions since 2021 are nine-banded armadillo, Geoffroy's marmoset, Palawan porcupine, amazons, honeybees, chinchillas, and Reeve's muntjac.

Wow, so Capron used to have night monkeys AND slow lorises? That sounds amazing. I wish I’d started visiting Capron years earlier so I could see them in person.
 
Magpie Shrike
Beautiful Fruit Dove
Black Naped Fruit Dove- DIDN’T SEE
Sunbittern
Mindanao Bleeding Heart Dove
Blue Winged Kookaburra- DIDN’T SEE
Red-Footed Tortoise
Palawan Peacock Pheasant
Nicobar Pigeon
Purple Glossy Starling
Ringed Teal
Snowy-crowned robin-chats might still be at the zoo, but red-crested cardinals and collared finch-billed bulbuls are definitely present.

So what's the current line-up? Is it chinchillas, empty terrarium, porcupine on the left, and bettong, amazons, empty exhibit on the right? Or do I have something in the wrong location.
From front to back the lineup was Chinchilla, empty terrarium, and Amazon on the left; and Bettong, empty exhibit, Porcupine on the right.
When I was there this summer, chinchillas were in the first enclosure on the left, followed by the corn snake Houdini's terrarium, and then what was the fennec fox enclosure. The animal had passed away a few days before and a sign read that the fox was "off-exhibit." On the right there was an empty enclosure followed by Bruce the porcupine then the brush-tailef bettong in the last enclosure. I guess the porcupine and bettong have moved around and the fox had as well before my visit and her passing.

Visayan warty pig
This is a real shame. I'm guessing the muntjac could be kept with the cranes and some new piggies could be placed in the current muntjac enclosure, which would boost the species total and make some more engaging displays.
 
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This a real shame. I'm guessing the muntjac could be kept with the cranes and some new piggies could be placed in the current muntjac enclosure, which would boost the species total and make some more engaging displays.
The zoo used to mix muntjac and crane, up until 2015 or so. More warty pigs aren't something that'll ever happen in that exhibit. The zoo isn't well-equipped for large, non-cold tolerant animals, and by the time the last one passed away the exhibit was smaller than what the AZA recommended anyways. That being said, it would be interesting in the future to combine the muntjac and crane into one exhibit to free up the old warty pig exhibit for something new. At the time the warty pig passed, I personally wanted to see tammar wallabies take over that enclosure.
 
Wow, so Capron used to have night monkeys AND slow lorises? That sounds amazing. I wish I’d started visiting Capron years earlier so I could see them in person.
Yes- the pygmy slow loris lived in the now-empty exhibit on the right side of the building, and actually for a number of years was mixed with the bettong in there. There was a pair of grey-legged douroucouli that were mixed with agouti in the center exhibit on that side.
 
Snowy-crowned robin-chats might still be at the zoo, but red-crested cardinals and collared finch-billed bulbuls are definitely present.

I didn’t list those species because I didn’t see them and they weren’t signed, so I would have to take your word for it.
 
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