Celebrating ABCs

[Hix]

the way I was looking at ABCs was if you asked a child or non-animal person to list the animals they would expect to see in the zoo, the ABCs would be what they would give as replies.

whether the animal is actually common in zoos or not isn't what matters with the ABC concept. As has been pointed out previously, animals such as mara are common in zoos but cannot be considered an ABC zoo animal because most people wouldn't even know what they were.

My interpretation of an ABC animal is not one that is found in the most zoos, but rather one that the most people have heard of and recognise as a zoo animal.

That maybe your definition, but it's not mine.

The first time I saw the term ABC's was in this thread http://www.zoochat.com/2/escape-abcs-94004/ by Maguari where he was talking about the rare and unusual animals not commonly seen in zoos. It had nothing to do with whether the public knew what it was or not.

While Zoo Managers might define their Drawcard species by that criteria (public awareness of a species or group), my posts referencing ABC's has been based upon the species prevalence in zoos.

I think there is a flaw in the concept of what is an ABC. There are many zoos that have red-necked wallabies and if any wallaby is an ABC animal, it is that specis. On the other hand, some wallabies can't be considered to be ABC animals. These include the bridled nail-tailed wallaby. I have only seen the dusky pademelon in one zoo (Plzen) and a Dorcopsis wallaby in one zoo (Taronga) and wouldn't classify either type as ABCs.

Agree entirely. Unfortunately, the interesting species are very few and far between, even in Australia. I was definitely talking about Red/Grey Kangaroos and Redneck/Bennet/Tammar/Swamp Wallabies when I made the above comment.



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[Maguari]

The first time I saw the term ABC's was in this thread http://www.zoochat.com/2/escape-abcs-94004/ by Maguari where he was talking about the rare and unusual animals not commonly seen in zoos. It had nothing to do with whether the public knew what it was or not.

While Zoo Managers might define their Drawcard species by that criteria (public awareness of a species or group), my posts referencing ABC's has been based upon the species prevalence in zoos.

Sorry to contradict but my intended meaning of 'ABCs' in that thread's title was exactly as Chlidonias describes - species that aren't the 'big names' - although admittedly that wasn't quite what the thread was about.

The title was just my response to the fact that (at that time) there seemed to be very little discussion of anything other than great apes, big cats or elephants.

 

[chizlit]

Re: Emus and Ostriches - these are surely the most often mixed-up species by zoo visitors? I think Rod Hull means the two species are about equally known in Britain, so both get called the other with some regularity.

And then you've also got people thinking rhea are either of the above too.

 

[Dassie rat]

Gorillas are an interesting case - there are less collections keeping them in the UK than keep chimps, but I reckon gorillas would occur to a member of the public before chimps would!

You are right, TeaLoving Dave. There are more UK zoos with chimps than with gorillas, but if Jersey is included in the UK, Zootierliste says 13 collections have chimps and 11 have gorillas, so there isn't much difference.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

You are right, TeaLoving Dave. There are more UK zoos with chimps than with gorillas, but if Jersey is included in the UK, Zootierliste says 13 collections have chimps and 11 have gorillas, so there isn't much difference.

One interesting thing to note is the distribution of chimps and gorillas on the main landmass of the UK - so excluding Jersey and also Belfast.

If you look at the distribution map of gorillas on zootierliste you can see that almost all the collections holding gorillas are clustered in the south, with only Twycross and Blackpool falling north of London.

http://www.zootierliste.de/en/map.php?art=1071208&tab=tab_zootier

Conversely, if you look at the equivalent map for chimpanzees, you'll note that - taking into consideration the fact the map places Blair Drummond in Newcastle for some reason - the species is relatively evenly distributed across the entirety of the UK.

http://www.zootierliste.de/en/map.php?art=1071205&tab=tab_zootier

 

[Hix]

Sorry to contradict but my intended meaning of 'ABCs' in that thread's title was exactly as Chlidonias describes - species that aren't the 'big names' - although admittedly that wasn't quite what the thread was about.

The title was just my response to the fact that (at that time) there seemed to be very little discussion of anything other than great apes, big cats or elephants.

Bugger!!!

OK, I stand corrected. (or misunderstand corrected?)



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