Elite Species List

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Blackduiker

Well-Known Member
Although every species is unique in their own way, and none necessarily more important than another; but for as long as I can remember having interest in zoos there were always certain species that especially stood out in zoo literature as "the elite." Now more for conservation than mere display, the following still represent that title to me:

Giant Panda
Okapi
Komodo Dragon
White-tailed Gnu
Congo Peacock
Kiwi
Giant Armadillo
Arabian Oryx
Bonobo
Proboscis Monkey
Sumatran Rhinoceros
Shoebill
Golden Takin
Przewalski's Horse
Koala
Mountain Gorilla
Aye-aye
Mountain Tapir
European Wisent
Tasmanian Devil
Platypus

And I'll leave room for others. What is your elite species list?
 
@Blackduiker: nice list, and I believe that I have seen 14 or 15 out of the 21 listed species. I'm sure that you will receive quite a few responses.
 
In terms of pulling power for the average zoo-goer, i believe these would be classed as the "elite":

Giant Panda
Elephant (any)
Giraffe
zebra
Rhino (any)
hippo
gorilla
chimp
orang utan
tiger
lion
polar bear
other bear species
 
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My list includes:

Golden Lion Tamarin
Dhole
Orangutan
Gorilla
Scimitar Horned Oryx
Tiger
Lion
Wolf (any, especially Red and Mexican)
African Wild Dog
Maned Wolf
Amur Leopard
Snow Leopard
Clouded Leopard
Cheetah
Koala
Chimpanzee
Giant Panda
 
Blackduiker

These would be (elephants, tigers, lions, orangutans, giraffes, etc.) more the essentials of any major collection, and quite common in most any zoo. And I agree, should be on any serious zoo's list of exhibited species. We expect to see them, demand to see them. But "elite" would be more of the prized and in many cases extremely hard to come by zoo acquisitions; i.e., Mountain Gorilla, Giant Panda, Platypus; more on that line.
 
Blackduiker said:
These would be (elephants, tigers, lions, orangutans, giraffes, etc.) more the essentials of any major collection, and quite common in most any zoo. And I agree, should be on any serious zoo's list of exhibited species. We expect to see them, demand to see them. But "elite" would be more of the prized and in many cases extremely hard to come by zoo acquisitions; i.e., Mountain Gorilla, Giant Panda, Platypus; more on that line.
Click to expand...

Ah sorry, I misinterpreted your definition of "elite". I'll come back with a proper list soon;)
 
I would add douc langur and snub nosed monkeys to the list as well as dugong and manatee
 
Here is my list, I focuse on animals I have seen:

Aye-Aye
Golden Takin
Giant Panda
Douc Langur
Giant Otter
Black Saki
Saiga
Bonobo
Short-beaked Echidna
Red Hartebeest
Hirola
Bawean Deer
Amazon River Dolphin
Walruss
Eastern lowland gorilla
Four-horned antilope
Koala
Wombat
Crowned Sifaka
Black Lion Tamarin
 
My list to "elite" animals would be too long, so I reduce to "elite" species that I've seen in captivity:

Okapi
Komodo Dragon
White-tailed Gnou
Nilghai
Scimitar Oryx
Sable Antelope
Congo Peacock
Palawan Peacock-Pheasant
Madagascar Partridge
Aye-aye
Clouded leopard
Snow leopard
Drill
Pere David deer
St Vicent Amazon
Hawk-headed Parrot
Gang-gang Cockatoo
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
Blue-throated Macaw
Kea
Wattled Crane
Black-faced Spoonbill
White-naped Crane
Sunbittern
Green Woodhoopoe
Rhinoceros Hornbill
Japanese Waxwing
Violet-backed Starling
Hardwick's Leafbird
Taiwan Blue Magpie
Red Bird of Paradise
Asian Leaf Frog
Tomato frog
Chinese alligator
False gharial
Matamata
Swimming Caecilian
African Lungfish
Lepisosteus (I don't know english name)
Asian arowana
American arowana
Psychodelic mandarin fish
Coryphaena hippuris
Dactylopterus volitans
Red-legged Seriema

and for sure are more but I don't remember..

If I include animals that I've not seen in captivity the list would be kilometric: blue vanga, kakapo, bornean bristlehead, kagu, california condor, spix macaw, philippine eagle, mauritius kestrel, crested argus, takahe, kinglet cotinga, sicklebills, riflebirds, king of saxony bird of paradise...
 
To my first list, I'd like to add some other ( for me elite ) animals I have seen:
Northern white rhino
Mountain anoa
Asian golden cat
Black footed cat
See otter
Steller's sealion
Baird's tapir
Drill
Red howler monkey
Red bellied guenon
Topi
Jackson's hartebeest
Shoebill
Kagu
Kiwi
King bird of paradise
Andean cock-of-the- rock
Grey- necked rockfowl
 
In my opinion, considering the facts "hard to come by, but not completely impossible or non-existent in captivity"
- Proboscis monkeys
- sumatran rhino
- Any pangolin
- Silky anteaters
- Amazon river dolphins
- Sea otters
- Douc langur/golden snubnosedmonkey or any other rare langur
- long-nosed echidna
- dugong and/or manatee
- red (or any) uakari
- Bearded saki's
- Topi
- Tarsiers
- Mountain tapir
- Gerenuk
- shoebilled stork
- any bird of paradise

pff, the list goes on...
 
There are no mountain gorillas in captivity, Antwerp Zoo holds two females of Eastern lowland gorilla, these are the only in captivity, with exception of any facilities in Afrika.
 
Blackduiker

Cat-Man said:
what zoo has mountain gorillas i may ask?
Click to expand...

None are currently in captivity, but a few have been in the past. I believe the Oklahoma City Zoo exhibited a pair into the 1970s or 80s. And with continued poaching and fewer than 1,000 individuals remaining in the wild, who knows what the need for captive breeding will be to preserve the species? Maybe someone has access to their older International Zoo Yearbooks and can give the Mountain Gorilla census in zoos during past decades? I'm not home at the moment so I can't research my two volumes.

But I pose another question; how many Giant Armadillos are currently exhibited in captivity? Yet they have been in the not-to-distant past. The question could go on and on.
 
As far I know, mountain gorillas were kept in this zoos:
Köln - from 1969 to 1978, two females Coco and Pucker, both have died in age about 12-13 years.
Chester 1,1
Rom 1,1
New York 1,1
1,O Oklahoma
Tel Aviv 0,1
The first breeding success has been in Institut pour la Recherche Scientifique en Afrique Centrale,Bukavu, Kongo in 1959.

Regarding at giant armadillo, I am sure, there are not any G.A left in Europe, perhaps any facilities in South America keep them.
In the past they were kept in Antwerp, Rotterdam, London ( until 1976 ), Berlin, Hannover and Duisburg ( from 1973 to 1976 ).
 
Blackduiker

Good research Jakub. And I do remember the New York Bronx Zoo also having Giant Armadillos from reading literature published years ago. Several other American zoos more recently, but the names fail me at the moment. I know they're extremely powerful digging abilities (even through concrete where there is the slightest crack) has always been a challenge to keep them on display.
 
Blackduiker said:
None are currently in captivity, but a few have been in the past. I believe the Oklahoma City Zoo exhibited a pair into the 1970s or 80s. And with continued poaching and fewer than 1,000 individuals remaining in the wild, who knows what the need for captive breeding will be to preserve the species? Maybe someone has access to their older International Zoo Yearbooks and can give the Mountain Gorilla census in zoos during past decades? I'm not home at the moment so I can't research my two volumes.

But I pose another question; how many Giant Armadillos are currently exhibited in captivity? Yet they have been in the not-to-distant past. The question could go on and on.
Click to expand...

One question: how's the husbandry of the Mountain Gorillas, compared to the more "popular" Western Lowland cousins?

Also, talking about elephant (off topic and stupid, please excuse) is there are Zoo that keeps the two (sub) species of Afrian Elephants apart? Or everyone keeps them just as one?
 
I think the elite species are those ones which have a special alertness and awareness that gives a little extra thrill - which usually means the top predators. For example I think that Komodo dragons have a little extra that none of the other big monitors quite have (although I've never seen a perentie, so perhaps they do too).
Other examples would include:-
  • the really big eagles (eg Steller's, white-tailed, matial, harpy, Philippine)
  • gyrfalcons
  • the big cats
  • giant otters (probably sea otters too, but I've never seen one)
  • polar & Kodiak bears
  • gavials & salt water crocs
  • the great apes
I think the T. rex in Jurassic Park had it too ;)

Alan
 
Blackduiker

Blackduiker said:
Although every species is unique in their own way, and none necessarily more important than another; but for as long as I can remember having interest in zoos there were always certain species that especially stood out in zoo literature as "the elite." Now more for conservation than mere display, the following still represent that title to me:

Giant Panda
Okapi
Komodo Dragon
White-tailed Gnu
Congo Peacock
Kiwi
Giant Armadillo
Arabian Oryx
Bonobo
Proboscis Monkey
Sumatran Rhinoceros
Shoebill
Golden Takin
Przewalski's Horse
Koala
Mountain Gorilla
Aye-aye
Mountain Tapir
European Wisent
Tasmanian Devil
Platypus

And I'll leave room for others. What is your elite species list?
Click to expand...

A few others I would definitely consider "elite" in captivity:

Tuatara
Tarsier
Snow Leopard
Indian Rhinoceros
Crocodile Monitor
Birds of Paradise
Bowerbirds
Black-footed Ferret
Cuban Crocodile
Whooping Crane
Kagu
Gavial
Clouded Leopard
Fossa
Lowland Anoa
Mountain Anoa
Cuscus (any species)
Moose
Harpy Eagle
California Condor
Philippine Eagle
 
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