Free-ranging animals in zoos

elefante

elefante

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I am curious what are some of the animals you have seen roaming around zoo grounds with no enclosure. I have seen peafowl in the non-AZA accredited Bear Country USA, the Hogle Zoo, and in Omaha. I have also seen turkeys roaming the grounds in Omaha and the Hogle Zoo and chickens in Bear Country. Probably the most unique animal I've seen not in an enclosure in a zoo is prairie dogs in Omaha not only at the zoo but in a nearby park. What have all of you seen free-roaming in a zoo? What is the most unusual species?
 
In Australian wildlife parks, we quite often have kangaroos, wallabies, pademelons, poteroos, and emus (which are all native species). I have also seen farm animals (chickens, goats etc), deer, and peafowls.
 
You will see indian peafowl at the majority of US zoos. It is actually a pet peeve of mine. At my zoo (Reid Park), for example, they often hang out in the white rhino or giraffe yard. Just really annoying to see birds from India in an African exhibit.

The most unusual was iguanas at the Palm Beach Zoo. Apparently they are feral in many parts of southern Florida. I also saw some parrots (sorry, species unknown) flying over the parking lot of the Los Angeles Zoo. There are a few species of parrots established in the Los Angeles basin, so these were not zoo escapees.
 
I saw a Cinereous Vulture in the back parking lot at the Bronx Zoo once... but it wasn't supposed to be there :D

We also had wild pheasants, turkeys, rabbits, nutria, occasionally white chickens ("introduced" by neighbors), and quite a group of Monk Parakeets (year round)
 
a few zoos have had free-range gorillas (Buffalo 2012, Kansas City 2012, Blijdorp 2007, Dallas 2004, etc). It didn't always work out well......
 
nanoboy said:
In Australian wildlife parks, we quite often have kangaroos, wallabies, pademelons, poteroos, and emus (which are all native species). I have also seen farm animals (chickens, goats etc), deer, and peafowls.
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Do the emus or kangaroos ever get aggressive with the visitors? That would be neat to see all of those (including the farm animals) roaming around.
 
indian peafowl are common in canadian zoos. A few zoos in the states and uk have free roaming marmosets, can't remember which though.
 
Does anyone know how they manage these free-range animals at night? Do they just let birds like peafowl roost? I would think there would be problems with predators like raccoons or skunks.
 
We keep 21 azara agoutis free in our grounds and also a group of 13 Golden Headed Lion Tamarins.

The agoutis just roam free no way to lock them in!

The Tamarins have a holding area who they are locked in during the evening to avoid predation, they get theier food and water there and the next boxes are keept inside this house, so no concern, they all come back for eat and sleep.

Birds normally are just let one theier own! I saw in some parks in Brazil that peafowl was also locked in during the night, but this dont will work out for so a long time, since they will quickli start to use a safer and higher tree instead of the usual small cages.
 
elefante said:
Does anyone know how they manage these free-range animals at night? Do they just let birds like peafowl roost? I would think there would be problems with predators like raccoons or skunks.
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At zoos I've worked at, yes, the peafowl are left to roost on their own. Where the winters get very cold, the Bird Dept. rounds them up before dangerous weather and brings them in.
 
Taronga Zoo has helmeted guineafowl, red junglefowl and peacock free roaming as well as domestic chickens and turkeys in the children's area.

Perth has free roaming palm squirrels that were released onto the zoo grounds as well.
 
Buenos Aires Zoo has some free-roaming species like patagonian cavies, coypus and Southern screamers. There are also peafowls and some farm birds (roosters, ducks, geese) that roam free.
 
Most (or at least many) Europan zoos that keep peafowl are having them free-ranging. Whipsnade in England has free-ranging kangaroos as far as I know, and I believe a few zoos have prairie dogs, but Indian peafowl is the only common free-ranging animal.
 
Beardsley just has Indian Peafowl and Helmeted Guinea Fowl about. There are some Wild Turkeys though that are wild but really like to hang around the zoo, almost as if they were part of the zoo.
 
I have seen mule deer at the San Diego Safari Park. My grandkids always get excited when they see squirrels or rabbits at the zoo.
 
Hvedekorn said:
[Most (or at least many) Europan zoos that keep peafowl are having them free-ranging. Whipsnade in England has free-ranging kangaroos as far as I know, and I believe a few zoos have prairie dogs, but Indian peafowl is the only common free-ranging animal.
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Whipsnade is renowned for its variety of free-range animals, including red-necked wallabies, maras, red junglefowl, peafowl, muntjac and probably loads others. I think some of the species they tried weren't too successful, either in terms of not surviving, not establishing, or departing the grounds (I think they may have tried free-range cranes at one point, which flew away).

There are actually quite a lot of species (especially in mammals) that could be safely used free-range if the zoo was of a suitable size and locality.
 
Zoomat in Chiapas, Mexico has free ranging howler monkeys /aloutta pigra/ as well as iguanas and agutis. The howler monkeys are very active in the mornings and can be heard from quite a distance. Sao Paulo zoo in Brazil also has free ranging howler monkeys, i am not certain of the species, because they were hard to see but again easy to hear. At varoius of the mayan ruins, such as Palenque and Tikal, howler monkeys are often heard in the nearby tropical forests.
 
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I remember Hagenbecks had free-ranging muntjacs when I was there in the eighties.

Belize Zoo had free-ranging toucans and chachalacas. (also in the 80's)

Jersey had free-ranging waterfowl like Coscoroba Swans, Nene, Redbreasted Geese and Common Shelducks (again, in the 80's).

I know I've seen others, I just can't think of them at present.

:p

hix
 
Chlidonias said:
a few zoos have had free-range gorillas (Buffalo 2012, Kansas City 2012, Blijdorp 2007, Dallas 2004, etc). It didn't always work out well......
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You may jest, Chlidonias, but there is [or at least was - not sure about the current situation] a zoo with 'free-range' Mandrills.
When I was last at Lisbon Zoo a few years back, the younger members of the Mandrill group were able to exit their cage and mingle with zoo visitors. They never seemed to stray very far from their (caged) elders. Don't know what Health & Safety in the UK or USA would say about a thing like that!
 
Chlidonias said:
Whipsnade is renowned for its variety of free-range animals, including red-necked wallabies, maras, red junglefowl, peafowl, muntjac and probably loads others. I think some of the species they tried weren't too successful, either in terms of not surviving, not establishing, or departing the grounds (I think they may have tried free-range cranes at one point, which flew away).

There are actually quite a lot of species (especially in mammals) that could be safely used free-range if the zoo was of a suitable size and locality.
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Whipsnade's most significant free range species is probably the Chinese water deer, listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN and a pretty uncommon animal in European zoos. It has a population of 600 odd onsite.

I've always wondered what diseases they, the Reeves' Muntjac (and to a lesser extent) the Mara and Bennett's Wallabies take round from one paddock to the next.
 
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