Great Hoof-Stock/Antelope Enclosures/Collection

Kudu21

Kudu21

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Since hooved-animals are my favorite group of animals, I have been wondering what you all think are the must see hoof-stock and in particular antelope exhibits and collections in the United States.
 
Don't know any in the US, so I'll let the other members fill you in there. ;)

Should you ever make it to Europe and the UK, I would say Marwell, my local, has the best hoofstock collection, and has since it started, dream't as a mix of two great hoofstock zoos: Whipsnade in the UK and the now-closed Catskill Game Farm in the US.
As of writing, Marwell's hoofstock comprises:

Equuids
Przewalski's Horse
Somali Wild Ass
Grevy's Zebra
Hartmann's Mountain Zebra
Chapman's Zebra
Rhinos
Southern White Rhinoceros
Tapirs
Brazillian Tapir
Antelope
Scimitar-Horned Oryx
Arabian Oryx
Gemsbok
Sable Antelope
Roan Antelope
Addax
Dama Gazelle
Dorcas Gazelle
Bongo
Nyala
Greater Kudu
Speke's Sitatunga
Ellipsen Waterbuck
Black Wildebeest
Cattle and Goat-Antelopes
Congo Buffalo
Ankole Cattle
Lowland Anoa
Mishmi Takin
Pigs, Peccaries and Hippos
Warthog
Collared Peccary
Pygmy Hippopotamus
Camelids
Bactrian Camel
Vicuna
Giraffids
Giraffe
Okapi

On mainland Europe, I woud definately reccomend Dvur Kralove in the Czech Republic.
 
Thanks Zambar! That sounds like a wonderful zoo with a wonderful hoof-stock collection. Too bad it's unlikely that I'll make it to Europe any time soon.
 
In the brilliant book "America's Best Zoos" the authors Nyhuis and Wassner rank the 10 best American zoos for "hoofed animal collections and exhibits":

#1 - San Diego Wild Animal Park
#2 - Denver Zoo

The rest are in alphabetical order:

Bronx Zoo
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Los Angeles Zoo
Miami Metrozoo
Montgomery Zoo
Oklahoma City Zoo
Sedgwick County Zoo
Saint Louis Zoo
 
San Diego Wild Animal Park is undoubtedly the best, but it seems to me they do not have as many species in the main open field exhibit (East Africa) as they used to. And now the main tram (that replaced the monorail) does not go into the remaining Asian field exhibit or near the sheep and goat hill. The second Asian field exhibit was converted to Central African and has like two species of antelope - really disappointing.

In spite of this, it is still probably the best hoofstock collection and overall one of the best zoological parks anywhere.


If you are interested in strictly North American hoofstock, I think the tram ride at Northwest Trek would be hard to beat. It goes through several hundred acres of natural forest/hills with bison, mountain goat, bighorn sheep, elk, moose, blacktail deer.
 
Thank you both! The San Diego Wild Animal Park, Los Angeles Zoo, and the Bronx Zoo were already on my top to visit list, but it seems like I'll have a few more to add!
 
Dallas also has some great hoofstock exhibits in the Wilds of Africa.

Okapi
Nubian Ibex (soon!)
Grevy's Zebra
Bongo (soon)
Waterbuck
Scimitar-Horned Oryx
Addra Gazelle
Goitered Gazelle
Addax
Gemsbok
Gerenuk
Greater Kudu
Impala
Thomson's Gazelle
Grant's Zebra
Klipspringer

and soon in the Savanna
Giraffe
Impala
Grant's Zebra
 
I wonder if Dallas is the only traditional zoo in the U.S. to exhibit two different species of zebra?

I also forgot, Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium here in Arizona is quite good. Exhibits themselves are somewhat generic, basically a series of large square fields, but a pretty good hoofstock collection (in fact, a good general collection). A partial list, just what I remember off the top of my head:

arabian oryx
scimitar oryx
african oryx (gemsbok)
addax
chinese water deer
reeves muntjac
blackbuck
plains zebra
thomsons gazelle
spekes gazelle
giraffe
white rhino
roan antelope
waterbuck
axis deer
dik-dik
black duiker
dromedary camel
 
Thanks jbnbsn99! Actually I was looking around the Dallas Zoo gallary earlier and I was quite impressed. I was really excited to see the Goitered Gazelle! Only found in 3 zoos in the United States!

Thanks Arizona Docent! That's as well sounds great! Chinese Water Deer would be wonderful to see! Found in only 3 US zoos as well. As well as it would be to see Roan Antelope, Black Duiker, and Arabian oryx!
 
Good luck seeing the Arabian Goitered Gazelles (I still don't know why they are in the Wilds of Africa), they haven't been on exhibit in months.
 
Another place to look into is Fossil Rim in Glen Rose TX. Huge drive through park that is actually AZA accredited. Too many antelope and deer to name. BTW, Fossil Rim has all 3 species of zebra.
 
jbnbsn99 said:
Another place to look into is Fossil Rim in Glen Rose TX. Huge drive through park that is actually AZA accredited. Too many antelope and deer to name. BTW, Fossil Rim has all 3 species of zebra.
Click to expand...

I was just looking at their website the other day and I was thrilled! Just like The Wilds we have up here in Ohio.

@ The Goitered Gazelles- Hm. ISIS still says that Dallas has 1.2. Though antelope species are being fased out of the US so who knows. Ah well, it says that the San Diego Wild Animal Park as well.
 
1.1 now I think. They should also be coming out in the Spring again. They rotate with the Addra Gazelles. To much interspecies aggression for the mixing of the two.
 
Ah. I've noticed that Addra Gazelles are never kept with anything but their own species it seems. So it does not surprise me.
 
Kudu21 said:
Ah. I've noticed that Addra Gazelles are never kept with anything but their own species it seems. So it does not surprise me.
Click to expand...

I saw Addra gazelles mixed with some birds and another antelope species (forgot which) at the Honolulu Zoo.
 
Addra Gazelles are kept with Addax and Slender-Horned Gazelles at the SDWAP...
 
Marwell's addras are mixed with the gemsbok. Before that they lived with the giraffes and congo buffalo.
 
XD Sorry. I just thought since they are the larger species, that when sharing the same space with another animal besides their own, that they could possibly be more agressive and bully around the smaller species for food and space and such. I didn't mean that they were not kept with anything else. The zoos I've seen them at keep them in smaller sized yards (Memphis,Cincy,ect) and I could see why they may bully around a smaller species.
 
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