High Altitude Animals in Zoos (Now And In The Future)

[Clouded Leopard 153]

I read some forums about Ethiopian animals that should have a captive population for conservation purposes (Ethiopian wolf, mountain nyala, ibex walia, etc). But from what I saw, nobody asked if they could survive out of their natural habitat and on different diets than they are used to (The Ethiopian wolf is restricted to isolated pockets of Afroalpine grassland and heathland more than 3.200-4.500m with a specialized diet of Afroalpine rodents). I know that there are some species of high altitude animals that survive in lowland zoos (Being some of the Himalayas), there are also those that do not survive (such as the chiru or tibetan antelope). I want to hear your opinion on this matter.

 

[Great Argus]

I already mentioned this in response to you in the Ethiopian Wolf thread, but generally mountain animals do quite well in zoos. Most alpine/subalpine species are quite hardy and tolerate a wide range of temperatures. There's no reason to assume the Ethiopian species you list wouldn't be equally tolerant; Gelada and Blue-winged Goose hail from the same areas and do just fine.

I'm really not sure what you're getting at with dietary concerns - the majority of zoo animals aren't eating the same exact foods they would in the wild. The three species you mention are not likely to have trouble adjusting to a zoo-style diet, there is lots of information available re relatives as well as studies of those species, and they don't belong to genera known to be difficult to feed.

I really don't see any reason why the Ethiopian mammals you mention wouldn't do well in captivity - they're really not that unlike several species that are well established and other species from that area do well.

 

[lintworm]

I read some forums about Ethiopian animals that should have a captive population for conservation purposes (Ethiopian wolf, mountain nyala, ibex walia, etc). But from what I saw, nobody asked if they could survive out of their natural habitat and on different diets than they are used to (The Ethiopian wolf is restricted to isolated pockets of Afroalpine grassland and heathland more than 3.200-4.500m with a specialized diet of Afroalpine rodents). I know that there are some species of high altitude animals that survive in lowland zoos (Being some of the Himalayas), there are also those that do not survive (such as the chiru or tibetan antelope). I want to hear your opinion on this matter.

Lions and tigers are also few horse and cow meat instead of antelope/zebra/deer. So no reason to assume why an Ethiopian wolf cannot be fed on rats. Ethiopian highlands are also climatically very different from the Tibetan plateau.