Hoatzin in captivity

PrimateKid

PrimateKid

Well-Known Member
Hello fellow zoochatters!

Yesterday at college we were discussing the Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin), and it suddenly occured to me, are there any of these fantastic bird species in captivity? I understand they have a complex diet, but am wondering whether there are any? If so where are they? And what kind of diet are/would they be fed?

Thanks in advance :)

PK
 
Sadly, there are no hoatzins in captivity at present [unless some South American zoos not on ISIS hold them].
The Bronx Zoo kept hoatzins in the 1990s. The birds were fed on readily available, standard leafy greens and locally-grown browse. Although they adjusted to this diet, the group gradually dwindled and died out.
 
Bronx not only kept Hoatzins. Four chick hatched and have been reared successfully in 1994, this was the world first breeding record.

London Zoo also kept them, in 1931, but the birds died soon after their arrival.
 
MikeG said:
Sadly, there are no hoatzins in captivity at present [unless some South American zoos not on ISIS hold them].
The Bronx Zoo kept hoatzins in the 1990s. The birds were fed on readily available, standard leafy greens and locally-grown browse. Although they adjusted to this diet, the group gradually dwindled and died out.
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The birds were VERY cool to see...although I suspect that few visitors really appreciated what they were seeing. If I can find my old slides and transfer them, I'll up-load them ;)
 
Wonderfull birds!

There are none in captivity in Brazil, several where rescued from floadings after the building of dams in the Amazon basin, most of them where released in other areas and the specimens that dont where in good conditions where sent to zoos and private breeding centers but none survived.

They are very common in the Brazilian Amazon.
 
Apparently, they are common in many parts of the Amazon, largely due to the fact that they have a very bad taste, at least this is what I was told. Very cool bird to see. Unfortunately, the enclosure at Bronx could certainly have been more attractive. No wonder they were not such a big hit with the visitors.
 
sorry to be a bit off topic but how do you pornounce Hoatzin? they are fantastic birds which look like they should be in a horror movie plucking and horribly killing various people.
 
foz said:
sorry to be a bit off topic but how do you pornounce Hoatzin? they are fantastic birds which look like they should be in a horror movie plucking and horribly killing various people.
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I've done that thing that everyone seems to do, of reading it in a book as a kid, making up my own pronunciation and sticking to that. I say the 'ho' and 'at' as almost separate syllables, so it sounds a bit like like hoe art zin.

Apparently it's meant to be more like hwat zeen (but in my accent that sounds fairly like hoe art zin any way!).
 
I was lucky enough to see a captive hoatzin in the not yet opened to publi "Aviario Ncional de Colombia", it had been living there for about a month eating mangrove leaves and other leaves. Unfortunately it died several weeks after my visit, if I find the photo I will upload it to the gallery
 
Would love to see that photo toto98 !
( which other ( special ) species did you see at the Aviario Nacional de Colombia and when will this open ? ).
 
Jacobea said:
They are fantastic looking :) They've always made me think of archaeopteryx, the first "bird".
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Right? I'm a sucker for anything that reminds me of dinosaurs. I'm happy to see grackles flying everywhere where I live; I'd love to see a hoatzin up close! :) I wonder why there haven't been more attempts to keep them in captivity? Especially since they're apparently pretty common in their native area. Are they difficult to keep in captivity? Or is there just not enough visitor demand?
 
TheMightyOrca said:
Right? I'm a sucker for anything that reminds me of dinosaurs. I'm happy to see grackles flying everywhere where I live; I'd love to see a hoatzin up close! :) I wonder why there haven't been more attempts to keep them in captivity? Especially since they're apparently pretty common in their native area. Are they difficult to keep in captivity? Or is there just not enough visitor demand?
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They are very difficult to keep alive.
 
DDcorvus said:
They are very difficult to keep alive.
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Ah, that sucks. Oh well. I'm trying to get a degree in archaeology; there's a chance I'll end up in South America at some point, so maybe I'll get to see one there. At least they're common.
 
vogelcommando said:
Would love to see that photo toto98 !
( which other ( special ) species did you see at the Aviario Nacional de Colombia and when will this open ? ).
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Here is the Hoatzin picture: http://www.zoochat.com/2040/hoatzin-opisthocomus-hoazin-366409/

The aviario nacional will open to the public at the end of this year (1 phase) and it is growing slowly but surely, I´ve been visiting the aviario several times, as the owner is a family friend and he has been stablishing a very large bird collection for the last years.

Some of the amazing birds that I have seen are the Hoatzin, rare tanagers, a fragate bird, red legged tinamous and Maguari storks.
 
I was reading through International Zoo News and found out that the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, South Carolina kept 1.1 in 1999

Does anybody have further info about this ?

Also @Toto98 thanks for sharing that photo with us, and this guy seems to have a neat collection, how does your family know this guy ?
 
There is a fairly comprehensive document prepared by someone from the Bronx Zoo, I believe, about their effort to capture, acclimate, import and exhibit Hoatzins. I had a copy (pretty sure it was in PDF form) about 10 years go, but it seems to be lost in my digital archives.

Does anyone know if this document is still available and if so, where it can be obtained?

Thanks
 
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