Hope for Pangolins??

red river hog

red river hog

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
I've been think a lot lately about the possibility of Tree Pangolins at the Brandywine Zoo. It seems out of the question for one of the smallest AZA zoos to acquire a pangolin, but there might be some hope. Essex County Turtle Back Zoo has them and is a small zoo. Certainly much, much bigger and better than Brandywine, but small nonetheless. In addition, many zoos have had success with breeding pangolins. Columbus recently had a baby pangolin. What do you think? Are pangolins at Brandywine just a dream, or could it be a reality within a few years?
 
Dassie rat said:
I live in the county of Essex in the UK. I'd like to see pangolins here if they can be kept appropriately.
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I was actually referring to a zoo in Essex County in the US, however, I do think, though, that pangolins should be more widely kept. Especially ones like Chinese Pangolins, that aren't commonly kept.
 
red river hog said:
In addition, many zoos have had success with breeding pangolins. Columbus recently had a baby pangolin.
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The only zoos I've heard of in the States breeding pangolins are Columbus (once) and Brookfield which has had several - I'd be curious to know where you're getting "many zoos" from?

It's hard to know what's even going on with the population at large. Memphis pulled theirs off exhibit, and I have not seen any recent (within the past 9 months) reference to pangolins for any zoos except Columbus and Brookfield. Not enough public information to know whether the program has been a success so far.

I would say a zoo like Brandywine acquiring them is very unlikely anytime in the near future, and the possibility of more major zoos acquiring them anytime soon is dependent on what the trend line looks like.
 
Coelacanth18 said:
The only zoos I've heard of in the States breeding pangolins are Columbus (once) and Brookfield which has had several - I'd be curious to know where you're getting "many zoos" from?
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Apologies for the inaccurate word choice. Instead of "many," I should have said "multiple."
 
I listened to a podcast and read an article a while back about the prospects of pangolins in zoos and from what I read and heard the husbandry of these animals is really improving thanks to research into their nutritional requirements in several US zoos (unfortunately I cannot remember the names of these).

I don't think they will ever be a common animal within zoos because even with these advances in husbandry they are bound to always be a little tricky to keep and for that reason I doubt very much whether the majority of zoos (whether European or North American) would be interested in them.

However, there will always be a handful of zoos which think outside the box and are prepared to take on a challenge and so I think more institutions will be interested in maintaining these animals and driving forward their ex-situ conservation in the future.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
I listened to a podcast and read an article a while back about the prospects of pangolins in zoos and from what I read and heard the husbandry of these animals is really improving thanks to research into their nutritional requirements in several US zoos (I cannot remember the names of these).

I don't think they will ever be a common animal within zoos because even with these advances in husbandry they are bound to always be a little tricky to keep and for that reason I doubt very much whether the majority of zoos (whether European or North American) would be interested in them.

However, there will always be a handful of zoos which think outside the box and are prepared to take on a challenge and so I think more institutions will be interested in maintaining these animals and driving forward their ex-situ conservation in the future.
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Thanks for the reply! This is useful information. The zoos in the US that have pangolins are the Brookfield Zoo, Columbus Zoo & Aquarium, Memphis Zoo, and Essex County Turtle Back Zoo. The reason I highlighted Turtle Back is because they're a smaller zoo, unlike the other 3, which gives me an ounce of hope that just maybe the Brandywine Zoo can get them. In regards to them being in interested in getting pangolins, I can tell you that this particular zoo is interested, but the main question I have is if they're able to acquire them.
 
red river hog said:
Thanks for the reply! This is useful information. The zoos in the US that have pangolins are the Brookfield Zoo, Columbus Zoo & Aquarium, Memphis Zoo, and Essex County Turtle Back Zoo. The reason I highlighted Turtle Back is because they're a smaller zoo, unlike the other 3, which gives me an ounce of hope that just maybe the Brandywine Zoo can get them. In regards to them being in interested in getting pangolins, I can tell you that this particular zoo is interested, but the main question I have is if they're able to acquire them.
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Thats interesting, a number of zoos seem to have them then, I find this very encouraging.

I'm not familiar with the situation with American zoos so I can't really comment on it.

What would be the main barrier for them to acquire pangolins do you think ?
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Thats interesting, a number of zoos seem to have them then, I find this very encouraging.

I'm not familiar with the situation with American zoos so I can't really comment on it.

What would be the main barrier for them to acquire pangolins do you think ?
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I think it would just be difficult to have another zoo agree to give them one. I think the zoos value the a lot. Maybe once there are more babies out there, but I'm not sure.
RatioTile said:
In February I scheduled a special appointment with Turtle Back Zoo to photograph their tree pangolin. They even brought out a table for him to sit on. Cool little dude!
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Wow! You can do that?
 
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red river hog said:
I think it would just be difficult to have another zoo agree to give them one. I think the zoos value the a lot. Maybe once there are more babies out there, they might not be easy to get, but I'm not sure.

Wow! You can do that?
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I would imagine with the species part of an ex-situ programe it would be imperative for at least some of any offspring born to be sent to other collections to build up an insurance population.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
I would imagine with the species part of an ex-situ programe it would be imperative for at least some of any offspring born to be sent to other collections to build up an insurance population.
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That is probably the case. I hope they see the Brandywine Zoo as a facility worthy of keeping pangolins. It's one of the smallest zoos in the AZA and they might choose a more established zoo to send them to.
birdsandbats said:
Brookfield is the only North American zoo to have its pangolins on display. There's actually been lots of debate on this site about whether these zoos SHOULD have pangolins, as they were sources from the illegal trade (not confiscated, bought).
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That's interesting and very sad. Although I'm against the illegal animal trade completely, I definitely think there should be pangolins in zoos. Though their husbandry hasn't quite been perfected, they are learning a lot and babies are definitely a good sign.
 
Interesting to hear that Memphis pulled their animals off exhibit. Perhaps they just didn't adapt well to public view. When it comes to Brookfield from what I've heard things have gone pretty well so far. There have been at least 4-5 births however I'm not sure how many of those were actually captive bred. For example, the pangolins may have been pregnant when they were first brought to the zoo.

Unless things have changed, San Diego should have pangolins featured in their upcoming Children's zoo opening next year. Apparently Pittsburgh also has or had plans to exhibit their specimens as well. I'm not super familiar with the latter so things may have changed, as the area they were to be exhibited in (compass point?) has seen some significant delays and that project seems to be up in the air right now.
 
pachyderm pro said:
Interesting to hear that Memphis pulled their animals off exhibit. Perhaps they just didn't adapt well to public view. When it comes to Brookfield from what I've heard things have gone pretty well so far. There have been at least 4-5 births however I'm not sure how many of those were actually captive bred. For example, the pangolins may have been pregnant when they were first brought to the zoo.

Unless things have changed, San Diego should have pangolins featured in their upcoming Children's zoo opening next year. Apparently Pittsburgh also has or had plans to exhibit their specimens as well. I'm not super familiar with the latter so things may have changed, as the area they were to be exhibited in (compass point?) has seen some significant delays and that project seems to be up in the air right now.
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Oh yeah I forgot about the ones at San Diego. I remember seeing photos in the gallery of them. Does anyone know the exact number of Tree Pangolins in the US. It seems like it's a decent amount.
 
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