Brayden Delashmutt
Well-Known Member
Isn’t this the case for basically every other predatory species when housed inadequately tho?
How popular would recently extinct animals be in zoos?
- Thread starter Brayden Delashmutt
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Isn’t this the case for basically every other predatory species when housed inadequately tho?
No.
Given that the respective authors had seen plenty of other wild-caught species, predatory or not, and yet still saw this behaviour as noteworthy indicates that it was more remarkable than in other species.
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Hello.
I've got to be honest: I don't believe most recently extinct animals would be that remarkable
The thylacine itself became notorious because it went extinct, in the first place. Depending on how easy it would be to breed them outside Australia and New Guinea, they could have become one of the more common Oceanian species in zoos, mostly due to their sheer size.
The quagga was cool-looking, of course, but I'd say the black-and-white pattern other zebras have is more striking to the general public than Equus quagga quagga's. I'd say their presence in zoos would be dictated by the ease of keeping them in mixed-species exhibits. I'm quite sure if they were still alive, Karoo-themed displays would be way more common.
Bubal hartebeest would likely have the same fate as other subspecies of Alcelaphus buselaphus, and be rare (if not absent) from captivity. Bluebuck could also be part of Karoo exhibits alongside quaggas. Maybe they would become as common as roan and sable, but this is debatable.
The extinct populations of tigers in the Sunda islands of Bali and Java were way smaller (and therefore not as remarkable) than their mainland counterparts, so I'm not sure if they'd make it to capitivty in large numbers. I've read somewhere at least Bali tigers have never been kept in zoos in the first place.
Had not most of the notable fauna native to the Indian Ocean islands next to Africa (Rodrigues giant tortoise, dodo, Rodrigues solitaire, Réunion night heron, broad-billed parrot, Mauritius gray parrot, Seychelles parakeet) vanished, exhibits centered around them could become a thing. If not, they'd likely become extensions to Madagascar exhibits.
Labrador ducks would likely end up becoming just another species of waterfowl raised by privated breeders. On the other hand, like their living relatives, the extinct grebes would be rarely found in zoos.
Great auks wouldn't be as popular as penguins, I'm quite sure. As with other seabirds, they would not be common either.
I'm not a specialist, so please don't take this too literally.
I've got to be honest: I don't believe most recently extinct animals would be that remarkable
The thylacine itself became notorious because it went extinct, in the first place. Depending on how easy it would be to breed them outside Australia and New Guinea, they could have become one of the more common Oceanian species in zoos, mostly due to their sheer size.
The quagga was cool-looking, of course, but I'd say the black-and-white pattern other zebras have is more striking to the general public than Equus quagga quagga's. I'd say their presence in zoos would be dictated by the ease of keeping them in mixed-species exhibits. I'm quite sure if they were still alive, Karoo-themed displays would be way more common.
Bubal hartebeest would likely have the same fate as other subspecies of Alcelaphus buselaphus, and be rare (if not absent) from captivity. Bluebuck could also be part of Karoo exhibits alongside quaggas. Maybe they would become as common as roan and sable, but this is debatable.
The extinct populations of tigers in the Sunda islands of Bali and Java were way smaller (and therefore not as remarkable) than their mainland counterparts, so I'm not sure if they'd make it to capitivty in large numbers. I've read somewhere at least Bali tigers have never been kept in zoos in the first place.
Had not most of the notable fauna native to the Indian Ocean islands next to Africa (Rodrigues giant tortoise, dodo, Rodrigues solitaire, Réunion night heron, broad-billed parrot, Mauritius gray parrot, Seychelles parakeet) vanished, exhibits centered around them could become a thing. If not, they'd likely become extensions to Madagascar exhibits.
Labrador ducks would likely end up becoming just another species of waterfowl raised by privated breeders. On the other hand, like their living relatives, the extinct grebes would be rarely found in zoos.
Great auks wouldn't be as popular as penguins, I'm quite sure. As with other seabirds, they would not be common either.
I'm not a specialist, so please don't take this too literally.
Aardwolf
Well-Known Member
A brief speculation on what great auks and dodos would have been like in zoos
The Zoo Review: Auks and Aviaries
The Zoo Review: The Dodo in the Aviary
The Zoo Review: Auks and Aviaries
The Zoo Review: The Dodo in the Aviary
Being the largest carnivorous marsupial, and given they had a fairly striking appearance, I can imagine thylacines becoming something of a staple of Australian areas once it was figured out how to breed them in zoos. Yes, they weren’t especially popular with the general public when they were still alive, but lack of popularity with the public does not necessarily translate to a lack of captive representation. Plus, it’s always possible that the general public would have gained more of an appreciation for them in the years since they became extinct in our timeline.
Great auks, I’d imagine would be less popular than true penguins given their less “cute” appearance. However, on account of their size and penguin like-disposition, I can see them becoming one of the better-known northern seabirds to the general public. This wouldn’t necessarily lend itself to them becoming popular attractions in zoos, though, especially if they proved hard to keep.
All of this is just my opinion, though.
Great auks, I’d imagine would be less popular than true penguins given their less “cute” appearance. However, on account of their size and penguin like-disposition, I can see them becoming one of the better-known northern seabirds to the general public. This wouldn’t necessarily lend itself to them becoming popular attractions in zoos, though, especially if they proved hard to keep.
All of this is just my opinion, though.
Brayden Delashmutt
Well-Known Member
I disagree with this. The majority of reports on thylacine behavior make SURE to roast them and, contradictory to many pieces of evidence, act as though they are inferior to placental mammals. Those behaviors are not at all irregular for carnivores kept in captivity in bad exhibits. I remember the big cats in the Cat Complex behaving similarly
Feel free to disagree all what you want. Unless a relict thylacine is discovered, the all too often promised cloning program works or someone invents a time machine, the eyewitness reports of back-then thylacine keepers are pretty much our best source for such fictious speculations.
Speaking of speculations, regarding the Great auk: Contrary to the article quoted by @Aardwolf , extant auks /alcids are not that common in captivity. Their general population in European zoos, for example, is rather de- than increasing, also due to rather common losses related to disease outbreaks (avian malaria, aspergillosis etc). As addressed above,
this very likely would have been the same issue with Great auks.
Thylacine is often 'bigged up' to a size that it wasn't- it was more the size of a fox really. So perhaps equate the potential popularity, outside of us rarity enthusiasts, with a fox or jackal-sized carnivore.