Making room on the ark – can rare zoo animals replace common ones in Europe?

[Jurek7]

Deer 2. Tropical deer


Deer are unjustly considered uninteresting for visitors. They will be very interesting if contact with people is allowed, as this endangered Prince Alfred's Deer decided to do by itself. Photo by MagpieGoose.

Philippine Spotted Deer - ZooChat

Endangered Prince Alfred's Deer or Philippine Spotted Deer went from non-existent to a healthy population in European zoos within ca 20 years. An example for other programs. Photo by Macaw16.

Philippine Spotted Deer - ZooChat

Endangered Bawean Deer by Giant Eland. A small deer endemic to one small island in Indonesia.

Bawean deer (Hyelaphus kuhlii) - ZooChat

Deer can be kept in mixed-species exhibits. This Hog Deer is closely related and also endangered. Photo by Goura. It lives in a mixed exhibit in Burgers Zoo, with...

Rimba - hog deer - ZooChat

...Endangered Eld's Deer, smaller Muntjac, macaques, Banteng and Siamangs. Photo by Sneeuwpanter.

Eld's deer - ZooChat

Photo by Kakapo.

Mixed species at Rimba - ZooChat

And Banteng. Photo by vogelcommando.

Banteng and Eld's deer - ZooChat

Eld's deer consists of 3 subspecies: eldi, thamin and siamensis, which should be conserved separately. All animals in Europe are thamin, only Haute-Touche keeps siamensis Eld's Deer. Photo by lintworm.

Siamese Eld's Deer - ZooChat

Vulnerable Barasingha or Swamp Deer is also often kept in mixed exhibits. Its swampy habitat in Asia is especially intensively cultivated, and some wild populations secondarily live in dry areas. However, in Whipsnade it still enjoys water. Photo by ro6ca66.

Barasingha / swamp deer : Whipsnade : 25 Jul 2014 [V] - ZooChat


Free-ranging and walk-through deer exhibits are another non-standard exhibit. Several zoos in Asia and Australia keep vulnerable Sambar in walk-through, One of largest tropical Asian deer, however, in less need of breeding in Europe than many other deer. Here is a wild Sambar patrolling a tourist restaurant in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand. Photo by LaughingDove.

Sambar Deer in the Food Stalls Area - Khao Yai National Park - ZooChat

Two other vulnerable deer found in Europe, Chinese Water Deer and Rusa or Javan Deer, have large introduced populations so are perhaps in less need of breeding in zoos than their relatives.

There is more threatened tropical deer than zoos in Europe can support. Critically endangered Calamian Deer died out in Europe during the 1990s. American and Indonesian zoos keep them. Another small deer, relative to Hog and Bawean, endemic to another small island in Indonesia. Photo by Julio C Castro

Calamian Deer - ZooChat


Vulnerable Marsh Deer from Pantanal was more-the less allowed to die out in Europe in the 2000s. South American zoos still keep them. With bright orange fur and black legs elongated stilt-like in can remind of a Maned Wolf, which shares part of its range. Photo by Giant Eland.

marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus) - ZooChat

 

[PossumRoach]

I have a question. Is IUCN the only metric to determine if an animal is in need of being represented in this thread? I ask because while they are not recognized by the IUCN, I believe that Key deer is a nice animal to display that is considered as "Endangered" by the USFWS and "Critically Imperilled" by the Nature Conservancy. If it were possible, they would be a great subsitute for generic white-tailed deer.

 

[dillotest0]

In most conditions I have seen them, deer have largely been idle animals, so I can see why a good number of zoo directors would be reluctant to add more of what may be considered the 'same thing'.. though it would be good surely to have more rare species of deer represented.

 

[Jurek7]

Hi, Possumroach, there is too few places for small tropical ungulates than species and subspecies already present in Europe, unfortunately.

Key Deer could be of interest for North American zoos - I wonder why it has never been the case?

 

[PossumRoach]

Hi, Possumroach, there is too few places for small tropical ungulates than species and subspecies already present in Europe, unfortunately.

Key Deer could be of interest for North American zoos - I wonder why it has never been the case?

Yea I only brought up Key Deer bc you also brought up Utah prairie dog. Obtaining both animals would need a lot of trust and paperwork from the US fish and wildlife service.

Sadly the only zoo I know that currently has Key Deer is Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo in Gainesville Florida, and that is just a single stag. I heard that ZooTampa had them in the past but I don’t know if ZT has the intention to bring them back or if any other Floridian AZA zoo has a plan for them.

 

[Jurek7]

Caprids – wild sheep, goats, takins and relatives. Part 1.

Many threatened species and subspecies are very closely related to common Mufflon, Alpine Ibex, generic Aoudad and Alpine Chamois and can replace them.

Small wildlife parks can help much in conservation breeding of caprids. This creates a challenge for zoochatters – how to involve them? What if big zoos contacted small wildlife parks in their region? Could big zoos rent animals and keeper time to small wildlife parks and such institutions?


Vulnerable Transcaspian Urial by geomorph. Has similar needs to the common Mufflon.

Tropics Trail - Transcaspian Urial - ZooChat


Vulnerable Bukhara Urial by snowleopard

Bukhara Urial - ZooChat


Many caprids are very rare in zoos. Vulnerable Marco Polo Argali / Marco Polo Sheep. Will this young ram grow horns with five-foot span, which made Marco Polo a subject of ridicule when he first reported its existence in Europe? Photo by Tomek.

Marco Polo Argali / Marco Polo Sheep (Ovis ammon polii) - ZooChat


Vulnerable Semipalatinsk Argali by alexkant

Semipalatinsk argali/ Ovis ammon collium - ZooChat


Tadjik Markhor or Bukharan Markhor is alternatively listed as near-threatened or endangered, but IUCN status can change quickly. Photo by Baldur.

Tierpark Hellabrunn 2006 - Magnificent Markhor buck - ZooChat


Endangered Caucasian Ibex / West Caucasian Tur by wstefan.

West Caucasian tur (Capra caucasica) - ZooChat


Near-threatened East Caucasian Ibex / East Caucasian Tur / Kuban Tur. It was proposed to purposefully go extinct in European zoos. However, it lives in politically volatile region, and level of protection from poachers can change quickly. This male must be especially old. Photo by Fishapod.

Daghestan tur - ZooChat


Endangered Nubian Ibex by ThylacineAlive. Google films of them climbing trees and parked cars in Israel! More about it later.

Nubian Ibex - ZooChat


Aoudad or Barbary Sheep has several subspecies which at least some are very different genetically, so only pure subspecies are of conservation value. Libyan Barbary Sheep by Maguari.

Libyan Barbary Sheep at Barcelona, 30/05/11 - ZooChat


Saharan Barbary Sheep by zootiger.

Saharian barbary sheep - ZooChat


Vulnerable Abruzzi or Apennine Chamois currently dwindled to only one zoo in Europe. Photo by Eagle.

Abruzzi chamois - ZooChat


Near-threatened Himalayan Tahr – another species which purposeful extinction in European zoos was suggested. Photo by Maguari.

Himalayan Tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus) at Hagenbecks, Hamburg - ZooChat

 

[Jurek7]

Caprids – wild sheep, goats, takins and relatives. Part 2. - the fun part

Vulnerable Takin is a possible replacement for common caprids, but also deer and cattle. Sichuan Takin is a subspecies which is recently proposed to go extinct in Europe to save space. An interesting fact – Takins seem to love wading in deeper water if they can. Photo by Kudu21

Sichuan Takin Bull - ZooChat


This vulnerable Central Chinese Goral shows that caprids will be fascinating if a zoo challenges them to truly show their climbing skills. Photo by cloudedleopard611

[May 2021] Red Rocks- central Chinese goral (Naemorhedus griseus) kid climbing ledge - ZooChat


Wild ibex will do much crazier things than these domestic goats on the photo by LegoOwl. Wild Nubian Ibex climb thin branches of trees and parked cars, Alpine Ibex climb near-vertical dams of water reservoirs (Google for films), Himalayan Tahrs can escape by balancing on the edge of an opened barn door etc. A pile of stones is just boring.

Goats on the restaurant's roof - ZooChat


This Turkmenian Markhor would really want to demonstrate its climbing skills. Photo by savethelephant

Turkmenian Markhor - ZooChat


Make a climbing frame out of wood and hang a bunch of branches on top, and goats and visitors will be crazy. Memo: make it such that it cannot easily be pushed over. Markhor by pipaluk.

Markhor 6/9/21 - ZooChat


Wild goats, like domestic goats, are contact-seeking animals, as these Himalayan Tahr demonstrate. Like domestic goats, they will fascinate visitors hoping to be fed through the bars –even if there is an official ban. Photo by JAMESTHEGREAT.

Himalayan Tahrs with their zookeeper - ZooChat


Goats can be kept in shared exhibits – with other caprids, antelope, gazelle, deer, yak (Dortmund), marmots (Munich), alpine hares (Goldau), rock hyrax (Bronx, Zurich), vultures, bald ibis (Nordhorn), red pandas (Hamburg), macaques, baboons, geladas and even king colobus (Poznan). Himalayan Tahrs by Patrick87

Himalayan tahr & Red panda - ZooChat


Goats can be kept in walkthroughs. This one in Parc Animalier Des Pyrénées has Roe deer, Pyrenean chamois, Alpine ibex, European mouflon, Barbary shep and Cretan goat. Photo by Maxime. Why not replace them with 6 threatened forms?

Caprid walkthrough exhibit (6 species) - ZooChat


Unfortunately, there is very many threatened wild captrids not kept in Europe. This endangered Arabian Tahr is kept in several zoos in the Middle East. Actually, it is most closely related to the Barbary Sheep, not Himalayan Tahr. Photo by Giant Eland.

Arabian tahr (Arabitragus jayakari) - ZooChat

 

[Jurek7]

Equids

Endangered Kulan Equus hemonius can replace cold-hardy ungulates. It may be also ecologicaly suitable to nature reserves, because it was discovered to be the same as the European Wild Ass Equus hydruntinus which lived throughout Europe in Pleistocene. Photo by vogelcommando.

Kulan - ZooChat

Literature: Bennett EA, et al. Taming the late Quaternary phylogeography of the Eurasiatic wild ass through ancient and modern DNA. PLoS One. 2017.doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0174216

Wild cattle

Cold-hardy European Bison or Wisent Bison bonasus needs zoo space and is every bit as charismatic as the American Bison, Yak, Domestic Buffalo or any primitive cattle. Even more, Wisent needs educating the public that it can live successfully in forest-farmland mosaic with high human density, and can be reintroduced in Western Europe, where people forgot that Wisent used to live there. Photos: ro6ca66 and Therabu.

Wisent / European bison : Whipsnade : 16 Jun 2020 - ZooChat

Wisent (Bison bonasus) - ZooChat

Sources:
News Archives - European Bison Friends Society
WPNS activities

Tropical cattle

Diverse Zebu and cattle can be replaced by vulnerable Gaur Bos gaurus. Oversized muscles are typical for a mature bull. In reality, it is calmer than European taurine cattle. Photo by LaughingDove.

Indian Gaur (nominate subspecies) - ZooChat


Endangered Banteng Bos javanicus. Photo by Kakapo. Again, much calmer animal than European taurine cattle.

Banteng (Bos javanicus) pair - ZooChat


Endangered Anoa Bubalus depressicornis is size of a small pony, and needs less space. It can also be kept in shared mixed exhibits. Photo by kiang.

Sulawesi crested macaque & lowland anoa - ZooChat


Long-haired Mountain Anoa Bubalus quarlesi, the last of this endangered species in Europe. Photo by Maguari.

Mountain Anoa at Krefeld, 15/06/19 - ZooChat

 

[Beastking04]

This thread is very interesting! I wonder what a North American version of this would look like, though? It'd probably lack a lot of rare species, since some are being phased out (Guar, Goral, Lion-tailed Macaque, Every Leopard that isn't Amur).

 

[Jurek7]

Antelope

As discussed earlier, there is more antelope species, even already kept in European zoos, than spaces to sustain large populations. Just two examples of endangered species with few holders:

Endangered Beisa Oryx Oryx beisa. Photo by Therabu.

Beisa oryx (Oryx beisa beisa) - ZooChat


Endangered Southern Mountain Reedbuck Redunca fulvorufula fulvorufula. A rather overlooked smaller antelope, which became endangered. Photo by Giant Eland.

Southern mountain reedbuck (Redunca fulvorufula fulvorufula) - ZooChat


Will other species ever be imported, like critically endangered Western Giant Eland Taurotragus derbyanus derbyanus from the captive population in Senegal which is supported by Prague Zoo? Photo by Jana.

Poster about Derby Eland @ Prague zoo - ZooChat


Giraffe

Giraffe are ABC species, and if zoos switched from keeping generic giraffes, they could sustain at least one more pure form. The same worked for many other species, surely it is possible with giraffe, too. Critically threatened Nubian Giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis camelopardalis in Al Ain zoo. Photo by Hippopotamus.

Nubian Giraffes - ZooChat

 

[Nix]

Endangered Southern Mountain Reedbuck Redunca fulvorufula fulvorufula. A rather overlooked smaller antelope, which became endangered. Photo by Giant Eland.

This species could also be sourced rather easily; They are very numerous in South African private collections and are being successfully bred by Joburg Zoo, who house a large herd with White Rhinos.

 

[Jurek7]

Lions and Tigers

Big cats are popular in zoos, so there is space and expertise to keep 7, 8, 9 different populations of lions and tigers each, independently of whether they are called subspecies or 'just' populations. I don't support lumping lions and tigers each into two subspecies or 'conservation management units', because this move appeared to be nudged by problems of wild conservation.

Asian or Indian Lion Panthera leo persica. It descends from less than 30 lions which survived in Gir Reserve, India. The zoo project was restarted after the animals imported from Inda were found to be circus hybrids. Now it has the safest zoo population of lion subspecies. An example what can be achieved with other lion forms! Photo by Therabu

Asian lion (Panthera leo persicus) - ZooChat


Southwest African / Katanga Lion Panthera leo bleyenberghi by Tomek. Kept in Europe in very small numbers.

Southwest African Lion (Panthera leo bleyenberghi) - ZooChat


Kalahari Lion Panthera leo vernayi by scuttleclaw Kept in Europe in very small numbers.

Mbali (2013) - ZooChat

South-east African or Transvaal Lion Panthera leo krugeri by UngulateNerd92. Kept in Europe in very small numbers.

Transvaal lion (Panthera leo krugeri) - ZooChat


East African or Masai Lion Panthera leo somaliensis. Photo by zooboyabroad. Only two females are present in Europe now, it seems.

Male Lion - Masai Mara NR - ZooChat


Barbary Lion Panthera leo leo? These zoo lions are a mystery – imported from a zoo in Morocco, were thought to be extinct in the wild lions from the North Africa. But may actually come from another extinct population in Sahel, on the southern edge of Sahara. Photo by Therabu.

Lion (Panthera leo) - ZooChat


West African Lion Panthera leo senegalensis, born from wild-born adults. The only one of its form in Europe.

African lion (Panthera leo) Nestor (Feb 27th, 2019) - ZooChat


Lion cubs of unknown origin photographed in Nigeria, West Africa. Although wild lions become rarer, stolen cubs still get confiscated, injured adults are found, and there is a huge natural mortality of cubs. So there is a possibility to start conservation breeding. Photo by Kaizenify, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

File:Two set of lions.jpg - Wikimedia Commons


Lions at Parc de la Vallée de la N’Sele, a zoo in Congo. Are they Congolese Lion Panthera leo azandica or transported mixed parentage lions? Photo by Rahul Tilak, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Lion_&_the_lioness_at_Parc_de_la_Vallée_de_la_Nsele.jpg

 

[dillotest0]

Last I heard, the 'barbary' lion population in captivity was not very much genetically 'pure' as far as things go, so I'm not sure how practical breeding that population further would be for true conservation for the [largely extinct] population.

 

[Jurek7]

Tigers

Only two tiger subspecies, Siberian and Sumatran, have big zoo populations. Another, South Chinese, is only found in China which has a breeding program but does not want to share animals. Others need holders.

Malayan tiger Panthera tigris jacksoni. Kept in Europe and North America in small numbrs. Photo by hmb_zoo.

Malayan Tiger (Sahaja)/ 7-5-22 / Hamerton - ZooChat



Indochinese tiger Panthera tigris corbetti. Photo by devilfish.

Indochinese tiger, June 2013. - ZooChat


Indian or Bengal Tiger Panthera tigris tigris. The relatively most common tiger form in the wild, but not found in zoos outside India.

Another Royal Bengal Tiger - ZooChat


Literature:
Liu et al. Genome-Wide Evolutionary Analysis of Natural History and Adaptation in the World's Tigers. Curr Biol. 2018 Dec 3;28(23)
Genome-Wide Evolutionary Analysis of Natural History and Adaptation in the World’s Tigers

 

[birdsandbats]

Last I heard, the 'barbary' lion population in captivity was not very much genetically 'pure' as far as things go, so I'm not sure how practical breeding that population further would be for true conservation for the population.

It would still be nice to have them for a potential reintroduction to northern Africa or even Europe.

 

[PossumRoach]

I am enjoying this post so far Mr. Jurek. I wanted to ask, what is your take on the idea of bringing the vulnerable mainland serrow and red serrow to Europe? As far as I know there is an ex-situ population in East Asia.

 

[Jurek7]

I am enjoying this post so far Mr. Jurek. I wanted to ask, what is your take on the idea of bringing the vulnerable mainland serrow and red serrow to Europe? As far as I know there is an ex-situ population in East Asia.

In this thread, as you know, I mostly asked 'if there is already space occupied by common animals'. Currently there seems to be no interest in bringing serows to Europe.

However, to turn possibility into reality, an interest and enthusiasm, often of a single person, are just as important. Action of Wrocław zoo brought Visayan Warty Pigs. Maybe somebody brings serows?

BTW, I am not Mr, we are all we here.

 

[Jurek7]

Big Cats part 3.

Mysterious in the wild, the Snow Leopard Panthera uncia has a large and secure population in zoos, but there is little interest in subspecies of snow leopards. Subspecies of other big cats attracted attention, but subspecies of snow leopard didn't. There are probably three: uncia from Central Asia, Pakistan and India, uncioides from Qinghai, Tibet, Bhutan, and Nepal and irbis from Mongolia and areas to the northwest. Photo by YANG Zhuofan in Xining zoo, China.

Snow leopard catches rabbits - ZooChat


It would be interesting, whether part of the zoo population can be traced to pure subspecies. For example, animals from the former Communist Europe should be descendands of cats caught in the former Soviet Union, so probably uncia, as snow leopards from Pakistan and Western Himalayas. The only recent pure subspecies snow leopard in a Western zoo which I could trace was the injured female Dshamilja (2000-2019) Panthera uncia uncia confiscated in Kirgizstan. On this photo by antonmuster from Zürich zoo, the cat at the front should be Dshamilja.

snow leopards - ZooChat

Possibly zoos in their native range keep pure subspecies Snow Leopards. For example, snow leopards in Xining zoo, China are within the range of Panthera uncia uncioides? Photo by Himimomi.

Snow leopard - ZooChat


Literature:
Janecka et al. Range-Wide Snow Leopard Phylogeography Supports Three Subspecies. Journal of Heredity, Volume 108, Issue 6, September 2017, Pages 597–60. Range-Wide Snow Leopard Phylogeography Supports Three Subspecies

Der anfänglich steinige Lebensweg von Dshamilja ging nun zu Ende | Zoo Zürich

 

[Jurek7]

Big Cats 4.

Leopard Panthera pardus subspecies can be divided into cold-hardy and tropical. The most visible character is the thick, fluffy tail. There are running breeding programs of Amur Leopards in Europe and North America. However, critically endangered North Chinese Leopard Panthera pardus japonensis with the population estimate of less than 500 individuals would benefit from more holders. Photo by ro6ca66.

North Chinese leopard : WHF Big Cat Sanctuary : 04 May 2017 - ZooChat


Endangered Persian leopard Panthera pardus saxicolor with the population of 800-1000 and rather strong presence in European zoos. Photo by Therabu.

Persian leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor) - ZooChat


Among tropical leopards, African pardus are still relatively common in the wild. But Javan Leopard Panthera pardus melas is critically endangered with 350-525 wild animals, and kept only by a handful of institutions in Europe. Photo by Antoine.

Bioparc Zoo de Doué - Resting javan leopard - ZooChat


Arabian leopard Panthera pardus nimr is another critically endangered subspecies with 45-200 individuals. It is kept in several zoos in the Middle East. Photo by Giant Eland.

Arabian leopard (Panthera pardus nimr) Sept 2018 - ZooChat


Endangered Sri Lankan Leopard Panthera pardus kotiya with the population of 700-950. Photo by ro6ca66.

Sri Lankan leopard (with cub) : Banham Zoo : 29 Sep 2017 - ZooChat


Endangered Indochinese Leopard Panthera pardus delacouri with the wild population less than 2500. The attractive melanistic morph, or black panther, is especially common in this subspecies. Allegedly, in one national park, all leopards photographed were black. Not kept in Europe at present. Photo by Chlidonias.

Indochinese leopard (Panthera pardus delacouri) - ZooChat


The least rare of Asian leopard forms, Indian Leopard Panthera pardus fusca is probably still vulnerable, with the population less than 10,000. It is known to be able to live in the city outskirts and in the farmland with no native vegetation or wild ungulates, but are such populations self-sustaining or 'sinks' of dying out individuals? Only one pair currently exists in Europe. Photo by Eagle.

Indian leopard - ZooChat


Literature: Stein et al. A. 2019. Panthera pardus (amended version of 2016 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T15954A160698029. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Accessed on 29 September 2022.

 

[Jurek7]

Big cats 5.

Cheetah population in zoos became so successful, that some could switch to Northwestern Cheetah Acinonyx jubatus soemmeringii, which is much rarer in zoos. Photo by Nisha.

Northern Cheetah cub - ZooChat


Lynxes

Critically endangered Balkan Lynx Lynx lynx balcanicus numbers as few 20-39 adults. It is different from Carpathian and other lynxes. Zoochat galleries and Zootierliste have unspecific lynxes in zoos in Belgrade and Skopje. It would be interesting to check if the are local, and eventually seriously try breeding them. Alleged Balkan Lynx in Tirana zoo by albinfo, open source Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

File:Tirana Zoo Balkan Lynx (OSCAL19 trip).jpg - Wikipedia


Endangered Iberian Lynx Lynx pardinus is an amazing example how a successful recovery program can look like. Captive breeding and release takes place in closed breeding centres, and zoos are given only few spare animals for display. Hopefully, more are to follow. Photo by Arizona Docent nicely shows its long sideburns with black stripes.

Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) - ZooChat