The post you quoted doesn't say pygmy hippo, it says river hippo. River hippos have certainly been the aggressor in mixed exhibits before, and are a whole different ball game. I agree Pygmy hippo/duiker would likely be fine, but we aren't talking about Pygmy Hippos here. River hippos and duikers are a mix that is much less likely to be successful.
Mixed species exhibit ideas
- Thread starter LowlandGorilla4
- Start date
American crocodiles inhabit mostly saltwater habitats in the wild, but seem to be only held in freshwater habitats in captivity.
Would it be possible to have American crocodiles in a saltwater tank with French angelfish, Foureye butterflyfish, Atlantic blue tang, Bermuda chub, Blue-striped grunt, Longspine squirrelfish, Atlantic spadefish?
Would it be possible to have American crocodiles in a saltwater tank with French angelfish, Foureye butterflyfish, Atlantic blue tang, Bermuda chub, Blue-striped grunt, Longspine squirrelfish, Atlantic spadefish?
Seems mostly like expensive long-term feed-enrichment.
Haliaeetus
Well-Known Member
For me the American Crocodiles live in brackish waters, not in coral reefs.
A mangrove habitat would be more suited for them, even if this species may be mixed with fish of this biome, and probably small reptiles and amphibians.
I thought it could be fine since other crocodile species are often held with freshwater fish with no problem
No visible problems, just like with mixed exhibits with sharks: it’s not because you don’t see them eating a fish every now and then that it doesn’t happen. Some very quick species like tigerfish, very small species like guppies and tetra’s and large/dangerous species like arapaima and stingray might be truly safe but all those cichlids you see in crocodile exhibits are certainly at risk. The risk is low, but certainly not zero.
Have sea ducks ever been kept with smaller seal species? I've seen a couple reports of wild seals eating ducks on rare occasions so doesn't seem like it might be the best mix to try. Several European zoos have naturalistic exhibits for Harbor and Gray seals so I was curious if it's ever been attempted and if any issues arose. Or if seals have gone for wild ducks that made themselves at home?
I know Ecomare's seals are known to pick seagulls right out of the sky. The only bird/seal mixes I've heard of are either with very large Eagles or with a single cormorant that barely comes to the water (I believe this is also done with an elderly seal)
OkapiJohn
Well-Known Member
Oceanografic valencia has a tank with harbour seals and eiders, puffins and fish.
JurassicMax
Well-Known Member
Artis had their California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) mixed with some African penguins (Spheniscus demersus), European eiders (Somateria mollissima mollissima)
and Great white pelicans (Pelecanus onocrotalus) for a short period of time, as far as I know no birds were killed by the sea lions.
I know Gorilla and Meerkat have been held together before, but would Gorilla and Common kusimanse go together okay? Same question with Banded mongoose
Feather Island- Dedicated to birds of the islands of the Pacific Rim, this free-flight aviary is home to southern cassowaries, Bali mynahs, raggiana birds of paradise, nenes, Guam rail, Guam kingfisher, Victoria crowned pigeons, white-naped pheasant pigeons, great argus, Hawaiian duck, Luzon bleeding-heart dove, Socorro dove, many-colored fruit dove, kagu, and Molucan cockatoo. Separate from the cassowaries is an area for the ground birds to get away that the cassowaries cannot access.
-Would these be a good mix, or would some of them have to go?
China aviary- blue-crowned laughingthrush, collared finchbill, red-billed leiothrix, Mandarin duck, ruddy shelduck, red-crowned crane. Tufted deer would also work here, but I just want to focus on the birds here.
African scrub habitat- A large open exhibit featuring black rhinos, fring-eared oryx, and Somali wild asses.
Sulawesi- An indoor exhibit featuring babirusa, Sulawesi hornbill, and enlongated tortoises. There is a water feature with Amboina box turtles and Asiatic softshell turtles.
-Would Sulawesi flying fox work here? Would the babirusas mess with the turtles too much?
Pacific coast- A large outdoor meshed-in aviary featuring rockwork and a saltwater pool. Tenants include ring-billed gull, tufted puffin, white tern, and brown pelican.
-Would gharial be good to mix with any birds or at least mammals due to their piscivorous diet, even if not water-dwelling mammals like otters or barasingha due to territoriality.
-Would these be a good mix, or would some of them have to go?
China aviary- blue-crowned laughingthrush, collared finchbill, red-billed leiothrix, Mandarin duck, ruddy shelduck, red-crowned crane. Tufted deer would also work here, but I just want to focus on the birds here.
African scrub habitat- A large open exhibit featuring black rhinos, fring-eared oryx, and Somali wild asses.
Sulawesi- An indoor exhibit featuring babirusa, Sulawesi hornbill, and enlongated tortoises. There is a water feature with Amboina box turtles and Asiatic softshell turtles.
-Would Sulawesi flying fox work here? Would the babirusas mess with the turtles too much?
Pacific coast- A large outdoor meshed-in aviary featuring rockwork and a saltwater pool. Tenants include ring-billed gull, tufted puffin, white tern, and brown pelican.
-Would gharial be good to mix with any birds or at least mammals due to their piscivorous diet, even if not water-dwelling mammals like otters or barasingha due to territoriality.
That sounds like a colorful crocodile buffet.
The aviary might work except for the cassawaries.
Black rhinos are pretty aggressive, I'm not sure they'd mix well.
It seems like babirusas would mess with the turtles, or at least eat their eggs.
Pelicans might eat the gulls.
I don't think the cassowary with the ground-dwelling birds is a great idea. Especially as many of these species are rare to begin with I don't think putting them in a giant mixed species aviary is a great idea.
Should probably work in a very large exhibit - but you'd have to be prepared to separate or remove animals.
I wouldn't - babirusa would probably harass the turtles too much if not injure/kill them. (Includes the aquatic ones.) The hornbill and bats would be cautious mixing with babirusa, could probably work. I don't think it's great all the way around.
Pelicans will not eat the gulls as has been suggested, however the gulls will harass the puffins and especially the terns. Additionally white tern and tufted puffin do not have the same environmental requirements.
I thought pelicans have been known to eat small birds.
Gulls are not small birds.
Great White Pelicans are certainly not above eating birds like pigeons and ducks, and mixing them with small species is a real hazard. Other larger species of pelicans occasionally do but it's not as common. The Brown Pelican is a small pelican that doesn't pose much risk. Ring-billed Gull is certainly too big for a Brown to eat.
Pelicans as a whole can be rather mouthy at times, but usually only the larger species pose much risk to exhibit mates.
I think only the larger ground birds like Nene, Crowned pigeon, Pheasant pigeon and Argus pheasant are problematic here. Birds like fruit doves, Mynahs and Kingfishers should pose no problem
Should be fine
Flying foxes should be safe in here if its large enough. But I think its safer to do flying foxes OR Hornbill, not both (other birds with either should be fine, but the Hornbills might harass the Flying foxes)
Turtles and tortoises are definitely at risk
Others already said the Ring-billed gull would harass the Puffins. But a smaller gull species should be fine. Pacific Kittiwake (/Black-legged kittiwake) has been held with Puffins, Eiders and Common murres for years now in Blijdorp with no issue
Gharials can't really attack larger animals because of their fragile snout, so they won't really try to eat anything they wouldn't be able to swallow effortlessly. Most birds should be fine but I wouldn't suggest ducks or larger ground birds (Pheasant, Crowned pigeon, Ibis).
Gharials have been held together with Flying fox, Gibbons, Muntjac and Mouse deer that I know of. But otters are always a bad idea in a mix, and Barashinga would probably get scared by the Gharials and trample them.