Mixed species exhibits

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I went to Auckland Zoo this morning and had a chat with one of the volunteers who was monitoring the first day two of the otters were spending in the bonnet macaque's exhibit (presumably to utilise the water moat)...

The Macaques are very elderly and their exhibit is very heavily planted, you really have to know where to look for them and even then it can take 5 - 10 minutes to spot them, so I assume this is an attempt to curb visitors looking at this amazing exhibit and because they are not instantly gratified walking on...

A keeper and a film crew were also in the exhibit, no doubt shooting a scene for the zoo's TV show (creatively) named 'The Zoo'...
 
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i have seen bornean gibbons mixed with indian smooth-coated otters. both species seemed unfazed by the other, the otter utilising the land area.

i was surprised by thins since all primates are strong and especially gibbons are no exception, with the added supreme agility. they have no problem catching birds..

i suspect otters sharp teeth might have something to do with why it works.
 
@PAT: That's Münster Allwetterzoo-and it's indeed pretty nice, too.

Bringing in the otters has actually proved to be quite successful in Münster; the little snappy fellows have dedicated themselves to the motto "United we stand(...)"and thus are quite assertive as a pack. The Münster Orang-Utans & Wanderus have already experienced enough nipping of their behinds by otters to realize that...;)

Otters seem to be able to stand their ground: Omaha Zoo f.e. also keeps Lars together with Oriental Small-clawed Otters and New Orleans has a mixed species exhibits of babirusa & this otter species. So far, the otters in both insititutions seem to do fine. The accident at Jungle World (?) where one of the langurs was killed by the otters should also underline how vicious these little fellows can be.

I'm wondering though whether the gibbons at Busch Gardens will have a go at the flying foxes-and whether the water volume needed for the gharials might not be fatal once a gibbon falls into it. (think of Leipzig Zoo). Doesn't Busch Gardens keep Tomistomas and not Gharials? If so, the Tomistomas might enjoy some additional unintended snacks...;)
 
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Hello,

I would like to ask what kind of mixed exhibits exist with tree kangaroos? And what any other combination work with kangaroos? (Macropus spp. , Wallabia sp., Petrogale sp . etc...) Thanks...
 
Duisburg keeps Matschie's Tree-kangaroos together with Woylies and Blue-winged Kookaburras. I've also read about a Tammar Wallaby - tree kangaroo mixed species exhibit. Echidnas and tree kangaroos should not be mixed, as the latter step into the quills and sometimes eat them.

The most common combination I have seen worldwide is kangaroos and emus; additionally with Brolgas, Cape Barren Geese or Magpie Geese and other Australasian waterfowl. Duisburg also keeps their Common Wombats together with Bennett's Wallabys.
 
Sun Wukong said:
Oriental Small-clawed Otters and accident at Jungle World (?) where one of the langurs was killed by the otters
Click to expand...

When I visited Jungle World, the pack of otters was many times trying to enter the land, only to be attacked by male langur. Basically, otters were swimming in circles. They were certainly unhappy there. I think otters should be moved elsewhere, e.g. to tapir moat or to binturongs.

AFAIK, in the wild, Oriental Small-clawed Otter is mostly land-living animal which enters water rather occassionally. So I feel it should not be kept where it has little access to land.
 
Jurek7 said:
When I visited Jungle World, the pack of otters was many times trying to enter the land, only to be attacked by male langur. Basically, otters were swimming in circles. They were certainly unhappy there. I think otters should be moved elsewhere, e.g. to tapir moat or to binturongs.

AFAIK, in the wild, Oriental Small-clawed Otter is mostly land-living animal which enters water rather occassionally. So I feel it should not be kept where it has little access to land.
Click to expand...

I haven't been there in quite some time, but the otters and the proboscis monkeys got along just fine for many years.
 
Sun, thanks for your help.
I saw an interesting photo in the prior issue of EAZA News about an african mixed exhibit in Boras Djurpark. If I saw correctly there were zebras, elands, ostriches, rhinos and elephants together. Do you know elephants and rhinos exhibited together somewhere currently?
I think white rhinos and cheetahs live together in Boras currently...
 
Orycteropus said:
Hello,

I would like to ask what kind of mixed exhibits exist with tree kangaroos? And what any other combination work with kangaroos? (Macropus spp. , Wallabia sp., Petrogale sp . etc...) Thanks...
Click to expand...

at blackbrook we keep red kangaroo with emu and cape barren gesse

bennet wallabie with parma wallabie magpie gesse and australian shelduck
 
I see that there were at least four messages on this thread talking about the alleged ferociousness of asian small-clawed otters. Interesting then that the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma (near Seattle) has their otters in with indian crested porcupines, an animal that no one would wish to tangle with. Also, there is barely any water in that exhibit, highlighting the fact that those particular otters aren't regular swimmers like many of the other species.
 
@Orycteropus: You're welcome.

I think that photo misled You. As far as I know, no zoo keeps rhinos & elephants together; that would be a little bit too risky. And yes, Borås Zoo keeps cheetahs together with Southern White rhinos.

Oriental Small-clawed Otters are indeed less aquatic than the other otter species; yet they don't mind taking a good bath as often as possible. This, in combination with their social nature (well, at least among each other most of the time) and small size seems to make them the "standard otter species" in many zoos. Didn't Singapore keep them for a while together with a monitor species?
 
Hi, thanks for the answers (and thanks for the welcome, too)

Sun, I am more and more sure that I can see white rhinos and african elephants together in a mixed exhibit in this photo…but I will ask it, I think…
This is not mean that I think it is a good combination; I am just interested in this coexsistence…
Currently (or in the near past) Borås keep their elephants with reticulated giraffes, elands, cape buffalos, blesbok and osrtiches in a mixed exhibit.

Another theme: here you can see some short videos about otters and primates in a mixed-species exhibit:

 
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@Orycteropus: that monkey death footage at the Bronx Zoo was crazy! The nonstop screaming of the animals must have horrified all of the zoo visitors, and caused nightmares for the staff as they probably had to deal with numerous customer complaints.
 
Sun Wukong said:
Echidnas and tree kangaroos should not be mixed, as the latter step into the quills and sometimes eat them.
Click to expand...

the combination of short-beaked echidnas and goodfellow's tree-kangaroo worked for a couple of years at melbourne with no issue whatsoever. the tree-kangaroo's even raised a couple of young.

dorcopisis wallbies also lived with the tree-kangaroos at the zoo for many years prior to that.
 
at the Underwater World on Sentosa Island (Singapore) when I was there in 2004 there was a "mangrove exhibit" that had small-clawed otters in with sea turtles (I think Green?)
 
Patrick, thanks for the information.
Do the eastern long-beaked echidnas in Taronga Zoo live in a mixed exhibit? Does anybody have information about that? Thanks …
 
@patrick: Then the question should be why this particular combination is no longer existing...;) No, seriously: the echidna-tree kangaroo issue is not something I made up out of the thin air; You can glean that info using the book PUSCHMANN: Zootierhaltung Säugetiere Version 4 p.22. And I think that bit of information was also mentioned in one of FOWLER/MILLER's Zoo & Wildlife Medicine books; might take a look by myself once in a while if time allows it.
Because the combination seemed to have worked in one case (out of curiosity: do You have access to the veterinary files of Melbourne Zoo?), it doesn't mean that it also works everywhere-and obviously, the combination hasn't achieved widespread acceptance (though I'm honest to admit that there are widespread, not really working combinations-like zebras and eland etc.).

@snowleopard: That last Youtube bit was the accident I mentioned.
 
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