No meerkats?
Most common species in Zoos?
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I think bobcat is #1. They're both easy to obtain from the pet trade, and come up pretty often as native rescues. Ring-taileds are very common, but they don't appear at nature centers or native species places, and there aren't really any public primate-only places (other than the obvious Duke) vs a lot of feline and carnivore only establishments.
Almost all of the holders are AZA. As @Gondwana said, there's pretty heavy restrictions on mongooses in the USA, so they don't just show up. The hype about meerkats being everywhere comes from the UK and Europe in general, not from here.
Only thing that really surprises me in that list is North American racoons.
Lions are the most common zoo animal in south Africa, both within official zoos, lion farms (which have been made illegal but these lions are still around somewhere), conservation centres, private collections and rehabilitation centres there are an estimate of 12 000 captive lions.
This is purely anecdotal, but from my experience the following are most common in US Zoos, and the species I have seen in the most zoos:
1. Laughing Kookaburra- since I started my lifelist, I have seen this species in more Zoos than any other species, in the majority of AZA Zoos and plenty of other facilities as well.
2. North American River Otter- tied with the Kookaburra for species I've seen the most. Not very common in non-AZA Zoos, but definitely common in the AZA- and I've seen these at substantially more Zoos than the Asian Small-clawed Otter, though this might be a regional thing.
3. Sulcata/African Spurred Tortoise- a lot of Zoos hold this species, both AZA and non-AZA. The reptile species I have seen the most often, with most individuals being surrendered pets/rescues.
4. Two-toed Sloths- if the two species are lumped together, I would have seen this animal at more Zoos than the Kookaburra and otter, as almost everywhere has a sloth on exhibit.
5. Emus- seen at a lot of zoos.
6. Red Kangaroos- presumably one of the easiest, and cheapest, popular species to manage. They don't require an unreasonable amount of space, and are common even outside the AZA.
7. Scarlet Ibises- Kept by a lot of AZA Zoos, primarily in large free-flight aviaries.
8. North American Porcupines- small, easy to keep species that can be kept outside year-round, plus generally considered cute makes this an appealing option for Zoos.
9. Ring-tailed Lemurs- easily the most common primate in US Zoos, kept by many Zoos both AZA and non-AZA Zoos.
10. Harbor Seals- I'd expect this one to be less common in other parts of the country, but many Zoos and Aquariums around here keep this species.
11. African Lion- obviously a popular species, and one that many Zoos want to keep if able. I've seen this animal at more Zoos than tigers, though not sure if this is universally the case.
12. Giraffe- both masai and generic giraffes seen at many Zoos, both AZA and non-AZA.
1. Laughing Kookaburra- since I started my lifelist, I have seen this species in more Zoos than any other species, in the majority of AZA Zoos and plenty of other facilities as well.
2. North American River Otter- tied with the Kookaburra for species I've seen the most. Not very common in non-AZA Zoos, but definitely common in the AZA- and I've seen these at substantially more Zoos than the Asian Small-clawed Otter, though this might be a regional thing.
3. Sulcata/African Spurred Tortoise- a lot of Zoos hold this species, both AZA and non-AZA. The reptile species I have seen the most often, with most individuals being surrendered pets/rescues.
4. Two-toed Sloths- if the two species are lumped together, I would have seen this animal at more Zoos than the Kookaburra and otter, as almost everywhere has a sloth on exhibit.
5. Emus- seen at a lot of zoos.
6. Red Kangaroos- presumably one of the easiest, and cheapest, popular species to manage. They don't require an unreasonable amount of space, and are common even outside the AZA.
7. Scarlet Ibises- Kept by a lot of AZA Zoos, primarily in large free-flight aviaries.
8. North American Porcupines- small, easy to keep species that can be kept outside year-round, plus generally considered cute makes this an appealing option for Zoos.
9. Ring-tailed Lemurs- easily the most common primate in US Zoos, kept by many Zoos both AZA and non-AZA Zoos.
10. Harbor Seals- I'd expect this one to be less common in other parts of the country, but many Zoos and Aquariums around here keep this species.
11. African Lion- obviously a popular species, and one that many Zoos want to keep if able. I've seen this animal at more Zoos than tigers, though not sure if this is universally the case.
12. Giraffe- both masai and generic giraffes seen at many Zoos, both AZA and non-AZA.
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In México, the most common zoo animals are the ones confíscated from the ilegal pet trade. Spider monkey, military macaws, green iguana, and morelets crocodiles, first. Also native mammals like coati, raccoon,coyote and bobcat. There are many felines also confiscated from the ilegal pet trade such as lion and tiger cubs.
My bad indeed, accidentally removed them together with the donkeys and shetlander pony’s.
Jambi
Well-Known Member
I'm surprised fallow deer are so high up, it's a species I've never seen before. Then again, I've only visited one zoo that has them and they were a no-show. I also wouldn't have thought raccoons would be that high up, I've only seen them once.
Kakapo
Well-Known Member
From this side of the map, bobcats are an extreme rarity and ringtails are unique to only one zoo.
The "ring-tailed" being referred to here is Lemur catta, which I know is found in more than one European zoo.
Bassariscus astutus is pretty rare in zoos over here too, although it is found in more than one zoo.
Probably because zootierliste also include a lot of wildpark and deer parks
The fallow deer are because it includes a lot of wildparks and petting zoos (even though many of the latter don’t have a zoo-permit).
Raccoons are simply extremely common, the UK alone for example has 40 holders.
Do you have numbers for Red Panda?
84. Like meerkats, they're almost never outside of AZA.
I'm surprised that they have the approximate same number of holders as Meerkats, as I see Red Pandas a lot and almost never see Meerkats. Thanks!
Red pandas are almost all in the northern half of the country, while meerkats are more spread out somewhat evenly.
BenFoxster
Well-Known Member
I'm surprised about the NA river otter and sloth, as to this day I've still never seen either of these species before in my life.