Most expensive zoo animals to house in terms of food cost?

I saw king cobras eat dead thawed rats. So not to much expensive feed king cobras, for me the most expensive animals in food cost are the specialist, I mean who just eat to much specific type of food. Only Specific leaves I.e.
 
Kakapo said:
If we enter in insect world the're is a new universe here. Tons of extremely specialized species that only can feed in, say, the wood of certain tree species rotten only by certain species of fungus. Or for example those milichiid flies that only can feed on honeybees that have been recently chased by spider crabs. Not to say about how to rear tachinid flies and ichneumon wasps in cases where they're parasitoids only of certain species of bugs or caterpillars... And have any place in the world tried to rear blister beetles? Or mantidflies, that in many cases only can parasitize the eggs of certain spider species? What about conopid flies, or bee-flies... Etc etc. Relatively harmless ectoparasites can be easy to keep once we have a host, except if the host itself is very difficult ot impossible to keep (who want to care for whale barnacles?). But what about dangerous endoparasites? Who want to feed a botfly larva while puting at risk and maybe make die of pain the deer, marmot or human needed for feed it?
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That is quite an interesting thought actually.

Personally I doubt that zoos keep such challenging species unless they happen to be endangered and require ex-situ breeding programmes or if they are of great interest to the public.

But lets be honest how many insects or inverts really are of interest to your average zoo visitor?

Parasitic wasps and particularly the jewel wasp seem to be kept by a couple of zoos in Europe and North America but not for conservation and mainly for environmental education (and the morbid interest that it inspires in visitors ?) and a jewel wasp doesn't really require very much considering that cockroaches are incredibly easy to obtain.

Ectoparasites and many of these insects that you mention are not likely to be found as exhibits in zoos and more likely to be found behind the scenes labs at natural history museums and research institutes where they are the subject of study.
 
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DaLilFishie said:
As far as I know, no aquarium feeds Whale Sharks solely on krill, and it doesn't need to be live. They are usually fed a mix of chopped fish, squid, and dead krill, and are trained to accept it from a scoop, where the Whale Shark swims across the surface and the mixture is poured in front of it.

As for baleen whales, the only baleen whale ever kept in captivity, GG, a Grey Whale calf, was fed on a similar seafood mix.
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Well JJ was first bottle-fed with a mixture of heavy cream, fish, and vitamins. Later on, she was fed solid fish, krill, and squid. I know her diet was expensive but I don't know by how much. Also, don't forget JJ was only a calf so this was not the complete diet for a full-grown Grey Whale.
 
KEEPER said:
I saw king cobras eat dead thawed rats. So not to much expensive feed king cobras
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Just try to read what I wrote above on that topic. ;)

Speaking of venomous snakes with a specialized diet: some sea snakes only eat certain types of fish (like eels) or just fish eggs. Recreating that diet in captivity can be quite pricey, too.
 
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