Naked mole rats in zoos

Davdhole

Davdhole

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
I know animals like meerkats, small-clawed otters, and even lions, among many more, are so common that most zoochatters have no interest in them and could care less about seeing them, but what about naked mole rats? They seem pretty common. Although I haven't been to too many zoos, I believe every one that I've been to has mole rats. How does zoochat feel about them, and how common are they really?
 
Zoo Tampa/Lowry Park Zoo had a colony at one time, but they removed them when they demolished the Children's Zoo for the new Australian themed kids area. I like them a lot, they are always fun to watch.
 
Lincoln Park Zoo has them. I just saw them when I went yesterday, in fact! I don't really have an issue with them, but I've heard a lot of guests either freak out or say, "Eww!" when they learn about them.
 
I’m pretty sure that Disney’s Animal Kingdom still has a decent sized colony of the mostly hairless rodents within their “Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail” exhibit area, but other than DAK I’m pretty sure that they are completely absent in other zoological institutions around my area as a whole.
 
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Naked mole rats are cool rodents. From a Google search, here's some zoos I found (I know some are mentioned already here):
-Toledo Zoo
-Cincinnati Zoo
-Seneca Park Zoo
-Smithsonian's National Zoo
-Brookfield Zoo
-Lincoln Park Zoo
-Disney's Animal Kingdom
-Akron Zoo
-Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
-Toronto Zoo
-Oregon Zoo
-San Diego Zoo
-Zoo Atlanta
-Houston Zoo
-Lincoln Children's Zoo
-Bronx Zoo
-Pacific Science Center
-Singapore Zoo
-Buffalo Zoo
-Riverbanks Zoo
-Pittsburgh Zoo

I omitted a few zoos since I wasn't sure whether they still had them.
 
My rough list for USA:
ABQ
Akron
Birmingham
Chattanooga
Cheyenne Mountain
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Dallas
DAK
Erie
Henson Robinson
Houston
Liberty Science Center
Lincoln Children's
Lincoln Park
Little Rock
Louisville
Memphis
Oglebay
Omaha
Oregon
Pacific Science Center
Philly
Pittsburgh
Pueblo
Riverbanks
Rosamond Gifford
Scovill
Seneca Park
Smithsonian
St Louis
Toledo
Tulsa
Zoo Atlanta
Zoo Knoxville
ZooTampa
 
The Naked Mole Rats would get a new exhibit at the new children’s zoo this year.

The vision plan for the Los Angeles Zoo includes them.

One reason they’re so popular mostly due to Rufus from the Disney Channel Tv Show, Kim Possible.
 
TinoPup said:
My rough list for USA:
ABQ
Akron
Birmingham
Chattanooga
Cheyenne Mountain
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Dallas
DAK
Erie
Henson Robinson
Houston
Liberty Science Center
Lincoln Children's
Lincoln Park
Little Rock
Louisville
Memphis
Oglebay
Omaha
Oregon
Pacific Science Center
Philly
Pittsburgh
Pueblo
Riverbanks
Rosamond Gifford
Scovill
Seneca Park
Smithsonian
St Louis
Toledo
Tulsa
Zoo Atlanta
Zoo Knoxville
ZooTampa
Click to expand...
Brookfield keeps them too.
 
TinoPup said:
My rough list for USA:
ABQ
Akron
Birmingham
Chattanooga
Cheyenne Mountain
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Dallas
DAK
Erie
Henson Robinson
Houston
Liberty Science Center
Lincoln Children's
Lincoln Park
Little Rock
Louisville
Memphis
Oglebay
Omaha
Oregon
Pacific Science Center
Philly
Pittsburgh
Pueblo
Riverbanks
Rosamond Gifford
Scovill
Seneca Park
Smithsonian
St Louis
Toledo
Tulsa
Zoo Atlanta
Zoo Knoxville
ZooTampa
Click to expand...
Tampa does not have them any longer, I think it has been quite some time since they kept them. The exhibit was demolished when I volunteered there, must have been sometime around 2000.
 
Ueno Zoo, Saitama Children's Zoo, Nagasaki Biopark, and Maruyama zoo, are JAZA accredited zoos with NMRs.

Izoo also has NMR and probably supplies some roadside collectors animals.
 
TinoPup said:
They had 4 at the end of Feb.
Click to expand...
Interesting, do you know where they are hiding them? I suppose off exhibit as I am not sure where they would be on exhibit. When I volunteered there I am pretty confident they got rid of them all, but I could be wrong on that. I haven't volunteered since around 2004, so that was quite some time ago now.
 
In Germany they are keept in the Tierpark Berlin, Zoo Dresden, TheAquazoo Düsseldorf, Zoo Osnabrück, Wilhelma in Stuttgart and in the wildlifestation Wassenberg
 
The Greensboro Science Center might be getting some as a part of the new Wunderworld area that will be added
 
Wildlands in the Netherlands has a decent exhibit. It's mainly made of glass tubes (which is mildly disappointing), but the huge naked mole-rat statues coming out of the walls horrify me every time... In a good way!
 
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