Parrots mostly. They tend to eat lots of fruits and seeds which have relatively high amounts of sugar and fats. And if they aren’t flying, they gain weight.
Obesity in Zoo Animals
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Now I’m with you. This is particularly an issue with Galahs, which are prone to lymphoma.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Some seeds in general tend to be rather fattening for parrots in captivity and yet unfortunately they're commonly overfed by misguided people (NOTE: I'm not saying giving them seeds is necessarily bad, moderation is important). I'm not sure if that's the case for other birds, but it's an apparent contributor to things like fatty liver disease and whatnot
Yes. A female orangutan especially looked obese.I cannot find a photo of her, but see the gorilla and the bears:
bantu gorilla chapultepec zoo - ZooChat
black bears chapultepec zoo - ZooChat
Spectacled Bear - ZooChat
The size differences between bird in aviculture and the wild cannot just be attributed to obesity though. First of all, birds in aviaries generally have all the food they and their offspring need, so the juveniles experience an almost optimal nutritional environment. Zebra Finches raised with limited food availability tend to be smaller and have lower reproductive success then finches raised with ad libitum food. Food it the wild is almost always limited to some extend.
Furthermore, there's active selection for larger birds as larger birds tend to score higher on bird shows (at least in the Netherlands). This is especially prevalent in basically domesticated species like Zebra Finches and Budgerigars. Because breeders now have much better knowledge on how to keep and breed species like Bullfinches, there's now an opportunity to actively select for the "best" birds and thus selection increases.
I'm not saying bird cannot be overweight (and many people's cage canaries probably are), just that there's much more going on in this case.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
There are definitely no female orangutangs at Chapultepec (there were two males for a long time and now there is only one) and havent been for many decades (if ever), the silverback gorilla "Bantu" often put on weight but was not obese.
Also I don't think any of the several bear species kept there could be classed as being obese although one of the spectacled bears "Charlie" (who was born at Jersey Zoo and sent to Mexico by Gerald Durrell ) was prone to being slightly overweight.
You may be confusing Chapultepec with another zoo within Mexico that has orangutangs and I can only think of two that have females of this species. These would be Zoo Leon in Guanajuato and Guadalajara zoo (incidentally neither of which are called "Mexico Zoo").
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Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Also I think it is worth mentioning that Mexico is a BIG country (one of the largest in the world) and there are upwards of 30 zoos spread out across its territory.
I appreciate that your English may be lacking but you wouldn't really say "Czech Republic zoo" or "Poland zoo" to refer to a zoo in those countries, right ? So why not be more specific when it comes to institutions in other countries ?
Moreover, many of the vets and zootechnical teams that deal with nutrition in Mexican zoos (and Latin American zoos in general) are very well trained professionals and many of them have studied in some of the best universities in the country or attended training courses / workshops in some of the best zoos in the United States, Canada or Europe.
For example, in the case of Chapultepec zoo more than one member of the team have attended the DESMAN course at Jersey Zoo in the UK and others are frequently attending workshops / conferences and training courses at zoos in the USA.
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Jungle Man
Well-Known Member
Is this orangutan obese? Sorry for asking, but I have never seen orangutans in my life.
Yes, she is. It is still typical for some, particularly female, Orangutans in zoos to become like this unfortunately.