Off Exhibit

[cwenwyn]

I often see posts that talk about animals that are off exhibit - and not specifically for breeding or illness. Why would a zoo keep animals that are never exhibited? Just curious...

 

[loxodonta]

I often see posts that talk about animals that are off exhibit - and not specifically for breeding or illness. Why would a zoo keep animals that are never exhibited? Just curious...

Three main reasons for this are breeding, age and health. Some species breed a lot better when they are away from the public (Guam rails are an example of this at my zoo). The age of animal matters as well. Certain individuals in a way "retire" from public display because of advanced age. Cleveland is doing this with their lone Nile hippo and Philly did this with their elderly jaguarundi. Also if an animal has an illness, injury, or gives birth a zoo might keep them off display until they recover.

 

[zebedee101]

Three main reasons for this are breeding, age and health. Some species breed a lot better when they are away from the public (Guam rails are an example of this at my zoo). The age of animal matters as well. Certain individuals in a way "retire" from public display because of advanced age. Cleveland is doing this with their lone Nile hippo and Philly did this with their elderly jaguarundi. Also if an animal has an illness, injury, or gives birth a zoo might keep them off display until they recover.

Other reasons include quarantine, especially if coming from outside the country. Intolerance, where two members of the same species dont get on and get access to enclosures at seperate times. Sometimes exhibits are designed for more than one type of animal and they are rotated, such as the hyenas at Colchester so you wont see both types on the same day.

As Lox already said breeding is one of the biggest reasons, cheetahs only breed if they are strangers to each other and so are kept out of sight and smell of each other until the female is in oestrus. Cranes dont breed well so are often in quieter areas and some animals are used in research programmes, at one time Whipsnade had over a dozen red pandas that were part of a breeding research program and were housed off show and not accessable to the general public so that blood and excreta could be collected regularly to monitor breeding cycles.

 

[Ungulate]

Don't forget unplanned acquisitions (e.g., government confiscations), a lack of exhibit space, and a lack of interest by other institutions to take animals.

 

[snowleopard]

I've heard rumors in the past that up to 40% of the San Diego Zoo's animals are off exhibit. If that were true it wouldn't be entirely shocking due to the fact that many off exhibit areas can be seen from the skyfari ride.