Popularity of Turacos

vogelcommando

vogelcommando

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
20-30 years ago Turacos were realy populair in zoos and in almost every zoo several species could be seen. Now-a-days the number is much smaller and most zoos ( IF they have Turacos ) have only one or two species.
Birdparks like Walsrode and Avifauna do have some more species but still not the number kept for say 30 years ago. Also the zoos from Antwerp and Mulhouse had impresive collections of these birds !
I know that species-diversity in general has lost a great deal in zoos world-wide but even so it's a pitty that these beautifull birds are shown less often in public collections.
In privat hands many species are doing well in the Turaco Society is doing good work !
I want to ask which zoos / birdparks do still have a nice collection of Turacos ( and go-a-way birds ) and does anyone know if the Bannerman's, the Prince Ruspoli's and / or the Ruwenzori turaco have ever been kept in captivity and if yes, where ?
 
Birmingham has Lady Ross Turaco and another subspecies I can't remember. They are one of the bird species that moved to the African section. When they built the new ground level giraffe feeding deck (the giraffe pen floor is lowered) the deck has built in aviaries for lady ross turaco, a vulture species, african crowned cranes, weavers and several species of african song bird.
 
I love turacos, they are such awesome birds. I think the best Turaco collection I have seen (I haven't been to any of the places you listed, and I suspect they are superior) was Cotswold Wildlife Park in the UK. I saw seven species there:

Great Blue Turaco
Ross's Turaco
Violet Turaco
Red-crested Turaco
White-cheeked Turaco
Guinea Turaco
Purple-crested Turaco
 
vogelcommando said:
does anyone know if the Bannerman's, the Prince Ruspoli's and / or the Ruwenzori turaco have ever been kept in captivity and if yes, where ?
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Ruwenzori was kept in its native range, Rwanda, in the 1990s as part of a project studying their feeding behavior. In earlier decades it was also kept in a few zoos in Europe; see zootierliste under its alternative name Johnston's turaco. I wouldn't be surprised if they all have been kept in captivity 30+ years ago in Europe, but I don't have any data confirming that for Bannerman's and Ruspoli's. In addition to the 3 species you list, I'm not aware of anyone keeping yellow-billed turaco in recent decades (however, I do know it was kept around 1900 in England). I would be surprised if these 4 have been kept anywhere outside their native ranges in the last few decades.

An article somewhat relevant to this matter on page 12 of the recent Zooquaria magazine, noting that 18 of the 23 turaco species are kept in European institutions (I presume the earlier 4 species + Knysna turaco are missing; the last is kept in small numbers elsewhere):
http://www.eaza.net/News/EAZA_Magazine/EAZA NEWS Magazine/ZA81.pdf

Personally I don't really believe their popularity have diminished over the last few decades. Sure there may be fewer species on average at each zoo, but except for the smallest zoos/zoos focusing on other animal groups, most zoos do have at least one turaco among their species. The zootierliste entries for the four most frequently kept species, green (note: 4 entries, one for the species, one for each of its races), red-crested, violet and white-cheeked are all quite long. I believe these also are the most widely kept in North American zoos. While less common than the "big four", a handful of other species are kept quite widely too.
 
Lagos Zoo in Portugal has seven: Violet Turaco, Western Grey Plantain-Eater, White-Cheeked Turaco, Eastern Gray Plantain-Eater, Green Turaco, Livingston's Turaco and Senegal Turaco.
 
Thank you all for the information sofar esp. the article about the Turacos !
7 species is of course quite a number but in the time I worked at Walsrode we had 13 ( ! )
species for which I took care - with from several species also several subspecies.
 
British bird park Birdworld near Farnham (Surrey) was formerly very rich collection of touracos. In 2008 and 2009 I saw a 9 species:
-Tauraco persa buffoni
-Tauraco schalowi
-Tauraco schuettii emini
-Tauraco fischeri fischeri
-Tauraco erythrolophus
-Tauraco leucotis
-Musophaga rossae
-Corythaixoides leucogaster
-Crinifer piscator .
Today, that number dropped to 6 unless (as many have seen in 2010 and 2011).
For comparison, in Walsrode in 2011 and 2012 I saw 8-9 species.
 
As of 2011, Wildlife World Zoo near Phoenix, Arizona had the following six species:

Crinifer piscator
Musophaga rossae
Musophaga violacea
Tauraco erythrolophus
Tauraco leucotis
Tauraco persa
 
My home zoo, the Los Angeles Zoo has 2 species of turaco, the species they have are

Lady ross turaco (Musophaga rossae)
and
White crested turaco (Tauraco leucolophus)
 
Jurong has at least 6: Great Blue, Violet, Purple-crested, Hartlaub's, Guinea and Livingstone's.

Fischer's and Knysna are possibly still surviving (they are all housed in the 2-hectare African aviary which makes confirmation of their existence difficult).
 
Zooish said:
Jurong has at least 6: Great Blue, Violet, Purple-crested, Hartlaub's, Guinea and Livingstone's.

Fischer's and Knysna are possibly still surviving (they are all housed in the 2-hectare African aviary which makes confirmation of their existence difficult).
Click to expand...

Wow, that is a nice collection of turaco species, Jurong Bird Park seems like a cool place, anyways a 2 hectare aviary, that is really huge, in fact that is bigger then some elephant exhibits
 
One other thing about turacos - I have seen them used in display demonstrations at both Paignton and London zoos - I suspect they are rather smarter birds than people give them credit for.
 
I know it is literally almost 10 years since the original post, but hey...

In South Africa Turaco collections are growing from what I have experienced, though I haven't been tracking it for too long.

Joburg Zoo has kept Ross' in the past, but over my last visits they started with only Violet and now have Violet, Guinea (persa) and Knysna. Knysna are the most common species in South Africa.

Emerald Animal World has kept Guinea and Hartlaub's in the past, but in recent years they only had Violet. I have recently seen through a fence that they have a Grey Go-away-bird backstage (also present in South Africa, but not common). The keeper has also told me that they are getting new birds when I asked if they only have 1 Violet Turaco meaning they might get some more turaco, or at least they are getting another turaco so that they can have a pair.

Birds of Eden has the most insane Turaco collection by far. As you might know Birds of Eden is the largest free flight aviary in the world and gets all of their birds from private holders that surrender them. This include breeders.
Until Covid they had:

Guinea (persa & buffoni)
Livingstone's (reichenowi)
Schalow's
Knysna
Hartlaub's
Purple-crested
Violet
Grey Go-away-bird
Western Plantain-eater

But during Covid they received a plethora of birds from multiple breeders and just household pets.
Their collection now boasts with the most turaco species in a public collection (according to their social media at least):

Guinea (persa & buffoni)
Livingstone's (reichenowi)
Schalow's
Knysna
White-crested
Fischer's
Red-crested
Hartlaub's
White-cheeked
Purple-crested
Violet
Ross'
Bare-faced Go-away bird
Grey Go-away-bird
White-bellied Go-away bird
Western Plantain-eater

Our private trade also has very large turaco collections and there is apparently even some Black-billed and Great Blue's lurking around.
 
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Hello. I've gathered some information on turaco species held by Brazilian zoos.
As of July 10, 2021, Projeto Selva Viva (Taubaté, SP, Brazil) held three species:
- White-cheeked turaco (Menelikornis leucotis);
- Violet turaco (Musophaga violacea);
- Buffon's turaco (Tauraco buffoni).

As of December 04, 2022, São Paulo zoo (São Paulo, SP, Brazil) held two species:
- White-cheeked turaco (Menelikornis leucotis);
- Violet turaco (Musophaga violacea).

As of July 28, 2022, Zooparque Itatiba (Itatiba, SP, Brazil) held four species:
- White-cheeked turaco (Menelikornis leucotis);
- Violet turaco (Musophaga violacea);
- Red-crested turaco (Proturacus erythrolophus);
- White-crested turaco (Proturacus leucolophus).

As of July 27, 2022, Parque Zoológico Municipal Quinzinho de Barros (Sorocaba, SP, Brazil) held two species:
- White-cheeked turaco (Menelikornis leucotis);
- Violet turaco (Musophaga violacea).

As of December 10, 2021, Passeio Público (Curitiba, PR, Brazil) held two species:
- Violet turaco (Musophaga violacea);
- Hartlaub's turaco (Tauraco hartlaubi).

As of December 9, 2021, Bioparque Zoo Pomerode (Pomerode, SC, Brazil) held a single species, being it the violet turaco (Musophaga violacea).

Some other zoos hold turacos as well, mostly from the violet and white-cheeked species. These birds are also in large numbers on private hands, especially in São Paulo and Minas Gerais. I'd recommend searching for Criadouro Polezel on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube if you want to learn more about one of South America's most complete collections of these wonderful creatures.
 
Enzo said:
Hello. I've gathered some information on turaco species held by Brazilian zoos.
As of July 10, 2021, Projeto Selva Viva (Taubaté, SP, Brazil) held three species:
- White-cheeked turaco (Menelikornis leucotis);
- Violet turaco (Musophaga violacea);
- Buffon's turaco (Tauraco buffoni).

As of December 04, 2022, São Paulo zoo (São Paulo, SP, Brazil) held two species:
- White-cheeked turaco (Menelikornis leucotis);
- Violet turaco (Musophaga violacea).

As of July 28, 2022, Zooparque Itatiba (Itatiba, SP, Brazil) held four species:
- White-cheeked turaco (Menelikornis leucotis);
- Violet turaco (Musophaga violacea);
- Red-crested turaco (Proturacus erythrolophus);
- White-crested turaco (Proturacus leucolophus).

As of July 27, 2022, Parque Zoológico Municipal Quinzinho de Barros (Sorocaba, SP, Brazil) held two species:
- White-cheeked turaco (Menelikornis leucotis);
- Violet turaco (Musophaga violacea).

As of December 10, 2021, Passeio Público (Curitiba, PR, Brazil) held two species:
- Violet turaco (Musophaga violacea);
- Hartlaub's turaco (Tauraco hartlaubi).

As of December 9, 2021, Bioparque Zoo Pomerode (Pomerode, SC, Brazil) held a single species, being it the violet turaco (Musophaga violacea).

Some other zoos hold turacos as well, mostly from the violet and white-cheeked species. These birds are also in large numbers on private hands, especially in São Paulo and Minas Gerais. I'd recommend searching for Criadouro Polezel on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube if you want to learn more about one of South America's most complete collections of these wonderful creatures.
Click to expand...
I saw no white-cheeked turacos in Itatiba when I went there last year.

São Paulo has acquired two new species: red-crested and Schalow's.

Animália Park currently holds the most complete collection of turacos in Brazil. They have Hartlaub's, red-crested, Schalow's and violet.
 
Red-crowned turacos are really spreading in the US, at least in my experience. Atlanta Zoo, Birmingham Zoo, ZooWorld, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom all acquired them in the last 3 years or so. It could just be a regional thing though.
 
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