Rarities by Zoo

J

JVM

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
I feel like this is something that might exist elsewhere on ZooChat, but I've never seen it - should there be such a thread, feel free to delete this one and redirect me.

I'm looking for, essentially, a maintained list of unique or rare species organized by facility - not necessarily always the species you can't find anywhere else, but those in a smaller number of zoos (i.e. Wombat) or rare within the region are also welcome. Trying to keep it to living specimens or very recently passed.

Lincoln Park Zoo
Sichuan Takin

Brookfield Zoo
Southern Hairy-Nosed Wombat
White-Bellied Tree Pangolion
Pygmy Slow Loris
Orinoco Crocodile
Bottlenose Dolphin
Red-Faced Spider Monkey (last in captivity; recently died)

Milwaukee County Zoo
Bonobo
Tayra
Asiatic Black Bear (recently died)

Shedd Aquarium
Beluga

Any corrections or suggestions are obviously welcome. There's a great many species I considered adding but didn't want to be presumptuous.
 
Zoo Tampa (formerly Lowry Park Zoo):
Florida Manatee
Gharial
Florida Panther
Key Deer

Maybe rare, not sure if they still are rare in US zoos:
Tomistoma/False Gharial
Babirusa
Okapi
Red Wolf
 
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
Mountain tapir
Moose

Denver Zoo
Lake Titicaca frog
Cape buffalo
 
About 15 USA AZA zoos have takin, 10 for babirusa, 19 for red wolves, 20 for okapi. The rest of these I'd agree with.

Minnesota Zoo is the only place with Hawaiian Monk Seals outside Hawaii.
SeaWorld Orlando has a Harp Seal.
SeaWorld San Diego has a Ribbon Seal and Guadalupe Fur Seals.
Philadelphia Zoo has the only Red-shanked Douc Langur.
Cincinnati has the only Aardwolf.
Columbus, Detroit, Minnesota, and San Francisco are the only ones with wolverines.
Albuquerque, Fort Wayne, Saint Louis, San Diego, and Toledo have Tasmanian Devils.
Albuquerque also has a Tasmanian Wombat.
Living Desert NM and Living Desert CA have Kit Foxes.
Dholes are only at Minnesota and The Wilds, I believe.

Shrews! Bronx has a Short-eared Elephant Shrew, Cleveland has a Giant Elephant Shrew, Peoria and Philadelphia both have Black & Rufous Giant Elephant Shrews and Northern Tree Shrews.
 
Last edited:
TinoPup said:
Shrews! Bronx has a Short-eared Elephant Shrew, Cleveland has a Giant Elephant Shrew, Peoria and Philadelphia both have Black & Rufous Giant Elephant Shrews and Northern Tree Shrews.
Click to expand...
None of those are shrews. They just have "shrew" in their names.
 
Northeastern Wisconsin Zoo & Adventure Park
Black-Footed Ferret
Albino American Alligator
Moose

Henry Vilas Zoo
Aardvark
Somali Wild Ass

Milwaukee County Zoo
Bonobo
Ornate Flying Snake
Tayra (off-display)
Moholi Bushbaby
Potto
Spangled Cotinga
Moose (off-display)

Lincoln Park Zoo
Puerto Rican Parrot
Pygmy Slow Loris
Moholi Bushbaby

Como Park Zoo
Blue-Eyed Black Lemur

Minnesota Zoo
Komodo Dragon
Visayan Warty Pig
Keel-Billed Toucan
Fisher
Wolverine
Mucket
Fatmucket
Higgin's Eye Pearly Mussel
Hawaiian Monk Seal
Sea Otter
Wild Boar
Goitered Gazelle
Moose

Brookfield Zoo
Southern Hairy-Nosed Wombat
African White-Bellied Pangolin
Moholi Bushbaby
Pygmy Slow Loris
Orinoco Crocodile
Togo Slippery Frog (off-display)
Short-Beaked Echidna
Blue-Faced Honeyeater
Black-And-Rufous Elephant Shrew

Shedd Aquarium
Sea Otter
Beluga
Pacific White-Sided Dolphin
Green Sawfish
[probably also rare fish and coral species I don't know about]

SEA LIFE Minnestoa
Green Sawfish

Special Memories Zoo
Fisher
Java Macaque

Manitowoc Lincoln Park Zoo
Asian Black Bear

Wildwood Zoo
Kodiak Bear

Timbavati Wildlife Park
Fisher
Mountain Coati

International Crane Foundation
Whooping Crane
Brolga
Eurasian Crane
 
TinoPup said:
About 15 USA AZA zoos have takin, 10 for babirusa, 19 for red wolves, 20 for okapi. The rest of these I'd agree with.
Click to expand...

I guess it depends on how we are going to use the term "rare". With around 200 AZA zoos and aquariums 10 or 15 with a given animal is still pretty rare. But if we want to define rare as one of a kind or 5 of a kind then that is different.
 
TinoPup said:
About 15 USA AZA zoos have takin, 10 for babirusa, 19 for red wolves, 20 for okapi. The rest of these I'd agree with.

Minnesota Zoo is the only place with Hawaiian Monk Seals outside Hawaii.
SeaWorld Orlando has a Harp Seal.
SeaWorld San Diego has a Ribbon Seal and Guadalupe Fur Seals.
Philadelphia Zoo has the only Red-shanked Douc Langur.
Cincinnati has the only Aardwolf.
Columbus, Detroit, Minnesota, and San Francisco are the only ones with wolverines.
Albuquerque, Fort Wayne, Saint Louis, San Diego, and Toledo have Tasmanian Devils.
Albuquerque also has a Tasmanian Wombat.
Living Desert NM and Living Desert CA have Kit Foxes.
Dholes are only at Minnesota and The Wilds, I believe.

Shrews! Bronx has a Short-eared Elephant Shrew, Cleveland has a Giant Elephant Shrew, Peoria and Philadelphia both have Black & Rufous Giant Elephant Shrews and Northern Tree Shrews.
Click to expand...
hard to believe harp seals are so rare in zoos
 
Yellow-billed Magpie comes to mind. Far as I am aware, only LA zoo, Sacramento Zoo, CuriOdessey, and Turtle Bay Exploration Park keep the species, primarily rehab birds.

San Diego Zoo has a lot of species that qualify, including:

Giant Panda
Crowned Eagle
Tasmanian Devil
Greater Yellownape
Blue-winged Pitta
African Darter (think this one counts)
Gelada
Tuatara (off exhibit)
Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat

San Diego Zoo Safari Park too:

Storm's Stork
Shoebill
Dalmatian Pelican
Nyala
Roan Antelope

Seaworld San Diego is pretty well up there as well:

Orca
Pilot Whale
Common Dolphin
Beluga
Spotted Eagle Ray
Walrus
Emperor Penguin
Chinstrap Penguin
Adelie Penguin
 
TinoPup said:
I'm sorry, I meant ringed seal! That's what I get for not double checking. Either way, a major rarity in captivity, though.
Click to expand...

Oh, then it pased from "giant unbelievable surprise" to just "big surprise". Since when they have a ringed seal? If it was here during my visit to the place, I will never forgive myself for don't seeing it...
 
Echobeast said:
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
Mountain tapir
Moose

Denver Zoo
Lake Titicaca frog
Cape buffalo
Click to expand...

I forgot to mention that both Cheyenne Mountain and Denver have Asiatic bears. So as a kid, I thought they were much more common in zoos than they actually are. I believe there are only 7 zoos that have them?
 
Kakapo said:
Oh, then it pased from "giant unbelievable surprise" to just "big surprise". Since when they have a ringed seal? If it was here during my visit to the place, I will never forgive myself for don't seeing it...
Click to expand...

I originally got the info from wikipedia, which only had the species and name, but I've found more info on him. He was rescued as a pup in 1996 and went to Sea World, where I assume they decided he was unable to be released back into the wild. In 2010 he went to the nearby Pinniped Cognition & Sensory Systems Lab, where he took part in studies for 5 years. According to their website, he went back to Sea World in 2015. A fellow zoochatter thinks they might have seen him and has reached out for confirmation.

Marine Lab webpage mentioning him

Research paper involving him

Video

I'm actually having a much harder time finding info on the harp seal. His name is Wiley, and I've found sources mentioning him being at all 3 sea world locations at different times, so I'm not sure which one he's currently at, only that he exists and is within their organization. He's repeatedly described as very shy.
 
tampasteve said:
I guess it depends on how we are going to use the term "rare". With around 200 AZA zoos and aquariums 10 or 15 with a given animal is still pretty rare. But if we want to define rare as one of a kind or 5 of a kind then that is different.
Click to expand...

I agree, but the problem is when you go with 15-20 having them, that probably includes over half the species kept in captivity. I personally would keep it at 5 or less, but that's why I included the numbers.


birdsandbats said:
Northeastern Wisconsin Zoo & Adventure Park
Black-Footed Ferret
Albino American Alligator

Minnesota Zoo
Komodo Dragon
Visayan Warty Pig
Click to expand...

You included some good ones, but I wouldn't consider any of these rare. The Komodo Dragon, in particular, is kept by nearly 50 AZA zoos alone. It's one of the most commonly kept animals.
 
TinoPup said:
I originally got the info from wikipedia, which only had the species and name, but I've found more info on him. He was rescued as a pup in 1996 and went to Sea World, where I assume they decided he was unable to be released back into the wild. In 2010 he went to the nearby Pinniped Cognition & Sensory Systems Lab, where he took part in studies for 5 years. According to their website, he went back to Sea World in 2015. A fellow zoochatter thinks they might have seen him and has reached out for confirmation.

Marine Lab webpage mentioning him

Research paper involving him

Video

I'm actually having a much harder time finding info on the harp seal. His name is Wiley, and I've found sources mentioning him being at all 3 sea world locations at different times, so I'm not sure which one he's currently at, only that he exists and is within their organization. He's repeatedly described as very shy.
Click to expand...

Thanks! So, by the video, I see that it's kept behind the scenes (probably in the same pools where they kept the Commerson's dolphins just before being sent to Orlando). So that's why I didn't saw this species.
 
Kakapo said:
Thanks! So, by the video, I see that it's kept behind the scenes (probably in the same pools where they kept the Commerson's dolphins just before being sent to Orlando). So that's why I didn't saw this species.
Click to expand...

No, the video is from when he was at the laboratory and being used for research studies. That wasn't taken at sea world.
 
TinoPup said:
About 15 USA AZA zoos have takin, 10 for babirusa, 19 for red wolves, 20 for okapi. The rest of these I'd agree with.

Minnesota Zoo is the only place with Hawaiian Monk Seals outside Hawaii.
SeaWorld Orlando has a Harp Seal.
SeaWorld San Diego has a Ribbon Seal and Guadalupe Fur Seals.
Philadelphia Zoo has the only Red-shanked Douc Langur.
Cincinnati has the only Aardwolf.
Columbus, Detroit, Minnesota, and San Francisco are the only ones with wolverines.
Albuquerque, Fort Wayne, Saint Louis, San Diego, and Toledo have Tasmanian Devils.
Albuquerque also has a Tasmanian Wombat.
Living Desert NM and Living Desert CA have Kit Foxes.
Dholes are only at Minnesota and The Wilds, I believe.

Shrews! Bronx has a Short-eared Elephant Shrew, Cleveland has a Giant Elephant Shrew, Peoria and Philadelphia both have Black & Rufous Giant Elephant Shrews and Northern Tree Shrews.
Click to expand...
I believe Cinncinati Zoo also has Mongoose Lemur and Sumatran Elephant
 
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