San Antonio Zoo San Antonio Zoo psittacine collection

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Specialist Elbr

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Dose anyone know why San Antonio Zoo has drastically cut back on the psittacine (parrot) collection during the last decade? During my last trip (Summer 2013) the only psittacines were the lories in the feeding aviary two macaws (B&G and a Scarlet or maybe a green wing) rose-ringed parakeets and a pair of Palm cockatoos. There was an area that was off limits due to the preparation of the 100'th birthday celebration. However, even in 2011 I noticed a drop in the number of psittacines on display.

It seems, in the late 90's and early 00's San Antonio had a large collection of psittacines then around the late 00's the collection started scaling back.

Around the turn of the century, I remember seeing many parrots. I do admit I have a bias for the cockatoos. Here is a list of what I remember seeing. Not all on the same visit. 3 pairs means 3 pairs in the same visit.

1 pair Slender Billed Cockatoos
3 pair Major Mitchell's cockatoo
many Galahs singles and pairs
1 female Gang Gang Cockatoo
1 pair Palm Cockatoo
Many Red-tailed Black cockatoos
1 White Cockatoo

1 pair Hyacinth macaw
1 pair Thick-billed parrot
1 pair Eclectus parrot
I think I remember: hawk head parrots

I kind of remember similar appearance to Diopsittaca genius. I also seem to remember lots of birds that similar appearance to Aratinga/Pyrrhura. It's odd when there were so many parrots I did not note all the species, but as the collection dwindles I keep better track..
 
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I'm not fimilar with the collection in San Antonio but it's true for so many other zoos and not only with parrots. Many zoos which had species-rich collections say 10 - 20 years ago now have only one or a few species of surtain groups. In our eyes this may be a pitty but for the general public I don't think it makes much difference.
The general public more likes one large, active group of one species then a row of for example 10 aviaries with in each 1 pair of inactive birds.
The danger of this is however that many species will disappear in this way from zoos and when it is then discovered to be at danger in nature, none or just a few are left in zoos to start a breeding-programm.
Luckily many species are still well represented in privat collections so they can be saved but for us, zoo-lovers, these animals are of course "invisible" !
 
I had heard that San Antonio had a large parrot collection, complete with a building devoted to parrots. During my visit in March of 2014 I found that the parrot building had been replaced with a new restaurant and carousel. I don't remember many parrots, lories and I thought there was a Psittacula species in the Africa Live! aviary.
 
ugh, that's a real shame. Sounds like with the demise of the parrot house they got rid of most of their species.

I found this article from earlier this year: San Antonio Zoo celebrates 100 years with new plaza - San Antonio Express-News
The San Antonio Zoo is celebrating its 100th birthday, but it's the one giving the present: an $8 million Zootennial Plaza, complete with an upscale restaurant and a brass carousel with one-of-a-kind animal figures.

....

Development Manager Dawn Koehler called the plaza a great new addition to the city. She said proceeds from the carousel and restaurant would go back into new exhibits and maintenance.

Construction began last March when heavy machinery razed the area, once a backdrop for photos of wedding parties and family get-togethers. Gone are the old deck, ice cream shop, conservation research center, gift shop and parrot house, now a footnote in the zoo's history.

...............

“I think it's amazing,” Campos, 31, said. “They finally did some updating. It makes it more modern like some of the other zoos I've visited. It's more kid-friendly and has a lot more things to do.”
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bah who wants to see those stupid animals when they go to the zoo anyway?

And I guess they would have starting getting rid of the parrots in 2011 or 2012 in preparation:
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Historic-house-won-t-move-3650404.php
June 2012

In other business, the panel approved the destruction of some structures at the San Antonio Zoo, including a parrot house, a brood house, and other small animal structures. The Galah small bird structure will be relocated. The changes will prepare for a new renovation to mark the zoo's 100th birthday in 2014.
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fkalltheway said:
I had heard that San Antonio had a large parrot collection, complete with a building devoted to parrots. During my visit in March of 2014 I found that the parrot building had been replaced with a new restaurant and carousel. I don't remember many parrots, lories and I thought there was a Psittacula species in the Africa Live! aviary.
Click to expand...

Before they added the plaza, they had a pretty good number of parrots, though I've been going for a few years and I've never seen a building. (if there was a building for parrots, I guess it was there before I first went) But they had this small area with those big parrot cages and a number of large parrot species. I was rather disappointed that it got taken down, I like parrots.
 
The parrot building was nothing but a bunch of small cages. The new plaza is a huge improvement to the zoo overall. It's sad that there is a loss of diversity, yes, but those were some of the worst exhibits there.
 
I'm guessing that the parrot building was row after row of flight-cages pictured here http://www.zoochat.com/603/assorted-aviaries-199266/ That was the area closed-off in 1213. I suppose they knew they were closing it down so they started shipping off their parrots after 2011. I just wish, if they were going to get rid of the old parrot house, they would have replaced it with a more modern aviary.
 
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