Alexandria Zoo Slapdash species list for Alexandria Zoo (12/23)

[komodoskar]

I visited Alexandria Zoo on a whim, whilst I was in the city, and whilst I didn't take a full index of every species, and its been a couple months since I went, here's what I remember seeing.

Mammals
Brown bear
American black bear
Asian black bear
Spotted hyena
Lion
Sika deer/fallow deer
Nile lechwe
African crested porcupine
Red fox (nile ssp.)
Barbary sheep
Olive baboon
Yellow baboon (?)
Hamadryas baboon
Macaque sp.
Patas monkey (ssp. patas)
Grivet monkey (listed as Chlorocebus aethiops)
Common mona monkey
Dromedary camel
Domestic goat
Common hippopotamus
Scimitar horned oryx
Dorcas gazelle

Birds
African sacred ibis
White stork
Greater flamingo
Great white pelican
Swan goose
Egyptian goose
Peafowl
Domestic pigeons
Emu
Ostrich
Lanner falcon
Long-legged buzzard
Great spotted eagle
Various macaw and cockatoo species (zoo staples, nothing too exciting)
Zebra finch

Herps
Nile crocodile
Pond slider
Desert monitor (Varanus griseus)
Pancake tortoise
Radiated tortoise
Additional tortoise species (photos in gallery)
Egyptian cobra

Petting zoo area with usual suspects (e.g goats, alpaca, chickens)

There was also the carnivore enclosures which was full of people taking photos with baby lions, which I wasn't comfortable with so I left quickly - it's possible I missed something.

I didn't see any jackals or mongoose, and overall there wasn't much emphasis on native fauna.

I went out of morbid curiosity, knowing that the zoo doesn't have the best reputation, and I was still saddened by what I saw. Obviously the zoo has nowhere near the funding of anything in Europe and ethical standards for zoo animals are markedly different than what I'm used to, but I was still quite shocked. Not sure I'd recommend it to the casual tourist.

 

[komodoskar]

Ive uploaded some of the photos from this trip. There were many enclosures and animals that I found so depressing that I couldn't take photos of them, especially of the large carnivores (bears and cats)

 

[snowleopard]

Thanks for the species list. Perhaps we should be thankful that Alexandria Zoo has only around 50 exotic species in its collection these days, as I've heard many bad things about this outdated zoo. In past years, they had a much more substantial animal collection and I can only imagine the poor quality of the exhibits.

 

[komodoskar]

Thanks for the species list. Perhaps we should be thankful that Alexandria Zoo has only around 50 exotic species in its collection these days, as I've heard many bad things about this outdated zoo. In past years, they had a much more substantial animal collection and I can only imagine the poor quality of the exhibits.

It's an issue for which I don't think there's an easy solution. No self-respecting, non zoo-obssessed tourist would ever visit in its current state and therefore the revenue from locals (even as a popular family day-out) isn't enough for any significant change. AND that's assuming the money went back into husbandry and not the pockets of owners or the many people who sell food for animals outside every individual enclosure or the guys who are charging for photos of visitors holding baby lions. But I still hold out hope