Small European Mammals in North America

Van Beal said:
Kept in zoos :D thought that would be implied
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For birds your results are better privately. ;)

Eurasian Black Vulture, Pied Avocet, Common Shelduck, Tufted Duck, Capercaillie, European Goldfinch and Bearded Reedling are around, most of them are very limited though. Think there's a few others. Besides there's the holarctic species like Northern Goshawk, Snowy Owl, Great Gray Owl, and Common Raven.

Reptiles/amphibians are scant, European Legless Lizard, a bunch of vipers (mostly kept bts at a couple zoos like St. Louis), and the odd toad and newt species. Think there's some others in the private trade.
 
Van Beal said:
Okay so that covers mammals… what about herptiles and birds of Europe in North America?
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I've done a couple projects where I've taken the species list of different zoos to see how well represented each continents are. To compile the list, I made a document listing each species and denoting which continent they are found in. I'll list the European birds and reptiles for the ones I've done so far. Note that I'm excluding cosmopolitan species.

Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo (not completed)- Eurasian eagle owl, Mediterranean gecko
San Diego Zoo- European pond turtle, marginated tortoise, ocellated lizard, scheltopusik, ferruginous duck, common shelduck, greater flamingo, gadwall, red-breasted goose, bearded parrotbill, European goldfinch, harlequin duck and smew
Kansas City Zoo- marbled teal, common shelduck
Saint Louis Zoo- marbled teal, scheltopusik, cinerous vulture, eastern long-nosed viper, Lataste’s viper and green toad.
 
Van Beal said:
Okay so that covers mammals… what about herptiles and birds of Europe in North America?
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European Jewelled Lizard, European Pond Turtle, Marginated Tortoise are all kept in San Diego Zoo. Vipera ammodytes and raddei are at Los Angeles. These could possibly be at other zoos as well.

Legless Lizard, Greek Tortoise and Russian Tortoise are reasonably common here, so are Fire Salamanders and Iberian Ribbed Newts. But some of these species aren't usually in the larger accredited zoos so you might have to search through small local facilities like nature centers, town science museums etc.
 
Sheltopusik (European Legless Lizard) is probably the most common European herp in American zoos. Most other species are rare in major zoos, although a few species (like the Greek and Russian Tortoises) are common in the pet trade and in smaller facilities.

A handful of zoos each keep Vipera ammodytes and raddei, but they're uncommon overall.
 
Coelacanth18 said:
Sheltopusik (European Legless Lizard) is probably the most common European herp in American zoos. Most other species are rare in major zoos, although a few species (like the Greek and Russian Tortoises) are common in the pet trade and in smaller facilities.

A handful of zoos each keep Vipera ammodytes and raddei, but they're uncommon overall.
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Saint Louis keeps Vipera raddei, I had it listed purely as an Asian species on my list. It lives in areas that are debated as to whether they're Asian or European. I guess I decided Asian when I made the list.
 
cloudedleopard611 said:
I've done a couple projects where I've taken the species list of different zoos to see how well represented each continents are. To compile the list, I made a document listing each species and denoting which continent they are found in. I'll list the European birds and reptiles for the ones I've done so far. Note that I'm excluding cosmopolitan species.

Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo (not completed)- Eurasian eagle owl, Mediterranean gecko
San Diego Zoo- European pond turtle, marginated tortoise, ocellated lizard, scheltopusik, ferruginous duck, common shelduck, greater flamingo, gadwall, red-breasted goose, bearded parrotbill, European goldfinch, harlequin duck and smew
Kansas City Zoo- marbled teal, common shelduck
Saint Louis Zoo- marbled teal, scheltopusik, cinerous vulture, eastern long-nosed viper, Lataste’s viper and green toad.
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San Diego also has fire salamander. Forgot to include that here.
 
cloudedleopard611 said:
Saint Louis keeps Vipera raddei, I had it listed purely as an Asian species on my list. It lives in areas that are debated as to whether they're Asian or European. I guess I decided Asian when I made the list.
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There's really very little difference in the fauna of Europe and temperate Asia, as the decision to even make them separate continents is completely arbitrary and a little silly. I highly recommend you use the model of 8 biogeographic realms instead, as it far better represents the ranges of animals and plants:

https://www.researchgate.net/profil...ical-realms-of-the-world-Olson-et-al-2001.png
 
birdsandbats said:
There's really very little difference in the fauna of Europe and temperate Asia, as the decision to even make them separate continents is completely arbitrary and a little silly. I highly recommend you use the model of 8 biogeographic realms instead, as it far better represents the ranges of animals and plants:

https://www.researchgate.net/profil...ical-realms-of-the-world-Olson-et-al-2001.png
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Yeah, I agree that the continents are pretty arbitrary. I've been finding that working on these projects. Biogeograhic realms would have to be another project though.
 
The biogeographical realms may seem more useful from a scientific perspective, but arbitrary political boundaries do have their place. For example, different countries may have different laws regarding which animals may be exported, and these exportation laws can have a big impact on how different species are distributed throughout the zoos of the world. Different countries can also give different levels of protections to their local wildlife, which may influence conservation initiatives. So while these countries’ borders are completely arbitrary from a biogeographical perspective, there is no doubt that political borders do influence animal captivity and conservation throughout the world to a certain extent.
 
San Antonio zoo Has Dinnik's Viper, European Long-Nosed Viper, Caucasian Viper, Armenian Viper, Nikolsky's Viper, and European Fire Salamander for european herps (they had until recently Snub-Nosed Viper(Vipera latastei gaditana) and Turanian Viper but they weren't there on my last 2 visits)

Fort Worth Zoo and Dallas Zoo also have European Long-Nosed Viper
 
Coelacanth18 said:
Most other species are rare in major zoos, although a few species (like the Greek and Russian Tortoises) are common in the pet trade and in smaller facilities.
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Along with these two aforementioned Tortoise species, hermann's tortoises are another European Tortoise species present in US Zoos. I don't know the exact number, but it's at least a few. I've seen one this year at Buffalo Zoo, and a quick Google search reveals Virginia Zoo and Oregon Zoo as listing this species in their collection. It's also a species reasonably easy to find in the private trade, so I'd assume it shows up in some roadside zoo collections as well.
 
A few things I've thought of that haven't been mentioned:
- albeit being domesticated, Ferrets could be considered as a European species, as it's domesticated from the European polecat.
- one species I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned: eurasian eagle-owls. This is a very common species in US Zoos, and also found in Europe.
- when considering species that transcend artificial continental lines, I'd reckon you find a lot of overlap amongst Waterfowl, particularly sea ducks. Many of these species found in North America have a range that includes part of Europe, amongst other regions. Atlantic Puffins are another species that has a range in both North America and Europe, not the most common species in US Zoos but certainly present.
 
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Not really seen in zoos as far as I know, Aesculapian Snakes have started popping up in the private trade, Jeweled Lacertas, Wall Lizards, and a few glass lizards are also available, and tortoises were mentioned above, I would add Marginated Tortoises as another species common in the pet trade but not seen as often in zoos(out of the Mediterranean tortoises I have only seen Greek tortoises and Russian Tortoises in AZA)
 
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