Snowleopard's Mammals: A Lifetime List of Species Mammalian and Non-Mammalian

[Dassie rat]

When a guide showed me around Tsimbaza Zoo, he said his favourite lemurs were red-bellied lemurs

 

[snowleopard]

I've seen White-fronted Lemurs, also called White-fronted Brown Lemurs or a couple of other names, at only 6 zoos. Some were signed as 'White-headed Lemurs' during my visits. Interestingly enough, I've seen these guys 6 times in 5 different nations!

1- Zurich Zoo (Switzerland) – White-fronted Lemur – 2003
2- Naples Zoo (USA) – White-fronted Lemur – 2012
3- Pakawi Park (Belgium) – White-fronted Lemur – 2019
4- Zoo Neuwied (Germany) – White-fronted Lemur – 2019
5- Serengeti-Park (Germany) – White-fronted Lemur – 2019
6- Randers Regnskov (Denmark) – White-fronted Lemur – 2022

This one looks sleepy:

@RonBurrgundy

I visited Zurich Zoo (Switzerland) 21 years ago, shortly after the legendary Masoala rainforest complex opened, and of course I have imperfect memories of the place as I've been on a thousand zoo visits since then. I do recall staff members walking around pointing out lemurs to people and White-headed Lemurs are listed on the zoo map (named as Weisskopfmaki and an excellent drawing of a lemur) that I still have in my possession. But without an employee around, good luck finding a lot of the animals here!

@twilighter

In southern Florida, there is Naples Zoo (USA) and they have a Primate Expedition Cruise boat ride that takes visitors past approximately 8 island homes for a variety of primates. I saw White-fronted Lemurs there in 2012 on one of the islands.

Pakawi Park (Belgium) has White-fronted Lemurs in its Tropical House:

@KevinB

White-fronted Lemur exhibit:

@KevinB

I've seen White-fronted Lemurs at Zoo Neuwied (Germany) in a small-ish cage:

Serengeti-Park (Germany) is part massive safari drive-through with a long list of ungulates, part primate park with many monkey and lemur species and part amusement park. It's very popular and here's what they had for White-fronted Lemurs in 2019:

White-fronted Lemurs with some Ring-tailed peers in the background at Serengeti-Park:

@Maguari

Randers Regnskov (Denmark) is a terrific zoo, with its three domes and outdoor loop all being of a very high quality. White-fronted Lemurs reside there, together with this list of critters in the African dome.

I had some lemurs extremely close to me there, as is often the norm in European zoos.

Here's a White-fronted Lemur at South Lakes in the U.K.:

@Prochilodus246

Lemur List:

Ring-tailed Lemurs - 184 zoos

Black-and-white Ruffed Lemurs - 76 zoos

Red Ruffed Lemurs - 75 zoos

Black Lemurs - 14 zoos

Mongoose Lemurs - 12 zoos

Crowned Lemurs - 10 zoos

Red-fronted Lemurs - 10 zoos

Blue-eyed Black Lemurs - 9 zoos

Collared Brown Lemurs - 9 zoos

Common Brown Lemurs - 9 zoos

Red-bellied Lemurs - 7 zoos

White-fronted Lemurs - 6 zoos

 

[snowleopard]

Back in the 1990s, there was literally a grand total of two types of Mouse Lemur in the world. Mouse Lemur 'A' and Mouse Lemur 'B'. Now there's at least two dozen of them! So, bearing that in mind, here are the zoos where I've come across these little critters and the names I recorded for the lemurs. I've seen Grey Mouse Lemurs at 6 zoos and Goodman's Mouse Lemurs at 1 zoo.

1- Woodland Park Zoo (USA) – Grey Mouse Lemur – 1996
2- Bronx Zoo (USA) – Grey Mouse Lemur – 2008
3- Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium (USA) – Grey Mouse Lemur – 2018
4- Artis Royal Zoo (Netherlands) – Grey Mouse Lemur – 2019
5- Pairi Daiza (Belgium) – Grey Mouse Lemur – 2019
6- Frankfurt Zoo (Germany) – Grey Mouse Lemur – 2019

AND...

1- Cologne Zoo (Germany) – Goodman’s Mouse Lemur – 2019

Here's a Grey Mouse Lemur at Cotswold Wildlife Park (UK), just to give everyone an idea of what they look like.

@hmb_zoo

I was a big fan of the Nocturnal House ('Night Exhibit') at Woodland Park Zoo (USA) before it closed down in 2010. A tour through there was a genuine highlight of every zoo visit, but getting any kind of photograph was always impossible due to the extreme darkness. I know that we did have some in the gallery, but perhaps they were lost during The Great Purge a decade or so ago.

It was a sad loss when the Nocturnal House known as World of Darkness at the Bronx Zoo (USA) also closed many years ago. Back in the day, when I visited 16 years ago, they had Grey Mouse Lemurs there.

@Giant Eland

Photos at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium (USA) are equally difficult to come by, but there's a Grey Mouse Lemur in the center of this image inside the Expedition Madagascar building.

@Brayden Delashmutt

Artis Royal Zoo (Netherlands), one of the world's great historical zoos, has Grey Mouse Lemurs in this exhibit:

@vogelcommando

The unique and amazing zoo known as Pairi Daiza (Belgium) has a nocturnal area called 'The Crypt', with a world-class, walk-through bat display and Grey Mouse Lemurs in a couple of dimly-lit exhibits. Here they are:

Photos by @KevinB

Every true zoo nerd knows this building:

@Maguari

And if you don't, it's okay. Frankfurt Zoo (Germany) has the astonishing Grzimek House, home to circa 45 species at any one time. When I was there in 2019, I counted 24 exhibits in darkness and 15 in light, for 39 in total, so it's not entirely a Nocturnal House. Grey Mouse Lemurs were bouncing around in there and I clearly saw them.

@Maguari

Lastly, I remember seeing Goodman's Mouse Lemurs at Cologne Zoo (Germany) 5 years ago.

@Fat-tailed dwarf lemur

Lemur List:

Ring-tailed Lemurs - 184 zoos

Black-and-white Ruffed Lemurs - 76 zoos

Red Ruffed Lemurs - 75 zoos

Black Lemurs - 14 zoos

Mongoose Lemurs - 12 zoos

Crowned Lemurs - 10 zoos

Red-fronted Lemurs - 10 zoos

Blue-eyed Black Lemurs - 9 zoos

Collared Brown Lemurs - 9 zoos

Common Brown Lemurs - 9 zoos

Red-bellied Lemurs - 7 zoos

Grey Mouse Lemurs - 6 zoos

White-fronted Lemurs - 6 zoos

Goodman's Mouse Lemurs - 1 zoo

 

[15399]

It was a sad loss when the Nocturnal House known as World of Darkness at the Bronx Zoo (USA) also closed many years ago. Back in the day, when I visited 16 years ago, they had Grey Mouse Lemurs there.

Luckily, the zoo still exhibits grey mouse lemurs, albeit in the Madagascar! section of the zoo instead.

 

[snowleopard]

I've been immersed in the lore of lemurs, having posted about White-fronted Lemurs, Grey Mouse Lemurs and Goodman's Mouse Lemurs all in the past 24 hours. Here's THREE more lemur species. I've seen Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemurs at 4 zoos, Fat-tailed Dwarf Lemurs at 3 zoos and Greater Bamboo Lemurs at 1 zoo. One thing I find interesting is that there's a LOT of lemurs in captivity in the United Kingdom. Someone like me, a Canadian who has visited hundreds of zoos around the world, has probably seen less types of lemur than many British zoo nerds, as for whatever reason both the U.K. and France have lemurs in abundance. Not only that, but walk-through lemur exhibits in those regions are a dime a dozen. As a lemur fan, that's fantastic!

Here are the 3 species I'm discussing today:

1- Zurich Zoo (Switzerland) – Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemur – 2003
2- ZooParc Overloon (Netherlands) - Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemur – 2019
3- Apenheul Primate Park (Netherlands) – Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemur – 2019
4- Parken Zoo (Sweden) – Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemur – 2022

AND...

1- Woodland Park Zoo (USA) – Fat-tailed Dwarf Lemur – 1996
2- Mountain View Conservation Centre (Canada) – Fat-tailed Dwarf Lemur – 2008
3- Frankfurt Zoo (Germany) – Fat-tailed Dwarf Lemur – 2019

AND...

1- Cologne Zoo (Germany) – Greater Bamboo Lemur – 2019

Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemurs, often labeled as Lac Alaotran Gentle Lemurs or Lac Alaotran Bamboo Lemurs in the past, are cute little fuzzballs:

@Lafone

I saw them at Zurich Zoo (Switzerland) many moons ago, and ZooParc Overloon (Netherlands) had Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemurs on this island when I was there in 2019:

Apenheul Primate Park (Netherlands) has had Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemurs for many years. Here's a stunning image of one of them:

@Jogy

At Parken Zoo (Sweden), I had to peer through this solitary viewing window in order to see a single Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemur behind the wooden slats of its exhibit.

Woodland Park Zoo (USA) used to have Fat-tailed Dwarf Lemurs in their long closed Nocturnal House ('Night Exhibit') in the 1990s, and Mountain View Conservation Centre (Canada) had the species when I visited in 2008, curiously enough in an exhibit that was not very dark at all. The third and final time when I saw these lemurs was at Frankfurt Zoo (Germany), and thankfully @Tomek has an image from inside the legendary Grzimek House.

And I've only ever seen Greater Bamboo Lemurs, also called Broad-nosed Gentle Lemurs or Broad-nosed Bamboo Lemurs, at Cologne Zoo (Germany).

@twilighter

Here's a 6-week-old baby Greater Bamboo Lemur at Cotswold Wildlife Park (UK):

@gentle lemur

Lemur List:

Ring-tailed Lemurs - 184 zoos

Black-and-white Ruffed Lemurs - 76 zoos

Red Ruffed Lemurs - 75 zoos

Black Lemurs - 14 zoos

Mongoose Lemurs - 12 zoos

Crowned Lemurs - 10 zoos

Red-fronted Lemurs - 10 zoos

Blue-eyed Black Lemurs - 9 zoos

Collared Brown Lemurs - 9 zoos

Common Brown Lemurs - 9 zoos

Red-bellied Lemurs - 7 zoos

Grey Mouse Lemurs - 6 zoos

White-fronted Lemurs - 6 zoos

Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemurs - 4 zoos

Fat-tailed Dwarf Lemurs - 3 zoos

Goodman's Mouse Lemurs - 1 zoo (Cologne Zoo - Germany)

Greater Bamboo Lemurs - 1 zoo (Cologne Zoo - Germany)

 

[Maguari]

One thing I find interesting is that there's a LOT of lemurs in captivity in the United Kingdom. Someone like me, a Canadian who has visited hundreds of zoos around the world, has probably seen less types of lemur than many British zoo nerds, as for whatever reason both the U.K. and France have lemurs in abundance.

France having lots of lemurs actually makes more sense - because they ran the island of Madagascar as a colony right up until the late 1950s (and indeed still do run the nearby island of Mayotte, where there is a free-living (probably introduced) population of Brown Lemurs as well).

I'm not so sure what the UK's reasoning is.

Colonial history has an awful lot to do with European zoo history of course and why certain animals came to be seen in certain places. Antwerp's strong historic association with Congolese animals (Okapi, Congo Peafowl, Eastern Gorilla) is one obvious example.

 

[JVM]

It's very amusing to see you highlight the British lemurs -- on my recent trip to the UK, I ended up prioritizing lemurs quite a bit more than I anticipated or intended in earlier planning. I visited three facilities with Lake Alaotra lemurs but only saw them once and very briefly, and ditto for the red-bellied lemurs, which were only visible for my visit during a feeding at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. I also saw my first gray mouse lemurs, which were very charming little guys. I also happened through London's ringtail lemur walkthrough during a feeding which is definitely the best view I've had of the species. Crowned sifaka were also high on my 'stretch' list. Prosimians in general seem to be in better shape over there than the US considering the grey slender loris and potto populations. All of this helped me appreciate lemur diversity better than my US experiences with them, even though I have visited some excellent exhibits - it helps activity is up at feeding time!

 

[snowleopard]

It's time to look at Sifakas...Zoboomafoo! I've seen Coquerel's Sifakas at 9 zoos and Crowned Sifakas at 1 zoo.

1- Bronx Zoo (USA) – Coquerel’s Sifaka – 2008
2- Los Angeles Zoo (USA) – Coquerel’s Sifaka – 2008
3- Saint Louis Zoo (USA) – Coquerel’s Sifaka – 2010
4- Philadelphia Zoo (USA) – Coquerel’s Sifaka – 2010
5- Maryland Zoo (USA) – Coquerel’s Sifaka – 2010
6- Houston Zoo (USA) – Coquerel’s Sifaka – 2010
7- Sacramento Zoo (USA) – Coquerel’s Sifaka – 2011
8- San Francisco Zoo (USA) – Coquerel’s Sifaka – 2017
9- San Diego Zoo (USA) – Coquerel’s Sifaka – 2023

AND...

1- Apenheul Primate Park (Netherlands) - Crowned Sifaka – 2019

Everything looks incredible about a Coquerel's Sifaka. The bright white hair, the brown contrast, those big yellow eyes, the gangly limbs, etc. My first encounter with this primate species was at the Bronx Zoo (USA) in the Madagascar! exhibit. Here's a Bronx specimen:

@TheoV

I noticed that there's been some discussion in the ZooChat gallery with several zoo nerds debating the ethics of keeping Coquerel's Sifakas entirely indoors, as the Bronx Zoo does with its lemur species within Madagascar. I remember the enclosure being very tall, but quite narrow and probably not with the optimal amount of space that these active primates require. Here's an image of the exhibit.

@fkalltheway

But the flip side of that coin is that Los Angeles Zoo (USA) has always given its Coquerel's Sifakas an outdoor exhibit, but it lacks the naturalism of the Bronx example and is essentially one of those outdated and boring 1960s's 'roundhouses' that are infamously still at the zoo.

@Coelacanth18

@Julio C Castro

Here's where I saw Coquerel's Sifakas at Saint Louis Zoo (USA) in 2010, in a rather desultory outdoor cage attached to the Primate House.

Since then, Saint Louis Zoo (USA) has opened Primate Canopy Trails with its rotational set of exhibits. The Coquerel's Sifakas and other primates are still able to access the traditional Primate House, but there's an assortment of outdoor habitats like this one as well:

@pachyderm pro

Philadelphia Zoo (USA) is such a poor zoo, in my opinion, for primates. Whether it is the indoor, tiled, crappy exhibits in the Rare Species Conservation Center, or the mediocre PECO Primate Reserve, I left the zoo in 2010 feeling disappointed. However, there's been a number of those Zoo360 metal tunnels and runways installed since then, but even those lack any sort of naturalism and I'm not a fan of that particular design choice. You can see a sifaka gazing out from behind mesh in this 2010 photo:

Maryland Zoo (USA) had Coquerel's Sifakas when I was there in 2010, and you can see one here inside the African Journey building.

I saw Coquerel's Sifakas 4 times in the summer of 2010, culminating with this exhibit and its high wooden poles at Houston Zoo (USA):

By 2019, the exhibit was looking a little bare and tight on space. (That looks like a Radiated Tortoise on the left)

@Moebelle

In 2011, I saw Coquerel's Sifakas at Sacramento Zoo (USA) in a well-furnished exhibit that's one of the best I've seen for the species.

So, between 2008 and 2011 I came across Coquerel's Sifakas at 7 different AZA-accredited American zoos. I've only seen the species at 2 new zoos since then.

I visited San Francisco Zoo (USA) in 2017 and the Coquerel's Sifaka exhibit was only a year old at that time. Has that zoo done anything substantial since then? Is there anything for the sifakas to actually climb in this tall, aviary-style enclosure?

It's all rather ghastly:

And that brings me to San Diego Zoo (USA), with its glorious lemur exhibits in Africa Rocks:

@Moebelle

On my first European zoo trek, I saw Crowned Sifakas for the very first time. Apenheul Primate Park (Netherlands) has a hopscotch children's game drawn on the ground so that kids can leap around like sifakas. A neat idea! Here's my photo that also shows the excellent signage at this world-class primate zoo.

Crowned Sifakas obviously have a totally different colour of hair on their heads in comparison to Coquerel's Sifakas.

@MennoPebesma

I would really love to see a real life Indri, which I've never come across in all my zoo visits. I did see some taxidermy specimens at the American Museum of Natural History in 2008 and here's my photo:

Lemur List:

Ring-tailed Lemurs - 184 zoos

Black-and-white Ruffed Lemurs - 76 zoos

Red Ruffed Lemurs - 75 zoos

Black Lemurs - 14 zoos

Mongoose Lemurs - 12 zoos

Crowned Lemurs - 10 zoos

Red-fronted Lemurs - 10 zoos

Blue-eyed Black Lemurs - 9 zoos

Collared Brown Lemurs - 9 zoos

Common Brown Lemurs - 9 zoos

Coquerel's Sifakas - 9 zoos

Red-bellied Lemurs - 7 zoos

Grey Mouse Lemurs - 6 zoos

White-fronted Lemurs - 6 zoos

Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemurs - 4 zoos

Fat-tailed Dwarf Lemurs - 3 zoos

Crowned Sifakas - 1 zoo

Goodman's Mouse Lemurs - 1 zoo

Greater Bamboo Lemurs - 1 zoo

 

[PossumRoach]

Everything looks incredible about a Coquerel's Sifaka. The bright white hair, the brown contrast, those big yellow eyes, the gangly limbs, etc. My first encounter with this primate species was at the Bronx Zoo (USA) in the Madagascar! exhibit. Here's a Bronx specimen:

@TheoV

I noticed that there's been some discussion in the ZooChat gallery with several zoo nerds debating the ethics of keeping Coquerel's Sifakas entirely indoors, as the Bronx Zoo does with its lemur species within Madagascar. I remember the enclosure being very tall, but quite narrow and probably not with the optimal amount of space that these active primates require. Here's an image of the exhibit.

When I was at Bronx’s summer camp back at 2015 I remember hearing a claim by one of my counselors that the sifakas apparently jumped towards the walls when they were first in the enclosure because they thought the walls were real.

 

[15399]

I remember the enclosure being very tall, but quite narrow and probably not with the optimal amount of space that these active primates require. Here's an image of the exhibit.

I would argue that for highly arboreal primates (including sifakas), the height is the much more important dimension compared to length or width. Sure, it'd be nice if this exhibit was a little wider, but there's still plenty of usable space for the sifakas since they can utilize all of the exhibit's height, which is really great to see.

The criticisms of the Madagascar exhibits for being entirely indoors is an interesting one. I understand how some people are opposed to basically any entirely indoor exhibit for certain groups of animals (especially more charismatic mammals), however I've seen way too many zoos with decent outdoor exhibits, paired with abysmal indoor areas where the animals must spend the entire colder season, to share this sentiment. In an ideal world, yes having both a spacious indoor area and a spacious outdoor area is ideal, but if my zoo was in a cold climate and I had a finite amount of space for an exhibit, nine times out of ten I'd prioritize a large, spacious indoor exhibit (such as the ones in Bronx's Madagascar! building) over a spacious outdoor exhibit. Arguably the biggest benefit of having both indoor and outdoor spaces available is that they provide the animals with choice over their environments (Here's an open-access paper on it: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/ful...bL2GrxX6M9zcqTrgxlv7zng-U6Xh24bZOAyowQSFo4fgg), and while choice is important, having both an indoor and an outdoor space is far from the only way to provide the animals with a multitude of choices.

However, there's been a number of those Zoo360 metal tunnels and runways installed since then, but even those lack any sort of naturalism and I'm not a fan of that particular design choice.

On my 2022 visit to Philadelphia, the weather wasn't really that conducive to the primates being outside, so one sleeping leopard is the only animal I saw in one of the Zoo360 trails (I did see many primates in other exhibits though). While I wasn't overly impressed by Philadelphia Zoo, I hope to return some time when the weather is nicer (and the bird exhibits aren't closed due to HPAI) to see those trails in action. It's a really neat idea- and going back to my point above, the design philosophy behind the trails is to provide the animals with substantially more choices over their environment. Legendary zoo designer Jon Coe talks about these "treetop trails" exhibits here: https://joncoe.net/zoo-exhibits/small-primates/

 

[toastrgophr]

It's time to look at Sifakas...Zoboomafoo! I've seen Coquerel's Sifakas at 9 zoos and Crowned Sifakas at 1 zoo.

1- Bronx Zoo (USA) – Coquerel’s Sifaka – 2008
2- Los Angeles Zoo (USA) – Coquerel’s Sifaka – 2008
3- Saint Louis Zoo (USA) – Coquerel’s Sifaka – 2010
4- Philadelphia Zoo (USA) – Coquerel’s Sifaka – 2010
5- Maryland Zoo (USA) – Coquerel’s Sifaka – 2010
6- Houston Zoo (USA) – Coquerel’s Sifaka – 2010
7- Sacramento Zoo (USA) – Coquerel’s Sifaka – 2011
8- San Francisco Zoo (USA) – Coquerel’s Sifaka – 2017
9- San Diego Zoo (USA) – Coquerel’s Sifaka – 2023

AND...

1- Apenheul Primate Park (Netherlands) - Crowned Sifaka – 2019

Everything looks incredible about a Coquerel's Sifaka. The bright white hair, the brown contrast, those big yellow eyes, the gangly limbs, etc. My first encounter with this primate species was at the Bronx Zoo (USA) in the Madagascar! exhibit. Here's a Bronx specimen:

@TheoV

I noticed that there's been some discussion in the ZooChat gallery with several zoo nerds debating the ethics of keeping Coquerel's Sifakas entirely indoors, as the Bronx Zoo does with its lemur species within Madagascar. I remember the enclosure being very tall, but quite narrow and probably not with the optimal amount of space that these active primates require. Here's an image of the exhibit.

@fkalltheway

But the flip side of that coin is that Los Angeles Zoo (USA) has always given its Coquerel's Sifakas an outdoor exhibit, but it lacks the naturalism of the Bronx example and is essentially one of those outdated and boring 1960s's 'roundhouses' that are infamously still at the zoo.

@Coelacanth18

@Julio C Castro

Here's where I saw Coquerel's Sifakas at Saint Louis Zoo (USA) in 2010, in a rather desultory outdoor cage attached to the Primate House.

Since then, Saint Louis Zoo (USA) has opened Primate Canopy Trails with its rotational set of exhibits. The Coquerel's Sifakas and other primates are still able to access the traditional Primate House, but there's an assortment of outdoor habitats like this one as well:

@pachyderm pro

Philadelphia Zoo (USA) is such a poor zoo, in my opinion, for primates. Whether it is the indoor, tiled, crappy exhibits in the Rare Species Conservation Center, or the mediocre PECO Primate Reserve, I left the zoo in 2010 feeling disappointed. However, there's been a number of those Zoo360 metal tunnels and runways installed since then, but even those lack any sort of naturalism and I'm not a fan of that particular design choice. You can see a sifaka gazing out from behind mesh in this 2010 photo:

Maryland Zoo (USA) had Coquerel's Sifakas when I was there in 2010, and you can see one here inside the African Journey building.

I saw Coquerel's Sifakas 4 times in the summer of 2010, culminating with this exhibit and its high wooden poles at Houston Zoo (USA):

By 2019, the exhibit was looking a little bare and tight on space. (That looks like a Radiated Tortoise on the left)

@Moebelle

In 2011, I saw Coquerel's Sifakas at Sacramento Zoo (USA) in a well-furnished exhibit that's one of the best I've seen for the species.

So, between 2008 and 2011 I came across Coquerel's Sifakas at 7 different AZA-accredited American zoos. I've only seen the species at 2 new zoos since then.

I visited San Francisco Zoo (USA) in 2017 and the Coquerel's Sifaka exhibit was only a year old at that time. Has that zoo done anything substantial since then? Is there anything for the sifakas to actually climb in this tall, aviary-style enclosure?

It's all rather ghastly:

And that brings me to San Diego Zoo (USA), with its glorious lemur exhibits in Africa Rocks:

@Moebelle

On my first European zoo trek, I saw Crowned Sifakas for the very first time. Apenheul Primate Park (Netherlands) has a hopscotch children's game drawn on the ground so that kids can leap around like sifakas. A neat idea! Here's my photo that also shows the excellent signage at this world-class primate zoo.

Crowned Sifakas obviously have a totally different colour of hair on their heads in comparison to Coquerel's Sifakas.

@MennoPebesma

I would really love to see a real life Indri, which I've never come across in all my zoo visits. I did see some taxidermy specimens at the American Museum of Natural History in 2008 and here's my photo:

Lemur List:

Ring-tailed Lemurs - 184 zoos

Black-and-white Ruffed Lemurs - 76 zoos

Red Ruffed Lemurs - 75 zoos

Black Lemurs - 14 zoos

Mongoose Lemurs - 12 zoos

Crowned Lemurs - 10 zoos

Red-fronted Lemurs - 10 zoos

Blue-eyed Black Lemurs - 9 zoos

Collared Brown Lemurs - 9 zoos

Common Brown Lemurs - 9 zoos

Coquerel's Sifakas - 9 zoos

Red-bellied Lemurs - 7 zoos

Grey Mouse Lemurs - 6 zoos

White-fronted Lemurs - 6 zoos

Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemurs - 4 zoos

Fat-tailed Dwarf Lemurs - 3 zoos

Crowned Sifakas - 1 zoo

Goodman's Mouse Lemurs - 1 zoo

Greater Bamboo Lemurs - 1 zoo

I remember looking into Indris in captivity a little while back and it has never been done successfully, thought to be because of dietary needs that the fact that attempts were all in like the early-to-mid 1900s. Even Duke Lemur Centre doesn't have them, and I don't think they ever have. iirc the closest thing we have to Indris in captivity nowadays is some in a fenced off preserve on Madagascar.

 

[Dassie rat]

I saw indris at Andisibe. I also saw an enclosure that had kept indris planned to be kept in Paris. The indris died before they were exported. Some indris were kept at a Madagascar lemur park (Ivoloina) several years ago but didn't live long (lamy.com/stock-photo/ivoloina.html?sortBy=relevant). Some of you may find this interesting: Indri

 

[toastrgophr]

I saw indris at Andisibe. I also saw an enclosure that had kept indris planned to be kept in Paris. The indris died before they were exported. Some indris were kept at a Madagascar lemur park (Ivoloina) several years ago but didn't live long (lamy.com/stock-photo/ivoloina.html?sortBy=relevant). Some of you may find this interesting: Indri

you clearly know more about this than I do

 

[Kudu21]

I've been immersed in the lore of lemurs, having posted about White-fronted Lemurs, Grey Mouse Lemurs and Goodman's Mouse Lemurs all in the past 24 hours. Here's THREE more lemur species. I've seen Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemurs at 4 zoos, Fat-tailed Dwarf Lemurs at 3 zoos and Greater Bamboo Lemurs at 1 zoo. One thing I find interesting is that there's a LOT of lemurs in captivity in the United Kingdom. Someone like me, a Canadian who has visited hundreds of zoos around the world, has probably seen less types of lemur than many British zoo nerds, as for whatever reason both the U.K. and France have lemurs in abundance. Not only that, but walk-through lemur exhibits in those regions are a dime a dozen. As a lemur fan, that's fantastic!

Here are the 3 species I'm discussing today:

1- Zurich Zoo (Switzerland) – Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemur – 2003
2- ZooParc Overloon (Netherlands) - Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemur – 2019
3- Apenheul Primate Park (Netherlands) – Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemur – 2019
4- Parken Zoo (Sweden) – Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemur – 2022

AND...

1- Woodland Park Zoo (USA) – Fat-tailed Dwarf Lemur – 1996
2- Mountain View Conservation Centre (Canada) – Fat-tailed Dwarf Lemur – 2008
3- Frankfurt Zoo (Germany) – Fat-tailed Dwarf Lemur – 2019

AND...

1- Cologne Zoo (Germany) – Greater Bamboo Lemur – 2019

Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemurs, often labeled as Lac Alaotran Gentle Lemurs or Lac Alaotran Bamboo Lemurs in the past, are cute little fuzzballs:

@Lafone

I saw them at Zurich Zoo (Switzerland) many moons ago, and ZooParc Overloon (Netherlands) had Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemurs on this island when I was there in 2019:

Apenheul Primate Park (Netherlands) has had Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemurs for many years. Here's a stunning image of one of them:

@Jogy

At Parken Zoo (Sweden), I had to peer through this solitary viewing window in order to see a single Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemur behind the wooden slats of its exhibit.

Woodland Park Zoo (USA) used to have Fat-tailed Dwarf Lemurs in their long closed Nocturnal House ('Night Exhibit') in the 1990s, and Mountain View Conservation Centre (Canada) had the species when I visited in 2008, curiously enough in an exhibit that was not very dark at all. The third and final time when I saw these lemurs was at Frankfurt Zoo (Germany), and thankfully @Tomek has an image from inside the legendary Grzimek House.

And I've only ever seen Greater Bamboo Lemurs, also called Broad-nosed Gentle Lemurs or Broad-nosed Bamboo Lemurs, at Cologne Zoo (Germany).

@twilighter

Here's a 6-week-old baby Greater Bamboo Lemur at Cotswold Wildlife Park (UK):

@gentle lemur

Lemur List:

Ring-tailed Lemurs - 184 zoos

Black-and-white Ruffed Lemurs - 76 zoos

Red Ruffed Lemurs - 75 zoos

Black Lemurs - 14 zoos

Mongoose Lemurs - 12 zoos

Crowned Lemurs - 10 zoos

Red-fronted Lemurs - 10 zoos

Blue-eyed Black Lemurs - 9 zoos

Collared Brown Lemurs - 9 zoos

Common Brown Lemurs - 9 zoos

Red-bellied Lemurs - 7 zoos

Grey Mouse Lemurs - 6 zoos

White-fronted Lemurs - 6 zoos

Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemurs - 4 zoos

Fat-tailed Dwarf Lemurs - 3 zoos

Goodman's Mouse Lemurs - 1 zoo (Cologne Zoo - Germany)

Greater Bamboo Lemurs - 1 zoo (Cologne Zoo - Germany)

Would you not have also seen the grey bamboo lemurs that were long held at the Cincinnati Zoo?

 

[snowleopard]

You bring up some good points @Neil chace and of course we would all love to see fantastic indoor and outdoor exhibits for every mammal species in every zoo, but of course that is not possible. I agree that prioritizing a larger indoor space should be a priority for zoos in colder climates, especially the bulk of North American zoos that quite often lock most of their mammals inside for 16 hours a day. Those poor Giraffes at Buffalo Zoo! The trend in Europe is definitely to allow 24/7 access to both indoor and outdoor exhibits, and I can see that trend becoming more commonplace over the next decade. Fingers crossed. In fact, most positive current trends (sand in elephant barns, stopping pinioning flamingos, no more parrots on sticks) all began in Europe and have filtered their way across the Atlantic to North American zoos.

As for the Bronx Zoo's Coquerel's Sifaka exhibit, it's arguably 'better' in many ways compared to the Los Angeles, Houston, Maryland, Philadelphia and San Francisco exhibits that I mentioned earlier. Sometimes, an all-indoor primate exhibit in a place like Gondwanaland (Leipzig) or Masoala Rainforest (Zurich), is probably perfect in many ways due to climate control options, and yet all indoors.

Often, whether we support mammals being kept indoors is a subjective belief. Sometimes there are huge, bulky animals kept indoors 24/7 (Common Hippos at Adventure Aquarium are entirely inside and the hippos at Calgary Zoo spend 90% of their lives indoors), or Malayan Tapirs at places like Omaha, Minnesota, Bronx and other zoos. However, as the years go by it does appear that it's becoming more difficult to justify keeping even gibbons and lemurs indoors 24/7, as there should be at least some kind of access to fresh air, breezes, live insects and other natural enrichment items. I've seen Tigers indoors 24/7 at Downtown Aquarium Houston and Downtown Aquarium Denver, which seems totally wrong. Definitely, a warm climate can make a massive difference in terms of the ethics of having smaller indoor holding areas, as zoos in Spain, Florida, Texas or Singapore can have mammals outside year-round.

@Kudu21 , my visit to Cincinnati Zoo was in the summer of 2008, back when my road trip threads weren't half as detailed as they are now. Soon after that trip, I would begin to keep long lists of species in Reptile Houses and count every single exhibit in many buildings, but I've mentioned before that in 2008 my reviews were still lengthy but lacked species lists. I'm sure that I've missed a few animals here and there and they almost all relate back to my early days on this site. Maybe I did see those lemurs after all.

 

[15399]

Those poor Giraffes at Buffalo Zoo!

Indeed- by far one of the worst zoo exhibits I've ever seen. It's made even worst by the fact Buffalo is a very rainy area, and their small outdoor yard is grassy, making the giraffes inside not just when it is cold but also when it is wet (probably around 3/4 of the year). People can criticize the gorilla exhibit all they want, and that one has serious flaws, but no exhibit in Buffalo comes close to as bad as the giraffe one, in my opinion.

In fact, most positive current trends (sand in elephant barns, stopping pinioning flamingos, no more parrots on sticks) all began in Europe and have filtered their way across the Atlantic to North American zoos.

Indeed, this is true not just in terms of zoos but also the broader animal welfare world. One of my professors mentioned that if she wants to know what the animal welfare guidelines in the US will look like in ten years, she looks at what they currently are in the UK. Kudos for Europe for being on top of animal welfare science, although it's a shame the US can't catch up too.

The trend in Europe is definitely to allow 24/7 access to both indoor and outdoor exhibits, and I can see that trend becoming more commonplace over the next decade.

This is one that's been becoming more common in the US as well- I know Roger Williams Park Zoo gives most of their larger mammals nighttime access most of the time, with a few exceptions (e.g., the zebras/wildebeest/watusi rotate who has overnight access to the yard). I'd imagine this will continually become more common overtime, although in some cases it will require some exhibit modifications to ensure they are safe, even when staff aren't immediately present.

However, as the years go by it does appear that it's becoming more difficult to justify keeping even gibbons and lemurs indoors 24/7, as there should be at least some kind of access to fresh air, breezes, live insects and other natural enrichment items.

That does appear to be the case. I think too often though exhibits being "all indoors" are used as an inaccurate litmus test for being a bad exhibit, when that isn't always the case. I'm sure there are a lot of lemurs in roadside zoos that would love to live in Bronx's Madagascar! exhibit.

Definitely, a warm climate can make a massive difference in terms of the ethics of having smaller indoor holding areas, as zoos in Spain, Florida, Texas or Singapore can have mammals outside year-round.

I think it is also worth noting here, as much as I hate saying this: no zoos in Florida or Texas keep polar bears, amur tigers, takin, or snow leopards, only one keeps red pandas, and only two keep amur leopards. Southern zoos, by and large, have stopped keeping large mammals from cold climates, and yet northern zoos are still keeping plenty of African megafauna and Tropical Asian species. I hate saying this, as a primate enthusiast from the northeast, but maybe it's time for zoos in northern climates to stop keeping the species that aren't tolerant to cold weather.

 

[Aardwolf]

I think it is also worth noting here, as much as I hate saying this: no zoos in Florida or Texas keep polar bears, amur tigers, takin, or snow leopards, only one keeps red pandas, and only two keep amur leopards. Southern zoos, by and large, have stopped keeping large mammals from cold climates, and yet northern zoos are still keeping plenty of African megafauna and Tropical Asian species. I hate saying this, as a primate enthusiast from the northeast, but maybe it's time for zoos in northern climates to stop keeping the species that aren't tolerant to cold weather.

I won't say that you're wrong on this last point (if nothing else, think of the cost and environmental impact of those tropical buildings), but I will say, in my experience tropical species seem to habituate to cold weather much better than cold-weather species habituate to warm weather. Habituation of tropical species to the cold is an idea that's been in practice for well over a century, and was one of Hagenbeck's main projects. We've all probably seen a variety of species playing in the snow, or at least at temperatures much colder than they'd usually experience in their natural state; even elephants can enjoy a tumble in the snow, as long as they have warm shelter to retreat to.

Many cold weather species, however, sicken or die, or at the very least are absolutely miserable, in temperatures even a bit warmer than natural. I remember seeing the wolverine at Mill Mountain Zoo in the early 2000s, which I was told by keepers was the southernmost zoo in the country to house the species at that time. It didn't even seem that warm out, but the poor guy - which, mind you, had lived there for years and was presumably used to it - looked wretched. How many zoos have successfully kept moose outside of their natural range (and I'm defining "successfully" a bit more strictly than "have kept alive")? Musk ox?

There are exceptions, of course - I still find it hilarious that one of the most accomplished breeders of arctic sea ducks and geese is... Pinola. In Louisiana (I mean, northern Louisiana, but it's still Louisiana). Discovering that shocked me, because as a young bird keeper I took it as gospel from my curator that eiders, long-tails, harlequins, etc were impossible for our zoo to keep because of the climate, and I accepted that... while never questioning how we successfully kept so many tropical waterfowl species in an outdoor exhibit immediately next door.

And I completely agree about the nuance of keeping species indoors vs outdoors. I probably have mentioned this on here elsewhere, but I once worked for a private collection that was located near a major AZA zoo, and the owner swore up and down that our husbandry was superior to theirs, because our primates were outdoors year round (even if "outdoors" meant huddled inside a pee-smelling nest box next to the heat lamp) whereas the other zoo kept their monkeys indoors. And that is how I learned at what temperature spider monkeys develop frostbite...

 

[15399]

(if nothing else, think of the cost and environmental impact of those tropical buildings

I wasn't even considering the cost/impact of those large heating systems- a very fair point. While I don't think it's realistic (or even advisable) to completely eliminate warm-weather species from cold-climate zoos, as especially within herps that'd drastically decrease the amount of biodiversity available, it's at least something I think zoos might want to consider more and more, although I know many already think about this a lot.

We've all probably seen a variety of species playing in the snow, or at least at temperatures much colder than they'd usually experience in their natural state; even elephants can enjoy a tumble in the snow, as long as they have warm shelter to retreat to.

Another good point- I find it so funny that I've more routinely seen Buffalo Zoo's spotted hyenas outside in the snow than their snow leopards or Japanese macaques, but for whatever reason the hyenas more often choose to be outside in the cold than either of those other species.

And I completely agree about the nuance of keeping species indoors vs outdoors. I probably have mentioned this on here elsewhere, but I once worked for a private collection that was located near a major AZA zoo, and the owner swore up and down that our husbandry was superior to theirs, because our primates were outdoors year round (even if "outdoors" meant huddled inside a pee-smelling nest box next to the heat lamp) whereas the other zoo kept their monkeys indoors. And that is how I learned at what temperature spider monkeys develop frostbite...

That's... quite the view of what good "husbandry" is. Did the monkeys not even have *access* to an indoor area?!

 

[birdsandbats]

That's... quite the view of what good "husbandry" is. Did the monkeys not even have *access* to an indoor area?!

If it's anything like the places in Wisconsin that have this sentiment, then no.

 

[Tetzoo Quizzer]

Re:- Spotted Hyenas; they were much more widely distributed in geological times, being a common U.K. fossil, so judging their climatic needs from current distribution may well be misleading!