I love the idea of having an "Anteater House"! That said, I think the idea would be improved upon by having a central exhibit for leafcutter ants!
Interesting, I didn't know the capybara used to live with the anteater. Nowadays, Rosie the capybara lives in the central wetlands area alongside turtles, stingrays, and birds. The anteater has a single-species exhibit, however I've seen some of the birds (especially the yellow-crowned night herons) sitting on branches above the exhibit.
Tasmanian devils are no longer kept at the Los Angeles Zoo for at least the last several years. The exhibit remains empty and I haven't heard of any plans to get more tassies. As for the other Australian animals you've posted about recently, the L.A. Zoo does still have short-beaked echidnas and koalas. In fact, I had the most amazing koala viewing experience of my life a couple months ago when I saw not only one but two koalas actively walking around on branches and eating. They were in two separate enclosures and active at the same time! It was a dream come true for me and I was so fortunate to get many fantastic photos and videos.I've seen Tasmanian Devils at 10 zoos. There's been some memorable sightings, from a feeding session at Cleland Wildlife Park to my first time seeing them in North America at San Diego Zoo, to some top-notch European exhibits.
1- Taronga Zoo (Australia) – Tasmanian Devil – 2007
2- Cleland Wildlife Park (Australia) – Tasmanian Devil – 2007
3- Healesville Sanctuary (Australia) – Tasmanian Devil – 2007
4- San Diego Zoo (USA) – Tasmanian Devil – 2017
5- Los Angeles Zoo (USA) – Tasmanian Devil – 2017
6- Toledo Zoo (USA) – Tasmanian Devil – 2018
7- Planckendael Zoo (Belgium) – Tasmanian Devil – 2019
8- Pairi Daiza (Belgium) – Tasmanian Devil – 2019
9- Duisburg Zoo (Germany) – Tasmanian Devil – 2019
10- Copenhagen Zoo (Denmark) – Tasmanian Devil – 2022
@Hix
This 2007 photo shows the Tasmanian Devil exhibit at Taronga Zoo (Australia):
@Baldur
A 'Tassie Devil' looking very devilish in the rain at Cleland Wildlife Park (Australia) in 2007:
I saw Tasmanian Devils at Healesville Sanctuary (Australia) in this exhibit:
@Baldur
Interestingly enough, neither Adelaide Zoo nor Melbourne Zoo had Tasmanian Devils when I was there in 2007. Looking back through old photos and zoo maps, neither zoo seems to have had the species during that year.
San Diego Zoo (USA) was my first non-Oz zoo with Tasmanian Devils:
@Arizona Docent
I saw a very active Tasmanian Devil at Los Angeles Zoo (USA) in 2017:
@Julio C Castro
My photo shows an exhibit that was able to be split in two if necessary:
Here is where I saw a Tasmanian Devil at Toledo Zoo (USA) in 2018. Check out the potted plants on the wall...a weird touch. This exhibit is in the Tembo Trail area, which is a poor hodgepodge of geographically wacky exhibits, but since then the zoo has built Tasmanian Devil enclosures elsewhere.
@Moebelle
Newer devil enclosures:
@USZOOfan42
Planckendael Zoo (Belgium) had Tasmanian Devils when I was there in 2019. This is a fantastic zoo for many animals, but particularly Australian ones. Here's a great image:
@Sicarius
My photo of the exhibit shows an extensive glass viewing area:
Did Pairi Daiza (Belgium) have Tassie Devils in 2019? Of course! It is quite a unique looking exhibit:
Another great European zoo for Aussie fauna is Duisburg Zoo (Germany) and they had Tasmanian Devils when I was there on my month-long Euro trek in 2019.
@twilighter
Copenhagen Zoo (Denmark) has a spectacular, very large Tasmanian Devil exhibit. This zoo, with its Australian connections, would be an excellent candidate to add Platypus if that species ever makes it to Europe in the future. I had a great time here watching a super active devil roam all over the enclosure.
This last photo by @Javan Rhino
Non-primate or carnivore mammals:
Koalas - 25 zoos
Short-beaked Echidnas - 22 zoos
Tasmanian Devils - 10 zoos
Platypuses - 5 zoos
* On the top of page 60, I have my final lists for Carnivora (130 species) and Primates (141 species) = 271 species at the 551 different zoos/aquariums I've visited.
While its true that aardvarks are easy to see, its not easy to see an ACTIVE one, with a majority of photos on zoochat are all sleeping! I for one have only seen sleeping aardvarks, although my list is quite small with only 2 zoosIt's a good question posed by @Osedax in terms of my next analysis of a particular species, but in truth I'm having fun bouncing around with different animals this week before I depart on my next Snowleopard Road Trip on August 1st. There's still a lot of mammals that I've not yet added up all the data for, and might never will, such as Capybaras, Maras, Sloths, Camels, Alpacas, Llamas and every type of mouse or rat. In older reviews, I would not be detailed enough about what type of mouse or rat I was looking at and so very few rodents deserve my attention on this thread. Most of the Camelids are basically domestics, and Capybaras and Maras have been so incredibly numerous that I fear there are many older zoo reviews of mine where I don't even bother to mention them. Maras are free-roaming at some European zoos and defy even the realms of captivity!
A real conundrum for me are the rest of the macropods, aside from the already completed Tree Kangaroos. I've visited 16 zoos and 3 aquariums in Australia, some in the late 1980s and most in 2007. What macropods I saw at those facilities is very difficult to figure out, especially as I didn't write the extensive zoo reviews that I began a few years later. One thing in my favour is that kangaroos and wallabies are easily seen at zoos and in all my hundreds of zoo visits I cannot recall ever going past a zoo exhibit, or in this case quite often walking through a zoo exhibit, and not seeing kangaroos or wallabies. They are out in the open, hopping around or resting somewhere, but always easily seen. Maybe in late August, when I get back from my overseas trip, I can think about what I want to do with macropods and those Aussie zoos 'back in the day'. (I would almost prefer to give some Aussie zoo nerd a list of the 16 Oz zoos I've toured and then that would be a little project for them to come up with the species I would have seen)
As for now, today's post is going to randomly be about a super cool species. I've seen Aardvarks at 15 zoos. In many cases the exhibits have been very poor for the animals, hardly allowing them to dig, therefore seeing them has never really been an issue. At least 7 of these 15 exhibits would be classified as being in a nocturnal environment.
1- Lincoln Park Zoo - Illinois (USA) – Aardvark – 2008
2- Brookfield Zoo (USA) – Aardvark – 2008
3- Detroit Zoo (USA) – Aardvark – 2008
4- Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium (USA) – Aardvark – 2008
5- Memphis Zoo (USA) – Aardvark – 2008
6- Philadelphia Zoo (USA) – Aardvark – 2010
7- Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (USA) – Aardvark – 2012
8- Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure (USA) – Aardvark – 2012
9- Henry Vilas Zoo (USA) – Aardvark – 2014
10- Sacramento Zoo (USA) – Aardvark – 2017
11- Zoo Antwerp (Belgium) – Aardvark – 2019
12- Frankfurt Zoo (Germany) – Aardvark – 2019
13- Cologne Zoo (Germany) – Aardvark – 2019
14- Burgers' Zoo (Netherlands) – Aardvark – 2019
15- Randers Regnskov (Denmark) – Aardvark – 2022
I saw Aardvarks on 5 occasions in 2008, while visiting 30 different zoos that summer. The first time was at Lincoln Park Zoo (USA) inside the African Journey building. There's a den area that's open to visitors, making the Aardvarks easily seen because otherwise at some of these zoos there's of course a difficult task in spotting a burrowing animal. Having an on-show den can make all the difference. Plus, some zoos are very poor at giving Aardvarks digging opportunities and there's nowhere for the animals to get away from public view.
@geomorph
Habitat Africa! The Savannah was a building I toured at Brookfield Zoo (USA) in 2008 and it was easy to spot Aardvarks there. It's because they lived partially on mock-rock cement.
@geomorph
By far and away my most memorable Aardvark sighting was at Detroit Zoo (USA), and seeing an Aardvark run around its outdoor exhibit, dive into the dirt, lean up against the wall and make weird noises was a real highlight.
At Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium (USA), the Aardvarks are always visible as I don't think there's anywhere for them to go with a lack of deep natural substrate inside their nocturnal enclosure. Aardvarks are always mixed with other species and this exhibit is located inside the Kingdoms of the Night nocturnal house.
@Dhole dude
Animals of the Night is a nocturnal house at Memphis Zoo (USA) and again Aardvarks are not difficult to see as they have very little to dig here as well. This photo was taken with the lights on and apparently the Aardvarks are in with Garnett's Galagos.
@Coelacanth18
Yet another nocturnal area environment contained Aardvarks (combined with Meerkats) at Philadelphia Zoo (USA) in 2008. Here's my 'red light' image:
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (USA) had a range of animals at Jambo Junction in 2012, and Aardvarks had both an on-show den area and an outdoor dirt zone at Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure (USA) in 2014.
Henry Vilas Zoo (USA) had Aardvarks when I was there in 2015:
@pachyderm pro
There was very poor glare on the Aardvark area called Small Wonders at Sacramento Zoo (USA) in 2017. This exhibit debuted 3 years earlier.
The nocturnal house called Nocturama at Antwerp Zoo (Belgium) closed shortly after my visit, in late 2019, and that's a real shame as it was a terrific highlight of a zoo visit. Here was the Aardvark/Springhare/Senegal Bushbaby exhibit:
@KevinB
I saw almost every single species inside Frankfurt Zoo's (Germany) legendary, mostly nocturnal Grzimek House, including an Aardvark. Seeing an Aardvark at Cologne Zoo (Germany) was easy, as in 2019 an animal was laying down in the exact same spot as it is located in this 2018 photo. This is the Hippodom building, with hippos, crocs, Aardvarks and other delights.
@Hvedekorn
Burgers' Zoo (Netherlands) has Burgers' Bush, a sprawling rainforest jungle that's one of the great zoo exhibits of Europe. Just don't expect to see many mammals there, like the tropical complexes in Leipzig or Omaha, and the most notable mammal is an Aardvark.
@Mr Gharial
Lastly, I saw two Aardvarks actively shuffling around their exhibit at Randers Regnskov (Denmark). This is that superb Danish zoo with the 3 big domes and in the Nocturnal Zone there was a total of 16 species during my 2022 visit. The largest enclosure held 4 species (Aardvark/Springhare/African Brush-tailed Porcupine/Senegal Galago) and the galagos were free-roaming as several bounced around right above my head on vines that went over the pathway. I admitted during my Snowleopard's 2022 Road Trip thread that I leaned over and petted the two Aardvarks and they were just like big pink pigs. Loads of visitors were scratching their backs and it was a unique experience.
Here's a two-week-old Aardvark at Randers in 2008:
@Toddy
Non-primate or carnivore mammals:
Asian Elephants - 61 zoos
Giant Anteaters - 57 zoos
African Elephants - 53 zoos
Tree Kangaroos - 33 zoos (2 species: 24 Matschie's, 9 Goodfellow's)
Koalas - 25 zoos
Short-beaked Echidnas - 22 zoos
Aardvarks - 15 zoos
Tasmanian Devils - 10 zoos
Platypuses - 5 zoos
* On the top of page 60, I have my final lists for Carnivora (130 species) and Primates (141 species) = 271 species at the 551 different zoos/aquariums I've visited.
I thought I remember hearing that every single zoo you have been to has had 250 aardvarks though.While its true that aardvarks are easy to see, its not easy to see an ACTIVE one, with a majority of photos on zoochat are all sleeping! I for one have only seen sleeping aardvarks, although my list is quite small with only 2 zoos
Southern Tamandua are pretty common in the private trade, so it isn't a surprise many of those privately-owned places obtain them.I've seen Tamanduas on quite a few occasions. Once, while in Trinidad & Tobago, I was able to pet one that was part of a traveling wildlife company. Later on, my wife and I petted a Tamandua at Reid Park Zoo (USA) when we went behind the scenes on a trip in 2011. I didn't count those two Tamandua sightings as one wasn't technically a zoo while the other time involved an animal that was behind-the-scenes. Also, there are two zoos below where I saw an exhibit but not a Tamandua, so overall I've actually seen a Tamandua at 21 zoos.
They are inquisitive, active creatures at times, but of course can also frequently be seen curled up in a basket or hammock in zoo exhibits. Most of these zoos kept Tamanduas entirely indoors, but there are a few notable outdoor enclosures as well. There are 4 or 5 of these zoos that had the species in a nocturnal environment.
1- Woodland Park Zoo (USA) – Tamandua – 1996
2- Minnesota Zoo (USA) – Tamandua – 2008
3- Memphis Zoo (USA) – Tamandua – 2008
4- Sedgwick County Zoo (USA) – Tamandua – 2010 *didn't see the animal
5- Kansas City Zoo (USA) – Tamandua – 2010
6- Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (USA) – Tamandua – 2010
7- Buffalo Zoo (USA) – Tamandua – 2010 *didn't see the animal
8- El Paso Zoo (USA) – Tamandua – 2010
9- Sacramento Zoo (USA) – Tamandua – 2011
10- Denver Zoo (USA) – Tamandua – 2012
11- Timbavati Wildlife Park (USA) – Tamandua – 2014
12- World Aquarium (USA) – Tamandua – 2014
13- Gone Wild Safari (USA) – Tamandua – 2015
14- San Diego Zoo (USA) – Tamandua – 2017
15- Zoo Antwerp (Belgium) – Tamandua – 2019
16- Frankfurt Zoo (Germany) – Tamandua – 2019
17- Zoo Neuwied (Germany) – Tamandua – 2019
18- Dortmund Zoo (Germany) – Tamandua – 2019
19- Duisburg Zoo (Germany) – Tamandua – 2019
20- Krefeld Zoo (Germany) – Tamandua – 2019
21- BestZOO (Netherlands) – Tamandua – 2019
22- Berlin Tierpark (Germany) – Tamandua – 2019
23- Parken Zoo (Sweden) – Tamandua – 2022
@Julio C Castro
A real highlight of Woodland Park Zoo (USA) was the Night Exhibit nocturnal house, before it closed down in 2010. I would see a Tamandua in there all the time. Memphis Zoo (USA) also had a Tamandua inside a nocturnal house when I was there in 2008.
I then saw a Tamandua at Minnesota Zoo (USA) in 2010 and the exhibit was this one inside the Tropics Trail complex.
Here is the Tamandua/Two-toed Sloth exhibit inside the Jungle building at Sedgwick County Zoo (USA) in 2010. I did not see the Tamandua but there are two sloths in this photo.
Kansas City Zoo (USA), somewhat surprisingly, had an outdoor Tamandua exhibit in 2010. Sacramento Zoo (USA) is another American zoo where I saw a Tamandua outdoors.
Inside the RainForest building at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (USA) in 2010, I saw an exhibit that held Tamanduas, White-faced Sakis and Emperor Tamarins all together.
Buffalo Zoo (USA) had an excellent and quite tall Tamandua/White-faced Saki/Toucan exhibit in 2010 but I did not see the Tamandua while there.
You can see a Tamandua in this photo I took at El Paso Zoo (USA) in 2010:
It wasn't too difficult to spot a Tamandua at Timbavati Wildlife Park (USA) in the great state of Wisconsin in 2014. As these two photos show, one would be hard pressed to find a worse exhibit for this species in any nation on the planet. To top things off, this unfortunate animal was pacing horribly back and forth at high speed.
Gone Wild Safari (USA) is an obscure, privately-run zoo that somehow ended up with Tamanduas as well. I took these photos in 2015.
San Diego Zoo (USA) had an outdoor Tamandua exhibit in the Children's Zoo in 2017, which was a typical cage but lushly planted. Then I saw Tamanduas EIGHT times in a month in Europe, as they were more common than Giant Anteaters over there for me.
The now closed Nocturama in Antwerp Zoo (Belgium) had a Tamandua:
@Joker1706
Of course there was a Tamandua exhibit inside the Grzimek House at Frankfurt Zoo (Germany):
@nikola
Here's a photo that combines two of my passions: soccer and zoos! Zoo Neuwied (Germany) had Tamanduas with Lowland Pacas inside their South American House.
I already mentioned the Anteater House at Dortmund Zoo (Germany) when discussing Giant Anteaters, and that building has an outdoor exhibit for Tamanduas. Here is a 2022 photo showing a Tamandua on the ground.
@ralph
Yet another all-indoor Tamandua exhibit can be seen at Krefeld Zoo (Germany):
@TeaLovingDave
I saw a newborn Tamandua at BestZOO (Netherlands):
When I was at Parken Zoo (Sweden) in 2022, it was perhaps the only time where a zoo had TWO Tamandua exhibits and they were in different areas of the zoo. The first is near the entrance and the second is inside the Asia Pavilion (which is odd!).
Non-primate or carnivore mammals:
Asian Elephants - 61 zoos
Giant Anteaters - 57 zoos
African Elephants - 53 zoos
Tree Kangaroos - 33 zoos (2 species: 24 Matschie's, 9 Goodfellow's)
Koalas - 25 zoos
Short-beaked Echidnas - 22 zoos
Tamanduas - 21 zoos
Aardvarks - 15 zoos
Tasmanian Devils - 10 zoos
Platypuses - 5 zoos
* On the top of page 60, I have my final lists for Carnivora (130 species) and Primates (141 species) = 271 species at the 551 different zoos/aquariums I've visited.
I've seen northern tamandua at the Belize Zoo. Looking at ZTL, all the holders of northern tamandua are in either Central America, South America, or Mexico.
This exhibit now holds white-faced saki and two squirrel monkey species. The tamanduas at Buffalo Zoo now live in the Ecostation, alongside golden lion tamarins, two-toed sloths, and red-rumped agouti. Per a conversation I had with a keeper at the zoo, toucans were reportedly problematic in this exhibit due to their specific dietary needs. There are no longer any toucans on display at the Buffalo Zoo.Buffalo Zoo (USA) had an excellent and quite tall Tamandua/White-faced Saki/Toucan exhibit in 2010 but I did not see the Tamandua while there.
I have only seen the aardvarks 4 times of 100+ visits and after they shrunk the habitat I have seen them twice since!By far and away my most memorable Aardvark sighting was at Detroit Zoo (USA), and seeing an Aardvark run around its outdoor exhibit, dive into the dirt, lean up against the wall and make weird noises was a real highlight.
No, only those two. The northern hairy-nosed is the only other species and has never been kept in zoos, at least in my lifetime.
The Wombat Burrow houses Southern Hairy-nosed Wombats. Did you see this exhibit on your visit? The interior is similar to Melbourne's burrow system. The Common / Bare-nosed Wombats were housed next to the now-demolished Platypus House at that time.Taronga Zoo (Australia) has maintained Wombats in their collection for decades and here is a 2019 photo of the Wombat Burrow entrance area at the zoo.
