I've recently discussed how Sitatunga and several other antelope species have been on a gradual decline in AZA accredited zoos, and it was a little ironic to me that I had to venture off to Europe and Asia to see large herds of ungulates. Well, what kind of antelope species are thriving in AZA zoos? One of the answers is the
Greater Kudu, which is a widespread mammal species across North America and Europe. I only saw these guys once in Scandinavia and once in Southeast Asia, but everywhere else has seen them in abundance in captivity.
I've seen
Greater Kudu at
51 zoos:
2008 – 9 zoos
2010 – 13 zoos
2019 – 11 zoos
1- Alberta Game Farm/Polar Park (Canada) – Greater Kudu – 1975
2- San Francisco Zoo (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2006
3- San Diego Zoo Safari Park (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2006
4- Toledo Zoo (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2008
5- Toronto Zoo (Canada) – Greater Kudu – 2008
6- Indianapolis Zoo (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2008
7- Knoxville Zoo (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2008
8- Oklahoma City Zoo (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2008
9- Disney’s Animal Kingdom (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2008
10- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2008
11- Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2008
12- Zoo Miami (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2008
13- Tulsa Zoo (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2010
14- Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2010
15- Milwaukee County Zoo (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2010
16- Binder Park Zoo (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2010
17- Maryland Zoo (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2010
18- North Carolina Zoo (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2010
19- Birmingham Zoo (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2010
20- Montgomery Zoo (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2010
21- Baton Rouge Zoo (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2010
22- Caldwell Zoo (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2010
23- Dallas Zoo (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2010
24- Cameron Park Zoo (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2010
25- Gladys Porter Zoo (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2010
26- Naples Zoo (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2012
27- Little Rock Zoo (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2012
28- Hemker Park & Zoo (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2014
29- Timbavati Wildlife Park (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2014
30- Houston Zoo (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2015
31- Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2015
32- Exotic Resort Zoo (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2015
33- Fossil Rim Wildlife Center (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2015
34- B. Bryan Preserve (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2017
35- Safari West Wildlife Preserve (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2017
36- Fresno Chaffee Zoo (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2017
37- Artis Royal Zoo (Netherlands) – Greater Kudu – 2019
38- Diergaarde Blijdorp (Netherlands) – Greater Kudu – 2019
39- Safari Parc Monde Sauvage (Belgium) – Greater Kudu – 2019
40- GaiaZOO (Netherlands) – Greater Kudu – 2019
41- ZOOM Erlebniswelt (Germany) – Greater Kudu – 2019
42- Krefeld Zoo (Germany) – Greater Kudu – 2019
43- Beekse Bergen (Netherlands) – Greater Kudu – 2019
44- Tierpark Hagenbeck (Germany) – Greater Kudu – 2019
45- Berlin Zoo (Germany) – Greater Kudu – 2019
46- Serengeti-Park (Germany) – Greater Kudu – 2019
47- Osnabruck Zoo (Germany) – Greater Kudu – 2019
48- Aalborg Zoo (Denmark) – Greater Kudu – 2022
49- Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium & Safari Park (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2023
50- The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens (USA) – Greater Kudu – 2023
51- Chiang Mai Night Safari (Thailand) – Greater Kudu – 2024
Greater Kudu males are magnificent looking and here's one at
San Francisco Zoo (USA), which has the species in the African Savanna near the entrance.
@Zoo Birding
A lot of zoos have Greater Kudu in African Savanna type exhibits, often large fields with several other species all mixed together. Here's a male Greater Kudu and an Ostrich at
Indianapolis Zoo (USA):
@Milwaukee Man
Jacksonville Zoo (USA) has kept Greater Kudu with White Rhinos and Ostrich for many years, and when I visited in 2008 there was also Impala in that mix as well.
@SusScrofa
A large, grassy paddock was at
Tulsa Zoo (USA) for Greater Kudu when I was there in 2010.
Milwaukee County Zoo (USA) has Greater Kudu with Waterbuck as well as Scimitar-horned Oryx, a couple of slightly different mixed-species combinations.
@CarnotaurusSastrei
Greater Kudu, Plains Zebra and Yellow-backed Duiker was the combo at
Baton Rouge Zoo (USA) during my tour of that zoo in 2010.
At
Cameron Park Zoo (USA), I saw Greater Kudu with Giraffe, Gerenuk, Marabou Stork and Crowned Crane. This is an underrated zoo that often slips beneath a zoo nerd's radar.
Here's some Greater Kudu and Ankole Cattle grazing side by side at
Little Rock Zoo (USA) in 2012:
I saw Greater Kudu at
Hemker Park & Zoo (USA) in 2014 and the enclosure is an intriguing one. First of all, that fence doesn't appear nearly as sturdy as other zoo barriers I've showcased in this post. Secondly, when the state of Minnesota is blanketed by two feet of snow in the middle of winter, do all these hoofstock yards have only an open-ended wooden shelter for the animals? Holy smokes it must be cold there and there's not an enclosed space unless there's a big antelope barn not shown in my photo.
Greater Kudu and Giraffe at
Blijdorp Zoo (Netherlands) with the iconic
Giraffe House in the background:
Now here's a cool mix of species that you don't see very often...if ever! Greater Kudu, Blesbok and Springbok at
Berlin Zoo (Germany):
@twilighter
Osnabruck Zoo (Germany) had Greater Kudu with Giraffe, Impala, Waterbuck and Ostrich when I was there in 2019. It's interesting to note that Osnabruck also had Lesser Kudu in a separate exhibit.
The
African Savanna at
Aalborg Zoo (Denmark) has Greater Kudu, Scimitar-horned Oryx, Grevy's Zebra, Giraffe and Ostrich.
If there's problems or births on the vast, sprawling savanna, then there's also a side exhibit at Aalborg to see hoofstock. I saw a pair of Greater Kudu separated from the rest of the animals.
Check out this huge, surprisingly lush (for Arizona!) paddock for Greater Kudu at
Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium & Safari Park (USA). I saw TWO exhibits for Greater Kudu at this zoo last year and the one in this photo also held Springbok.
Living Desert Zoo (USA) has one of my all-time favourite Greater Kudu exhibits. There are also Giraffes and Ostriches here and the rolling hill in the background obscures the rear fence line.
At almost 60 zoos in Southeast Asia,
Chiang Mai Night Safari (Thailand) is the only one I remember having Greater Kudu and they are found in an area within the safari tour zone.
Family Bovidae: 15 species
so far
American Bison -
104 zoos
Greater Kudu -
51 zoos
Nilgai -
40 zoos
Sitatunga -
29 zoos
Banteng -
27 zoos
Yak -
26 zoos
Nyala -
25 zoos
Cape Buffalo -
21 zoos (including 7 with African Forest Buffalo)
Lowland Anoa -
18 zoos
Asian Water Buffalo -
17 zoos
Gaur -
16 zoos
Muskox -
16 zoos
Wisent -
15 zoos
Mountain Anoa -
2 zoos
Northern Bushbuck -
1 zoo
Bonus species: (kind of like my New Guinea Singing Dog example)
Gayal -
2 zoos