I definitely like seeing rhinos, and agree it would be nice to see more rhinos near me, but I find it extremely unrealistic to say all zoos should have them- especially since they require a substantial amount of space. How would you expect a 6 Acre Zoo to keep rhinos, when that would take up 20% of the total zoo?
Species You Wish More Zoos Would Keep
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I’ve been to a lot of zoos that have no space to keep a rhino, or cannot keep a rhino for other reasons.
Irregardless of the realism of EVERY zoo having rhinos, I would personally like to see more zoos keep black or Indian rhinos, as both are more interesting and more endangered than the white rhino- which is most commonly kept.
Pantheraman
Well-Known Member
I wish more zoos would keep dholes.
Not very many people know they exist, and a lot of western sources on them aren't very good, and give people the impression that they're nearly invincible hunters that are bloodthristy.
Not very many people know they exist, and a lot of western sources on them aren't very good, and give people the impression that they're nearly invincible hunters that are bloodthristy.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Dholes are incredibly efficient predators but obviously not invincible nor bloodthirsty.
I think that most people don't really know they exist and I remember reading at least one survey study that was done in Thailand (not 100% sure) where either local people didn't even know they existed or were unable to distinguish between this species and other canids from other regions of the world.
Unfortunately a lot of canids either because of having cryptic / elusive behaviour traits or just plain old general ignorance are not very well known by people either within their range country or in a wider global sense.
For example, almost nobody but biologists know about the bushdog here in Brazil and I imagine there is a similar lack of knowledge towards the painted dog across much of Sub-Saharan Africa and the Ethiopian wolf in Ethiopia.
Wolves, foxes and coyotes have the advantage (or perhaps disadvantage is a better term) of being animals that are staple characters in folklore and myth throughout the world and therefore this makes them culturally significant and puts them in the spotlight more than most other canids.
I think for the few people who do know about the dhole (but not in the scientific sense) the negative image of these animals may have been influenced by Rudyard Kipling's "Jungle Book" where they are portrayed as demonic creatures (this seems to have been a common stereotype during the 19th century).
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Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Apparently there were attempts at taming them by British colonials in India in the 19th century and these were ultimately unsuccessful.
I tend to think they could be made somewhat tame with some form of training but I don't know enough about the species to know for sure.
I'm not sure how that would work out in practice in a feeding presentation, the dhole is superficially dog-like but this is a very primitive species and really quite different from dogs and wolves as far as I can tell.
In any case, don't canids like wolves, dholes and painted dogs show strongly hierarchical and agonistic behaviour towards other individuals when feeding from carcasses of prey ?
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Herpestine mongooses, such as the Indian grey, marsh, and yellow mongooses seem to be nonexistent in the US. I remember reading that mongooses were banned here because of all the damage they caused in Hawaii— I wonder if this is the reason why our zoos only seem to keep mungotines like the meerkat and banded and dwarf mongooses. If this is the case, I think it would be cool if they made the rules here a bit more lenient to allow for more herpestid diversity in our collections.
Catalina Tate
Member
Saw giant otter yesterday at the Lakes Zoo. Laid on the windowsill inside.
I think Greater spotted eagles (especially in european zoos) should be bred in captivity more.
Not saying it's possible, since ranges are fairly sparse and Lesser spotted eagles are often confused with Greater, but since the title proclaims "species you wish more zoos would keep",
I am "wishing" that more zoos would keep this species.
Not saying it's possible, since ranges are fairly sparse and Lesser spotted eagles are often confused with Greater, but since the title proclaims "species you wish more zoos would keep",
I am "wishing" that more zoos would keep this species.
I wish the same thing for US zoos with Bateleur, African Fish Eagle, and Harpy Eagle. I understand why everybody and their cousin wants a Bald Eagle at their zoo, but honestly I'd really like to see more of those spaces used for other large raptor species. (I also recognize that many Bald Eagle exhibits are uncovered as many eagles are rescues without full flight ability and would thus be not suitable for these species, but a little bit of construction could fix that in some cases.)
Kakapo
Well-Known Member
Commerson's dolphin as the top 1, as well as finless porpoise, Irrawwady dolphin, false orca, rough-toothed dolphin, Indochinese humpback dolphin, pilot whales, Risso's dolphin, and the not so rarely kept Pacific white-sided dolphin. Even being much more common than the others mentioned, certainly more facilities should keep killer whales too. And if we can include cetaceans that are not kept at all in captivity, then... every species of cetacean that is not too difficult to care for (why on Earth there are not Dall's porpoises in captivity?)
Platypusboy
Well-Known Member
Platypuses since they are an extremely unique animal and could add a nice element to any Australian exhibit. I wish you wouldn’t have to travel to California or Australia just too see one.
Haliaeetus
Well-Known Member
There could be an European breeding program in order to reintroduce the species later, as for the Peregrine and Bearded Vulture in past decades.
Haliaeetus
Well-Known Member
Bateleur and African Fish Eagle are so rare in American zoos?
In Europe they are commonly seen in zoos and falconries.
They're around, but both are far from common and Bateleur has generally been getting rarer, fish eagle is stable I think. Bald Eagle has more than 120 holders, for comparison.
Natural Encounters Inc also keeps both species and have bred African fish eagles. But yea small numbers indeed.
Apparently they have Harpies too. Do you happen to know of a species list anywhere for them?
Your best bet would be zims. If I was smart enough to keep a life list I would have had a list from 2019. They also have a marshal eagle.