Species You Wish More Zoos Would Keep

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

Don’t appreciate the doubtful tone given I got this information from the people who are currently breeding olms.
Apparently being exposed to light for more than a few minutes at a time can cause a significant rise in cases of skin cancer.

As for humidity, perhaps not an issue in capitivity but certainly is in the wild - it is one of the main reasons why they are only able to survive in certain cave complexes and not others.

This is from the EDGE species survival blue print on the environmental needs of the olm:

"Olm is an endemic stygobiont of the underground waters of Dinaric region (Gottstein 2010). The main features of a subterranean life are lack of light, no light-dark cycle, and a relative air humidity near full saturation value. The temperature of underground waters tend to be more constant than in surface waters. The ideal temperature range for the Olm is between 5˚C and 15˚C. Water temperature in cave can also seasonally vary. Rokina Bezdana in Lika region in average values 7˚C, but temperature here is variable and is reported to sometimes fall below 5˚C (Garašić 1980a).

In some other localities, lower temperatures in caves probably occur during melting of snow or after heavy cold rains in spring, when high quantities of cold surface water penetrate underground. However, there is no locality in Slovenia where this animal is likely to live for a longer period at temperatures below 8˚C (Sket 1997). The highest temperature measured in a Proteus habitat has been 14˚C in Istra (Rađa 1980a)."

Threats to species :

"Human-induced threats to the speleological objects and associated fauna are varied and numerous. The major threats on underground habitats are:

• urban pollution such as garbage dumps in karstic springs and sinkholes (Cave in Vodnjan, Markarova cave)

• restriction of water levels

• Tourists excessive visitation of caves (Đuderina jama), bringing with them strong lights and heaters

• dams and small-scale hydroelectric power stations which cause a change in the stream profile and reduce food intake into the underground (system Vilina cave – Ombla spring)

• modification of water flow

• destruction of caves and their associated networks of cracks by exploitation of guarries, building of roads and highways and widening of highways, clandestine excavations in the remoter parts of caves, or because of vandalism

• pollution of the underground waters and dumping of organics acids in the underground river (Rokina bezdana – pollution of Stajničko polje as well as Jezerana leads to the accumulation of waste water in the underground which the local people use as drinking water)

• illegal collection of this species for the pet trade (Bedek et al. 2009, Ozimec 2006)"

 

[Nix]

I wish more Zoos had Chacma Baboons, There is currently only one WAZA Zoo with them

 

[Dassie rat]

I wish more Zoos had Chacma Baboons, There is currently only one WAZA Zoo with them

I would also like to see more chacmas. I can't remember seeing any since they were kept in London Zoo's Monkey House in the 1960s.d

 

[Nix]

I would also like to see more chacmas. I can't remember seeing any since they were kept in London Zoo's Monkey House in the 1960s.d

I saw them at Joburg Zoo, They currently have 12.
Pretoria Zoo (NZG) had a single female.
I often see them in the wild. They like sitting on my roof and eating my dog's food

 

[Chlidonias]

Don’t appreciate the doubtful tone given I got this information from the people who are currently breeding olms.
Apparently being exposed to light for more than a few minutes at a time can cause a significant rise in cases of skin cancer.

Of course you did. It may be true - I have never seen any such evidence - but I rather suspect you are confusing the development of melanin with skin cancer.

As for humidity, perhaps not an issue in capitivity but certainly is in the wild - it is one of the main reasons why they are only able to survive in certain cave complexes and not others.

Then why did you bring it up as an example of why they are supposedly difficult to keep in captivity when it is entirely irrelevant?

 

[Elephas Maximus]

Do species not currently kept in the country count?

 

[amur leopard]

Of course you did

This is beginning to get frustrating. Our group was given a talk by the person in charge of the breeding of the animals as they showed us the olms on a tour of the cave. If that isn’t good enough for you, then check the gallery, where there are photos of the olms I saw along with the signage and the cave where they were.

but I rather suspect you are confusing the development of melanin with skin cancer.

Fine suspect all you want. That’s what the person with several years’ experience of breeding olms said, but I guess they must be wrong.

Then why did you bring it up as an example of why they are supposedly difficult to keep in captivity when it is entirely irrelevant?

Admittedly temperature might have been a better example, but your pedantry is quite astounding

 

[15399]

Do species not currently kept in the country count?

Of course they do- as long as they could reasonably be acquired and kept.

 

[Westcoastperson]

@amur leopard might I ask why Zoos or Aquariums wouldn't use red lights to hold this species and make them viewable? The animals' eyes wouldn't be affected because most animals can't see red light, and it emits the least amount of radiation (radio waves) for visible light.

 

[Chlidonias]

This is beginning to get frustrating. Our group was given a talk by the person in charge of the breeding of the animals as they showed us the olms on a tour of the cave. If that isn’t good enough for you, then check the gallery, where there are photos of the olms I saw along with the signage and the cave where they were.

Fine suspect all you want. That’s what the person with several years’ experience of breeding olms said, but I guess they must be wrong.

Admittedly temperature might have been a better example, but your pedantry is quite astounding

If you make a claim that Olms are difficult to keep in captivity because "they need a certain humidity" it is not really "pedantry" to point out that your claim is nonsensical. Now you appear to be claiming that they are difficult to keep in captivity due to temperature, which is also just wrong - the water in the tank just needs to be kept at their preferred temperatures; that is not difficult.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

This is from a paper called "Monitoring health and reproductive status of olms (proteus anguinus) by ultrasound" it contains details about how olms are kept at Zagreb zoo in Slovenia :

Background of Zagreb zoo's olm collection:

"We examined all 13 olms kept at the Zoological Garden of Zagreb in 2013. Five of these individuals were captured from natural cave habitat, while eight were rescued after being flushed out of caves by strong currents during the alpine snow-melt in spring. Brief ultrasound examinations ( 15 min each) were performed in both summer and autumn of 2013. All of the specimens were of unknown age and sex and were derived from five different locations across Croatia (Table 1).

Care of olms at Zagreb zoo:

"Olms were housed individually in 60 l aquaria under conditions similar to their natural habitat. Air and water temperatures ranged between 8–12˚C, and 9–12˚C, respectively. Except during feeding, cleaning, and regular health monitoring, animals were kept in complete darkness. Every aquarium contained an air stone (Tetra AS 40 and APS 300, Melle, Germany). Two transparent hiding places enabled visual monitoring of food consumption and health. Water conductivity in the original cave habitat measured 540 μS/cm (Boeco CT-470, Hamburg, Germany)."

"To reach comparable values, tap water was allowed to rest for two weeks. Ultrasound in Proteus anguinus PLOS ONE | Monitoring health and reproductive status of olms (Proteus anguinus) by ultrasound August 15, 2017 3 / 18 After it was aerated and cooled, it replaced 20% of the water in each tank, every two weeks. Animals were fed at two-week intervals with Oligochaeta spp., Tubifex spp., Chironomus spp., and Gammarus spp."

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

@amur leopard might I ask why Zoos or Aquariums wouldn't use red lights to hold this species and make them viewable? The animals' eyes wouldn't be affected because most animals can't see red light, and it emits the least amount of radiation (radio waves) for visible light.

According to this article by the Guardian newspaper they are kept under very dimmed red light conditions at the Postojna cave in Slovenia where they have several captive individuals on display to the public:

'Baby dragons' go on display for the first time in Slovenia

I imagine that with breeding setups with this species they would be kept under conditions of complete darkness as apparently they are very hard to breed and hyper sensitive to any sort of light.

 

[DomoKomodo]

I'm new here! Maybe it comes as no surprise, I wish I could see my favorite Komodo Dragon more often. Would also love to see SEA Otters, Painted Dogs, and Mandrill.

 

[birdsandbats]

I'm new here! Maybe it comes as no surprise, I wish I could see my favorite Komodo Dragon more often. Would also love to see SEA Otters, Painted Dogs, and Mandrill.

All of those species are fairly common in zoos, except for maybe Sea Otter.

 

[Nix]

All of those species are fairly common in zoos, except for maybe Sea Otter.

There is only about 60 Komodo Dragons in Captivity. Which isn't all to much

 

[Westcoastperson]

Would also love to see SEA Otters, Painted Dogs, and Mandrill.

Well Sea Otters aren't something most zoos or aquariums can just breed. Most Sea Otters come from rescues in Alaska or the North West. So if a zoo or Aquarium does want Southern Sea Otters and none have been in standing situations recently then they have to try and get a small group from another zoo or aquarium. And Northern Sea Otters are even harder to get.

 

[DaLilFishie]

There is only about 60 Komodo Dragons in Captivity. Which isn't all to much

What??? That's much lower than I would have thought!

 

[amur leopard]

There is only about 60 Komodo Dragons in Captivity. Which isn't all to much

I agree with @DaLilFishie - there are at least 94 Komodo dragons in Europe alone, plus a fairly healthy population in the US (from all those new Asian zones popping up) and quite a few in Asia and Oceania of course. That must yield a number of about 150, if not more.

 

[Strix]

I agree with @DaLilFishie - there are at least 94 Komodo dragons in Europe alone, plus a fairly healthy population in the US (from all those new Asian zones popping up) and quite a few in Asia and Oceania of course. That must yield a number of about 150, if not more.

Possibly they meant 60 zoos keep them, not 60 individuals.

 

[Ursus]

Every should have rhinoceros mandatory.