This has been an issue for a few years now, for too long near enough every British zoo had meerkat, red panda, small clawed otter, siamang, Asian lion, snow leopard, Waldrapp ibis and so on, but now things are changing here.
Leading the way in my view is RZSS at both their parks, led by Iain Valentine they have brought in koala, aye aye, purple faced langur, drill, gelada baboon, white cheeked gibbon, giant anteater, marbled polecat, Malayan palm civet (no longer there), wolverine, Pallas cat, Temmincks golden cat, Amur leopard, Malayan tapir, Indian rhino, Visayan warty pig, vicuna, white lipped deer, Siberian musk deer, Bawean deer, bongo, Lesser kudu, lowland nyala, Japanese serow, Mishmi takin, Chinese grey goral and many others too.
With the HWP bringing in Japanese macaque, kiang, Bactrain wapiti, European elk, bharal and markhor.
And with the prospect of Carpathian lynx, gaur, Afghan urial and kulan coming in too things are changing and this is in just 2 collections.
Other zoos following this lead now include Blackbrook and for years now Colchester, Jersey, Belfast and the Aspinall parks have surprised us with the species they have brought in.
"Trendy" animals now would include aye aye, Alaotran gentle lemur, gelada baboon, red titi, giant anteater, tamandua, Amur leopard, Pallas cat, spectacled bear, margay, Indian rhino, Malayan tapir, Grevys zebra, bongo, vicuna, lowland anoa, banteng, lesser Malayan chevrotain are the ones i can think of.
If there is one trend that is marked above most, is the move to exhibiting Phillipine animals such as Phillipine deer, Visayan warty pigs, Panay cloudrunner, hornbills and crocodiles.
