'Trendy' species in european zoos and zoo collections!

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Al

Al

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I was wondering what the forum think of 'trendy' species in zoos. Some species that at one point have been relatively rare in zoos in europe become very sort after! species that I can think of recently include red river hogs, african wild dog, bongo and most recently giant anteaters! do you think this is the case and if so what species do you think will be next?

Do you think zoos in a region should concentrate on a number of the same species or does this take away the uniqueness of the zoo?
 
Like you say animals like Red River Hogs and Red Pandas suddeny pop ip in a few collections and suddenly every zoo has them!
 
Yeah, Red Pandas and Wild Dogs come to my mind. When these species came to Chester and WMSP respectively, i was so excited because i hadn't seen them before but they are in lots of collections now (particularly Red Pandas)
 
Good thread Al. When I visited Australia last May-June, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide Zoos had posters and banners everywhere advertising fairly new Asian sections. Orangutans, sun bears, fishing cats, small-clawed otters, binturongs, gibbons and several other species were at 2 if not all 3 of the zoos. With importation laws being what they are down under, it only makes sense for all Australiasian zoos to concentrate on the same particular species in order to have a solid genetic base. That shouldn't necessarily apply to European zoos.

Even more interesting is the so-called rivalry between the big zoos in Melbourne and Taronga. They each recently opened ultra-expensive, brand-new Asian elephant exhibits...and within the next year or so will both unveil new seal, sea lion and penguin pools. Then all of the Aussie zoo fanatics can bicker over which is the better zoo. Ha!
 
I understand in oz they are limited in the number of exotic species kept and perhaps in is just a coincidence that they are going to be upgrading their aquatic mammal areas at the same time. i guess if one did it and the other didnt it would make their exhibit and animal husbandry look worse!

given that there are such a large number of collections however in the uk and the rest of europe it would be nice to have more variation in species in local areas
 
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.
 
you hit the nail on the head with the comments about Australia's big zoos displaying the same species-but most zoo fans down under celebrate this. we have such a low capacity to hold a wide range of exotic species-only recently another species of exotic carnivore (Asiatic Golden Cat) was down-graded in terms of regional breeding due to lack of holders.
the upgrade of Melbourne and Taronga Zoos doesnt really have much to dow ith rivalry....the consecutive development of the elephant enclosures was executed as part of the management strategy for this species Australia wide. it helped our zoos to secure the Thai animals in 2006. the Great Southern Oceans development at Taronga was conceptualised close to 8 years ago now, Im unsure of how long Melbourne Zoo has been planning its development but they have had ongoing issues with their seal exhibit and both State Governments have been supportive of the zoos capital improvement programs in recent years.
visiotrs from the UK and other areas coming to Australian zoos will increasingly notice the distinct similarity of our zoos exotic fauna collections. diversity of local fauna will be strengthened as zoos work even closer with local wildlife agenies but when it comes to the foreign species regional cooperation is imperative. long term perhaps the only species which will be truly unique in this country (and are planned on being kept) could be Inidan Rhino, African Elephant, Giant Panda and Polar Bear with most other species currently held in low numbers being phased out by natural attrition.
as for trendy species here in Australia.....id nominate Red Pandas, Silvery Gibbons, Tasmanian Devils, Fishing Cats and Cotton top Tamarins
 
I don't know that I celebrate Australias need for fewer species due to lack of places. I accept and understand the nessicity but am envious of overseas zoos and the divirsity that they have.
 
Yes Jay, I agree, there are many animals I would like to see more of in Aust Zoos. but, has anothe partner for Dora been secured yet. I find it hard to accept the necesssity for species to be phased out or not displayed at all when we have a lone Indian Rhino sitting in a new enclosure and he's the only one in the country...
 
I suppose it starts with one zoo importing an animal, having great success breeding it, and then passing it on to other zoos. I remember seeing meerkats at Frankfurt in the 70's, sitting under their heatlamp. Now I'd have trouble naming a zoo that doesn't have them, including the ubiquitous heatlamp. Similar with maras which were very unusual at about the same time and are now everywhere. Sometimes it doesn't work out that way, eg vasa parrots which are still quite unusual in zoos and breed well, but not many places want them becuase they look boring and grey.
 
It is down to breeding plans and conservation needs, which dictate that large number of zoos MUST keep the same species. It become so visible that it is a bit of a shame, every zoo looking identical.

I would name bearded lizards, great grey owls, white/yellow-cheeked gibbons, short-clawed otters, hunting dogs, pudus and red river hogs.

BTW, Dutch zoos in Amersfoort and Rhenen are interesting examples of zoos which keep almost exclusively trendy animals. Both zoos are in small towns close to much bigger cities and zoos. To survive, they have (relatively) few species, but almost all popular - elephants, lion, tiger, meerkat, bears etc. Still they manage rather well.
 
A few examples sprang to mind when I first read this thread's title and I think most have them have been mentioned. I would definitely say red river hog, and red panda a few years ago- African wild dogs and Giant Anteaters quite recently and like Kiang says, in the UK Aye-Aye and Indian Rhino are very popular with the big zoos. I think Geladas are beginning to get like that now too, and will probably be a really trendy species in the future providing they can be acquired by the zoos that want them.
 
There was a time, around the 1970's/80's, when many of the 'trendy' species currently on exhibit were scarcely to be seen in Uk zoos;

Hunting dog- only at Port Lympne, (previously also Whipsnade & Marwell)
Spectacled Bear- only at JWPT(previously also London, later moved to Whipsnade then finally Jersey)
Red River Hog- one at Dudley, one at Paignton.
Indian rhino. only at Whipsnade for many years.
Asian lion- not kept anywhere(except impure ones at Marwell for a while)
Snow leopard. formerly very rare in Uk zoos.
Drill- not seen in Uk from 1960's onwards for over 40 years.
Gelada- formerly at Jersey & London, none after that until recent imports.
 
Besides the compulsatory ringtails, meerkats, flamingo's, snowy owls and either black-footed- or humboldts-pinguins the Hyrax's seem to be on the list of growing populations and every Zoo suddenly needs a walk-through aviary with rainbow-lorikeets...

On the other hand, the population of Aardvark is growing, Sifaka's seem to be spreading a little from Paris and i love giant anteaters (Holland went from none to soon 5 in 2 years), tree kangaroo's numbers are increasing and japanese serow numbers have increased so not everything is bad about it...

Aye-Aye aren't really on the increase i would say. Frankfurt and Berlin had theirs for years and Paris moved theirs to Edinburgh, so the continent just lost a few :(

And atm building Elephant exhibit's is "hot", so most zoo's are sticking their energy into improving their elephant exhibit...
 
jwer said:
Besides the compulsatory ringtails, meerkats, flamingo's, snowy owls and either black-footed- or humboldts-pinguins the Hyrax's seem to be on the list of growing populations and every Zoo suddenly needs a walk-through aviary with rainbow-lorikeets...

On the other hand, the population of Aardvark is growing, Sifaka's seem to be spreading a little from Paris and i love giant anteaters (Holland went from none to soon 5 in 2 years), tree kangaroo's numbers are increasing and japanese serow numbers have increased so not everything is bad about it...

Aye-Aye aren't really on the increase i would say. Frankfurt and Berlin had theirs for years and Paris moved theirs to Edinburgh, so the continent just lost a few :(

And atm building Elephant exhibit's is "hot", so most zoo's are sticking their energy into improving their elephant exhibit...
Click to expand...

Definitely agree with you on the lorikeet aviaries, they do seem to be popping up all over.
 
This is an interesting topic, because of course as some species become trendy, others lose out. I can only really comment on English & Scottish zoos, but I'd say we have three classes of species here - apart from the hard core of eternally popular secies (lions, tigers, zebras, chimps etc etc).

On the way up :)
  • warthogs
  • cheetahs
  • yellow mongooses
  • red titis
  • sloths
  • Javan langurs

Near the peak of popularity? :confused:
  • red river hogs
  • hunting dogs
  • bongo
  • vicugna
  • Celebes black apes (or Sulawesi crested macaques if you prefer)

On the way down again :(
  • maned wolves
  • babirusa
  • Gouldi's monkeys
  • white-faced sakis
  • oryx (all 3 species)

I expect there is plenty of scope for disagreement here ;)

Alan
 
Walkthrough lemur enclosures seem quite popular also. I remember when I visited blackpool (about 1999/2000) they had one and it seemed quite unusual then. Now they are at Whipsnade, Cotswolds, Edinburgh and no doubt many more.
 
@gentle lemur - some good observations there!

red titi and warthog especially seem to be sort after! id add pied tamarin, prince alfreds deer and visayan warty hogs to that list too!
 
^Chris^ said:
Walkthrough lemur enclosures seem quite popular also. I remember when I visited blackpool (about 1999/2000) they had one and it seemed quite unusual then. Now they are at Whipsnade, Cotswolds, Edinburgh and no doubt many more.
Click to expand...

....also Bristol, Cricket St Thomas- and they're nearly all called 'meet the lemurs'...;)
 
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