Unusual/unique mixed exhibits?

At Skansen, Stockholm, Sweden, there has been red and arctic foxes and wolverines with adult brown bears from time to time since the thirties. They always had a retreat place in the biggest enclosure at "the bear mountain" where the bears couldn't corner or reach them. The wolverines where not seen much so it was not a good show. The foxes didn't breed from what I know. The wolverines was always single animals and the several breedings at Skansen took place in a separate enclosure.
 
Dan said:
That certainly sounds interesting but what do you make of it? I would assume that the arrangement works as perfect enrichment for the wolves - having potential prey in their enclosure must be stimulating. But do you think the beavers get stressed by the prescense of the wolves?
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Im guessing it would'nt be too stressful for them. They have many escape options and in the wild, they'd be chased by numerous animals
 
I would question having wolverines in the same enclosure with any animal. Foxes and bears would probably do alright though. Regarding the exhibit with the wolves and beavers, were the beavers separated at all from the wolves? That seems pretty cruel for both animals. The beavers because it is a potential predator, and for the wolves it would be like having a bunch of pizza in a room with people and telling them they couldn't eat it.
 
I checked with a keeper at Skansen. They had so many wolverines at a time in the 60:ies so they let three young animals in the enclosure while the bears were hibernating. It worked quite well for some years. I saw one wolverine there in the 80:ies (another one from the three mentioned).
I must clarify that there where only one extra species by the bears at a time.
 
Bele said:
Regarding the sea-lions and hippos at Longleat , I am sure I have seen pictures of a sea-lion sat on top of a partially submerged hippo - can anyone confirm this ?
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This reminds me of another unusual mixed exhibit.

The Indian rhinos in Basle Zoo share their enclosure with short-clawed otters. I saw an otter sitting on top of a partially submerged rhino last August; unfortunately, I was not able to take a good photograph of it.

There are a couple of photos in the gallery of an Indian rhino wallowing in its pool, that I posted after my visit. Shortly after I took these pictures, an otter swam past and bit the rhino’s tail.
 
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That would be a neat exhibit. I saw on Animal Planet the raccoons in Omaha's Kingdoms of the Night exhibit playing chicken with the little alligators in their exhibit. When I saw it the raccoons were resting.
 
fox and bobcat together?

I am looking for advice on putting fox (red or grey) in an exhibit with bobcat. Any help or experience would be great. Sorry to disrupt the thread, but I'm new to this and this seemed like the closest discussion.
 
seeing bobcats are known to kill and eat domestic dogs in the wild, I would say that a bobcat and fox mixed exhibit would be asking for trouble!
 
fox and bobcat together?

I was planning on captive bred babies raised together. We have serious space constraints and I am trying to maximize enclosure size for north american native species. Breeder seems to think they will get along, but I am looking for some advice from people with actual experience with the two (three) species. Also any advice on sex ratios and if males or females are easier to keep.
 
Then manage breeding better (i.e. stop for example) and wait till you make a room for additional animals. Isn't it obvious?
 
Presently, we have neither species. We would be purchasing them from a breeder or adopting rescued animals. I do not intend to breed and will neuter them at the proper ages. Just looking for experienced keepers with either species (fox or bobcat) to offer advice. Also, would red and grey fox work together?
 
bearsncritters said:
Presently, we have neither species. We would be purchasing them from a breeder or adopting rescued animals. I do not intend to breed and will neuter them at the proper ages. Just looking for experienced keepers with either species (fox or bobcat) to offer advice. Also, would red and grey fox work together?
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surely if you have neither species currently it would be best to choose one species for now and wait until you have the room to house the other rather than uneccessarily risk the two together.
 
Bele said:
Regarding the sea-lions and hippos at Longleat , I am sure I have seen pictures of a sea-lion sat on top of a partially submerged hippo - can anyone confirm this ?
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It definately used to be on either the intro to "Animal Park" or in one of those animal montage segways they showed as they went from story to story
 
Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle has a new mixed-species exhibit that might never have been done before. Two arctic foxes with one rocky mountain goat, and apparently the foxes have been much more active now that they are in a larger enclosure:

Woodland Park Zoo Blog | Naturally Inspiring: Arctic foxes join mountain goat exhibit

A couple of photos of the huge exhibit:

http://www.zoochat.com/622/river-otter-mountain-goat-exhibits-81455/

http://www.zoochat.com/622/rocky-mountain-goat-exhibit-114027/
 
Re: Bobcat, fox mix: def fool hardy, a fox has no defense against a bobcat so would be cruel. it would probably be fine when they are young but as they hit sexual maturity and territory becomes an issue problems are sure to arise. The red fox, Grey fox mix could work, greys are more agile and arboreal so could get away from the larger red foxes provided they have good climbing opportunities. However a very close eye would need to be kept on them and separated at the first sign of trouble.. I really have to agree with the others on here, pick one species. a mixed exhibit of these three species has neither educational benifit or any benifit to the animals. If you want a nice mixed North American exhibit and space is an issue why not try, prairie dogs with burrowing owls, or skunks with porcupines?
 
Several European zoos now keep pheasants with large owls (Urals, Great Greys).

Sounds foolish for me, to say the least. Owls don't hunt just small rodents in the wild.
 
Going through the UK photo's, i saw the combi prehensile-tailed porcupine and viscacha at Amazone World. Immediately thought "now there's something different".
 
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