what is the largest land animal not represented in zoos

[gerome]

what is the largest land animal not represented in zoos

 

[Aardwolf]

Interesting question. As in, not represented at all, as in zero under human care, rather than just one or two? My best guess would be Javan rhino

 

[Enzo]

Hello. That would most likely be the Javan rhinoceros.

 

[bongorob]

That is my guess as well.

 

[Aardwolf]

Of course, Javan rhino has been kept at zoos in the past, which begs at interesting spin-off question - what's the largest land animal NEVER to have been kept?

EDIT: excluding species extinct, say, pre-1850

 

[NNM.]

Technically something that went extinct before zoos were even a thing. Like a sauropod.

 

[oflory]

Of course, Javan rhino has been kept at zoos in the past, which begs at interesting spin-off question - what's the largest land animal NEVER to have been kept?

EDIT: excluding species extinct, say, pre-1850

Saola, perhaps?

 

[Aardwolf]

Saola, perhaps?

Good suggestion, but soala have been kept in captivity, if only for a short time and within their range

 

[Enzo]

Good suggestion, but soala have been kept in captivity, if only for a short time and within their range

So have kouprey. We don't that many options to work with.

Maybe Thornicroft's giraffe or bluebuck?

 

[Tim May]

An adult male wild yak is a huge animal......

 

[GaryA]

Northern White Rhino. There aren't any in zoos now, are there?
Giant Sable Antelope?

 

[birdsandbats]

Northern White Rhino. There aren't any in zoos now, are there?

Aren't the only remaining individuals held in zoos?

 

[Tetzoo Quizzer]

The last two NWR are in a Conservancy in Kenya.

 

[birdsandbats]

The last two NWR are in a Conservancy in Kenya.

Aren't they owned by a Czech zoo, though?

 

[cerperal]

Aren't they owned by a Czech zoo, though?

Technically yes, but they aren't in a zoo currently. Although given their lack of wildness, being paddocked at night and constantly watched during the day, they are arguably still just as much in captivity

 

[Enzo]

Northern White Rhino. There aren't any in zoos now, are there?
Giant Sable Antelope?

Giant sable antelope have been held in Lisbon, back when Angola was a Portuguese colony.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Of course, Javan rhino has been kept at zoos in the past, which begs at interesting spin-off question - what's the largest land animal NEVER to have been kept?

EDIT: excluding species extinct, say, pre-1850

There *is* one interesting possibility as regards extinct species, although it relies on the accuracy of anecdotal and ethnographic evidence rather than any physical specimens; Dusicyon avus, the mainland sister species of the Warrah of the Falkland Islands, is generally regarded to have been extinct since the 1600s - however, the Selk'nam people of Tierra del Fuego reported the existence of a species which matches our understanding of avus into the early 1900s.

Unlike the Warrah, this would have most certainly *not* been present in any zoos!

Good suggestion, but soala have been kept in captivity, if only for a short time and within their range

I mean, given the fact that your spin-off question implicitly contains the parameter "at zoos in the past" the Saola still counts, as none of the brief captive holdings of the species were at a zoo

 

[Zz123]

Giant muntjac?

 

[Zz123]

I just thought of another species: wild water buffalo.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

I just thought of another species: wild water buffalo.

Interestingly enough, I believe this species *has* been held in captivity.