What would you like to see in the UK?

Brum said:
As for (sub)species I'd like to see over here:-
Iberian lynx
Japan leopard
marbled polecat
either grison species
Indian grey mongoose
any linsang species
sea otter
kulan
wombat
bear cuscus
New Guinea echidna
harpy eagle
shoebill
dwarf cassowary
any bird of paradise species
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The highlighted species, of course, are ones which we have gained and lost in recent years :(
 
gentle lemur said:
Elegant crested tinamou and grey-winged trumpeters both on show at Paignton. Zootierliste also says there are trumpeters at Exmoor, Hayle and Birdworld, although I haven't visited any of those places recently.
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UK bird collections are on a downer lately.

And acouchi are easy to source: its the conservation cultists phasing things out not that they couldn't be on display very easily.

I saw a grison at Huachipa: probably the best species to illustrate terrestrial mustelids to the public, active and by day too, looks like a honey badger. I never saw one before but should feature in Britain's small mammal collections. There is not much interest in doing so, of course. Bring back tayras as well.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
They are still around in the UK; both Hamerton and Exmoor keep the species and South Lakes did so until recently.
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In the 70s there were more that that. See also: arctic fox, Himalayan snowcock, etc. I have heard it said such animals were part of a parallel ABC of ubiquitous zoo animals. Go to a big city zoo you saw elephants and lions or you were disappointed. Go to a small wildlife park and there were a similar cast of smaller animals to expect, some still with us - squirrel monkey, oriental short clawed otter etc.
 
SealPup said:
In the 70s there were more that that. See also: arctic fox, Himalayan snowcock, etc. I have heard it said such animals were part of a parallel ABC of ubiquitous zoo animals.
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I'll grant you the Arctic Fox, but I am reasonably sure that the Himalayan Snowcock has never been all that common in the UK - and I believe the only time there have been more than one or two UK collections holding the species at the same time was the mid-1990s.
 
The return of Thompson's Gazelle at Whipsnade and their subsequent demise must represent one of the shortest of reappearances of a species in the UK.:(
 
Pertinax said:
The return of Thompson's Gazelle at Whipsnade and their subsequent demise must represent one of the shortest of reappearances of a species in the UK.:(
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The fact they bred too, only increases the frustration of what could have been.
 
Tommies are supposedly a difficult to keep species, mind you so are the zebras. My thoughts are gazelles look best in a mixed species plains exhibit, but there end up dominated by the other residents because they put risky combinations in there.
 
Pertinax said:
The return of Thompson's Gazelle at Whipsnade and their subsequent demise must represent one of the shortest of reappearances of a species in the UK.:(
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What's the story with them? Who got them in (and the lost them again!), and when was this?
 
SealPup said:
Tommies are supposedly a difficult to keep species, mind you so are the zebras. My thoughts are gazelles look best in a mixed species plains exhibit, but there end up dominated by the other residents because they put risky combinations in there.
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They did alright with Thomson's Gazelle in the 1970s

My list for species I want to see

Gharial
Flat-tailed tortoise
Shoebill
Lamergeier
Kagu
Siberian Crane
Birds of Paradise
Dusky Pademelon
Pygmy Hog
Giant forest hog
Duikers
Hartebeest
Gazelles
 
bongorob said:
They did alright with Thomson's Gazelle in the 1970s
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Indeed, Thomson's gazelle thrived at Whipsnade for decades; in the late 1970s / early 1980s the Whipsnade herd numbered more than twenty individuals.

However I don't think any new blood had been added since the 1950s and the original stock died out in 1996.
 
Ok, thought I'd have a go at this one with 2 lists. One hopeful, one total fantasy, made up of species I know we will never get to see.
Hopeful
-Gharial
-Tasmanian Devil
-Hartebeest
-Red-knobbed Hornbill
-Wreathed Hornbill
-Kodiak Bear
-Ragianna Bird of Paradise
-Northern Cassowary
-West Indian Manatee
-American & Orinoco Crocodile
-Baird's Tapir
-Walrus
-Bearded Vulture
-Brown Hyena
-Shoebill
-Golden Snub-nosed Monkey
I had put Tree Kangaroo on this list, but then remembered that Belfast & London keep them. Would be nice to see other collections keep them, though.
I'd also like to see more collections with Asiatic Black & Sloth Bears, continuing the recent return of bear species to UK collections.

Fantasy
-Amazon River Dolphin
-Philippine Eagle
-Sumatran Rhino
-Bontebok
-Amazonian Manatee
-Hoatzin
-Giant Forest Hog
-Giant Armadillo
-Kakapo
-White-rumped Vulture
-Greater Adjutant Stork
-Helmeted Hornbill
-Pangolin
-Blue Bird of Paradise
-Jentink's & Yellow-backed Duikers
-Indri
-Proboscis Monkey
-Douc Langur
-Yellow-eyed Penguin

I'd better stop there.
 
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Bwassa said:
Ok, thought I'd have a go at this one with 2 lists. One hopeful, one total fantasy, made up of species I know we will never get to see.
Hopeful
-Gharial
-Tasmanian Devil
-Hartebeest
-Red-knobbed Hornbill
-Wreathed Hornbill
-Kodiak Bear
-Ragianna Bird of Paradise
-Northern Cassowary
-West Indian Manatee
-American & Orinoco Crocodile
-Baird's Tapir
-Walrus
-Bearded Vulture
-Brown Hyena
-Shoebill
-Golden Snub-nosed Monkey
I had put Tree Kangaroo on this list, but then remembered that Belfast & London keep them. Would be nice to see other collections keep them, though.
I'd also like to see more collections with Asiatic Black & Sloth Bears, continuing the recent return of bear species to UK collections.

Fantasy
-Amazon River Dolphin
-Philippine Eagle
-Sumatran Rhino
-Bontebok
-Amazonian Manatee
-Hoatzin
-Giant Forest Hog
-Giant Armadillo
-Kakapo
-White-rumped Vulture
-Greater Adjutant Stork
-Helmeted Hornbill
-Pangolin
-Blue Bird of Paradise
-Jentink's & Yellow-backed Duikers
-Indri
-Proboscis Monkey
-Douc Langur
-Yellow-eyed Penguin

I'd better stop there.
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It would be amazing to see an indri in captivity or indeed a proboscis monkey or giant armadillo. Such a shame that indris don't survive in captivity and also a shame that there aren't enough unusual lemur species like sifakas and aye ayes in uk zoos. I'm tired of seeing ring-tails.

As for pangolins, there are some in Leipzig Zoo and they seem to be the only ones in Europe (as far as I know).

Additionally, I would love to see a tarsier as I missed my chance when the Rare Species Centre closed.
 
Daubentoniidae said:
Such a shame that indris don't survive in captivity and also a shame that there aren't enough unusual lemur species like sifakas and aye ayes in uk zoos. I'm tired of seeing ring-tails.
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In fairness, four of the five European zoos currently keeping Aye-ayes are in the UK or its nearby territories, so we're not doing too badly on that front!
 
alfiethetortois said:
Did something happen to the Tyra? I saw it on my last zoo visit can't think when that would be but I'd say Dec/Jan
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When I visited in late December the exhibit looked pretty dishevelled with no sign there had been any activity for some time, with the food bowls empty and signage for the species missing; the page on their website discussing the species has been deleted, too.
 
I suddenly feel terribly old having seen:

Proboscis Monkey
Sumatran Rhino
Douc Langur

and ... Hummingbirds (spectacular!).
 
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