What zoo has the best/most species representation from one geographic region>

Eric

Eric

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
Hallo again,zoochatters. What i like best about zoo's,is the amount of species represented from one geographic region or country some might have in their holdings. Hamerton Zoo,UK, has a good collection of species from Australia. Amazonia Zoo,also in the UK,has a good share of animals from South America.

And we know a lot of the larger zoos have good representatives from Africa,especially elephants,lions,zebra,giraffe,ostrich,rhino etc

What other zoo has the most species from one region..including Africa?
 
San Diego Zoo and Safari Park have very good African and Australian diversity. For African they have specialty animals in their African Savvana and Africa Rocks. For Australian animals, they have the Australian aviaries and Walkabout Australia.
 
Great Argus said:
For Australia, it'll be almost any facility in Australia for sure. No contest there. ;)
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It's weird how many zoos/aquariums in Australia keep only native species (or mainly natives with only a handful of foreign species). I think it has something to do with Australia's strict import restrictions on animals, so getting animals from elsewhere is difficult.
 
DaLilFishie said:
It's weird how many zoos/aquariums in Australia keep only native species (or mainly natives with only a handful of foreign species). I think it has something to do with Australia's strict import restrictions on animals, so getting animals from elsewhere is difficult.
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Or perhaps they just prefer to focus on native species conservation ? (very understandable and commendable in my opinion)
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Or perhaps they just prefer to focus on native species conservation ? (very understandable and commendable in my opinion)
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Traditionally Australian Zoos have always been rather thin on 'exotic' species. I think it is indeed the result of import restrictions, as even their largest zoos have many notable absences. Some years ago I spent time in that part of the world and visited the major zoos in Australia and New Zealand where this is noticeable too. Conversely they are usually rich in the native fauna exhibits, including many smaller places too, where the focus is mostly on native fauna. Returning to Europe the contrast in the variety of species held by the two different regions was extremely noticeable. In Europe on the other hand, Australian/NZ fauna is/was something of a rarity, due again to export restrictions.
 
Pertinax said:
Traditionally Australian Zoos have always been rather thin on 'exotic' species. I think it is indeed the result of import restrictions, as even their largest zoos have many notable absences. Some years ago I spent time in that part of the world and visited the major zoos in Australia and New Zealand where this is noticeable too. Conversely they are usually rich in the native fauna exhibits, including many smaller places too, where the focus is mostly on native fauna. Returning to Europe the contrast in the variety of species held by the two different regions was extremely noticeable. In Europe on the other hand, Australian/NZ fauna is/was something of a rarity, due again to export restrictions.
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That is interesting, I agree that the import restrictions in Australia / New Zealand are a huge obstacles for zoos to obtain species from other regions / parts of the world.

I do wonder though whether because of the greater impact of biodiversity loss in Australia there is more of an ex-situ conservation management focus / emphasis on native species within zoos.
 
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Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
That is interesting, I agree that the import restrictions in Australia / New Zealand are a huge obstacles for zoos to obtain species from other regions / parts of the world.

I do wonder though whether because of the greater impact of biodiversity loss in Australia there is more of an ex-situ conservation management focus / emphasis on native species within zoos.
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Many of the ungulate and primate species we take for granted in Europe and elsewhere are either absent or only in tiny numbers in Australia. For example, Pygmy hippo, common hippo and Bongo (if still there) are probably so reduced in number as to be in unviable(?) longerterm, many other ungulates we take for granted are absent entirely, there are no Okapi, Grevy or Mountain Zebra, barely any African elephant, no Bonobo, few guenons, Mandrills or other old world monkeys and those they do still have are dwindling populations, Bears too are rarely seen, that's just naming a few mammalian species that come to mind straightaway.
 
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Pertinax said:
Many of the ungulate and primate species we take for granted in Europe and elsewhere are either absent or only in tiny numbers in Australia. For example, Pygmy hippo, common hippo and Bongo (if still there) are probably so reduced in number as to be in unviable(?) longerterm, many other ungulates we take for granted are absent entirely, there are no Okapi, Grevy or Mountain Zebra, barely any African elephant, no Bonobo, few guenons, Mandrills or other old world monkeys and those they do still have are dwindling populations, Bears too are rarely seen, that's just naming a few mammalian species that come to mind straightaway.
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Pygmy Hippo, Bongo, Mandrill and Common Hippo are unviable now, less than five zoos have these (individually)(per zoo)

African Elephants are completely gone


the only African monkey species left are Mandrill, Hamadryas Baboon, Eastern Black and White Colobus (less than 10 individuals) and a few hybrid Vervets at Weribee. No guenons or mangebays left whatsoever. In a decade I suspect only Hamadryas Baboon will be left maybe a couple mandrills.

The only bears left in Australia are two polar bears at SeaWorld and a few Sun Bears scattered.
 
Yoshistar888 said:
Pygmy Hippo, Bongo, Mandrill and Common Hippo are unviable now, less than five zoos have these (individually)(per zoo)

African Elephants are completely gone


the only African monkey species left are Mandrill, Hamadryas Baboon, Eastern Black and White Colobus (less than 10 individuals) and a few hybrid Vervets at Weribee. No guenons or mangebays left whatsoever. In a decade I suspect only Hamadryas Baboon will be left maybe a couple mandrills.

The only bears left in Australia are two polar bears at SeaWorld and a few Sun Bears scattered.
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@Yoshistar888 and 2 pandas at Adelaide.
 
Yoshistar888 said:
Pygmy Hippo, Bongo, Mandrill and Common Hippo are unviable now, less than five zoos have these (individually)(per zoo)

African Elephants are completely gone


the only African monkey species left are Mandrill, Hamadryas Baboon, Eastern Black and White Colobus (less than 10 individuals) and a few hybrid Vervets at Weribee. No guenons or mangebays left whatsoever. In a decade I suspect only Hamadryas Baboon will be left maybe a couple mandrills.

The only bears left in Australia are two polar bears at SeaWorld and a few Sun Bears scattered.
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I can see all of those just by going to San Diego Zoo... and then some
 
European zoos
Australia: Planckendael, Duisburg, Hannover, Prague, Budapest
Central and North Asia: Prague, TP Berlin
South and SE Asia: Leipzig, Rotterdam, Chester (Budapest in the future)
Africa: Wroclaw, Dvúr Králove, Gelsenkirchen, Magdeburg, Doué
Madagascar: Zürich, Köln, Ostrava, Budapest(edited: and Plzen, of course)
North America: Hannover, Gelsenkirchen
South America: Zlin, does anybody knows an other?
Europe: Höör, Lange Erlen, Innsbruck
 
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While thinking of the island Madagascar, I’m going to give one for both Europe and the USA.

Europe - Plzen
They have the most Lemur species for a European zoo (The Duke Lemur Center could give a Plzen a run for it) and their collection of Malagasy animals is very broad. Speaking of Malagasy reptiles the Moscow Zoo could win but most of their reptile collection is off-show

USA - Bronx/Omaha
Both of these zoos have a exhibit dedicated to Madagascar, I like Bronx’s because it addresses the issue of deforestation, some members here have implied that the enclosures are spacious.
Omaha’s exhibit is a recent exhibit (speaking 5-7 years in the past). So I cannot judge Omaha.
Duke Lemur Center has the most species of lemurs in captivity in the world

:)
 
lowland anoa said:
While thinking of the island Madagascar, I’m going to give one for both Europe and the USA.

Europe - Plzen
They have the most Lemur species for a European zoo (The Duke Lemur Center could give a Plzen a run for it) and their collection of Malagasy animals is very broad. Speaking of Malagasy reptiles the Moscow Zoo could win but most of their reptile collection is off-show

USA - Bronx/Omaha
Both of these zoos have a exhibit dedicated to Madagascar, I like Bronx’s because it addresses the issue of deforestation, some members here have implied that the enclosures are spacious.
Omaha’s exhibit is a recent exhibit (speaking 5-7 years in the past). So I cannot judge Omaha.
Duke Lemur Center has the most species of lemurs in captivity in the world

:)
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Oh, I forgot Plzen, thanks. I know about Bronx, this is the world's best Madagascar house!
 
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