Wildlife in Zoos - 2013

zoospud

zoospud

Well-Known Member
Dear Everyone

I am intrigued as to what wildlife you happen to see whilst visiting zoos.

That is native wildlife - at full liberate - but present in the grounds of a captive collection.

A buzzard flying over head would count. A stoat chasing a marmot would count.

Rumour has it that my local zoo (Chester) has little owls. I have never seen them.

So during 2013 please comment if you see examples of such co-habitation.

I am interested in how high our combined total can be. 40 bird species ? 10 mammal species ?

Regards, Zoo Spud.

PS. posted in honour of the white Jackdaw often seen at Chester !
 
I guess an obvious one would be Eastern Grey Squirrels and I've even seen a junvenile (photograph below) at Beardsley. I've seen plenty of small native birds squeeze into the outdoor aviaries at both Beardsley and Bronx and at both places again I've seen plenty of native waterfowl (mostly Mallards). At the Smithsonian National Zoo I saw one of the seasonal Black-Crowned Night Heron that are known to visit the zoo grounds every year. Of course those were all 2012 so I guess when I get into my 2013 zoo visits I'll keep an eye out.

~Thylo:cool:
 

Attachments

  • 003.JPG
    003.JPG
    88.7 KB · Views: 1
Wildlife in Zoos

Durrell Wildlife Park in the [English] Channel Islands is one of the best places to see Red Squirrells. Over large areas of the UK they have been replaced by Noirth American Grey Squirrels, which have not reached the Channell Islands. They are fed and encouraged @ Durrell, and canm sometimes be seen in the same binocular view as free ranging Marmosets & Tamarins.
 
Rats, rabbits and mice mainly I once stood in the monkey house at Chester watching mice running around, they attracted more attention than the monkeys themselves.
I watched rabbits grazing just the other side of Colchester's cheetah enclosure hoping one would do the daft thing of squeezing through the chain link fence and starting a chase, the Cheetahs were watching too.
 
At Jo'burg Zoo in South Africa there were wild Cape Ground Squirrel, Sacred & Hadada Ibis, Pied Crows, Mynahs and Spotted Skinks...
 

Attachments

  • Picture 2983.jpg
    Picture 2983.jpg
    321.1 KB · Views: 6
Last edited:
I forgot kookaburras and crested pigeons at taronga and cane toad tadpoles in kuranda
koala gardens
 
Is this thread limited to 2013?

I came across ridiculous numbers of brown rats at Twycross today, as well as a number of common garden birds.
 
devilfish said:
Is this thread limited to 2013?

I came across ridiculous numbers of brown rats at Twycross today, as well as a number of common garden birds.
Click to expand...
I understood it to be a 2013 thread to see what the combined total for the Zoochatter year would be.

I think it will be far higher than the 40 birds suggested in the original post though. Ten mammals might be about right. (Just harking back to an earlier year for the moment, I saw wild dusky langurs at Malacca Zoo stealing food from the rheas).
 
dean said:
I once stood in the monkey house at Chester watching mice running around, they attracted more attention than the monkeys themselves.
Click to expand...

This happened to me at the Bronx Zoo's Monkey House and World of Birds. The guests all took turns guessing whether they were part of the exhibit or food for the animals:rolleyes:

~Thylo:cool:
 
Artis - Amsterdam Zoo is an exelent place to observe ring-necked parakeets - an exotic species in the Netherlands.
 
Beardsley also has Wild Turkeys that frequent the area, and one of the biggest freeloaders are the Black Vultures. They always follow the zookeepers when they are about to feed the animals, hoping to steal the food from the intended consumers.
The Bronx has a family of black Eastern Gray Squirrels running around.
 
I can't help noticing wildlife, especially birds, in zoos. Being something of a corvid fan, I love Chester's white jackdaw, plus I spent happy times in Vienna sharing lunch with their hooded crows and in Munich sharing my pretzel with a carrion crow. I found melanistic and red squirrels in Vienna, and of course pretty much every zoo has sparrows/starlings/magpies/jackdaws/ducks etc. I often come back from a zoo visit having taken as many photos of native wildlife as I have of the zoo animals. Best wild/zoo bird interaction I've seen has been the local crows mobbing a golden eagle during the falconry display in Munich.
 
so far the total for the year on this thread is only:

Birds: "a number of common garden birds" at Twycross

Mammals: brown rats at Twycross
 
Chlidonias said:
so far the total for the year on this thread is only:

Birds: "a number of common garden birds" at Twycross

Mammals: brown rats at Twycross
Click to expand...
Actually if the Rats are in the same numbers as when I visited in December,its nice to see something going up in numbers at Twycross,instead of getting fewer and fewer!:p:rolleyes:
 
Yesterday I had a desert mule deer right outside the entrance to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Inside the facility itself I had Harris's Antelope Squirrel, Rock Squirrel, and many, many bird species the highlights of which were Cactus Wren, Gila Woodpecker, and Cedar Waxwing. Inside the Phoenix Zoo a couple days ago I saw Desert Cottontail and numerous bird species including Pied-billed Grebe, Ruddy Duck, and Gambel's Quail.
 
Apenheul in the Netherlands is a great place to see wildlife. Last year I've seen newts, an Eurasian nuthatch with a nest and a stag beetle. There are a few places in the Netherlands where stag beetles can be seen so I would consider this as my most special wildlife encounter in a zoo. The guidebook says there also live grass snakes, viviparous lizards, slow worms, Eurasian kingfishers, butterflies and many other animals.

In Burgers' Zoo I once saw a common raven in the lion exhibit. A few weeks later I heared one but I couldn't find it.

Artis is a great place to see ring-necked parakeets and grey herons. I don't think I have ever seen so many grey herons in one zoo.
 
Gatorland around feeding time is also a great place to see native scavengers. I saw gulls, American Black Vultures, and even a Wood Stork!

~Thylo:cool:
 
zoogiraffe said:
Actually if the Rats are in the same numbers as when I visited in December,its nice to see something going up in numbers at Twycross,instead of getting fewer and fewer!:p:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I'll bet their HQ is the Borneo longhouse/waterway area with those stagnant-looking ponds and the waterditch by the road. Sounds like Twycross is joining Colchester and SL as 'Zoo Rat capital' in the UK.
 
Chlidonias said:
so far the total for the year on this thread is only:

Birds: "a number of common garden birds" at Twycross

Mammals: brown rats at Twycross
Click to expand...

I can elaborate on the birds:

Dunnock
Blackbird
Robin
Jackdaw
Goldfinch
Herring gull
Wren
Song thrush
Wood pigeon

And a great tit in Desford's Tropical birdland.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top