Worst Mixed-Species Combinations?

Aardwolf said:
I’ve kept kookaburra with a variety of slightly smaller birds without problems. The problem comes when/if you try to breed those species with kooks present. Then you need to worry about eggs and chicks. There are a lot of aviaries I’ve seen or worked that are great exhibits, but just don’t work for breeding
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Was the flight large enough and was there enough cover for the smaller birds to hide from the kookaburra?

I've always thought, in theory, it would be nice to see kookaburras in a mixed species flight with larger species like cockatoos and other larger bodied parrots, straw-necked ibises, waterfowl, and maybe masked lapwings but after reading your comment, knowing what I've read, and the pictures I have seen, maybe it is best to have kookaburras in their own flight.
 
elefante said:
From what I've read on this site they don't exactly play well with others. Especially Grevy's zebras.
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I found this 2017 mixed-species guide by the AZA. Some of the results are interesting to say the least. Learning about the historical records from my "home" zoo of Sacramento, it answered a question I had during my last visit why they never put their eastern bongos with their red river hogs (when the zoo had them).

https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...late+TAGs+Mixed-Species+Manual+2017.final.pdf

Laugh if you will but it was from the YouTube channel Casual Geographic that I learned that zebras are the hoofstock that cause the most keeper injuries.

After reading the mixed-species guide and even talking to some keepers and docents, I've heard even firsthand how zebras can be problematic. In Sacramento's historical account, it was a male Grévy's that caused some deaths, including one with an ostrich.
 
macaw-maniac-91 said:
Learning about the historical records from my "home" zoo of Sacramento, it answered a question I had during my last visit why they never put their eastern bongos with their red river hogs (when the zoo had them).
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Not quite correct - the hogs were mixed with the bongos until problems eventually arose after some transfers of individuals. I can personally confirm the original mix and later separation. Sacramento actually no longer has RRH.
 
Great Argus said:
Not quite correct - the hogs were mixed with the bongos until problems eventually arose after some transfers of individuals. I can personally confirm the original mix and later separation. Sacramento actually no longer has RRH.
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Oh I know the red river hogs were transferred out.

I just didn't know that the zoo previously had them together at one point because I've always saw them separated.
 
Corangurilla said:
Last time I checked, ostriches were birds.
But it’s not like every zebra mix is a total disaster. I think it depends on the species mixed, the sex of the animals, if there’s any breeding, age, etc.
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Thanks for the biology lesson. My point is that I've seen Grevy's mixed with another species.
 
Does anybody know of any specific incidents involving zebras injuring/killing other animals in mixed habitats and the specific animals they were mixed with?
I have a (admittedly kind of far-fetched) theory that zebras are more likely to be hostile if they are the largest animal in their habitat. Like “I’m the biggest, I do what I want.” I doubt they’d try any funny business if there was a giraffe or a white rhino around.
But this is just a theory, so it might not even be true.
 
Corangurilla said:
Does anybody know of any specific incidents involving zebras injuring/killing other animals in mixed habitats and the specific animals they were mixed with?
I have a (admittedly kind of far-fetched) theory that zebras are more likely to be hostile if they are the largest animal in their habitat. Like “I’m the biggest, I do what I want.” I doubt they’d try any funny business if there was a giraffe or a white rhino around.
But this is just a theory, so it might not even be true.
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A good hypothesis, but I have my doubts- seeing that I saw a grevy's zebra kick a masai giraffe once. Both animals were fine, but it was obvious aggression from the zebra- despite being much smaller. I think really what the case is is that larger animals (like giraffes and rhinos) can handle the aggression of zebras without harm, while something like a Gazelle, good luck.
 
Corangurilla said:
I have a (admittedly kind of far-fetched) theory that zebras are more likely to be hostile if they are the largest animal in their habitat. Like “I’m the biggest, I do what I want.” I doubt they’d try any funny business if there was a giraffe or a white rhino around.
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I've read that most facilities that mix breeding rhinos with zebra separate the two for a couple weeks when a calf is born or even not mix them at all until the calf is of sufficient size. Aggression can go both ways between zebra and rhino though.
Zebra are also known to be problematic with giraffe calves and where mixed one or the other is held separately for awhile. Stallion Grevy's in particular will sometimes chase giraffes.
There are frequent reports of stallions harassing and attempting to injure ostriches too.
 
I think zoos should just not keep Grevy’s Zebras with other animals. Besides, they’re the largest zebra species and listed as Endangered, so I think they can stand by themselves just fine.
As for Plains Zebras, are they also giraffe harassers or do they generally know their place?
Great Argus said:
From what I have heard they are not nearly so problematic. They are the smallest of the three, might have something to do with it.
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Still didn’t stop a Mountain Zebra at Utica from killing two ostriches.
Man, this whole thread has turned into a zebra smear campaign, hasn’t it?
 
Corangurilla said:
Man, this whole thread has turned into a zebra smear campaign, hasn’t it?
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So it seems.
Also according to AZA Ungulate Profiles, Mountain Zebras are the most "mixable" of the three zebra subspecies (Grevy's, Plains, and Mountain) although they will still display some aggression towards other species in the exhibit.
 
Corangurilla said:
As for Plains Zebras, are they also giraffe harassers or do they generally know their place?
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They sometimes do harass giraffes, usually less so than Grevy's.

Corangurilla said:
Still didn’t stop a Mountain Zebra at Utica from killing two ostriches.
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Yeah and they're occasionally implicated in other incidents too, though it's much rarer.

Corangurilla said:
Man, this whole thread has turned into a zebra smear campaign, hasn’t it?
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Yeah, though there is a large amount of evidence to support it unfortunately.
 
TinoPup said:
Where? Adventure Aquarium still mixes several ray species with their hammerhead.
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Historically, great hammerheads have shown to be adept at depopulating tanks of cownose rays. Considering Anchor is on the small side for great hammerheads I imagine the bigger rays are fine, but cownose rays are no longer (at least, to my knowledge) ever kept in that tank. Georgia also had issues with their great hammerheads eating most of the cownose rays in Ocean Voyager, which is why they were removed from that tank. Now that the species is back, you’ll notice that their new shark exhibit has almost no other fish species in it - a factor likely contributed to equally by both the great hammerheads and the tiger sharks.
 
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