Your top 5 species that you want to put in your local zoo

Taman Safari Bogor
  • red dhole (cuon alpinus)
  • brazilian tapir (tapirus terrestris)
  • aardvark (orycteropus afer)
  • de brazza's monkey (cercopithecus neglectus)
  • common patas monkey (erythrocebus patas)
BXSea
  • spinner shark (carcharhinus brevipinna)
  • jullien's golden carp (probarbus jullieni)
  • hagen's pit viper (trimeresurus hageni)
  • gila monster (heloderma suspectum)
  • loggerhead sea turtle (caretta caretta)
 
Columbus

1. Snow Leopard. I always wondered why they don't have them in Asia Quest. They'd be nearly natural fits in the corner with the Pallas Cat and Markhor.

2. Hippos (Nile or Pygmy) Be a perfect fit for Heart of Africa. Or even the Congo if they went with pygmies.

3. Sun Bear. Kind of a way out there option but I miss seeing them in Asia. Don't get me wrong the sloth bears are great but I miss sun bears.

4. Saltwater Crocodile. I know they're not the easiest to obtain for zoo's but with the combination of Tasmanian devils and saltwater crocodiles the Australia section would really pop.

5. Caracal. Another species that would really make Africa pop. Maybe even move the Servals and sand cats over from adventure Cove for a Cats of Africa area.
 
Toronto

5. Wapiti - I've always loved deer, but Wapiti are particularly majestic. Given it doesn't seem like we'll be housing Moose anytime soon, I wouldn't mind holding elk for a bit down in the Canadian Domain

4. Whooping Crane - Would be a great addition to Tundra Trek. Never hurts to have another dedicated conservation project, and I'm sure Calgary would appreciate a second zoo in the country working with the species

3. Takin - Eurasia is desperately in need of more animals, and while I'm not really sure where they could go, I've always had a soft spot for these guys

2. Atlantic Puffin - I wouldn't reasonably expect to see these and the Whooping Cranes added, but these are another charismatic favourite that would be right at home in Tundra Trek

1. North American Beaver - It's only been a few years since the species was phased out but this is a pretty baffling omission for Canada's biggest and most famous zoo to not have the national animal. Toronto feels incomplete without them
 
In Valencia we have two local zoos (Bioparc Valencia and Oceanografic), but I only will make this list for the Bioparc. Mantaining the african theme of the zoo for realism reasons, i want:

Cheetah
Okapi
Generuk
African wild dog
Klipspringer
 
My top 5 for Branféré Park, in no particular order:

-Przewalski's horse: This is a species that would be well-suited to one of the many plains the park offers. I could see them replacing yaks, coexisting with camels.

-Binturong: A charming species that is on the rise in French zoos, probably on one of the islands in the "Archipelago Trail" area.

-Himalayan blue sheep: A species of wild goat would be welcome in Branféré. It could be placed near the Indian rhinos or in an extension.

-Spot-billed pelican: A species that is still underrepresented in Europe, also in the Archipelago Trail.

-Hamlyn's monkey: An African monkey would be ideal to replace the very old female siamang, behind the pygmy hippos.
 
My local zoo is Seneca Park and with them adding a new tropic complex/aquarium I thought I’d put my picks for some of the smaller critters

1. Atlas beetle - from what I’ve seen they seem set on representing the tropics of Madagascar and Southeast Asia. I like bugs a lot and the zoo at one point had jade-headed buffalo beetles, so I know they have a precedent of keeping harder to obtain exotic insects.

2. Javan spitting cobra (or any true cobra really)- there seems to be a severe lack of old world venomous snakes in US zoos, it would be so great to see Seneca get another venomous snake.

3. Koh Tao caecilian - caecilians are awesome… that’s it

4. Iridescent Shark - from what I’ve heard the aquarium is going to mostly be saltwater but they did plan for mudskippers so it’s possible they may have a freshwater tank or two and if so, iridescent sharks are criminally underrepresented in American facilities and it would be great to get another holder.

5. Javan lutung - … a man can dream can’t he?
 
My local zoo is Turtleback Zoo, and I think that zoo is heading in the right direction, but like many mid-sized zoos, it suffers from some severe "AZA-ification" and a lack of diversity in certain taxa. Here's my top 5 picks for Turtleback:
1. Turtles/Tortoises (Testudines). Currently Turtleback Zoo only has 4 or so species of turtles and tortoises, which is, in my opinion, ridiculous. For a zoo that once held an excellent collection of turtles and tortoises, Turtleback is lagging behind. I personally believe that the name should also clue you in as to why I think this zoo should have more. Certain species I would love to see included are alligator snapping turtles, Asian box turtles, and mata matas.
2. Plains zebra (Equus quagga). A simple answer. It would be a slam dunk for the zoo to have this species, considering that they're popular, easy to care for, and wouldn't take up much theoretical space.
3. White-throated woodrat (Neotoma albigula). Kind of a weird answer, but I think these guys are cool and should be commonly kept more in zoos that have space for native mammals.
4. Eastern newt (Notophthalmus viridescens). A simple, easy to keep native newt with bright coloration and iconic status. Would be great in a reptile house or native species section.
5. Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca). A common species, but I like them a lot.

I may do one for the New York Aquarium or Adventure Aquarium too
 
I'll go with Cairns Aquarium for this one:

1. Largetooth (Freshwater) Sawfish Pristis pristis
Kept in the past but outgrew the billabong exhibit in which it was kept. Would love to see the species return, perhaps it could be moved to the oceanarium once it grows too large for the billabong.

2. Any cuttlefish (Sepiidae)
Really any local cephalopod species could go here, but I think a large cuttlefish species like Ascarosepion latimanus would be a great addition to the barrier reef gallery. Nautilus spp. would also be great, but I think less likely to actually be considered.

3. More rainbowfishes (Melanotaeniidae)
Currently Cairns Aquarium displays two rainbowfish species, Melanotaenia splendida splendida and Melanotaenia sp. 'Malanda'. The former is kept in numerous tanks as a filler fish, so I think it would enhance the collection to replace some of these with other species - perhaps M. eachamensis, M. trifasciatus, Cairnsichthys rhombosomoides or Rhadinocentrus ornatus.

4. Terrestrial/freshwater arthropods
Formerly Cairns Aquarium had quite a nice collection of insects and arachnids in their rainforest gallery, including Golden Orbweaver, fishing spiders, diving beetles and tarantula. Unfortunately now most are long gone, and only the stick insects and Giant Burrowing Cockroaches remain. I think it would be great to see some of these species return, or new ones to take their place.

5. Flashlightfishes (Anomalopidae)
The nocturnal tank in the reef gallery, which houses a few species of squirrelfishes and soldierfishes, seems to be generally ignored by most guests. I think the addition of some more interesting nocturnal species to this tank, such as flashlightfishes, would help remedy the situation.
 
There are many species I hope the Toronto Zoo can acquire, here I list 5 picks that I think are realistic and doable choices:
1. Okapi -- it is quite shame that none of the Canadian facilities holding Okapi, by contrast to US and Mexico, which have 33 holders. The current Giraffe House can be given to Okapi, and Giraffes can be moved to the African Savannah Pavilion (which is still under construction).

2. Dhole -- Toronto Zoo really needs more Canids (Arctic Wolf is the only Canid species held by Trt Zoo currently), and the ex-Chamois exhibit has been left empty for several years, Dholes are charming Canid that fit with the Eurasian theme, and adapt well to Toronto weather. In fact, Toronto Zoo used to have Dholes and bred some offspring; unfortunately they had been phased out for 8 years.

3. Coquerel's Sifaka -- The outdoor exhibit of Grey-crowned Cranes has not been used for long times, it has a decent area and woods, I think should be good for Coquerel's Sifaka. I believe not just me, many visitors will enjoy watching their unique dance. In the wintertime, they can be placed in the large indoor exhibit of Ring-tailed Lemurs.

4. Harpy Eagle -- that is one of the bird species I hope to see in my lifetime, they can be placed into the current Flamingo's exhibit that has big cages; the Flamingoes can be moved to their old exhibit.

5. Pallas Cat -- this cute cat species is currently held by two Canadian facilities but is still absent in Ontario. I hear Toronto is going to phase out Mouflon, Pallas Cat is well suited to Eurasia theme, then the Mouflon exhibit can be modified to two exhibits that house a pair of Pallas Cats.
 
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