I know that feel and I feel like it's weird that zoos are willing to put watussi to their savanna sections but I barely heard of yaks in Himalayan or Asian highland exhibits. Not to mention yaks are cold tollerant making them a good candidate for zoos in, well, cold regions.
Simply put: to illustrate that it's easier to belittle an anonymous group than to face the consequences of such wording in a personal individual setting. After all, given that I had mentioned the shortcomings of an ABC species focus in a previous post shortly before, I could have been counted as a "crybaby" as well...
More yaks is not something I'd complain about, but I respectfully disagree with the other two. I'm not sure what educational value water buffaloes have that can't also be achieved with wild bovid species that are found in zoos, specifically the gaur and banteng. If there's not even enough room to maintain these two programs in AZA Zoos, then I'm not sure why zoos would benefit from displaying water buffaloes instead of banteng or gaur. As for watusi, I have nothing against them, but I don't like the way most zoos display them. By housing watusi in mixed-species savanna habitats, it takes a lot of room away from many other African ungulates, many of which are also desperately in need of new holders. Desertification of Africa could be an educational message achieved with a multitude of other species, and if endangered breeds is something to be focused on, then display these animals in a more farm-like setting. Really what I don't like is zoos passing off watusi as a wild animal from the African savanna. Rather than keep watusi, I'd rather see space in these savannas dedicated to large antelope species, such as Elands, Greater Kudu, and Roan/Sable Antelope.“Exotic-domestic” bovines like Yak and Water Buffalo should be more common in AZA zoos. I know these are both domestic species, but their wild counterparts are basically non-existent outside of Asia (afaik) and varying degrees of threatened. Why not use domestic yaks and buffaloes to educate the general public on the plight of their wild cousins?
In a similar vein, Watusi could be displayed to educate guests on desertification in Africa, or endangered domestic breeds.
Also, I think all 3 of these animals are neat and I just want to see more of them.
Please I only see an average of one yak every three years I’d do anything to see them more often.
I wasn't saying that Watusi should be kept in mixed savannah enclosures, heavens no. I was thinking something like a separate paddock off to the side to show that Watusi are NOT wild animals and that their overgrazing is a cause of desertification.
Doesn't the Living Desert have an Africa-themed petting zoo with Watusi? Something like that could work.
An Eastern Cottontail is much more interesting than a White-necked Picathartes? I personally don't think so, but each to their own I say.
Well, a white Southwestern Speckled rattlesnake from Yuma county is a spectacular snake. So is a freshly shed juvenile river jack from Uganda. Suum cuique, indeed.
Let alone giant ground sloths, glyptodons, Terror birds, giant beavers/camels/horses, mammoths, mastodons, teratorns, dire wolves...
Honestly it depends on the animal it's a case by case situation.
I don't think I can really call the animals of any one region more interesting than the animal of another - especially huge areas like Africa or North America.
In the cold climate of the Great Lakes region, summer is pretty the only time to visit zoos - I don't really have a choice! If I visit at any other time of year, all of the animals will be off-exhibit for the cold weather.
