Zoo Marsupials in vs. outside Australia

RatioTile

RatioTile

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
What Australian and New Guinea marsupials have made it to zoos outside Australia and New Guinea? Personally I've seen:
Red kangaroo
Both grey kangaroos
Common wallaroo
Red-necked wallaby
Tammar wallaby
Yellow-footed rock wallaby
Parma wallaby
Agile wallaby
Buergers' tree kangaroo
Matschie's tree kangaroo
Woylie
Koala
Southern hairy-nosed wombat
Common brush-tailed possum
Sugar glider (the only one commonly sold as a pet)
Tasmanian devil

Gray short-tailed opossum (only New World opossum I've seen)

I'm curious as to what other species are kept, both in and outside marsupial native ranges of Australasia and the Americas. Have honey possums/noolbengers ever been kept?
 
RatioTile said:
What Australian and New Guinea marsupials have made it to zoos outside Australia and New Guinea? Personally I've seen:
Red kangaroo
Both grey kangaroos
Common wallaroo
Red-necked wallaby
Tammar wallaby
Yellow-footed rock wallaby
Parma wallaby
Agile wallaby
Buergers' tree kangaroo
Matschie's tree kangaroo
Woylie
Koala
Southern hairy-nosed wombat
Common brush-tailed possum
Sugar glider (the only one commonly sold as a pet)
Tasmanian devil

Gray short-tailed opossum (only New World opossum I've seen)

I'm curious as to what other species are kept, both in and outside marsupial native ranges of Australasia and the Americas. Have honey possums/noolbengers ever been kept?
Click to expand...

In addition to your list, there are several others outside Australia.

Common Wombat
Bear Cuscus
Spotted Cuscus
Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo
Tiger Quoll
Striped Possum (think there's some still around)


Far as New World Species:

Common Opossum
Virginia Opossum
Yapok

I don't think this is exhaustive though by any means.
 
RatioTile said:
What Australian and New Guinea marsupials have made it to zoos outside Australia and New Guinea? Personally I've seen:
Red kangaroo
Both grey kangaroos
Common wallaroo
Red-necked wallaby
Tammar wallaby
Yellow-footed rock wallaby
Parma wallaby
Agile wallaby
Buergers' tree kangaroo
Matschie's tree kangaroo
Woylie
Koala
Southern hairy-nosed wombat
Common brush-tailed possum
Sugar glider (the only one commonly sold as a pet)
Tasmanian devil

Gray short-tailed opossum (only New World opossum I've seen)

I'm curious as to what other species are kept, both in and outside marsupial native ranges of Australasia and the Americas. Have honey possums/noolbengers ever been kept?
Click to expand...
A few more:
Eastern quoll
dusky pademelon
White striped dorcopsis

New world species:
Derby’s woolly opossum
Linnaeus mouse opossum
And i think four eyed are still around
 
Europe wise the following species are kept:

Derby’s woolly opossum (c. 1 collection)
Four-eyed opossum (2 collections)
Linnaeus’ mouse opossum (1 collection)
Short-tailed opossum (9 collections)
Virginia opossum (c. 7 collections)
Eastern quoll (5 collections)
Kowari (9-10 collections)
Tasmanian devil (5 collections)
Tiger quoll (1 collection)
Bear cuscus (3 collections)
Brushtail possum (c. 11 collections)
Common spotted cuscus (1 collection)
New Guinea ground cuscus (c. 14 collections)
Common ringtail (1 collection)
Squirrel glider (1 collection)
Striped possum (1 collection)
Sugar glider (c. 50-75 collections)
Feathertail glider (14 collections)
Common wombat (7 collections)
Southern hairy-nosed wombat (1 collection)
Koala (13 collections)
Long-nosed potoroo (20 collections)
Rufous bettong (2 collections)
Woylie (c. 20-35 collections)
Agile wallaby (3 collections)
Common wallaroo (5 collections)
Dusky pademelon (10 collections)
Eastern grey kangaroo (c. 26 collections)
Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo (11 collections)
Matschie’s tree kangaroo (1 collection)
Parma wallaby (c. 50-90 collections)
Red kangaroo (c. 90-100 collections)
Red-necked wallaby (>500 collections)
Swamp wallaby (25 collections)
Tammar wallaby (c. 10-15 collections)
Western grey kangaroo (c. 21 collections)
‘White-striped’ dorcopsis (4 collections) [not 100% what taxon all of the individuals in Europe actually are]
Yellow-footed rock wallaby (9 collections)

Note: the above collections information was gathered by pooling the number of alleged holders listed on ZTL with the number on ZIMS, accessed by a friend of mine. It does not take private holders into account.
 
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Koalas , wombats, echidnas (a monoteme so may not count , but worth mentioning) and red kangaroo are held by one institution of Brazil (Sao Paulo Aquarium). I think this would have to be classed the biggest Australasian marsupial collection in Brazil and in the wider Latin American region.

In other countries of Latin America the Australian marsupials are not frequently kept in zoos, but when they are these are almost always the more easily maintained (and obtained) wallabies or red / grey kangaroos. Hardy , easily fed , easy to breed and popular with visitors are traits which make them a staple zoo animal in most institutions.

Slightly off topic , but I've always thought it quite disappointing that more of the native marsupials of the Americas like the Didelphimorphia are not more visibly on display to visitors at zoos in this region, especially considering that the whole marsupial order including those from Australia originated in South America.

But they just don't make for good exhibits unless kept within nocturnal houses though a number of them are of conservation concern and could certainly benefit from ex-situ programes.
 
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Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Slightly off topic , but I've always thought it quite disappointing that more of the native marsupials of the Americas like the Didelphimorphia are not more visibly on display to visitors at zoos in this region, especially considering that the whole marsupial order including those from Australia originated in South America.
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Well, one key point is lifespan - members of the Didelphimorphia have extremely short lifespans, even the larger ones; hence it's harder to get captive stock going, and zoos are loathe to go into a species that may live only a year or two.

Although some Australian marsupials have similar issues - dasyurids for instance - most do not.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Well, one key point is lifespan - members of the Didelphimorphia have extremely short lifespans, even the larger ones; hence it's harder to get captive stock going, and zoos are loathe to go into a species that may live only a year or two
Click to expand...

Kowari have similar problems: despite of their somewhat longer lifespans the females are only fertile for a similarly short period. However, a few zoos are determined to keep Kowari going in Europe, and they are taking real effort. What is unique for Kowari in comparison to many Didelphimorphia is that there's actually somewhat of a demand for Kowari in zoos, but in this case there's little supply.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Well, one key point is lifespan - members of the Didelphimorphia have extremely short lifespans, even the larger ones; hence it's harder to get captive stock going, and zoos are loathe to go into a species that may live only a year or two.

Although some Australian marsupials have similar issues - dasyurids for instance - most do not.
Click to expand...

Very true , also they don't tend to make for the most active animals to exhibits due to their nocturnality. Where I have seen them displayed well was at one zoo in Southern Mexico within a nocturnal house which also exhibited a number of other species more active at night.

But even if not kept regularly within zoos they do tend to be found in the surroundings of these institutions as wild animals because these are often located in parks / green areas in Latin America.

I remember one institution I worked for early on as a volunteer where we would have to set and check non-lethal traps for one of the larger species around the bird aviaries because they would attempt to get in (and often did) to eat the birds.
 
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ShonenJake13 said:
Jihlava in the Czech Republic, Saitama Children’s Zoo in Japan and Batu Secret Zoo in Java all keep striped possum - Saitama have a singleton and the other two each have a pair.
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There aren’t any JAZA accredited zoos that keep striped possum anymore. There are brokers that keep them so a roadside attraction could have one.
 
There are two EAZA accredited zoos in Turkey that keep red kangaroos(Bursa and Darica). Last time I went there In 2017 Darica also had sugar gliders. Historically Darica has kept parma wallabies. And a ton of zoos both accredited and unaccredited by EAZA keep rednecked wallabies.
 
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