Zoo promotional material for animals no longer at the zoo

The LA Zoo logo is a big one. It includes the silhouette of a rhino (I am pretty sure it is a greater one-horned rhino?), but the zoo does not have any rhino species. However, I think it would be pretty likely for them to get rhinos again at some point given their ambitious masterplan.


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Doesn't fit fully in the thread but how about featuring an animal the zoo never had in the first place? :D

Chester had addax on their map in the late 2000s, they have never kept the species. Of course, they did have plans to get them and they must have gotten quite far along considering they updated the map but alas it never happened and they ended up using the potential space for cheetahs instead. :)

Another thing which is quite common now is zoos selling souvenirs of animals they don't have... I'm pretty sure I have seen giant panda plushies at quite a few zoos. :p
 
Fallax said:
Another thing which is quite common now is zoos selling souvenirs of animals they don't have... I'm pretty sure I have seen giant panda plushies at quite a few zoos. :p
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I always pay attention to this I've never seen any traditional zoo that doesn't have panda plushies in the gift shop. Monkeys as well, usually of a rainbow variety.
 
Fallax said:
Doesn't fit fully in the thread but how about featuring an animal the zoo never had in the first place? :D

Chester had addax on their map in the late 2000s, they have never kept the species. Of course, they did have plans to get them and they must have gotten quite far along considering they updated the map but alas it never happened and they ended up using the potential space for cheetahs instead. :)

Another thing which is quite common now is zoos selling souvenirs of animals they don't have... I'm pretty sure I have seen giant panda plushies at quite a few zoos. :p
Click to expand...

I've seen more than my fair share of white tiger plushies in zoo gift shops, lol.

Always thought that was really weird, considering the AZA's policy on member zoos keeping white tigers. [IE: Don't, focus on breeding and housing SSP tiger subspecies instead.]
 
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birdsandbats said:
I always pay attention to this I've never seen any traditional zoo that doesn't have panda plushies in the gift shop. Monkeys as well, usually of a rainbow variety.
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Omaha's gift shop has TONS of animal plushes of animals we don't have/have never had lol. I'm not really sure that qualifies tho, as it's not really neccesary to have actual animals for every plush species you have
 
Milwaukee's Visitor Center still has rhinoceros, mandrill, potto and night monkey included among several large species photos on the ceiling.

I believe the Small Mammal House sign still has a potto as well.
 
Fallax said:
Doesn't fit fully in the thread but how about featuring an animal the zoo never had in the first place? :D

Chester had addax on their map in the late 2000s, they have never kept the species. Of course, they did have plans to get them and they must have gotten quite far along considering they updated the map but alas it never happened and they ended up using the potential space for cheetahs instead. :)

Another thing which is quite common now is zoos selling souvenirs of animals they don't have... I'm pretty sure I have seen giant panda plushies at quite a few zoos. :p
Click to expand...
Somewhat more relevant, white tiger related…
Colchester’s white tiger died in 2010… but even so they still have quite a bit of white tiger merchandise and indeed white tigers feature heavily in the zoo’s brand identity still…
 
Artis Zoo Amsterdam sells signs of species not in the zoo any more in it´s zoo shop once in a while.
The really old, historic sign boards are not sold of course but preserved in the Artis Archives.
 
Fallax said:
Another thing which is quite common now is zoos selling souvenirs of animals they don't have... I'm pretty sure I have seen giant panda plushies at quite a few zoos. :p
Click to expand...
This bugged me even as a child. Of particular annoyance now as an adult is when a zoo with sloths, particularly new sloths, goes out of their way to highlight sloth merchandise in their gift shop, which is invariably of three-toed sloths. I get that they're the more iconic, popular species but I wonder how many people actually notice or care that they don't even look like the actual animal present at the zoo.

For an example of the original phenomenon, though, Greenville Zoo still has a photo of its former coatimundi on its penny press machine, which makes me a bit sad every time I see it since this is a small zoo where every species loss leaves a real impact. They also seem to use what I assume is a premade graphics pack with stylized animal silhouettes on their map and other promotional material, including the "baby on board" signs they post in front of exhibits with newborns. While most of these match closely enough, the sign they're using for the red pandas clearly uses a ring-tailed lemur, which the zoo doesn't actually have. I assume it's just the closest-looking species they had a graphic for, and again, most people wouldn't even question it.
 
The Roosevelt Park Zoo in Minot, North Dakota had a sign warning not to throw things like a gorilla. I'd be surprised if they ever had those. Also it seems that many zoos have stuffed animals of white tigers given their problematic nature in captivity.
 
I have seen countless signs in old photographs and videos where they label they're penguins as Humboldt. Nearly all the time there is at least a couple of African mixed in.

They may be a similar species but it's not like they were coming from the same area in terms of wild caught animals nor were they a recently described species.
 
One peculiar example;
In many news releases regarding the Miami Seaquarium in video form b-roll of manatees and Tokitae [the orca that lived there] are still often used. Neither species remain.
Though given most recent events in all likelihood there won't be a Seaquarium for much longer...
 
Toledo Zoo and Aquarium:
  • There are lion statues in the parking lot and in Africa!, even though they haven’t had lions in approaching a decade.
  • Signage outside the zoo features an African wild dog, which has been absent from the zoo for about the same amount of time.
  • A mural features koalas alongside animals the zoo still has, which ceased being anachronistic when the zoo got a new one in 2017… and resumed being so when it left less than three years later.
  • Near Tiger Terrace, there is a bison statue, even though it seems to have been many decades since Toledo kept them, if they ever did.
  • Worth nothing that to avoid misleading guests, a sign that used to read “gorillas, chimps, and orangutans” had the “chimp” part covered in duct tape after Toledo phased the species out.
  • A statue in the entrance plaza features giant pandas, but this doesn’t count as there is a plaque stating that it is in memory of their 1988 visit.
Detroit Zoo:
  • A hippo statue is located outside the main entrance, even though Detroit phased the species out more than a decade ago.
  • No longer applies but back in 2015, at least a year after the last of the meerkats passed away, a sign on a ticket booth stated they were-off exhibit, implying they were still in the collection (and I didn’t even realize they phased the species out until the following year).
Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden:
  • My sister got a hat with the zoo’s logo on it that featured an African bush elephant, which I’m under the impression they haven’t kept in a long time.
 
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