Zoos that are the only one to hold a species.

The Detroit Zoo has a king brown snake and says it is the only one in North America. Someone with a desire to remove himself from the gene pool was keeping it as a pet even though at the time there was no antivenin for its bite in the western hemisphere. The authorities found out about it and seized it. The keeper I talked to regarding it said the guy had protested that he was being really careful with it.

We have a large amphibian exhibit and I'd guess we must have a couple of species not on exhibit anywhere else, but I don't know for sure.
 
Alex Bensky said:
Someone with a desire to remove himself from the gene pool
Click to expand...
No, that's rather the intention of many drivers of black Audis / BMWs.

Alex Bensky said:
(...) there was no antivenin for its bite in the western hemisphere.
Click to expand...
...which is the case for various venomous species. Nevertheless, they are still kept.
Alex Bensky said:
(...) the guy had protested that he was being really careful with it.
Click to expand...
Nothing wrong with being really careful when keeping venomous snakes. And I know quite of private venomous snake keepers who are doing a great job at that. So unless the husbandry and security conditions were bad, his main fault was unauthorized wildlife trafficking?
 
Alex Bensky said:
The Detroit Zoo has a king brown snake and says it is the only one in North America. Someone with a desire to remove himself from the gene pool was keeping it as a pet even though at the time there was no antivenin for its bite in the western hemisphere. The authorities found out about it and seized it. The keeper I talked to regarding it said the guy had protested that he was being really careful with it.

We have a large amphibian exhibit and I'd guess we must have a couple of species not on exhibit anywhere else, but I don't know for sure.
Click to expand...
I believe Omaha also has a king brown snake in the Australian area of the desert dome, according to people who have recently been there.

Also, having visited the amphibian house myself, there is no animal that stood out to me to being only found in the Detroit zoo. Even though it was a very large and impressive collection, none of the animals in it were "super rare" besides the dwarf siren, and maybe Wyoming toads.
 
Last edited:
Speaking about snakes, the Moscow Zoo seems to be the only one in Europe that keep Indian gamma snake (Boiga trigonata, one female in Moscow Zoo Breeding nursery center), Red-headed krait (Bungarus flaviceps) and Ikaheka snake (Micropechis ikaheka).
 
According to a post on their Facebook page, Big Bear Alpine Zoo (California) claims to have the only Humboldt's flying squirrels on exhibit.
 
Okay, this is kinda random but are Indochinese tigers in any more AZA accredited zoos in the U.S.? They seem to be phased out a little bit in zoos.
 
birdsandbats said:
There are no Indochinese Tigers in the US. The claimed "Indochinese" Tigers are actually Malayan.
Click to expand...
Inteteresting. Here's a question. In the past, the omaha zoo claimed to have indochinese tigers in the cat complex. Now I am guessing that those were Malayan as well, but were they actually true "Indochinese subspecies" of the tiger?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top