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Once in zoos but now extinct

Discussion in 'General Zoo Discussion' started by nanoboy, 19 Sep 2012.

  1. nanoboy

    nanoboy Well-Known Member

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    The thylacine thread got me thinking about animals that were once kept in zoos around the world but have now gone extinct.

    Which species can you think of? Where were they held? The first one that springs to mind is the passenger pigeon.
     
  2. DavidBrown

    DavidBrown Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    The last Carolina parakeet died at the Cincinnati Zoo like the last passenger pigeon did.

    There were quaggas in zoos.

    The last dusky seaside sparrow died in captivity at Disney World at their old Discovery Island zoo in 1987.

    The last Pinta Island Galapagos tortoise, Lonesome George, was in captivity when he died recently.
     
  3. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    Have you had this thought before nanoboy?

    http://www.zoochat.com/2/extinct-species-you-have-seen-261363/

    Quagga, Passenger Pigeon, Carolina Parakeet spring to mind.

    I don't think that any NZ species that are now extinct were ever displayed in a NZ zoo (native birds were only allowed to be legally displayed from the 1950s), although they may have been displayed overseas.
     
  4. zoomaniac

    zoomaniac Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    And the Quagga (e.g. at Artis Amsterdam), the Kaspian Tiger at Tierpark Hagenbeck Hamburg (if you not count it equal with the Amur Tiger), some other australian marsupials beside the thlyacine, Schomburgk deer (different European zoos), the North African Hartebeest (A. b. buselaphus, e.g. at London Zoo) and I presume the Western Black Rhino and many extinct rodents may also been exhibited in zoos in the past.
     
  5. Brum

    Brum Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Also London held a Falkland Island wolf and I'm certain a few zoos have held Bali and Javan tigers. I'm in a rush so don't have time to check zootierliste at the moment, I'm sure that I've seen both subspecies listed though.

    EDIT:- Pink-headed ducks have also been exhibited at a zoo or bird garden but I don't know where? :confused:
     
    Last edited: 19 Sep 2012
  6. nanoboy

    nanoboy Well-Known Member

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    Ah! I vaguely remember that thread. I think we went down the route of extinct species we have actually seen ourselves (eg scimitar horned oryx), rather than species from back in the day - which is the direction that this thread is going. :D But in my defence, I am a bit addled brained. :D
     
  7. Tim May

    Tim May Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

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    London Zoo had four specimens of Falkland Island "wolf".

    To the best of my knowledge no other zoo has ever exhibited this species; I would be very interested, please, if anybody knows of any other zoo that has ever had a Falkland Island "wolf" in its collection.
     
  8. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    I've actually looked into this matter myself in the past - no other collections ever held the species. This does not, of course, rule out private menageries and collections which may possibly have existed in Argentina or Brazil - but it is highly unlikely I feel.

    The more interesting, and depressing, point is that the final London individual was likely either the last living Warrah, or the penultimate - it died on 2 March 1876, and the last individual killed in the wild was killed in early 1876.
     
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  9. Dassie rat

    Dassie rat Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Zootierliste lists the following animals

    Desert rat kangaroo: Vienna
    Crescent nail-tail wallaby: London
    Eastern hare wallaby: Frankfurt and Berlin Zoo

    I'll search for a few more later.
     
  10. zoogiraffe

    zoogiraffe Well-Known Member

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    I know of a private collection in Surrey that kept them,believe they died out as a result of World War 2.
     
  11. Dassie rat

    Dassie rat Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Additional animals:
    Schomburgk's deer: Berlin Zoo, Hamburg, Cologne, Paris Menagerie, London
    Falkland Islands wolf: London
    King Island and Kangaroo Island emus: Paris Menagerie
    Pink-headed duck: Berlin Zoo, London and Fakenham
    Canary Islands black oystercatcher: London
    Bar-winged and New Caledonian rails: London
    Tristan moorhen: London
    Spectacled cormorant: Berin Zoo
    Passenger pigeon: Berlin Aquarium and Zoo, Dresden, Hamburg, Cologne, Amsterdam, Knowsley, London
    Paradise parrot: Berlin Zoo, Hamburg, Cologne, London
    Cuban red macaw: Berlin Zoo, Vienna
    Glaucous macaw: Berlin Zoo, 2 x Hamburg Zoos, Cologne, Antwerp, Paris Jardin d'Acclimatation, Amsterdam, London
    Carolina parakeet: Berlin Aquarium and Zoo, Dresden, Framkfurt, Hamburg, Cologne, Munster, Vienna, Sofia, Paris Menagerie, Amsterdam, Bristol, Knowsley, London
    Laughing owl: Amsterdam, London
    Turquoise-throated puffleg: Frankfurt

    I have restricted myself to species, but some authorities consider that some of the animals listed above may still exist.
     
  12. nanoboy

    nanoboy Well-Known Member

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    These are some fascinating lists. It does break your heart a bit to know that they were once in captivity, and there was a chance of breeding them to ensure their survival. Of course, the mindset back then was different I suppose.
     
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  13. Jurek7

    Jurek7 Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Carolina parakeets and passenger pigeons were also common in private hands. Some place in Europe even bred passenger pigeons and released free - they didn't survive. Unfortunately it was before coordinated captive breeding plans.

    BTW, there are tens of currently endangered species which breed well in captivity but obtaining founding stock from the wild is forbidden. Think of many subspecies of big cats, Ethiopian wolves, Cozumel raccoons, various antelope, wild goats and sheep, rodents, fruit bats, lemurs, flightless rails, Pacific island pigeons etc. All are prime candidates to extinction.
     
  14. Pertinax

    Pertinax Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Alfred Ezra's collection at Foxwarren Park. There a b/w photos of these birds in existence. They may have been the last in captivity possibly.
     
  15. FBBird

    FBBird Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Pink-headed ducks were not at Fakenham [if that refers to the Pensthorpe collection, which was not founded until after that species apparent extinction]. What they had [and may still have] was Pink-EARED Ducks.
    It was the Earl of Derby who bred so many Passenger Pigeons that hewas letting them out.
    London Zoo definitely had Carolina Parrakeets.
     
  16. nanoboy

    nanoboy Well-Known Member

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    I googled recently extinct animals, and learnt about the demise of these animals:

    Caribbean Monk Seal
    Pyrenean Ibex
    Bubal Hartebeest
    Bali Tiger
    Javan Tiger

    Were any of these in zoos?
     
  17. Dassie rat

    Dassie rat Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Hallo Nanoboy

    Zootierliste says that Almuecar and Arguedas has Pyrenean ibexes of unknown subspecies, while Kronberg used to have them.
    The bubal hartebeest was kept at Berlin Zoo, Dresden, Frankfurt, Cologne, Lyon, Paris Menagerie and London.
    The Javan tiger was kept in Berlin Zoo, Cologne, Zagreb, Budapest, Rome, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Tilburg and London.

    I couldn't see any reference to Caribbean monk seals or bali tigers being kept in any European zoos.
     
  18. Maguari

    Maguari Never could get the hang of Thursdays. 15+ year member Premium Member

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    These are, I would imagine, Spanish Ibexes (Capra pyrenaica hispanica) that are just not labelled or listed correctly.

    Although often quoted as an 'extinct species', it's only the actual Pyrenean subspecies (C. p. pyrenaica) of the Pyrenean Ibex that is extinct.

    If those animals were to turn out to be the type subspecies, that would be very good news indeed, of course!
     
  19. Dassie rat

    Dassie rat Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Thanks Maguari

    I wonder if the Spanish ibexes were the Pyrenean or Spanish subspecies or perhaps hybrids. It's a shame that more zoos hadn't kept them. I'm a bit surprised that neither subspecies was kept at the Paris Menagerie, which tend to be a good place for various goats and their relatives.
     
  20. Dassie rat

    Dassie rat Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Zootierliste mentioned that The Fakenham (Pensthorpe Conservation Trust Limited) had kept pink-headed ducks. I couldn't find any information about pink-headed ducks living at Fakenham, so it seems that FFBird is right and that Zootierliste has made a mistake. John Edwards wrote 'London Zoo
    from Old Photographs' and this includes photographs of pink-headed ducks at London Zoo, as well as several photos of thylacines and quaggas.