Online Zoo Animal Databases

It is quite common on Zoochat for members (especially new members) to ask if there is anywhere that they can look up which animals are kept where in the world's zoos. So I have made the following list to provide this information in one place.

First are listed the global regions where you can (or can't) find zoo inventories. Second are listed some animal groups which have globally-represented online databases. Thirdly are listed the zoo associations for different global regions.

Anything which I have overlooked can be added to the thread. But please don't link to an individual zoo's website and say “this zoo lists their whole inventory” because if you just want to know about a single zoo then their website should be the first port of call anyway.


WORLDWIDE

Species360 (formerly ISIS): Species360
The Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS) is the record system of the International Species Information System (ISIS). In 2016 the organisation changed its name to Species360. It lists the full inventories of every zoo which is a member of the system. Unfortunately the lists stopped being available publicly in 2011, so you need to make a specific enquiry by email for the species you are interested in. Old records (prior to 2011) can be accessed via the Wayback Machine here (using the address isis. org): Internet Archive: Wayback Machine


EUROPE

Zootierliste: ZootierlisteHomepage
This is a user-edited German website (with an English version) for all the zoo collections in Europe, as well as some from further afield (Israel, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE). You can search by species (which will give you a complete list of all zoos holding that species) or by zoo (which will give you a complete list of species held at that zoo). It also has listings for species formerly held in European collections. It is by far the best zoo resource available for Europe. It is not an official site (as is Species360, for example), the data instead being added and edited by zoo enthusiasts. There may therefore be occasional errors, and lags for the less-visited collections (but still fewer errors than you would find in the old ISIS records!!).


AUSTRALASIA

Australia: Australia Forums
New Zealand: New Zealand Forums

These two forums on Zoochat contain stickied threads listing mammals, birds and herptiles. They are listed by species, not by zoo, but is the best you can get without emailing Species360. Formerly, individual membership of the Zoo and Aquarium Association of Australasia (ZAA) gave access to full species lists covering all member collections but this is no longer the case.


ASIA

Asia unfortunately is not covered well by any sort of public database. There are several zoo bodies for different regions or countries, including the South East Asian Zoos Association (SEAZA) and the South Asian Zoo Association for Regional Cooperation (SAZARC), but only India and Japan have their listings freely online. Some zoo bodies have full yearly inventories of the member-collections, which are available to members but not to the public (e.g. the Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens (CAZG) and Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS)). Some of the individual zoos in Asia have yearly inventories on their websites. This site covers all apes in Japan: Great Ape Information Network

India:
All the zoos in India are government-owned, although there are a few smaller private collections for birds. On this page of Zoochat - Indian Zoo List - there is a historical list of zoos (post #1). The website for the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) lists all current zoos on the following link (you have to click on a state on the map, and a list for all the zoos in that state will be provided): https://cza.nic.in/location-of-zoos/en. The CZA website used to have a searchable database containing all the species held in zoos in the country but this is no longer available. However their website does contain PDFs for all of the annual zoo inventories going back to 1995, which list (by zoo) all species held in the country, along with the population figures: https://cza.nic.in/page/en/inventory-of-animals-in-zoos

Japan:
飼育動物検索 | 動物園と水族館
The Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA) has 151 member collections, which can be searched on the JAZA website. You can search for individual species or for full zoo holdings. The search function is only in Japanese kanji so is very awkward to use for non-Japanese. I have put instructions for how to use the site on this post of the current thread: Online Zoo Animal Databases

WEB水族館｜全国の水族館ガイド116施設
This website lists Japanese Aquariums and provides listings of holders for certain species (cetaceans, pinnipeds, sea otters, penguins, and sharks). It is entirely in Japanese kanji script. I have put instructions for how to use the site on this post of the current thread: Online Zoo Animal Databases


THE AMERICAS

The Americas have nothing except the aforementioned and outdated Global Species, or emailing Species360. Even the two main zoo organisations in the USA – the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and the Zoological Association of America (ZAA) – don't appear to publish animal inventories for the member zoos.
However, there are numerous threads in the General North America forum of Zoochat which catalogue zoo holdings of various mammal and bird groups: North America - General


AFRICA

Nothing publicly available apart for the aforementioned Global Species and emailing Species360. The regional zoo body for Africa is the Pan African Association of Zoological Gardens, Aquaria and Botanical Gardens (PAAZAB). They have a yearly census which is available to member institutions. You can become an individual member of the organisation but I don't know if doing so grants access to the census.


ANIMAL GROUPS:

Cetaceans
Cetacean Cousins
This is the new website of Cetacean Cousins which covers cetaceans in collections worldwide and used to be excellent with coverage of current as well as historical holdings. The contents of the new site are very limited but I'm not sure if this is due to it not being fully completed, or due to parts of it being "member only". About the only section which seems to work is the "Search our database" tab which gives lists of individual animals by personal name. Other tabs for facilities and species mainly result in a "page not found" message.

Ceta-Base
This site covers cetaceans in collections worldwide. The listings probably aren't complete but they are still very useful (and it appears to be an ongoing project). Current as well as historical records are covered. You can only search by collection, not by species.

Captive Orca Statistic
This site covers all killer whales in captivity, both current and former.

Marine Mammals (cetaceans, pinnipeds, sirenians)
http://www.cetabase.org/downloads/docs/nmfs/mmir/complete-cetaceans-pinnipeds-20160809.pdf
A Ceta Base pdf file from 2016 listing all the marine mammals in the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) database. At first look the data appears to be arranged randomly, but it is actually listed alphabetically by Holder (to the right of the table).I can't see any way to access the database freely on the NOAA website, but there is a link which you can use to email a request to obtain the information (on this page: Marine Mammal Inventory :: NOAA Fisheries). NOAA is an American organisation but the database includes a lot of facilities in other countries as well (although it is not a complete worldwide catalogue). Listings are current as well as historical, and also include some closed facilities.

Polar Bears
Polar Bears in Zoos
A German site which is a bit clumsy to work with (perhaps only for non-German speakers though). On the page linked to above, look on the far right side of the screen, scroll down about a third of the page and you'll see a heading "Eisbären" under which is a long list of hyperlinks, starting with individual bear names and then a list of "Zoos in...". On the latter links are the polar bears kept in zoos of those regions; each individual bear listed has a link with further information (birth date, etc). There are currently no listings for Asia apart for Japan and eastern Russia, but all other parts of the world seem to be covered.

Giant Pandas
The Pandas | Panda News
This page has a complete catalogue of all captive Giant Pandas, current and historical, arranged in order of capture/birth (most recent at the start, and oldest at the end). There doesn't appear to be any way to search or filter results, so you have to know the Panda's personal name and approximately where it would appear in the sequence. Clicking on each Panda will give you specific information including date of capture or birth, date of death, parents, locations and transfers, etc.

Elephants
Elephant Database
[This site regularly alternates between being accessible and not]
This site brilliantly catalogues thousands of captive elephants, living and dead, as well as providing all sorts of other elephant-related information. You can search by elephant species, by individual elephant (by name), by zoo, by country, etc etc.

Petra Prager – Elefanten-Fotolexikon
This is an excellent site covering captive elephants worldwide. It seems pretty complete, and is easy to use. Elephants can be searched for by species or location (although note that Australia is listed by state, not as "Australia", in the alphabetical list of countries).

Asian Elephants at the Zoological Gardens of the World
This site only covers Asian Elephants, but is worldwide in scope. Note, however, that it hasn't been updated since 2014.

Apes in Japan
Great Ape Information Network
This site covers all apes kept in Japan, and can be searched by facility, "type" (i.e. gorilla, chimpanzee, bonobo, orangutan, or gibbon), or individual.

Gorillas
Gorillasland Captive List
This site lists all the zoos worldwide which keep gorillas. When you click on a zoo name it takes you to a page about that zoo, with a list of the gorillas kept there and a genealogical chart for that zoo's group. You can further click on the individual gorilla names to get more data (birth date, origin, transfers, etc). It is kept fully up to date.

Gorillas Galore
This page list all current and historical Western Lowland Gorillas kept in zoos. You can search by name, studbook number, country, and individual zoo.

Gibbons
The Gibbon Network
This site has tables listing zoo holdings for all species of gibbons. The records were last updated in 2009 and were probably not complete but it is still quite good (also some taxonomy has changed since then). There are also links to various gibbon studbooks.

Penguins
Catalogue of Penguins in Captivity Worldwide
A Zoochat thread which lists all species and global holders. It is as complete as possible, but is no longer current.


LIST OF ZOO ASSOCIATIONS

A list of the regional and national zoo associations. I have linked to the English version of their websites where-ever possible but some sites do not have one. Most of the sites contain a list of the member institutions for that organisation. Some associations produce an annual census of species in their member collections but only for India is it available publicly. Some associations have an option for becoming an individual member, others do not.

Note that apart for India, none of these organisations represent every zoological collection in their respective countries.

Global
*World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA): WAZA

Europe
*All of Europe: European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA): EAZA

*Austria: Austrian Zoo Organisation (OZO): OZO (only in German?)
*Czech and Slovak Republics: Union of Czech and Slovak Zoos (UCSZOO): UCSZOO (only in Czech?)
*Denmark: Danish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (DAZA): DAZA (only in Danish?)
*France: French Association of Zoological Parks (AFDPZ): AFDPZ
*Germany: German Federation of Zoological Gardens (VDZ): VDZ (only in German?)
*Italy: Union of Italian Zoos and Aquariums (UIZA): UIZA (only in Italian?)
*Netherlands: Dutch Zoo Federation (NVD): NVD (only in Dutch?)
*Russia: Euro-Asian Regional Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EARAZA): the website address I used to have linked on here now goes to some sort of online pet-food site, and there appears to be no other site for the EARAZA
*Spain and Portugal: Association of Iberian Zoos and Aquariums (AIZA): AIZA (only in Spanish and Portuguese?)
*Switzerland: Swiss Association of Scientific Zoos (ZOOSchweiz): ZOOSchweiz (only in German?)
*UK: British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA): BIAZA

Australasia
*Zoo and Aquarium Association Australasia (ZAA) (formerly ARAZPA): ZAA

Asia
*Southeast Asia: South East Asian Zoos Association (SEAZA): there appears to be no website for SEAZA
*Southern Asia: South Asian Zoo Association for Regional Cooperation (SAZARC): SAZARC

*China: Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens (CAZG) [formerly Chinese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (CAZA)]: CAZA (only in Chinese)
*India: Central Zoo Authority (CZA): CZA
*Indonesia: Indonesia Zoo and Aquarium Association (IZAA): IZAA (only in Indonesian)
*Japan: Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA): JAZA
*Malaysia: Malaysian Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria (MAZPA): MAZPA
*Singapore: Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS): WRS
*Thailand: Zoological Park Organization: Zoological Park Organization

The Americas
*North America: American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA): AZA
*North America: Zoological Association of America (ZAA): ZAA
*Central America: Association of Meso American and Caribbean Zoos and Aquaria (AMACZOOA)
*Central and South America: Latin American Zoo and Aquarium Association (ALPZA): ALPZA

*Canada: Canada's Accredited Zoos and Aquariums [formerly Canadian Zoo and Aquarium Association] (CAZA): CAZA
*Mexico: Mexican Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZCARM): AZCARM (only in Spanish)
*Brazil: Society of Zoos and Aquariums of Brazil (SZB): SZB (only in Portuguese)
*Colombia: Colombian Association of Zoos and Aquariums (ACOPAZOA): ACOPAZOA (only in Spanish)
*Venezuela: National Foundation of Zoological Parks and Aquaria (FUNZPA)

Africa
*Pan African Association of Zoological Gardens, Aquaria and Botanical Gardens (PAAZAB): PAAZAB

Middle East
*Arabian Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZAA)
*Israeli Zoo Association (IZA): IZA

 

over the last few weeks I have added a few additional databases to the original post, for "animal groups", namely one for cetaceans and one for marine mammals (neither of which are fully-complete, nor fully-worldwide, but both still extremely useful), and then one for elephants and one for gorillas. These latter two databases are both as complete as you could reasonably hope them to be.

 

I have made another modification to the original post, adding in a list of the regional and national zoo associations and organisations worldwide. It won't be a complete list but it is all the important ones I think.

I have linked to the English version of their websites where-ever possible but some sites do not have one. Most of the sites contain a list of the member institutions for that organisation. Some associations produce an annual census of species in their member collections but it is only for members (or for member institutions). Only India has their inventories available publicly. Some associations have an option for becoming an individual member, others do not.

I thought the Russian one (the “Euro-Asian Regional Association of Zoos and Aquariums”) was interesting because of course Russia stretches from coast to coast across Eurasia. The association is based from Moscow Zoo but includes a lot of other collections. Unfortunately I don't read Russian and a lot of the English parts seem to still be under construction. It looks like the intent is to eventually have animal inventories on there (perhaps).

Most of the websites for the Central and South American associations are entirely in Spanish or Portuguese. Interestingly, most of the national European websites are also lacking English versions (or at least I couldn't find any “English” buttons on them). I haven't got a link for the Central American AMACZOOA because the website supposedly for that appears to go to some sort of Japanese **** site (I didn't open it to find out for sure).

The Thailand Zoological Park Association only covers five zoos but it has links for animals with the holding zoo(s) listed for each. They don't cover all the species held in the five zoos though and it isn't kept up to date.

A website for SEAZA (the South East Asian Zoos Association) seems to to no longer exist, which is weird.

 

thanks. Really I just like tinkering and googling, so it's fun for me.

The list of zoo associations isn't really necessary but I thought it was interesting, and I'd made references to some of them already so thought I may as well make a list. Also I guess it might be handy if anyone wanted to become an individual member of any interesting ones, then the links are there to choose from (some associations have very cheap memberships, others are in the hundreds of dollars - so choose wisely!).

 

there are some other studbook threads here and there, but I do like that gibbon one. It has a page with tables of zoos holding each species (although only up to 2009 and he admits it won't be complete), so it fits in with the gorilla website I already have up there.

If you want you could see if you can come up with a good list of studbook websites (like the San Diego one) and stand-alone studbooks if they have sites - make it into a thread, and then I can make it a sticky so it doesn't get lost.

 

I found that a really clumsy site to navigate but that might just be because I am looking at it for the first time, or it might be because it is mostly in German. I have added it to the first post with an explanation on how to find the zoo pages on it.

I do like these sorts of websites where a lot of work has been put into detailing individual species or groups. Originally I was thinking of only adding sites which covered whole groups (like cetaceans or bears or rhinos or whatever) but individual species websites (as with the polar bears, elephants and gorillas) are very well done. So long as they are global or intending to be global then they are all good.

Studbooks I still don't think belong on this thread because they are too boring

 

seems like it. It has been having issues for ages unfortunately. I hope it can return, it was extremely useful!!

 

well it's a bit late now - imagine how many of us are already on watch-lists for googling things like "how do I join ISIS?" and "how can I contact ISIS?" and "ISIS is awesome!"