A Guide to the Rarities of Europe

Yes, but the stars still denote a species not found in Germany . Try looking up Graz or Plzen for example.

 

Will you be doing the UK, or is that a Brexit casualty...?

 

Yes, although still quite a way to go until I get there. I'm sure Hamerton will feature quite heavily .

 

Many thanks Amur Leopard!
I share with you your amazement that Köln reach very close to Praha, as this zoo did not inaugurate anything sensational recently. Of course, one know it was a big zoo but the herps section is really making a big difference there ! I need to go back there even if several of this rarities are probably not exhibited.

 

The map so far (only including zoos with 15 rarities or above). Germany is only half complete, missing big names like Walsrode, Munich, Nuremberg etc. Particularly noticeable are the clumps of large collections around the intersection between Poland, Czechia and Germany as well as the concentration in West Germany and neighbouring Netherlands. I have added on data from the countries not published yet (Poland, Netherlands, Hungary, Portugal etc.).#

And just for fun below I mapped the collections with most herp rarities, only including collections with 7 rarities or above. Interesting to see how it compares with the more general one, with some countries having an obvious deficit in rarities in those two classes. South-Eastern Europe seems really quite bereft of rarities, but Romania, with its 67 collections, may well change that.

(NB: This map does not include countries like Hungary, Italy, Poland or Portugal yet).


On this one it is immediately clear that Western Czechia is the place to be for herp enthusiasts, with the usual suspects popping up over the rest of the map, Southern Austria being another big hotspot. The best place for turtles for now seems to be Turtle Island in Graz, for snakes perhaps Nockalm or Plzen, for amphibians Chemnitz has 48 rarities and for crocodiles I suspect Protivin will be high up in anybody's list. For squamata Plzen remains unchallenged for now, though Koln and Praha are both high up there - Wroclaw is also a massive herp collection, so we shall see.

It will be interesting to see how these maps develop over time, with the rest of Germany, Switzerland, Ukraine, Spain and the UK to come. Switzerland is a dark horse for me - not really sure how much it has to offer beyond Zurich in terms of rarities, although I think Aquatis in Lausanne may well have a hefty tally of freshwater fish.

Hopefully these are interesting - Maps for mammals and birds also in progress, fish might come later.

 

Germany - Part 4

Two thirds done on Germany, two thirds done the whole continent! Here is the next installment, featuring the likes of Leipzig, Magdeburg, Munich, Munster, Nuremberg and Osnabruck. I know I said I was going to do Hungary, Greece and Italy next but change of plan, it'll be entirely in order from now on hopefully.

Zoo Landau - Philippine porcupine

Reptilium Landau

A fairly large collection and yet not one that gets too many mentions on here.

Reptiles: Aldrovandi's skink, Angolan python, Black-lined plated lizard, Cyrenaica tortoise, Dusky pygmy rattlesnake, Jampea reticulated python, Jayakar lizard, Lesser Egyptian wall gecko, Mali spiny-tailed lizard, Merakue blue-tongued skink, Northern pine snake, Oaxacan spiny-tailed iguana, Prairie rattlesnake, Red-sided garter snake, Reisinger's tree monitor, Ringed wall gecko, Rough-necked monitor, Sand skink, South African bowsprit tortoise, Spiny chuckwalla, Tanimbar python, Tartar sand boa, Turner's gecko, Wide-tailed zonosaur, Zoutpansberg girdled lizard.

Amphibians: False toad.

In summary, 26 rarities, of which 5 are bolded and 3 are underlined.

Zoo Leipzig

One of the best zoos in the country, Leipzig has a number of 'big' rarities, not least the only pangolins in Europe. The zoo itself is made up of largely geographical zones as well as an aquarium and terrarium. It is also home to a large tropical dome called Gondwanaland and an ape complex called Pongoland. In general, the exhibits are of high quality and the collection follows suit, with a generally high number of rarities across the classes.

Mammals: Ansell's mole rat, Chinese pangolin, Black and rufous sengi, Black-rumped agouti, Eastern quoll, Fat sand rat, Hamlyn's monkey, Kowari, Malayan tiger, Sri Lankan giant squirrel, Taiga musk deer, Vietnamese small flying fox.

Birds: Allen's gallinule, Boehm's buffalo weaver, Cinnamon ground dove (NS), Collared kingfisher, Great kiskadee, Indian pond-heron, Layard's bulbul, Lesser Brazilian teal, Philippine rufous night heron, Purple grenadier, Red-bellied fruit dove, Sierra Leone green pigeon, Uganda red-billed firefinch, Violaceous euphonia, Yellow-crowned gonolek.

Reptiles: Arizona black rattlesnake, Eyespot gecko, Flat-tailed gecko, Nicaraguan slider, Ring-necked spitting cobra, Southern brown tortoise, West African rainbow lizard, Western Amazon toadhead turtle, Western hingeback tortoise.

Amphibians: Black-spotted rock frog, Greenhouse frog, Little rock frog, Spotted reed frog, Yellow stream frog.

Fish: 39 rarities approx.

In summary, 80 rarities.

Tierpark Limbach-Oberfrohna - Moor macaque, Swift fox, Woodchuck, African grey-headed gull, Black-capped parakeet.

Vogelpark Linkenheim - Salvin's amazon.

Tierpark Lohberg - Slender-billed spotted nutcracker, Spotted flycatcher, Western black redstart.

Eifel-Zoo Lunebach - Rufous bettong, Spinifex hopping mouse.

Tierpark Lutherstadt Wittemberg - Black-rumped agouti.

Zoo Magdeburg

One of the more interesting zoos in this country due to its rather prolific small mammal (particularly small carnivore) collection, Magdeburg has some really nice rarities, including Marbled polecats, Marsh mongooses and Grandidier's vontsiras.

Mammals: Agile wallaby, Black-rumped agouti, Black-tailed marmoset, Grandidier's vontsira, Green acouchy, Marbled polecat, Marsh mongoose, Spix's moustached tamarin, Tanzanian black and white colobus, Typical striped grass mouse.

Birds: Brown-breasted barbet, Double-spurred francolin.

Reptiles: Black-lined plated lizard, Emerald long-tailed lizard.

In summary, 14 rarities, of which 2 are bolded and 3 are underlined.

Magdeburg Schmetterlingshaus - Splendid japalure, Guadeloupean anole (ssp. girafus).

Mannheim-Gartenstadt - Common rosefinch.

Tiergehege Mannheim - Peruvian thick-knee.

Vogelpark Marlow - African grey-headed gull, Common kingfisher, Common tern, Eastern brown pelican, Freckled duck, Laughing gull, Venezuelan parakeet.

Auffangstation für Reptilien Munich - California mountain kingsnake, Chinese wonder gecko, East African sand boa, Paraguayan rainbow boa, Scorpion mud turtle, Turner's gecko, White-lipped mud turtle, White-throated mud turtle.

Tierpark Hellabrunn

One of the better zoos in the Southern end of Germany but not especially famed for its rarities. Perhaps not the rarity count many were expecting from one of Germany's best, somewhat saved by the approximated fish rarity count.

Mammals: Agile wallaby, Apennine chamois, Fat sand rat.

Birds: Eastern vasa parrot, Northern rockhopper penguin.

Reptiles: Brook's house gecko, Spotted martinique anole, South American green iguana, White-headed dwarf gecko.

Amphibians: Alpine newt (NS).

Fish: 17 rarities approx.

In summary, a fairly paltry non-fish rarity count of 10 and 27 with fish.

SeaLife Munich - 17 fish rarities approx.

Allwetterzoo Munster

Another fairly big name with a predominantly herp-based collection. Particularly impressive is its Asian turtle collection - it is probably the best in Europe for the Geoemydidae as a whole. Otherwise, a good fish collection and a few bird rarities.

Birds: Buffy laughingthrush, Central European red-billed chough, Green-mantled tanager, Taveta golden weaver.

Reptiles: Arakan forest turtle, Back-striped day gecko, Central Vietnamese flowerback box turtle, Central Vietnamese three-striped box turtle, Chinese yellow-headed box turtle, Common ameiva, Four-eyed turtle, Jayakar lizard, MacDougall's spiny lizard, Malayan flat-shelled turtle, McCord's box turtle, Northern Vietnamese box turtle, Northern Vietnamese three-striped box turtle, Pan's box turtle, Peruvian bush anole, Pygmy leaf chameleon, Ryukyu box turtle, Short-headed day gecko, Southern Vietnamese box turtle, Sulawesi forest turtle, Three-keeled land tortoise, Three-eyed lizard, Vietnamese three-striped box turtle, Yemeni spiny-tailed lizard, Zhou's box turtle.

Fish: 17 fish rarities.

In summary, 44 rarities, of which 5 of the non-fish are bolded and 10 are underlined.

Neiße-Malxetal - Red-cheeked mud turtle.

Neu-Ulm

A pretty big collection of reptiles I don't see mentioned on this forum too often - possibly because it is overlooked in favour of larger herp collections.

Mammals: Arabian spiny mouse.

Reptiles: Beal's four-eyed turtle, Black-bellied slider, Crevice spiny lizard, Dwarf flat lizard, Eastern indigo snake, Eastern painted turtle, Four-eyed turtle, Haitian curly-tailed lizard, Incised wood turtle, Loggerhead musk turtle, Madagascar girdled lizard, Maracaibo wood turtle, Marbled gecko, Mexican giant musk turtle, Red-cheeked mud turtle, Stripe-necked leaf turtle, Warren's girdled lizard, White-lipped mud turtle.

In summary, 19 rarities, of which 3 are bolded and 1 is underlined.

Tierpark Neumunster - Common red-backed vole, Mew gull.#

Zoo Neunkirchen - East African striped hyena, Philippine porcupine, Spotted fanaloka, Black-spotted rock frog, Black-striped frog, Yellow stream frog.

Zoo Neuwied

Again, not mentioned too often here but still a nice collection, with a particularly impressive herp collection once again.

Birds: Djampea cockatoo, Eastern hill myna, Pale-billed aracari.

Reptiles: Brown horn-headed lizard, Chameleon forest dragon, Desert box turtle, Egyptian hardun, Freckled monitor, Guadeloupean anole, Guatemalan spiny-tailed iguana, Haitian curly-tailed lizard, Northern velvet gecko, Reisinger's tree monitor, Spotted martinique anole, Taylor's strange agama, Zoutpansberg girdled lizard.

In summary, 16 rarities, of which 2 are bolded and 1 is underlined.

Niedereschach-Schabenhausen - Eastern hill myna, Yellow-bellied Senegal parrot.

Tierpark Nordhorn - Reed vole.

Vogelpark Nufringen - Eurasian blackcap, Hooded siskin, Oriental greenfinch, Siberian rubythroat.

Tiergarten Nürnberg

One of the larger, more developed zoos in Germany, it holds a fair few rarities, notably Harpy eagles and Saharan striped weasels. It has consistently high-quality exhibitry, and together with Leipzig is probably among the best collections in East Germany behind both Berlins.

Mammals: Fat sand rat, Saharan striped weasel, Taiga musk deer, Yellow-backed duiker.

Birds: Common rock-thrush, Central European red-billed chough, Harpy eagle, Lesser Brazilian teal, Northern red-billed hornbill, Red-billed firefinch, Trumpeter finch, Turquoise tanager (NS), Violaceous euphonia.

Reptiles: Atlas agama, Bosk's fringe-toed lizard, Carter's rock gecko, Eyed dabb lizard, Helmethead gecko, Mediterranean chameleon, Sand skink, White-throated gecko, Yellow fan-fingered gecko.

Amphibians: Green puddle frog.

Fish: 16 rarities approx.

That makes 39 rarities in total.

Reptilienhaus Oberammergau

Another fairly large reptile collection, this time with a focus on venomous snakes.

Reptiles: African coral snake, Cane-brake rattlesnake, Dusky pygmy rattlesnake, False coral snake, Paraguayan rainbow boa, Sochurek's saw-scaled viper, Southern Amur rat snake, Spotted martinique anole, Southern painted turtle.

Amphibians: Asian giant toad.

In summary, 10 rarities.

SeaLife Oberhausen - 32 fish rarities approx.

Tiergehege Oberhausen - Bank vole.

Oberhausen-Rheinhausen - Hooded siskin, Common rosefinch.

Exotarium Oberhof - Gans' egg eater, Great Basin gopher snake, Lower California rattlesnake, Vaillant's mabuya, Lesser siren, Mitchell's reed frog, Checkered barb.

Meeresaquarium Oberwiesenthal - Marbled dragonet.

Vogelpark Olching

One of Germany's larger bird parks behind Walsrode, with a fair few rarities as well - 4 unique species here.

Birds: Aplomado falcon, Black-tailed gull, Collared pratincole, Eastern saker falcon, Eurasian blackcap, Four-banded sandgrouse, Gabar goshawk, Greater roadrunner, Lesser yellow-headed vulture, Long-crested eagle, Pin-tailed sandgrouse, Pygmy cormorant, Spotted crake, Western plantain eater, White-throated magpie-jay, Whooping motmot.

In summary, 16 rarities, of which 4 are bolded.

Ortenburg-Irgenod - Splendid glossy-starling.

Zoo Osnabrück

Another fairly large zoo but not too many rarities this time. A few small mammals, a couple of birds and 5 fish rarities.

Mammals: Coruro, Mechow's mole rat, Syrian rock hyrax.

Birds: Taveta golden weaver, White-lined tanager.

Fish: Blue acara, Cascarudo, Common cuckoo catfish, Milomo cichlid, Mullya garra.

And that is two thirds of Germany done! I hope to get the next post up in due course and finish Germany within the next week, then move on to the countries beyond it. Sorry that took a while to come.

 

Maybe some new rarities will come to europe-maybe...

A Dutch animal dealer currently offers on his homepage an extensive assortment of rare species, offspring from North America and Europe, but also imports from Africa, South America and Australia. The mammals alone take up more than 30 pages, so I can only mention the most important species here - there are a few nice species :

2.2 Manateee- from SA
5,3 baird's tapir- from SA
6,2 Gaur- from NA
some warthogs, red river hogs and Bushpig-all from africa, but I wonder, how he will get into the USA or Europe ?

some Tessebe, Rhebok and Bushbuck-from Africa

2,2 Ratel-from africa
2,2 Brown Hyena-from Africa ( im curious, if Prague will buy them...)
1,1 Aardwolf- from Africa

2,3 Cape Mountain zebra-from Africa. Who will buy these guys ?
4.9 Royal Antelope
3,5 Suni
2.5 Klippspringer- tell this Doue La Fontaine....
some Steenbuck, Oribi, Greysbuck- all from africa
Some Red flanked duiker
5,5 maxwell duiker
2,2 Bay duiker
some Grey, Blue and Red duiker ( could be from interest for europe...)

2,3 Black footed cat- from Africa
7,3 Zorilla- from europe

3,3 Common wombat-from australia

several Potto, Wolf's Guenon, Crowned, Campell's and Red tailed guenons-all from africa.

There are more rare species,of course also in the bird section, but it would took to much time for me to post them all.

I will follow this, so let's see, which of them will find really a home in Europe or USA...I hope for all the small antelopes here in germany,of course...but I think, no zoo here is interested in them, and I have no idea, what all these animals cost...

 

I'm skeptical of the legitimacy of this tbh, but that is a very nice assortment of species.

 

I agree some of these species are hard to come across. Even if it is true and he has all of these species how did he get them? Some of the species he has seem illegal to have "acquired" and the fact that he is a dealer makes me worried he might have gotten these species in unethical ways. This guy honestly sounds like he supplies to rich people who don't care how he got the animals, not zoos, especially large ones like Prague. I know some zoos take from breeders but I'm pretty sure this person is a smuggler which would make him an enemy of any zoo with dignity.
Edit: Thank you for giving the website so he is a professional who works with the EAZA and AZA. He and his company are consultants who relocate animals and help with transfers, they are not dealers. He helps zoos communicate and figure out where they want to move species, currently, they do not hold any animals. The ones on the website are species he can get to you, it is an inquiry list meaning zoos can say they want a certain animal that a different zoo is offering to give.

 

Well to follow up, I believe I actually have the link to the website: International Zoo Services

 

Also could this discussion about the website possibly be moved to its own thread? I'm unsure if @amur leopard will appreciate his thread being "hijacked" for lack of a better word...

 

Unfortunately my laptop broke a few days ago so I will have to put this thread on temporary hold while I recover documents etc. Sorry for the delay but I will certainly get around to it again once I can. The same is true for my other threads for now, particularly the Chester Zoo map one (particularly since I am not entirely sure I will actually be able to recover that particular document from the broken laptop).

Either way thanks for bearing with me .

 

Here are the listed mammals:
Derbian, philander, white-eared and short-tailed opossums, grey four-eyed opossum

Common wombat, northern New Guinea wallaby, red kangaroo, western and eastern grey kangaroos, wallaroo, red-necked, agile, parma and swamp wallabies

Lesser hedgehog tenrec

Rock, yellow-spotted and Beecroft’s hyraxes

West Indian manatee

9-banded, 6-banded, 7-banded, hairy and naked-tailed armadillos

2-toed sloth, giant anteater, tamandua

Common tree shrew

Lesser mouse lemur, ring-tailed, white-fronted, black and brown lemurs, black and white and red ruffed lemurs, Moholi and Senegal galagos, potto, pygmy marmoset, red-handed and cotton-top tamarins, brown, white-fronted and white-throated capuchins, common and Bolivian squirrel monkeys, black howler, black and brown-headed spider monkeys, Barbary, rhesus, Japanese and crab-eating macaques, mandrill, Anubis, Guinea and sacred baboons, lesser and greater white-nosed, red-tailed, de Brazza’s, wolf’s and Campbell’s guenons, talapon, patas monkey, entellus langur, king colobus, lar gibbon, chimpanzee

Canadian and European beavers, greater and lesser Egyptian jerboas, lesser mole rat, lesser bamboo rat, African giant rat, harvest mouse, 4-striped and tree rats, fat sand rat, northern slender-tailed cloud rat, African brush-tailed porcupine, Indian, European and African crested porcupines, prehensile-tailed and bicolour tree porcupines, guinea pig, mara, capybara, black, golden-rumped and Mexican agoutis, paca, degu, Desmarest’s hutia, corocoro, striped tree and Prevost’s squirrels, Richardson’s, western and bristly ground squirrels, alpine and bobak marmots, woodchuck, black-tailed prairie dog, Angolan and fat dormice

Four-toed hedgehog

Lyle’s and Malayan flying foxes, straw-coloured fruit bat, hammer-headed bat, Egyptian rousette bat, 2 species of short-tailed bats

Hippopotamus, giraffe, Reeve’s muntjac, fallow, axis, hog, red and Pere David’s deer, sika, moose, reindeer, blackbuck, Thomson’s gazelle, springbok, royal antelope, suni, oribi, grysbok, Gunther’s dik-dik, klipspringer, Himalayan tahr, West Caucasian tur, Siberian and Nubian ibexes, domestic and wild goats, markhor, Barbary sheep, mouflon, bighorn, water buffalo, cattle, zebu, gaur, yak, American and European bison, Cape buffalo, nilgai, bushbuck, sitatunga, nyala, greater and lesser kudus, bongo, eland, waterbuck, common and Nile lechwes, grey rhebok, roan and sable antelopes, gemsbok, scimitar-horned and Arabian oryxes, addax, impala, blesbok, bontebok, tsessebe, brindled and white-tailed gnus, Maxwell’s, red, bay, blue, grey and red-flanked duikers, bush pig, red river hog, wild and domestic pig, common warthog, white-lipped peccary, guanaco, llama, alpaca, Arabian and Bactrian camels

Horse, donkey, plains and mountain zebras, Brazilian and Baird’s tapirs, black and white rhinoceroses

Wild, black-footed and jungle cats, northern, Canadian and European lynxes, bobcat, caracal, serval, puma, cheetah, ocelot, fishing and rusty-spotted cats, tiger, lion, leopard, jaguar, African civet, small-spotted and blotched genets, common palm civet, Egyptian, yellow, dwarf, Gambian and banded mongooses, cusimanse, meerkat, fossa, striped, brown and spotted hyenas, aardwolf, wolf, dingo, coyote, Asiatic, black-backed and side-striped jackals, Arctic, Cape, corsac and red foxes, fennec, bat-eared fox, maned wolf, dhole, hunting dog, American black and brown bears, South African and South American fur seals, California sea lion, grey, harbour and largha seals, ratel, ferret, American mink, tayra, zorilla, small-clawed otter, North American and crab-eating raccoons, common and white-nosed coatis, kinkajou

 

Most of those animals are either not Cites 1 (and probably buyable), are for sale at local ranches (like some of the south african hoofstock), or are from countries where people with enough money aren’t asked too many questions.

It sounds like a list of animals money could buy if you brought enough of it...

 

I checked the manatee and the text says:
'c.b. young adult - Available on permanent loan for public zoos. More details on request
Shipped from: South-America'.
Looks like nothing sensational or illegal.

 

I wonder, however, about Cape mountain zebras. They probably come from some private ranch in South Africa? This is a subspecies which would make sense to bring to zoos in Europe or USA: endangered, attractive, well suited to zoos, can replace some of many plains zebras.