An overview of Brazilian zoos and their specialities

This is a thread following on from a discussion me and @David Matos Mendes had about creating a post regarding the specialities / expertise that zoos within Brazil have with different species. I hope that it is informative for the zoochatters who are curious about zoos here and gives a decent picture of these institutions and their contributions to ex-situ conservation etc.

So I'll begin with two of the smaller zoos here in the State of Sao Paulo that are often overshadowed by the larger and better funded Sao Paulo zoo but that nonetheless perform a very valuable role in ex-situ conservation management of endangered native species.

Guarulhos zoo : The speciality of this small but decent zoo is unquestionably the endangered Buffy tufted marmoset (Callithrix aurita) known in Brazil as Sagui-da-serra escuro and also the "Sagui-caveirinha" ("The little skull marmoset" due to its facial markings which people believe to resemble a skull). This marmoset is currently only kept in a handful of Brazilian institutions and has historically proved to be a very challenging species to keep (attempts to keep colonies alive in the Rio Primate Centre consistently failed).

The studbook keeper for this species is Dr Claudia Igayara who is also the manager of the zoo, chief vet and the president of AZAB (the association of Brazilian zoos and aquariums). Claudia has achieved a lot of success in terms of both breeding the species and determining its dietary / nutritional needs in captivity. The zoo works closely with the NGO responsible for the conservation of this species " The Mountain Marmoset Conservation Programe" (or MMCP) and has also been heavily involved in genetic studies and field studies of hybridization (one of the principal threats posed to this species in the wild).

Worth mentioning that the focus of Guarulhos zoo is mainly geared towards native species and only a couple of species here are not native to Brazil (African lions, common snapping turtle and turacos).

Sorocaba Zoo: The speciality of this zoo (and it's logo) is also unquestionably a primate species but this time it is the largest monkey of the Americas: the Southern muriqui (Brachyteles arachnoides) also known as the "mono carvoeiro" in Brazil (the "charcoal monkey" because its facial pigmentation was said to resemble the face of a charcoal burner covered in soot). Beginning in the early 2000's with a single founder individual (a female which was found as an orphan in the wild) the muriqui colony has grown significantly over the years (composed of individuals rescued from captivity or orphaned in the wild) and has bred several times.

The zoo also has a very impressive breeding record for the maned wolf ( as a zoo it is among the most successful breeders of this species in the word) and litters are born here pretty much every other year. In addition to this there are breeding programes for a number of other endangered native animals such as jaguars, the giant anteater, several cracid species, a number of tamarin species and the pampas deer.

The focus of Sorocaba Zoo is mainly on native species which form the majority of the collection but there are some exotics here too (African lion, Bengal tiger, spectacled bear, sacred baboons, meerkats, ringtailed lemur, mandrill, Asiatic elephants, hippos, Burmese python, red deer, llamas, grey cheeked hornbill, pheasants etc).

I'll let @David Matos Mendes take it from here and continue to give the overview of some of Brazil's other zoos and their expertise in species conservation.

 

Very excited to see this! Hope these kind of threads can be done for other Latin American countries.

 

Yes, I agree. I think that it is pretty important to raise the profile of zoos in the region and hopefully we can do this with not just South America but also Central America and Mexico too.

But lets first start with Brazilian zoos and see where we go from there.

 

Would any of these zoos be breeding species like the Giant Otter or Jaguars to trade for other animal species with collections in say the USA or Europe?

 

I believe these zoos would exchange animals from their breeding programes, yes. It has been done before and it will likely be done again in the future. However, these animals are not specifically bred in order to be exchanged for other species with European or North American institutions and I do not believe this would be a desirable outcome anyway.

Another thing, giant otters, jaguars, maned wolf, giant otter, yes. I assume these would be relatively easy (despite the steep levels of bureaucracy to overcome) for exchanging with institutions outside of the country. You do have to ask yourself though why would Brazilian (and Latin American in general) zoos want or need to exchange these native species for more exotic species from zoos abroad ?

Shouldn't the priority in zoos in this country be geared primarily or wholely towards ex-situ conservation of native species rather than obtaining exotic species that are not really needed for anything other than display ? (In my opinion it definitely should be as this should be the moral and ethical imperative for zoos here considering the enormous biodiversity loss occurring).

A good outcome would be for Brazilian and foreign zoos to work in much closer cooperation (it is already happening to some extent but could be improved upon) and for there to be assistance such as training, capacity building, sharing of knowledge and experience and of course things such as funding and other resources.

Nevertheless, when it comes to species such as the muriqui or the buffy tufted marmoset that is another thing entirely and exchanges are unlikely (though not impossible) at least in the short term. That said, in the case of the marmoset this could one day become a reality with Jersey zoo in particular... but it is early days yet and quite understandably the immediate priority is to strengthen efforts with the in-situ and ex-situ conservation of the species within Brazil.

 

Jersey zoo is an outstanding example of in-situ and ex-situ work from a zoo with a great track record. My view in regards to sending some captive bred species to zoos outside Brazil was by helping them focus on their captive breeding programs by introducing new bloodlines to their own animals which can be back up populations to species in their own native country and in turn zoos outside Brazil could help provide funding for conservation projects in Brazil or send some new need bloodlines for species which are kept like tigers

 

Well I totally agree with you about that Zorro.

Jersey zoo is (in my opinion) the epitome of what a zoo should aim to achieve in the 21st century. In terms of its ethics, vision and commitments it is quite simply the best institution of its kind in the world, bar none.

If the buffy tufted marmoset was to be sent to any zoo outside of Brazil for captive breeding purposes I would hope that it would be Jersey zoo. Considering that Dominic Wormell and some other staff members of Durrell work closely with the project if it ever does happen it will indeed be here where this species goes.

I think that most zoos in this country may be willing to exchange animals to introduce new bloodlines and / or to secure further funding for conservation projects, yes. In some cases simply to form longterm partnerships and working relationships with foreign institutions would be enough of an incentive to convince most zoos in Brazil to be involved in or to consider animal exchanges.

Of course actually achieving an exchange depends on the politics of the institution and to a large extent on navigating the external webs of bureaucracy that pervade Brazilian society (which can be daunting to say the least) but I guess it is feasible.

 

Yes agree with you that Jersey zoo is what every zoo should model themselves on, they kept going with some species that others had written off as to late. Also I seem to remember that Washington zoo in the US had done some outstanding work some years ago with the Golden Lion Tamarin when they were down to the last 100 in the wild by captive breeding many over the years and sent many back to the wild over time!

 

Yes, true. Washington DC Zoo and several other zoos in the US were (and are still to some extent) heavily involved in the golden lion tamarin project and in reintroducing individuals back to the Poço das antas reserve in Rio Da Janiero.

However, it is worth mentioning that the reintroduction attempts did not always work out to plan and there were quite a few complications and difficulties that often led to mortality of animals. Unfortunately it is never really plain sailing with these kinds of conservation management actions.

It has generally been discovered through hard lessons learned over the decades that translocation (when there is suitable habitat to do this that is...) is a much more feasible (in terms of logistics, economics and survivorship) long term strategy than reintroductions and especially when it comes to the leontopithecus monkeys (I'm not suggesting that it doesn't work but simply that it is incredibly difficult).

 

I'm really excited to see the outcome of this topic, here in the north east, I can't really see a specialization of the different zoos, the most animals still come from the CETAS and IBAMA.

 

Glad to hear you liked this thread arafan !

Yes, I think there is a huge problem with the situation of illegal animal trafficking in the North-East and so many of the animals kept by zoos there have been confiscated by authorities looking to close down these trade networks.

 

I am also enjoying this thread/subject!

 

Awesome to hear that Zorro !

Are you in or from somewhere in this region ? or just interested generally in its zoos and conservation ?

 

In Australia, yes have been interested in all zoos and wild species for many years!

 

Ah I see, well cool and glad you like the threads .

I was assuming from the name that you may have been from a Spanish speaking country somewhere in this region.

 

Or a small-eared dog

 

Hahaha! Yes! could be !

 

So, continuing this thread that Onychorhynchus coronatus started with very good and interesting informations, I'm gonna be adding a few more topics of some more brazilian zoos and their expertise when talking about reproduction and conservation programmes.

Brasilia zoo - Giant river otter (Pteronura brasiliensis)

Starting their group of giant river otters around the 70's, the Brasilia zoo inicially captured some wild individuals of this species in the region of Flores de Goiás, in the state of Goiás, Brazil.

They were housed in an enclosure that, for that time, was even very roomy and proper (of course, it has been renovated a few times since then, and nowadays represent one very modern space, and actually very suitable to the modern zoo standards). From that time on, sixty-eight giant river otters were born there. That brought to the zoo the title of most successfull institution in the world in the reproduction of this species; and most of the individuals housed worldwide are relatives of the Brasilia zoo group of these animals. Unfortunately, the zoo stayed a long time with no reproduction (probably because they gave a break on this conservation program, maybe expecting to start it again later) with this, only one individual was left until last year, a 17 year old female called "Sí".

In 2019, the zoo received a male giant otter called "macau", that came from Dortmund zoo , Germany, to continue the reproduction programes. "Sí" and the new mate got along very well, but she unfortunately passed away of old age at the end of the year of 2019. With this, Brasilia zoo has only one individual left. I really hope they find a female somewhere to continue their journey with these amazing animals. two link showing images of the zoo's giant river otter enclosure will be left below

zoobrasilia-ariranha2.JPG

zoobrasilia-ariranha.JPG


São Paulo zoo - South-african-giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)

The zoo of São Paulo is considered the largest zoo in Latin america; and it's not a surprise that it successfully reproduced many endangered species, but the most notorius megafauna reproduction program the zoo holds is the South-african-giraffe.

From the start of the giraffe keeping in SP, (since the zoo's opening in 1958) at least twenty four animals of this species were born there, the last one in 2015. Nowadays the zoo still keeps a healthy population of these big-necked friends in three exhibits (two exhibits in the regular visitors area and one exhibit in the zoo' safari area) and we hope we have more babies announced in the following years.

Belo Horizonte zoo - Western-lowland-gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla)

Once this post is not specific to this topic, I'm not gonna tell all the details of the history of the gorilla keeping in Belo Horizonte here, but if you wanna know the complete story of the gorillas at this zoo, click in the following link to the post I made about it in the "zoo history" area of this platform and you will see all the details: The change of zoos in Brazil through time (Belo Horizonte zoo) )

The first gorillas arrived in Belo Horizonte around 1975. They came from the zoo of Saint jean Cap-ferrat, in France. They weren't born there, but captured in the wild a few years before. Their names were "Idi" and "Dada".

After that, the zoo tried a few times to effectivate reproduction with these so endangered animals.

In 2012, the zoo had one only remaining gorilla (the female "Imbi") and with maybe it's last chance, zoo BH received the acceptance of the european association of zoos and aquariums to receive a female ("Lou lou") and a male gorilla ("León") (that came from Howletts and Loro Parque, respectively) to share the exhibit with the remaining female, and try once more the reproduction. Fortunately, this time, the group went well, and the first baby, "Sawidi" was born in 2014, being the first gorilla to be born in South America, and the second in Latin America.(after Faustina, in Guadalajara, México)

Since then, three other babies were born (Jahari, Ayo and Anaya, respectively) and shows the commitment of the zoo with their gorilla group, wich nowadays represent the only reproductively active gorilla group in Latin America, and one of the two zoos in this continent that keeps gorillas. This way, the zoo got a good reputation about gorilla keeping and more international recognizement. The seven animals now live in a 2500 square meters exhibit that is entirely landscaped to look like an african jungle. This is probably, together with São Carlos zoo's spectaced bear exhibit, the most related to modern concepts homes for captivity animals in Brazil.

 

Brilliant post David ! Thank you for contributing !

Very interesting for me to learn more about the giant otter ex-situ programe and fingers crossed that this begins again in earnest soon at the Brasilia zoo.