This is something I recently saw someone else do with another zoo. The Philadelphia Zoo is the oldest zoo in the United States, and over the 161 years since the zoo was chartered, the zoo has seen many animal species come and go. I will list as much as I can and for those that I am aware of. If I missed anything, feel free to comment. African Bush Elephant Asiatic Elephant African Wild Dog Andean Condor Aardvark Rhinoceros Hornbill Polar Bear Mainland Clouded Leopard Fishing Cat Buff-crested Bustard Common Dwarf Mongoose Egyptian Fruit Bat Red-shanked Douc Matschie's Tree Kangaroo Bontebok Ostrich Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Sable Antelope Common Eland Fat-tailed Gerbil Lesser Egyptian Jerboa Harris's Antelope Squirrel Short-eared Elephant Shrew Short-nosed Echidna Common Warthog Bearded Pig Okapi Addax Black Crowned Crane Donkey Black Swan Coscoroba Swan Mandarin Duck Chimpanzee Guinean Baboon Australian Green Tree Frog Iberian Ribbed Newt American Alligator Chinese Alligator Roti Island Snake-necked Turtle Alligator Snapping Turtle Central American River Turtle Asiatic Black Bear Domestic Dog Red-necked Wallaby Kea Hyacinth Macaw Dumeril's Boa Grey-banded Kingsnake Red Diamond Rattlesnake Merriam's Kangaroo Rat Striped Possum Northern Tree Shrew Cape Barren Goose Indian Rhinoceros Spectacled Langur Monarch Butterfly White Peacock Butterfly California Kingsnake Pipevine Butterfly Atala Butterfly Northern Bald Ibis Sacred Ibis California Sea Lion Llama Black-tailed Prairie Dog Dromedary White-nosed Coati Brown Pelican Capybara Patagonian Mara Egyptian Plover Snowy-headed Robin-Chat Magpie Shrike African Collared Dove Cedar Waxwing Amazonian Motmot Chiriqui Quail-dove Blue Ground Dove Southern Lapwing Screaming Piha Little Tinamou White-lined Tanager Green Heron Blue-and-yellow Tanager Eurasian Red Squirrel Giant Anteater Leopard Tortoise Rainbow Lorikeet Red Lory Blue-streaked Lory Dusky Lory Coconut Lorikeet Black-capped Lory Goeldi's Marmoset Yellow-knobbed Curassow Crested Oropendola Collared Imperial Pigeon Hooded Crane Curly-crested Aracari Green Aracari Rock Monitor Brazilian Agouti African Striped Weasel Chinese Alligator Southern White-faced Owl Secretary Bird Asian Garden Dormouse Black-footed Cat Hawaiʻi ʻAmakihi Blue-throated Piping Guan Forsten's Tortoise Jambu Fruit Dove Milksnake Goldie's Lorikeet Mindanao Bleeding-heart Panther Chameleon Bog Turtle Eastern Box Turtle Black Tree Monitor Weber's Sailfin Lizard Engineer Goby Gaboon Viper Brazilian Lancehead European Blackbird Beauty Rat Snake Northern Giant Mouse Lemur North American Least Shrew Cattle Shoebill Scarlet Ibis Greater Roadrunner White-lipped Tamarin D'Albertis Python Common Snake-necked Turtle Drill Kinkajou Swift Fox Prevost's Squirrel Snowy Owl Bobcat Pallas's Cat
They still have West African Gaboon vipers which are a different species than the ones found in Central Africa. And yes, I wish the zoo still had African wild dogs. I find them so much more interesting and beautiful than maned wolves. There's nothing wrong with maned wolves, other than the fact they smell like weed, but African wild dogs are more threatened and I personally like them more.
That's what I thought... I love maned wolves, they're second only to cheetahs for me, but I really wish they'd give them nicer exhibits like all of the others have been getting I'm a Philly member and I've never seen their maned, it's always hiding. I loved the wild dogs, too; I wish they could have all 3. I wish they'd bring back okapi and giant anteater, as well.
Just to add to the list, first visit '89 Harbor Seals Seal lions Malayan tapir Babirusa Bearded pig Artic wolf Striped Hyena Jagurundi Clouded leopard Tomistoma American Croc? African stripe weasel Honestly cant remember everything but that Small Mammal house rocked in the early to late 90s Also, it was mentioned as a previous species but I saw the chimps in RMH, and I remember at least 20-30 spread across at least 3-4 enclosures, anybody have recollections or numbers?
I would love to see a striped hyena. I only know of a few zoos that have them, like the Naples Zoo in Florida.
Closest to Philly would be Carson Springs. Then there's a half dozen about 1000-1200 miles from Philly. I saw one at Fort Worth, but it was sleeping in the far corner of the exhibit
Scottish Highland Cattle (though am not sure if they just relocated after the Pachyderm House conversion)
I heard from somewhere that Philly used to house koalas in the late 80's/early 90's. Does anyone know if this is true or not?
With the magic of Google, the very first hit is this article about a Koala named K'Bluey from San Diego Zoo which was displayed temporarily at Philadephia Zoo from July to September 1985: Philadelphia Zoo gets unusual, demanding visitor In July 1991 another Koala, named Kupala, was on display for four months also. PLAY AREA AT DORNEY TICKLES THE IMAGINATION The article mentions the previous Koala in 1985, and says that they hope to get a pemanent Koala within the next two years.
I remember reading a poem in an old book about a swan and a boy (forgot title) the boy somehow became head of Philly Zoo and wrote a poem about the animals there. All I remember is frigatebird and vesper rat being mentioned. Any truth to these?
A species kept at the Philadelphia Zoo in the past and now most possibly Extinct is the Glaucous macaw. A single bird was donated to the Zoo during the period March 1896 - March 1897.
Now to a species I'm not sure to which species it belongs : Again between March 1896 and March 1897 a pair of Squirrels from Java came to the zoo. Only the scientific name of the species is mentioned in the records I have : Sciurus badging. The problem with this is that Sciurus badging is the synonym of 2 different species: Plantain squirrel - Callosciurus notatus Black-striped squirrel - Callosciurus nigrovittatus There is no further discription of the species in the notes I have and because both species are found on Java, I don't know which of the 2 was kept at the zoo.
Do you think there could be a possibility of seals/sea lions returning? They are very common and are practically zoo staples. Maybe if they expand and get rid of the beer garden which, I have still yet to see someone actually go to, there could be an exhibit similar to the bronx zoo?
I actually know someone who used to work with sea lions at the zoo and she said that the zoo is very unlikely to get sea lions in the future, with the reason being that it's a zoo, not an aquarium. Also, the sea lions did not have a great exhibit when they used to live at Philly, and were sent to facilities better suited to their needs.