Going back to the question of this thread: I remember seeing Hartmann's Mountain Zebras, Grevy Zebras and Boehm's Zebras (for our anglophone members = the valid name for Grant's Zebras) at San Diego Safari Park (Wild Animal Park) in the 90s. The Boehm's Zebras shared an enclosure with the Black Rhinos. Don't know if this communitiy still exist.
It does not. The San Diego Zoo Safari Park only has Grevy's on display currently. When I last visited Lowry Park, they had all three species, but the Plains Zebras were only visible from the tram ride. Also, Disney has all three between the Animal Kingdom Park and Lodge. Mountain and Plains are at the lodge, while Grevy's are at the park.
How recently was that? I don’t have Lowry Park down as having Plains Zebra, but perhaps they are a new addition.
I am fairly confident that LPZ only has Grevy and Mountain zebra now; Grevy are in with the white rhino and Hartmann's are in with the giraffe. They have been doing some changes in Safari Africa over a couple years, but it has been a while since I did the tram.
It seems like Grevy's and plains zebras are the most common from what I'm reading here and what I've seen in zoos. Are mountain zebras not that common in the USA?
It's been a while, and it's entirely possible my memory is faulty in that regard. However, the DAK info was up to date as of June.
I wouldn't have thought the number of mountain zebras was fewer than 60. Just not as much of a breeding priority apparently. Or are they more difficult to breed
Not a lower priority or more difficult to breed; just a smaller population historically and so contemporarily. When zoos add species, they typically add those that are most available; for zebras, those are plains, then Grevy’s, then mountain. Sort of like a positive feedback loop.
Are they all a threat to other ungulates, to some degree? Was there trouble when mixing elephants and zebras? Do they get on with buffalos?
I don't think that zebras are a threat to other ungulates, and mixed exhibits are very common in zoos (zebra and oryx at Taipei, zebra and eland at Prague, zebra, giraffe and ostrich at Madrid, etc etc...) and also in the wild (zebras migrating to Okavango without their fellow wildebeest? Rarely seen!). Other thing is that a stallion can be aggresive with a newcomer, although I believe that zebra aggresion is more frequent to another zebra than to another species. However I'm not well documented about this, so I could be wrong, just took my attention that you see zebras as a threat for other ungulates.
The nasty rep of zebras in zoos is up there with black rhinos, especially as regards babies of other species. Although they are often used in mixed species exhibits, they feature in altercations much more than the other stalwarts such as ostrich, giraffe or white rhino.
I've heard this as well, actually. The San Diego Zoo Safari Park, for instance, has a completely separate paddock for their zebras inside their giant mixed plains exhibit. Considering that same plains exhibit has/had rhinos, cape buffalo, giraffes, and many many more all mixed in, I feel like it might say something that zebras are the species that absolutely has to be separate.
An analysis of the figures in the Hartmann's mountain zebra studbook shows about eighty-two individuals in the USA as at 8th May 2017. Obviously the exact total is likely to have changed since then but there are more than sixty... I believe that mountain zebras are the most aggressive.
