The thread about hornbills in North America got me thinking about cracids in North American collections. Several species used to be common in zoos and private aviculture up until at least the mid-1990s. Populations of Blue-billed and Northern Helmeted Curassow is increasing at least in AZA collections whilst there is a continual decrease for all other species. Given how rare they are these days I have choosen to include birds I know of in private breeding facilities. Apart from the species covered by studbooks (Blue-billed, Northern Helmeted and Wattled Currasow) my data is probably quite out-dated though so any inputs greatly appreciated! Northern Helmeted Curassow (Pauxi pauxi pauxi) Biodome de Montreal 0.1 Busch Gardens Tampa 1.1 Cincinnati Zoo 1.0 Dallas World Aquarium 11.8.4 Denver Zoo 0.1 Fresno Chaffee Zoo 1.1 Greenville Zoo 1.0 Houston Zoo 1.2 Zoo Miami 1.2 Albuquerque Biological Park 1.1 San Antonio Zoo 1.1 San Diego Zoo 1.1 Saint Louis Zoo 1.1 Tracy Aviary 1.2 Wildlife World Zoo 1.0 White Oak Conservation Center 1.2 Pinola Aviary Sylvan Heights Bird Park Capital of Texas Zoo Rio Grande Zoo Great Curassow (Crax rubra) Los Angeles Zoo Capital of Texas Zoo Wildlife World Zoo Gladys Porter Zoo San Francisco Zoo Sylvan Heights Bird Park Lowry Park Zoo Black Curassow (Crax alector) Hattiesburg Zoo Wattled Curassow (Crax globulosa) Audubon Zoo 1.1 Caldwell Zoo 1.1 Chicago Zoo 1.1 Dallas World Aquarium 2.2 Houston Zoo 1.2.3 Milwaukee County Zoo 1.0 National Aviary 0.1 Staten Island Zoo 1.1 Wildlife World Zoo 1.1 White Oak Conservation Center 1.2 Sylvan Heights Bird Park Yellow-knobbed Curassow (Crax daubentoni) Micke Grove Zoo Reid Park Zoo Philadelphia Zoo Houston Zoo Blue-billed Curassow (Crax alberti) Chicago Zoo 1.1 Audubon Species Survival Centre 1.0 Dallas World Aquarium 6.4 Houston Zoo 2.4 Jacksonville Zoo 1.1 Los Angeles Zoo 1.1 Zoo Miami 1.1 Nashville Zoo 1.1 Bronx Zoo 1.1 Smithsonian National Zoo 1.1 Phoenix Zoo 1.1 San Diego Zoo 1.1 Woodland Park Zoo 1.1 Sedgwick County Zoo 1.1 St Augustine Alligator Farm 1.1 White Oak Conservation Center 3.5 Razor-billed Currasow (Mitu tuberosum) Dallas World Aquarium Pinola Aviary Nocturnal Curassow (Nothocrax urumutum) Dallas World Aquarium Blue-throated Piping-guan (Pipile cumanensis) Busch Gardens Tampa Denver Zoo? Miller Park Zoo Ellen Trout Zoo? Mesker Park Zoo and Botanic Garden? Phoenix Zoo Philadelphia Zoo Toronto Zoo Topeka Zoo Wattled Guan (Aburria aburri) Dallas World Aquarium Plain Chachalaca (Ortalis vetula mccalli) Gladys Porter Zoo Chaco Chachalaca (Ortalis canicollis) Tracys Aviary Horned Guan (Oreophasis derbianus) Dallas World Aquarium Saint Louis Zoo
These are the ones I know of: Fort Worth Zoo: blue-throated piping guan, plain chachalaca Dallas World Aquarium: Northern helmeted curassow, nocturnal curassow, bare-faced curassow, blue-billed curassow Houston Zoo: Northern helmeted curassow, blue-billed curassow Sedgwick County Zoo: yellow-knobbed curassow San Diego Zoo: Northern helmeted curassow
There is no such place as the Chicago Zoo . There are two zoos in Chicago, the Lincoln Park Zoo and the Brookfield Zoo. You must mean the Brookfield Zoo because if it was the Brookfield Zoo, both of these would be correct: Also: Also kept by the Lincoln Park Zoo.
Great to see that the Blue-billed curassow is kept at such a large number ( 16 ! ) of collections, wasn't aware of this !
Sylvan heights Bird park N.C. holds: Great curassow -(Crax rubra) Helmeted curassow -(Pauxi pauxi pauxi) Black curassow -(Crax alector) Bare faced curassow -( Crax fasciolata) Wattled curassow- (Crax globulosa) Yellow knobbed curassow- (Crax daubentoni)
Is there any information about the founder-size and orgin of the North American Blue-billed curassow-population ?
The gene pool is very small. The population had dwindled to only six birds before a breeding program began. Three birds were imported from the private collection of Dr. Estudillo in Mexico by the Dallas World Aquarium, and the rest of the new genes have been via swaps with Europe or other regions that hold the species (I think Japan?).
According to the most recent SSP documents, there are a total of 9 founders, which fits with jayjds2’s information.
Are red-billed (C. blumenbachii) no longer kept? I haven’t seen them there but I know they were at least in 2015.
@jayjds2 They did not hold them when i last visited in November 2017. The old curassow barn at the park was demolished to make way for the new wings of the tropics exhibit, so they did send a couple of curassows to other collections.
The San Francisco Zoo currently has the only Spix's guan in North America; that individual is a female.
After talking to a keeper at San Francisco Zoo, their female Spix's guan, "Guanita", passed away over a year ago. She was the only Spix's guan in North America. Oakland has a pair of great curassows. San Francisco Zoo currently houses a female great curassow and a blue-throated piping guan. Fresno Chaffee has a female blue-throated piping-guan. Fresno Chaffee no longer has northern helmeted curassows. Brookfield houses a northern helmeted curassow, pair of blue-billed curassows, and a wattled curassow. Lincoln Park Zoo has a northern helmeted curassow. Micke Grove no longer has a yellow-knobbed curassow.
