During the last month visited 2 zoos which have populations of free-ranging animals on their grounds : At Apenheul in the Netherlands a small colony of Rainbow lorikeets is flying free around the park and last weekend I saw larger numbers of Patagonian cavy's at Hagenbeck Hamburg. At Hagenbeck I had also several encounters with free-ranging muntjacs. I Would be intrested to hear about other species which are living free in your local zoo. By the way, Peacock and waterfowl are free-roaming in loads of zoos !
http://www.zoochat.com/2/free-ranging-animals-zoos-272549/ http://www.zoochat.com/2/free-range-animals-284/ http://www.zoochat.com/22/zoos-free-ranging-animals-274908/
I once removed a water moccasin from the old entrance pathway inside the zoo at Tulsa and tossed it back down by the creek, but I assume that's not the kind of free-ranging animals you're talking about.
Whipsnade has a ton of free-ranging wallabies and mara. We asked for some of their surplus wallabies, but got the brush off by some snotty secretary who incorrectly claimed we'd need a license to keep them.....silly cow! Since learned that they often give away surplus animals, but we obviously spoke to the wrong person!
Hogle Zoo has wild turkeys which I think is a nice touch over peacocks (which they have too...). I read about how the National Zoo had a pair of free range golden marmosets (which never travel very far from their nest box.)
We saw a free range mara give birth at whipsnade, it was amazing, my number one zoo experience. However, does nobody worry they'll escape? My local 'zoo' has introduced a monkey species free range and being heavily planted both within and at the fence line, and having already lost red pandas into the local area, I see no reason they won't just leave. Birds in particular, what keeps them there?
Free-ranging Animals.... Durrell [Jersey] have had various free-ranging tamarins and marmosets for years. They are fairly sedentary by nature, and are called back to their houses at the end of the day, shut in overnight. With any flying bird, one could be accused of 'releasing exotic species' in contravention of local legislation. Red Junglefowl and Blue Peafowl are two of the best sedentary species for free-ranging. Many free-flying ducks and geese will stay well, but it helps to have pinioned birds of the same species to anchor them. A well-known UK zoo has free-ranging Azure-winged Magpies, but these are not easy to see, and were not deliberately released.
Paignton used to have quite a sizeable colony of free-flying Monk/Quaker parakeets but not sure if they still have them.( I haven't noticed them on recent visits) They escaped initially when the Aviary was damaged in a storm. Edinburgh had the Night Herons similarly for many years.
Free-ranging animals Paignton still have Peafowl & Golden Pheasants, but no more Red Junglefowl, which they had for years. Whipsnade also seem to be out of Red Junglefowl, which is a pity. No Quakers @ Paignton these days that I've seen. Night Herons @ Edinburgh have officially been contained, but there may still be a few about. Nice things. Guinea Pigs can work quite well as libery subjects, but I've not seen them kept this way for many years.
Bristol used to have free ranging Geoffroys Marmosets. Unfortunately as the family grew they decided they need more space, and one evening went over the wall. After that they were confined.
As a regular zoo visitor, I love free-roaming animals. Zoo Ave in Costa Rica has an agouti (they are native to the area, but there was a sign for him, so I assume he is cared for), and the Yellow River Game Ranch (a small zoo-ish attraction near Atlanta, Georgia) has free-roaming white-tailed deer. However, as an avid birder, I cringe at the thought of free-roaming birds due to the high risk of them establishing populations outside of the zoos and becoming an invasive species. I don't know the climate of the Netherlands, so perhaps it gets too cold in the Winter for the parrots to establish an independent colony, but zoos should consider that risk.
I must admit that I do wonder whether Chinese Water Deer and Reeves' Muntjac at Whipsnade have spread disease over the years within the various ungulates kept in the park. Both have certainly used Whipsnade as a vector to establish feral populations.
It is to cold in the Netherlands for establishing Rainbow Lorikeets and also the food can become a problem outside Apenheul because in winter no flowering flowers / trees can be found in the Netherlands
The London Zoo has Tammy the tamandua in their rainforest building. The issue of sharing common areas with visitors only really occurs when they extend their hours into the night. However, since her vision is going due to old age, she has a chaperone to supervise her.
