Most common species in Zoos?

We have many threads talking about rare animals hard to find in zoos. But what about the opposite? What animals are the most easiest to find in Zoos?

 

I'm pretty sure that list would start off with meerkats and ring-tailed lemurs.

 

Huh I wouldn' t expect ringed tailed lemurs to be so common in zoos

 

The animal I’ve seen in the most zoos is neither lemur nor meerkat, not even a charismatic big cat or even a mammal at all. It is an American alligator.

 

Well considering how American alligators are the most commonly found member of the crocodilians in the wild and on farms (probably) it wouldn' t be a surrise especially in North American zoos

 

According to zootierliste, this is the top 10 in Europe:

1) African pygmy goat
2) Blue peafowl
3) Common fallow deer
4) Domestic guinea pig
5) Eurasian eagle-owl
6) Emu
7) Budgerigar
8) Bennett's wallaby
9) Blue-and-yellow macaw
10) Snowy owl.

Pygmy goat, peacock, guinea pig, budgie, and wallaby are actually higher on that list because the list only takes one taxon into consideration, but of those species there are multiple breeding forms/subspecies, that when combined would rank much higher.

Ironically, I don't actually see fallow deer and guinea pigs all that much. The fact that they're on there is logical however, since those species are usually kept in small zoos, and those make up the majority. Us zoochatters are more drawn towards the big, international parks that don't tend to bother with those species.

An interesting comparison might be that currently American alligator is #325 on the European list, with 84 zoos keeping them in Europe. In Europe, spectacled caiman and Nile crocodile are both more common than American alligators.

 

Also dealing with reptiles, I think boas, especially the boa constrictor, are quite common.

 

I really like this feature of Zootierliste - it's always fascinating.

Meerkats are in at #11, and Ring-tailed Lemurs at #18 for those wondering!

Mouflon at #20 always feels weird from a UK point of view, as they are very rare animals here indeed. On a continental scale, more frequent than Red-eared Sliders, Alpacas and Shetland Ponies..!

 

It is indeed fascinating! I was very surprised to see the two owls on there actually, would have expected more domestics or pets in their place.

Also, how coincidental is it that the first 5 species start with A, B, C, D, and E respectively? Just noticed that!

 

In the Uk it is probably meerkats, ring-tailed lemurs and oriental short-clawed otters.

 

I also know #11-50 in Europe as well, with all animals being in 100+ zoos:

11. Meerkat.
12. North American raccoon.
13. European white stork.
14. Golden pheasant.
15. Mandarin duck.
16. Green iguana.
17. Llama.
18. Ring-tailed lemur.
19. South American coati.
20. European mouflon.
21. Greater rhea.
22. European wild boar.
23. Red-eared slider.
24. Shetland pony.
25. Black swan.
26. Alpaca.
27. Miniature donkey.
28. Domestic rabbit.
29. Bactrian camel.
30. Bearded dragon.
31. Ball python.
32. Red-and-green macaw.
33. Wood duck.
34. Common marmoset.
35. Cameroon sheep.
36. Corn snake.
37. Central European red deer.
38. Patagonian mara.
39. Silver pheasant.
40. African spurred tortoise.
41. Mallard.
42. Cockatiel (higher if non-breeding forms count)
43. Cotton-top tamarin.
44. Ostrich.
45. Barn owl.
46. Great grey owl.
47. Asian small-clawed otter.
48. Boa constrictor.
49. Tawny owl.
50. Muscovy duck (assuming the non-breeding form cockatiel does not count since there is already a cockatiel listed).

 

In the US the Fish and Wildlife Service at some point re-interpreted the Lacey Act ban on small Asian mongooses (which were named by species) as applying to all mongoose genera known at the time, which includes meerkats. They're listed as banned under the original Lacey Act and not through the process by which the FWS can add species. I contacted them about this and their answer was basically "we've been interpreting it this way since at least 1959, that's all we know."

Because of this, a zoo which wants to import affected species across state lines is subject to additional regulations to prevent meerkats from escaping and becoming invasive, even though there's no actual chance of that, and many smaller zoos don't have them. However the interesting thing is that dwarf mongooses seem like they might be slightly more popular than meerkats in US zoos, since dwarf mongooses are subject to the same problem.

Ringtailed lemurs should be easier to get, but they don't seem to be particularly common in US zoos. Yes, they're common, but not exceptionally so.

I would agree that Asian small-clawed otters, blue-and-gold macaws, and American alligators are quite common in US zoos. These species are usually present even in non-AZA zoos, as are green-winged macaws. So are constricting snakes, but I almost always ignore snakes and can't say if one species dominates. I also mostly ignore hoofstoock which I don't find cute: dik-diks and gerenuks I'll watch, pudus and chevrotains if zoos had them, but bongos and elands and even giraffes I pass by.

Here are a dozen more species that I've observed as being really common, even in non-AZA zoos, ranked by roughly how common I think they are. Note that there's a bias towards birds since birds are mostly what I go to the zoos for, and birds are what I notice. Note also that it's almost guaranteed a zoo will have marmosets and/or tamarins, but since the common marmoset and three species of tamarin (cotton-top, red-handed, and golden lion) are all fairly common, no one of these is particularly so. Tortoises are similarly obligatory, but while sulcatas and Aldhabras are common neither is ubiquitous.

1. Indian peafowl
2. Helmeted guineafowl
   
3. Bald eagle
4. Common squirrel monkey
5. American flamingo
6. Tiger
   
7. King vulture
8. Black-tailed prairie dogs
9. Laughing kookaburra
   
10. Golden pheasant
11. Pekin robin
    
12. Frilled lizard

Here are species that are incredibly common in AZA zoos, but which I haven't seen much or at all in non-ADA zoos. (A asterisk indicates I've seen them in at least one non-AZA zoo.) Again, there's a strong bias towards birds in my list because that's what I notice.

1. "Reticulated" giraffe*
2. Lion*
   
3. Kirk's dik-dik
4. Gray-crowned crane*
   
5. African painted dog
6. Hammerkop
7. Luzon bleeding heart
8. Tamandua (not sure the species but I assume AZA zoos use the same one)*
9. Nicobar pigeon*
10. Malayan tapir*
11. Komodo dragon
12. Victoria crowned pigeon*

 

Like others have said, American alligators are extremely common in US zoos.

 

Boo! Heretic!

 

I mean, you have rattlesnakes—which are among the snakes that interest me—at your zoo. (My favorite snake is the Madagascar leaf-nosed snake. That is a snake I'll brake for.) And you take them out and handle them. But most snakes look the same except for size and coloration, and snakes behind glass don't really do much.

 

I do? ^^ FYI: only if it's really necessary.

Objection! Depending on the species, they show their individual behavior when the occasion arises. But for that, you have to pay attention, sit still and wait.

 

The pictures showed you handling them, so I thought you did that as part of the tour, since many places in the US do that sort of thing.

 

Quite staggering, particularly the terrapins!

 

None of the pictures uploaded to ZC shows me handling my snakes. So - ??

 

On your website there's a picture that looks like you're demonstrating how to handle a venomous snake (it's very small but that's what I thought it showed) and one of your wife holding a black snake. Any rate, I think we're derailing this thread a fair bit.

You made a joke and I got defensive about devoting little time to animals that interest me less (most snakes, hoofstock, and ABC animals) in favor of the ones that interest me more (mostly birds, but also rarities, odditities, and animals in complex social groups), even though that's something I think everyone does, because that's also what typical zoogoers do and why a thread like this can exist.

Every time I go to a zoo with other people, someone will express amazement at golden pheasants and Victoria-crowned pigeons, even though almost every AZA zoo and several non-AZA zoos I've been to have them. My conclusion is that people don't notice most birds enough to recognize that something's rare, and I'm probably the same way about snakes. Even though I do look more than a few seconds at rattlesnakes, the sidewinder and eastern timber rattler are the only two I'd register as more than "rattlesnake." (The sidewinder because it's in a lot of nature documentaries, the eastern timber rattler because it's native to my home area.)