Rarest animals seen in a zoo or aquarium

Ituri (I think) told me that they were generic. And I don't really have any evidence proving they aren't.

~Thylo

 

ZooAmerica's map points them out as a SSP animal. My logic is that Brazilian Ocelots are the subspecies that the SSP focuses on.

 

Is ZooAmerica even AZA accredited? I wouldn't think so based on their enclosure sizes and over use of cages and concrete enclosures.

~Thylo

 

ZooAmerica is AZA-accredited. Why else would they label some species as "SSP" species?

 

I don't know, they could just do it to look professional, they are part of a theme park.

~Thylo

 

They are AZA-accredited, and that's that. Look up Pennsylvania here, and examine the bottom of the list:
Association of Zoos and Aquariums --------------------------------------------------------------------------++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Oh okay. I'm still curious as to why, when I emailed them about whether or not they had Brazilian Ocelots, they said they had non-subspecies status ones.

~Thylo

 

If you hadn't already heard, Kgosi passed away early in 2012.

After browsing through this thread, the only rare animals I've seen now seem rather commonplace:

Aye-Aye (San Francisco Zoo)
Giant Panda (San Diego Zoo)
Komodo Dragon (San Diego Zoo, San Francisco Zoo, Woodland Park Zoo)
Great White Shark (Monterey Bay Aquarium)
California Condor (San Diego Zoo)
Stellar's Sea Eagle (Woodland Park Zoo)

 

Polynesian Scrubfowl (San Diego Zoo)
Lake Titicaca Frog (Bronx Zoo) late 80s
Jentink's Duiker (Gladys Porter Zoo)
Greater Adjutant Stork (Gladys Porter Zoo)
Seven Gilled Shark (Monterey Bay Aquarium)
White rumped vulture (Miami metrozoo)
Parson's Chameleon (Fort Worth Zoo)

 

Uncommon in Zoos in general (to my knowledge, at least; will gladly accept correction)
Scalloped Hammerhead (Ocean Park, Hong Kong)
Bluefin Tuna (Ocean Park, Hong Kong)
Manta Ray (Ocean Park, Hong Kong)
Yangtze Sturgeon (Shanghai Ocean Aquarium)
Pacific White-sided Dolphin (Vancouver Aquarium; not sure as to whether rare in aquaria, I'm only basing on the fact that the default seems to be Bottlenose- feel free to correct)
Shoebill (Jurong Birdpark)
Mouse Deer (unclear what species, were seen in Singapore Zoo's Fragile Forest...again not sure if these are truly rare in zoos)
Raccoon Dogs (Shanghai Zoo)
Chinese Merganser (Shanghai Zoo)
Brown Booby (Shanghai Zoo)
King Penguins (Jurong Bird Park)
Rockhopper Penguin (Jurong Bird Park)
Endangered species
Golden Snubnose Monkey (Shanghai Zoo)
Black-footed Ferret (Toronto Zoo)
Panamanian Golden Frog (Toronto Zoo)
Giant Panda (Shanghai Zoo)
Red Panda (Shanghai Zoo)
Golden Takin (Shanghai Zoo)
Crested Ibis (some sort of conservation center in Xi'An)
Bali Myna (Jurong Bird Park)
Komodo Dragon (Toronto Zoo)
Bongo (Night Safari)
Chinese Giant Salamander (Shanghai Aquarium)

Overall, not really as impressive as some of the other Zoochatters' here...I'v been to twice as many collections as listed when I was little, but apart from some hazy memories, I think I'v forgotten them all!

 

I wouldn't say red pandas are rare: They are very common in European zoos, and I believe the same is the case in North America. I don't know about Asian zoos.
Otherwise, nice enough list.

EDIT: Oh, sorry, didn't notice they were under "endangered species" and not "rare species".

 

Greater Mouse-Deer are quite common over here. At least they're the species you'll find in an AZA zoo over here with some.

Also, Styan's Red Pandas (A. f. refulgens*) aren't overly rare over here, though certainly aren't more common than the Western ssp. I've been to six zoos with Red Pandas and three had the nominate, three had refulgens.

Also, Chinese Mergansers can be found here and there over here but are certainly rare. I believe on Central Park breeds them over here. Luckily, that's right by me!

*The scientific name is now A. f. refulgens afaik and no longer A. f. styani.

~Thylo

 

Does that mean I'v seen two subspecies then?
I'm not sure what subspecies they were exactly...and the Chinese signs' lack of accuracy hardly helps. I'v seen them in Shanghai Zoo and the Shanghai Wild Animal Park, though they're kept in a large amount of zoos here, really. There are just not a lot of zoos in my section of China to begin with, and the ones that are there I prefer not to visit.

 

I checked just now, and they are Lesser Mouse Deer, according to the Singapore Zoo's website.
They may be more common in other zoos, but I haven't seen them in China (at least not yet, but that may be that I don't visit many zoos here). We do get a large amount of Muntjac, though, of varying species. I'v seen Indian and Hairy-fronted Muntjac sharing an exhibit in the Shanghai Zoo.
I'm really not sure, as I haven't done another trip to the Shanghai Zoo in a long while. If they're still there, they would be in one of the mesh cages off to the giant Vulture/Eagle dome (which last time I visited had Cinerous and Griffon Vulture, and what I remember was being a Tawny Eagle).
Was there anything there of interest? Rare species or such..? I might pay a visit there soon...

 

Ah, okay. Thanks for the headsup
Also, did you see the wild Mandarin Ducks and/or the local Raccoon-dogs?