Over the years zoos into the UK have obviously followed trends for certain species. For instance in the 1960 & 70`s mammals like as old world primates such as macaques, various bears, chimpanzees, Lar Gibbons, Leopards - Indian and African but also some generic "zoo leopards" were common-place, as were "zoo tigers" and those often labelled as Bengal Tigers, Hyenas, Pumas, Dingos, Kinkajous, Raccoons, Giant Squirrels, Margays, Beavers, Coypu..etc. etc..... In the 80`s to early 90`s Jungle Cats, Binturong, new world primates such as Tamarins and Marmosets, Guenons and Sulawesi Crested Macaques (formerly known as Celebes Black Apes), Servals, Leopard Cats, Arctic Foxes, etc... You rarely saw any Meerkats or Ring-Tailed Lemurs back then. These days obviously those two mammals are everywhere (nothing against them as species). There are a few "survivors" from those earlier days in zoos today such as Mandrills, Raccoons - have seen something of a revival these days, as have the Pumas (in a limited way), interestingly the African Porcupine has remained a popular subject consistently, though you rarely see any other species such as the Indian Crested or Canadian Tree Porcupine. Anyway anybody else have any thoughts on this... birds and reptiles ????
Yes sure, but I don`t think they ever really "went away" as such, the first time I saw them was at Banham Zoo in 1984, and of course they bred very well at places such as Linton and Southport. During which time they enjoyed a real boom in numbers in the UK. Since then it has dropped off a fair bit but they are still around in smaller numbers.
I don't really understand why crested porcupines are so popular. It's a rare zoo that doesn't have a few but I've never seen them conscious, let alone active. I expect they could be very interesting in a nocturnal house but the way most of them are housed they just blend into the scenery. Why have they survived while so many others have fallen by the wayside?
20 years ago, I think that the collared peccary was one of the commonest species in British zoos, almost rivalling the wild boar as champion pig (yes, I know peccaries aren't true pigs, but they are close enough for most zoo visitors). The arrival of a wider variety of pigs may have been stimulated by changes in veterinary regulations - but gradually wart hogs leaked into the country, followed by red river hogs, bearded pigs, white-lipped peccaries and warty pigs. Now the red river hog is the commonest and relatively few collections still have collared peccaries or wild boar. I can understand why zoos tend to limit the number of pig species that they keep, their habit of rotavating their enclosures makes it hard to have an attractive exhibit; but I would be disappointed if all our collared peccaries disappeared. Alan
I think they very nearly did at one stage, apart from at Flamingo Park(Yorkshire) which had a large breeding group, chiefly because someone involved there(a keeper?) had previous experience with(domestic) Pigs and so fostered keeping them successfully. I am not sure if anywhere else was still keeping them at that time but imagine at least some of the ones in other Zoos now are descended from Flamingo Park's group, or whether FP still has them for that matter.
Perhaps, but I think there are still quite a few on farms - which were the source of the feral stock. Alan
I suspect collared peccaries - although low in numbers compared to species like red river hog and warty pig - are likely to stick around for some time yet. I would not be so confident about the prospects of white-lipped peccary, which is down to a single collection holding the species, being found in the UK for much longer.
White-lipped has always been the rarer relation in the UK- Dudley had them once but only Cotswold made any real effort with them and have since sadly disbanded their group-I think maybe entirely now?
Dudley is the only collection in the UK with the species now, sad to say - they received some of the Cotswold stock in 2009. Much of the Cotswold stock was dispersed a year later between Fota and Tayto in the Republic of Ireland, before the last animals died in 2011.
What date are you referring to? Marwell's website informs me they have had a herd since 1974 with their first breeding in 1984. I remember from previous visits they've had quite a number.
I don't have a date. Marwell may well have had them too but there was a period when they were conspicuous by their absence in most collections.
Another group which have virtually disappeared from the UK are the hummingbirds, which have been under discussion in TLD's thread about his visit to Germany. I think they were quite common over 40 years ago. I remember a few free-flying in the old Small Mammal house at Chester when it was first opened and there were also a few in the old Hummingbird house at Regents Park. The best collection I saw was at Len Hill's old Birdland at Bourton on the Water: there were at least two tropical houses with free-flying hummers, they were not particularly large but beautifully planted - I remember one that held mountain witch doves and Jamaican streamertails. There was also a greenhouse containing small glass-fronted aviaries with very choice species including a couple of hummers (and a Wilson's bird of paradise too). The only other species that I remember is the sparkling violetear, which was held in one of the upper aviaries in the Tropical House at Chester and bred in the Tropical House at Slimbridge. Alan
Yes Marwell have kept a large group since 1974, at one point the group numbered 30 animals! The former chief curator was chairman of the Pig and Peccary TAG and distributed the surplus stock as necessary to other UK collections over a long period of time. There are actually only six or seven left now, which is the lowest number they have had in years, since all breeding was curtailed in recent times. As "zoo-giraffe" mentioned Peccaries (all species) can be very dangerous animals especially in large groups for keepers to work with. I remember at one time having to fend off a particularly feisty young Peccary PIGLET, with a broom which it was biting with gusto, closely followed by its mother!!!
Can anyone think of any particular bird and reptile species that were once commonly seen compared to these days?? With these I guess most trends tend to revolve around what was being imported at the time, dealers often imported the same species which were commonly available at the time. Weavers are one, Amazon parrots, such as the Orange-Winged and the Blue-Fronted were commonly seen, various Cockatoos, the Sulphur-cresteds in particular were common. Mynah birds is another one. Bateleur Eagles, various vultures, yet Owls were more or less common than they are today it seems. Toucans especially the Toco and Red-Billed, plus others, not so commonly seen today, even the Great Indian Hornbill was seen more often than today. Penguins have always been popular, though species-wise the Black-footed to use their old name (now known as the African) was once very common and now hardly ever seen, the Humboldt penguin has taken over our zoos. Rock-Hoppers were also once more commonly seen. Any other thoughts ??
Thanks Zoogiraffe! Good point regarding the Penguins Nanook, why is it become that so many penguins are Humbolt? Are they easier to upkeep than other species ?
The Flamingo group departed to the Eden Ostrich place (apologies for not remembering its exact name - "World of..." maybe) around the time the Lost Kingdom was constructed (it opened in 2003). The animals had been moved from their paddock by the old Elephant House and into the old Zebra House (current Camel House) to allow the construction of a new paddock for the remaining American Bison (they had been usurped by the Lost Kingdom). The moat of the Elephant (but more recently Camel) paddock had been filled in, but then an island was recreated when the Bison were no more and the Chimpanzees moved in. It has now been filled in again to build a paddock (that looks roughly the same size as the Bison one) for Indian Rhinos. I was very sorry to see the Peccaries go as I like the species and they were a feature of FP/FL for many years. I always enjoy seeing the group at Paignton.
