Species you hate to see in zoos

I honestly do not like seeing bennett's wallabies. I have nothing against them it's just that there are so many other macropods I'd like to see in zoos, and bonnet's wallabies are honestly just overused. (I really wish Blank Park would phase out these species for a lesser seen macropod such as Parma, tammar, or rock wallabies, or better yet, pademelons)

 

Nice to have some uk people..whats your nearest collection?

 

im quite lucky, i have quite a lot near me, the wild place, bristols zoo, international birds of prey centre, cotswold wildlife park, dudley zoo, noahs arks zoo, west midlands safari park, my fave and most go to is cotswold wildlife park

 

Small world, vounteered at cotswolds for long time, and newent bird centre..worked at bristol for years..cotswolds got a new curator a while ago and changing all the time now.know a few keepers there..worked with one at bristol.nice perks working there, accommodation is good, and cheap. Cotswolds changed a lot. Spent years at newent. Was a lot more laid back there, if you were hard working and responsible you had a lot more freedom than some collections in what you did. Noahs ark a strange one. Was always considered by lot in industry as strange. Good head keeper there years ago, nice guy. Newent had a lot of change, I remember helping moving the birds for transport when jemima was taking most of it to south carolina. They had a pet cemetery there funnily enough

 

I agree, well said.

 

I don't mind domestics in a farm/petting area, but do prefer seeing rare/heritage breeds in place of usual; it'd be neat to see Suffolk Punch in place of Miniature Horses, for example.

I know there's only slight differences among them but its an annoyance of mine to have Reindeer in place of Caribou for North American exhibits. I was fond of the herd in Toronto (out of place as they were in the new Canadian arctic Tundra Trek area), but was happy when they replaced them with Caribou.

 

Caribou and reindeer are both still the same species though

 

I don't really hate seeing any species in a zoo. I love all animals.

Except emus.

I HAAATTTTEEEE emus.

 

I don't think Michael Parkinson liked emus.

 

Emus but not ostriches or rheas? Did you have a traumatic experience with one?


{Note from mods - discussion about emus and ostriches moved to here: Emus and Ostriches}

 

I like a good reptile house, but get bored to tears of going into the ones which basically have nothing in them that you couldn't see in a semi-decent pet shop. I'm talking the usual royal pythons, Burmese pythons (usually the albino/yellow morph), bearded dragons etc. Unless they're displayed in an unusual way, I'm less than interested.

 

I'm tired of seeing Sulphur-crested Cockatoos in New Zealand zoos. I'm especially sick of seeing them in small farm park-type zoos. The owners of these facilities seem to be under the impression that having a single Sulphur-crested Cockatoo within them will instantly make the facilities infinitely more interesting. It's understandable that these cockatoos are so ubiquitous in NZ zoos because they are easy to source from the feral population, but it's still disappointing.
If a smaller New Zealand zoo doesn't have a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo as its token big parrot, then it might have a Galah, a Little Corella, or an African Grey Parrot, but almost never anything more interesting.

 

I too would love to see different wallaby species, especially some gorgeous little Hare-wallabies! But I can understand why Bennetts are the most common. They're one of few that tolerate the cold so well, they're less sensitive than other species held in zoos (like Agiles and Swampies) and they're not as good at escaping as Rock-wallabies.

 

I feel the same way about Bald Eagles for the most part, I like seeing them in the wild, but so many zoos have the eagles because they're the national bird... and too because there's plenty of rehab birds, but still... I'd rather see the bigger zoos working to bring in Bateleur, African Fish Eagle, or hawk-eagles to fill those spots. But the Balds draw attention so they stay...

 

I'd imagine most people wouldn't even noticed the difference between Bald Eagle and African Fish Eagle. Unfortunately very few US zoos are really interested in raptors.

~Thylo

 

Or White-tailed Eagle.

 

What amazes me is the snobbery on here that domestics aren't as important as a panda or a sumatran tiger. And yet, we have domestics at work that are far more endangered than both of those. You're luckier to see certain British goats and pigs than the more highly prized taxa, but they aren't recognised as such due to their lower profile.

 

Without trying to undermine the importance of domestics in our day to day lives and without sounding "snobbery", surely domestics aren't as important as actual wild species? Many breeds are highly endangered, yes, but they're also a man-made creation which are only subsets of extremely common man-made creations. This is not to say that they aren't unique or deserving of existence, but surely true nature-made animals at risk of becoming Extinct as a whole are generally more deserving of their higher profile and protected status.

~Thylo

 

Is is logical and true that a Man-made animal could be made again if necessary, so wild spp will always be more important. But, it does not follow that keeping domestics displaces 'real' animals - as much domestic accommodation can be very basic, and the animals themselves can be managed so much easier than their wild counterparts. An example is the Baudet-du-Poitou Donkey, a breed which was snatched from extinction after numbers had dropped below 30 animals. This Donkey breed has probably the longest documented history of any equid, which can be traced back many hundreds of years. It was certainly (and still is!) well deserving of rescue, and can be housed and managed in accommodation which could not begin to be used for wild asses or zebras.