Species You Wish More Zoos Would Keep

Aardwolves are by far the animal that I think more places in the US should have, how common they are in Europe shocked me considering only one zoo has them here in the US.

 

AFAIK there are only two holders of Aardwolves in Europe, so not necessarily that common . There are more individuals, though not by much.

 

I would like to say, Minivets should be more kept in zoos and breed more in captivity for private pet keepers to buy. They are so beautiful.

 

I would like to see more elephants in zoos, there are only a small number in the UK that still have them nowadays, and while I know they're a very high maintenance species, it would be nice if more zoos had them.

Something I've also noticed with recent zoo visits is that many zoos have either significantly reduced or straight-up got rid of their reptile and amphibian collections. Two zoos near where I live used to have a decent number of diverse reptiles between them, but today, one only has a few species of tortoises left, while the other has got rid of most of their reptiles, and of the few they do still have, most are kept off-show and are only brought out for keeper talks. I think this is a real shame, because one of my favourite parts of any zoo is reptiles and other small species in glass tanks, but they seem to be getting rarer.

 

There can't be enough small cats, pigs, tropical bovids, duikers, guenons, langurs, baboons, equids, gazelles, tanagers, trogons, cracids, rails, fruit doves, hornbills and turacos in any zoo I visit.

 

My list:
Asiatic Black Bear
Panthera pardus (excluding orientalis)
Tropical P. tigris subspecies
Asiatic Lion
Philippine Eagle
Fur Seal (Northern, Subantarctic, South American)
Northern Elephant Seal
Walrus
Maned Wolf
Birds of Paradise
Visayan Warty Pig
Babirusa

 

Aardwolves used to be much more common in europe!

 

When Minivets were imported, they were notoriously difficult to keep alive. Very fixated on live insects. There are equally beautiful birds being (I hope!) sustainably bred.

 

My list is mammalian centric and is pretty much applicable to just zoos in the US, especially those in the Southeast.

• Small cats, especially those belonging to the Felis, Prionailurus, and Leopardus genera, such as the sand cat, black-footed cat, European wildcat, rusty-spotted cat, leopard cat, ocelot, Geoffroy's cat, jaguarundi, etc. AFAIK, very few zoos in Florida keep any species of small cat, and those that are kept are the cheetah, Florida panther, clouded leopard, serval, and bobcat.
• Golden snub-nosed monkey
• Asiatic black bear
• Leopards
• Wild cattle such as gaur, American bison, yak, and Cape buffalo.
• Wild caprids, especially chamois, takin, and ibex species.
• Asiatic bovids such as the blackbuck, goitered gazelle, nilgai, saiga, etc.
• Pronghorn
• Non-otter mustelids
• Larger cervids such as elk, moose, chital, sika, sambar, fallow, and red deer.
• Euplerids and viverrids
• Macaques
• Fur seals
• California sea lion and harbor seal mixed-habitat (Fairly common as far as US zoos go but AFAIK, this combination is only kept in one institution in Florida)
• Sea otters
• Manatees (not rare in Florida zoos, but outside of the state it is rare)
• Foxes and other small canids
• Caviomorph rodents
• Elapids
• Red panda (I know they're quite common in US zoos, thought not kept in Florida institutions, and I am aware of the limitations associated with keeping them in a hot subtropical climate)
• Smaller tortoises
• Bats
• Birds of prey
• Seabirds of non-tropical origin

 

I am an Animal Care Coordinator of a small, ZAA accredited in Southern Nevada and we have two Sand cats! One of which is an amazing ambassador animal! We are in the beginning phases of planning and raising funds for a large African Sahara Desert mixed-species exhibit that we would like to feature hoofstock such as Somali wild ass, addax, and scimitar-horned oryx.
Of all the animals I care for the African-crested porcupine is my favorite, they are just amazing animals!

 

Endangered smaller fish, like pupfish and splitfins. The cost of keeping them is negligible and there are so many endangered fish. I also think there should be more robust programs for endangered cartilaginous fish in captivity.

 

Little easier said than done, many larger cartilaginous species are still very hit and miss on captive breeding. We've gotten fairly good with small sharks though so hopefully breakthroughs will continue.

 

I am well aware of that

 

My list is:

• Asiatic Black Bear
• Maned Wolf
• Binturong
• Andean Bear
• Hyena
• Baboon
• Komodo Dragon

 

Most of these really aren't that rare in the US though... only Asiatic Black Bear is one the rare side.

 

Agree to disagree; I've only ever seen hyena (striped), maned wolf, and Komodo dragon (I will admit these have been at nearly every zoo I've been to.)

 

Andean Bear - 18 zoos
Spotted Hyena - around 25 zoos I think
Striped Hyena - around 10 zoos
Binturong I'm not sure but they're pretty common.
Baboons as a whole are at quite a lot of places.

They're not super common, but more common that quite a lot of species.

 

You put spotted hyena twice; what about the other animals on their list?

 

One of those Spotteds was Striped, I edited the post to correct that.

Well you partly answered the other two yourself.
Maned Wolf is at 32 zoos currently, and they're increasing slowly.
Komodo Dragon is getting pretty common.
Asiatic Black Bear I think there's 7-10 zoos with them still? I don't see any recent tallies.

 

Komodo Dragon is at around 50 zoos, Binturong is at around 90.