Join our zoo community

Status of Exotic Bears in U.S. Zoos

Discussion in 'United States' started by Coelacanth18, 20 Jul 2018.

  1. Yi Qi

    Yi Qi Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    24 Feb 2018
    Posts:
    1,438
    Location:
    Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
    On my visit today, there was a single condor in the exhibit rather then a bear, so the zoo doesn't have Andean/Spectacled bear.
     
  2. m30t

    m30t Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    9 Dec 2014
    Posts:
    252
    Location:
    Toronto
    They have not held this species for quite a while. I was there two years ago and the species was already gone and replaced by a condor.
     
    ThylacineAlive and Yi Qi like this.
  3. Yi Qi

    Yi Qi Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    24 Feb 2018
    Posts:
    1,438
    Location:
    Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
    The San Diego Zoo no longer exhibits Giant Pandas.
     
    savetherhino likes this.
  4. birdsandbats

    birdsandbats Well-Known Member 5+ year member

    Joined:
    17 Sep 2017
    Posts:
    11,359
    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Racine no longer has Andean Bear.
     
    savetherhino likes this.
  5. Corangurilla

    Corangurilla Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    28 May 2022
    Posts:
    912
    Location:
    Madison, WI (but sometimes AZ)
    Neither does Toledo.
    Or Cincinnati.
    ZooTampa no longer keeps Sloth Bear, but they do have a Sun Bear.
     
  6. Smaggledagle

    Smaggledagle Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    25 May 2020
    Posts:
    6,530
    Location:
    Rhode Island
    Memphis Zoo will no longer hold giant panda as their contract is up.

    登录 Facebook
     
  7. StoppableSan

    StoppableSan Well-Known Member 5+ year member

    Joined:
    23 Oct 2016
    Posts:
    1,521
    Location:
    USA
    They did say something about "continuing their partnership", as I doubt they're going to leave a decent-sized yard and two dayrooms just for something smaller like red pandas or even an Asian black bear.
     
  8. PSO

    PSO Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    8 Nov 2019
    Posts:
    770
    Location:
    FL
    San diego did exactly that and would have thought they would do something more interesting than red panda.

    None of this shocks me about giving up giant pandas. Having friends/colleagues that worked with giant pandas at two of the facilities, it sounds like a much bigger headache (and expense) than dealing with the Hunts and Giant Eland. Atlanta makes sense given their breeding record and having funding more so than San Diego, Memphis and D.C. specifically for pandas but will be interesting what the future holds for them as well.
     
  9. Neil chace

    Neil chace Well-Known Member 5+ year member

    Joined:
    27 Aug 2018
    Posts:
    4,438
    Location:
    Earth
    I sure hope that Memphis doesn't get more pandas. As beloved as they are with some members of the public, they're a species, in my opinion, not worth the cost of keeping (over a million a year!), and with little transparency as to where the funds go once in China. It would be one thing if the million dollar loan went to Panda conservation, but unfortunately the Chinese Government isn't very transparent about what the funds go to. Memphis (and Smithsonian and Atlanta) would be better off choosing different uses for their Panda complexes- whether it be swapping to a different species or re-theming the area altogether.
     
  10. Persephone

    Persephone Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    7 May 2022
    Posts:
    412
    Location:
    United States
    I haven’t been to Memphis so can’t comment on its ideal replacement. Atlanta, if they ever lose theirs, could retheme in the area easily enough. The Smithsonian couldn’t as they have a big (South)East Asia complex around it. Maybe they could move the sloth bears in or fill the space with Asian hoofstock, which they don’t have a great deal of.
     
  11. ThylacineAlive

    ThylacineAlive Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    20 Oct 2012
    Posts:
    10,699
    Location:
    Connecticut, U.S.A.
    To be fair, SDZ didn't exactly have a great big space for them..

    ~Thylo
     
  12. PSO

    PSO Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    8 Nov 2019
    Posts:
    770
    Location:
    FL
    I will agree with the space size but red pandas are the new meerkats, ring tail lemurs, sloths etc
     
    BenFoxster likes this.
  13. ThylacineAlive

    ThylacineAlive Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    20 Oct 2012
    Posts:
    10,699
    Location:
    Connecticut, U.S.A.
    Won't disagree in general but at least San Diego keeps Chinese Red Panda, which is significantly rarer in zoos than the nominate (sub)species and also not kept in Europe.

    ~Thylo
     
    Neil chace likes this.
  14. Neil chace

    Neil chace Well-Known Member 5+ year member

    Joined:
    27 Aug 2018
    Posts:
    4,438
    Location:
    Earth
    I've said this before, and I'll say it again, as much as I like Asian hoofstock, the ideal choice for National Zoo if they lose pandas is to move the tigers onto Asia Trail. Lion-Tiger Hill is one of the older, weaker exhibits in the zoo, and they'd benefit from giving a new, more modern home to their Tigers. With some slight renovations, the Panda space could become a great new home for Tigers, freeing up Lion-Tiger Hill for either a larger lion exhibit or some other sort of new development.
     
  15. Persephone

    Persephone Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    7 May 2022
    Posts:
    412
    Location:
    United States
    I honestly forgot they had tigers. Yeah, no, agreed. That’s a much more suitably sized exhibit for the species.
     
    BenFoxster and Neil chace like this.
  16. PSO

    PSO Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    8 Nov 2019
    Posts:
    770
    Location:
    FL
    Though I highly doubt DC will get out of pandas completely, I think that's a great idea to move the tigers in.

    Also I don't want Memphis to redo the China area. I personally enjoyed that area, both exhibits and species.
     
  17. SwampDonkey

    SwampDonkey In the Swamp Premium Member 5+ year member

    Joined:
    12 Jan 2017
    Posts:
    2,003
    Location:
    .
    The National zoo sloth bear habitat is already really good, arguably it would be a downgrade to move them over.
     
    BenFoxster likes this.
  18. Great Argus

    Great Argus Well-Known Member 5+ year member

    Joined:
    30 Mar 2018
    Posts:
    5,442
    Location:
    California
    Smithsonian is unlikely to be going out of them, in a Connect article from a few months back they stated that they are committed to Giant Pandas and are already in negotiations on contract renewal.

    Giant Pandas
     
  19. Andrew_NZP

    Andrew_NZP Well-Known Member 5+ year member

    Joined:
    20 Mar 2016
    Posts:
    708
    Location:
    USA
    I feel like the National Zoo has built their whole brand around them having pandas, its their big selling point to tourists. Why should you spend some of your limited time in D.C. at the zoo over any of the museums/monuments/historic sites etc., especially since you likely have a local zoo already? Well to see the pandas obviously! I'm not saying there's zero chance they stop keeping pandas, I'd just think it'd be highly unlikely it was the zoo that made that decision.
     
  20. GFgomez

    GFgomez Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18 Oct 2022
    Posts:
    72
    Location:
    North Hollywood
    Do you know what happened to all the bears At la zoo ? They seamed go have had all bears at one point .